Back Issue #124 by TwoMorrows Publishing

HORRIFIC HEROES ISSUE 2020

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Man-Thing • The Creeper • Atlas/Seaboard’s Grim Ghost and creepy crimefighters • Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) Rides Again • featuring BRENNERT, BRUNNER, CONWAY, MACKIE, MAYERIK, THOMAS & more

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 comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

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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.

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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 ALEX ROSS’ unrealized Fantastic Four reboot, DC: The Lost 1970s, FRANK THORNE’s unpublished Red Sonja, Fury Force, VON EEDEN’s Batman, GRELL’s Batman/Jon Sable, CLAREMONT and SIM’s X-Men/Cerebus, SWAN and HANNIGAN’s Skull and Bones, AUGUSTYN and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.

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

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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 Celebrates the 40TH ANNIVERSARY of the 50th anniversary of ROY THOMAS and MARV WOLFMAN and GEORGE PÉREZ’s BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH’s Conan #1! The New Teen Titans, featuring a guest editorial Bronze Age Barbarian Boom, Top 50 Marvel by WOLFMAN and a PÉREZ tribute and Conan stories, Marvel’s Not-Quite Conans art gallery! Plus: The New Teen Titans’ 40 (from Kull to Skull), Arak–Son of Thunder, GREATEST MOMENTS, the Titans in the Warlord action figures, GRAY MORROW’s media, hero histories of RAVEN, STARFIRE, Edge of Chaos, and Conan the Barbarian and the PROTECTOR, and more! With a at Dark Horse Comics. With an unused NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED PÉREZ TITANS WINDSOR-SMITH Conan #9 cover. 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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Volume 1, Number 124 December 2020 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Rudy Nebres (commissioned illustration from the collection of Ryan Bunn) COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Mark Arnold Howard Mackie Roger Ash Marvel Comics Alan Brennert Val Mayerik Frank Brunner Edwin Nebres Ryan Bunn Rudy Nebres Marc Buxton Luigi Novi KC Carlson Jeff Rovin Gerry Conway Jack Ryder Jon B. Cooke Jim Shooter Steve Englehart Mary Skrenes Carl Gafford Bryan D. Stroud Grand Comics Roy Thomas Database Sean Wasielewski Jack C. Harris Alan Weiss Karl Heitmueller, Jr. John Wells Heritage Comics Bob Wiacek Auctions Peter Young Vincent Holt Tony Isabella Sid Jacobson George Khoury Alan Light

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BACKSEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 BEYOND CAPES: Whatever Knows Fear: The Birth of the Man-Thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Slogging through the muck-monster’s creation and Bronze Age appearances PRINCE STREET NEWS: If Monster Heroes Wore Costumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 A cartoon by Karl Heitmueller, Jr. FLASHBACK: Jack Be Nimble: The Creeper in the Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Steve Ditko’s freaky crimefighter and his scattershot ’70s and ’80s appearances WHAT THE--?!: Harvey Horror… But Not the Kind You Think . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 The relaxation of the Comics Code led Casper, Richie Rich, and friends into chilling directions FLASHBACK: Atlas/Seaboard’s Horrific Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 From the Brute to the Tarantula, these Marvel clones pushed the envelope BEYOND CAPES: The Return of Man-Thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Marvel’s swamp beast gets another shot of stardom in 1979 FLASHBACK: Ghost Rider Rides Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Howard Mackie’s 1990 high-octane Marvel hit BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Reader reactions

BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 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 Rudy Nebres. Man-Thing 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.

Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

by M

I’ve heard of Christmas in July. But this is the first time I’ve seen Halloween at Thanksgiving. Our “Horrific Heroes” theme was envisioned as a Halloween edition, on sale in September. Then a horror of a different type, COVID-19, reared its ugly head. Amid pandemic-forced shutdowns came the closure of the main distribution network for comic books as well as most comic shops. 2020 became the Year the Earth Stood Still. Comic publishers were hit hard by these closures, especially small ones like TwoMorrows, since there’s no corporate parent to prop up the company. Our publisher, John Morrow, made a social media appeal to readers to buy our products online and to subscribe to keep the company alive during the economic downturn. The following message about TwoMorrows’ appeal was sent to me by reader Vincent Holt and is presented here with his permission… I would like to tell you how much I enjoy reading BACK ISSUE magazine. I received a text message about the current situation TwoMorrows is in. It’s been a really difficult time for all of us. I hope that you guys will be able to get through these tough times. I’ve often found comics to be a way to get away from the grind of everyday life. This genre with its vast group of characters and its many different universes is truly magical in the way it can unite us and spark moments of hope. Especially in these dark times. I would like to thank you and commend you for the great job that all of you do in providing us with great stories about the creators and other people behind the scenes. That brings the comic-book world to life. I too am having to adjust my monthly spending, making sure I’m spending wisely. That being said, I just placed an order from TwoMorrows. And I hope that it will help this great magazine that you and others have built, that has brought me and a lot of people joy to read throughout the years. Thank you and be safe. Thank you, Vincent, for standing up for BACK ISSUE and TwoMorrows during these challenging financial times. And to the rest of you who also bought TwoMorrows publications to help support the company—thank you. This deepens my resolve to do my best to make BI and my other TwoMorrows mag, RetroFan, the best they can be. 2 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

ichael Eury

Before I turn over our pages to its shambling and shriek-inducing subjects, please indulge me as my inner child shares a story. Each of us has a handful of specific issues of comics that called out to us when we were kids. We remember the moment we first saw them on the stands. One such comic book for me was Showcase #73, which introduced one of the horrific heroes you’ll read about this issue, the Creeper. I was barely ten years old in January 1968 when my family was visiting my mother’s family in her hometown of New Bern, North Carolina, a cross-state trip we made one weekend per month from my hometown of Concord, NC. During a trip to the Eckerd Drugs on Glenburnie Road I was lured—as always—to the comic spinrack. Normally my “funnybook” purchases involved Batman and Superman, although by that time I had recently discovered Spider-Man and FF comics thanks to their Saturday morning cartoons. But on this particular visit my young eye was captivated by… well, the freakiest, but coolest, character I’d ever seen (and that was saying a lot, since I knew who Metamorpho and the Thing were!). A garish human hyena with yellow skin and green hair. A cackling mockery of a superhero—or was he a villain, because he, like Spidey, was wanted by the police?—with a tuft of crimson… what was that, fur?, splaying from his shoulders. On that fateful day I did not beware the Creeper. Instead, I embraced him, and my dad picked up the 12-cent tab while I dove into its contents. By this “mature” age I was finally able to understand the art of Steve Ditko, which had puzzled me beyond belief when, two years earlier, a neighbor showed me his stack of Ditko’s Amazing Spider-Mans and I simply couldn’t fathom their wonky artwork and TM & © DC Comics. storytelling. My reading of this initial Creeper episode began to expand my tastes. So here’s to the late, great Steve Ditko, for being the first comic-book artist to stretch my horizons. Funny how a simple comic cover can invite a flood of memories. Hopefully the articles you’re about to read will do the same for you. One last thing: the Etrigan the Demon article originally planned for this issue was delayed and will appear late in 2021, with expanded content. Our apologies. Stay healthy, everyone!

by R o g e r

Ash

It’s common knowledge that 4F Steve Rogers so desperately wanted to be a solider that he volunteered to be injected with the experimental Super-Soldier serum, turning him into the Star-Spangled Avenger, Captain America. But did you know that the Super-Soldier serum also turned scientist Ted Sallis into Marvel’s muck monster, the macabre Man-Thing? Government scientist Ted Sallis and his girlfriend Ellen were hidden away in the Florida Everglades, where Ted was attempting to recreate the Super-Soldier serum. When his contact, Hamilton, misses their rendezvous, he and Ellen go to find out what’s happened. They discover Hamilton is dead, a couple of thugs, and a smug Ellen who’s sold the formula to the highest bidder. Sallis escapes, but his car skids into the swamp. To keep the sole vial of the serum out of enemy hands, Sallis injects it into himself. The serum reacts with the waters of the swamp, turning him into Man-Thing. As Man-Thing, he easily dispatches of the goons and burns Ellen’s face with a touch. He is left mindless, wandering the swamp, with no idea of what just happened or who he is. You can find the story in Marvel’s blackand-white magazine Savage Tales #1 (May 1971) by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Gray Morrow. Being in a black-and-white magazine meant that the story didn’t have to conform to the rules of the Comics Code Authority (CCA), which, for years, dictated what could and couldn’t be done in newsstand comics. The Code came about after Dr. Fredric Wertham in his 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent charged comics with causing juvenile delinquency. The resulting governmental trials and public outcry resulted in the formation of the CCA to assure parents that what their kids were reading was appropriate.

A HEAPING HELPING OF CREATOR BACKSTORY

So now you know Man-Thing’s origin, but what about the origin of his origin? “When Stan Lee got the idea for Savage Tales, he started going over what the various stories in it would be and he decided that one of the features would be Man-Thing,” recalls Roy Thomas. “He came up with the name. He called me in to talk about it. He didn’t want to write it, and he didn’t care if I wrote it or got somebody else to write it. roy thomas He had in mind a general idea that we kicked around. As I recall, the general © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. idea was just that guy, through interaction with the swamp, becomes a creature. I suppose it was partly inspired by the old Heap character that was in comics from the early ’40s through the early ’50s, which Stan said elsewhere that he liked.

Sumpthing in the Way He Moves Frank Brunner’s 2008 recreation of his cover art for the Bronze Age classic, Man-Thing #1. Also signed by Roy Thomas. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Man-Thing TM & © Marvel.

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Horrific Hitchhiker Moody Gray Morrow original art, from Manny’s first appearance in the B&W mag Savage Tales #1 (May 1971). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

But the name Heap or anything like that never came up until it popped up a few years ago. It’s been reprinted in conversation. a time or two. Turned out it was several pages, just for “I didn’t like the name Man-Thing because we had a a ten-or-so-page story. Since I didn’t want to write it, character called the Thing,” Thomas continues. “I didn’t I gave the synopsis to Gerry Conway, who had started feel we should have a character also called the Man-Thing, working for us. He was about 18 or 19 years old. And but Stan was the boss… so if he wanted it, he got it. to Gray Morrow to draw.” Man-Thing’s look of reeds and vines and Also, I had, just a couple of months before, done a brow and nose of roots was, according to in The Hulk with Herb Trimpe a very similar character also based on the Heap, who Thomas, mainly designed by artist Gray was called the Glob, which was a name Morrow. “I made it real plain that I Stan gave him. That was a character thought it was basically the Heap. That’s very much like this character; a guy basically telling him to draw it like the who interacts with the swamp and Heap, which he very much did. The becomes this creature. Stan was kind character even has the little carroty nose of aware of that, since he had approved that the Heap had. The Heap was such Hulk cover and named the character. a great-looking character, and by that Maybe he had forgotten it in the stage was public domain, so we may as well take it and make a character out meantime, but I didn’t bring that up, either. I figured, ‘Okay, this’ll be a more of it. He didn’t have to be slavishly major character, where the Glob was imitative of it. There are more man-like gerry conway just a minor character.’ They’re really features that we could see on Manalmost the same character. Thing, where the Heap sometimes “I remember we went over several different ideas looked like so much vegetation. You could hardly tell he for the story. I don’t remember what any of them were had legs. We were quite happy with his interpretation except for the general outline of the one that actually of the character. I think it was really excellent.” appeared. After we’d settled on it verbally, I wrote out According to Gerry Conway, once the story was a synopsis. I didn’t remember how detailed it was drawn, he “dialoged and created the character voices and the character names for the supporting characters and the lead character.” One of the characters looked very familiar to Thomas. “When Gray drew various gun-toting hoodlums in the story, one of them was a drawn from photos of a mutual acquaintance of ours named Chester Grabowski. He worked for another guy (whose first name was ‘Ruby’) who had a comic store or dealership. I met them both because they were part of a poker game I played in for several years at the late Phil Seuling’s place at Coney Island. Every time I read that story, I’m looking at this guy I was sitting across from at a poker table every Friday night.”

AN ASTONISHING COMEBACK

A Man-Thing story by writer Len Wein and artist Neal Adams was completed for the second issue of Savage Tales, but the magazine was cancelled by publisher Martin Goodman prior to its publication. “Martin Goodman didn’t really like the idea of doing black-and-white magazines,” Roy Thomas tells BACK ISSUE. “I don’t know why, because he was always happy to make money and you could charge more for a black-and-white magazine than you could for a regular comic. I always wondered if it was partly because he got grief from DC, Archie, and Harvey for doing a non-Code magazine when they weren’t. “It was just something Goodman wasn’t especially comfortable with. He kept cancelling [the magazines]. There was that one issue of The Spectacular Spider-Man that was black and white. He forced it to go to color, and then cancelled that. And Savage Tales, he cancelled before anyone knew much anything about sales. I know Stan was quite unhappy about both of those cancellations. He sort of bided his time until he became publisher a couple of years later, so he could bring [magazines] back onto the schedule, which he promptly did.” But cancelling Savage Tales #2 didn’t stop the Man-Thing story from being published, as Thomas used it as part of a two-issue Ka-Zar story in Astonishing Tales #12–13 (June–Aug. 1972). “The only reason we had to run it in Ka-Zar was because I didn’t want to leave it sitting around,” Roy remarks. “Who knew if we’d ever bring back Savage Tales? If I had known we were going to be able to bring it back in short order, I probably 4 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

would have saved it. As it was, it seemed best to simply run it in the color comic.” In this story, we meet other scientists who were working with Sallis and discover that the group after their work is the evil organization, A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics). When the scientists are threatened, Man-Thing comes to their aid, but is not able to prevent Dr. Wilma Calvin, an elderly African-American woman, from being shot. Two of the scientists from the Man-Thing story bring Ka-Zar to the Everglades to help find Ted Sallis, if he’s still alive. This leads to a confrontation with Man-Thing, a double cross, and a battle against A.I.M. Len Wein added something that would help define Man-Thing’s character: Whatever knows fear, burns at the Man-Thing’s touch. Wein related in the book Swampmen: Muck-Monsters and Their Makers (TwoMorrows, 2014), “In the original story, anything he touched, burned, so I surmised, ‘You know, you can never do an ongoing character who can never interact with anything without setting it on fire.’ So I came up with the idea that you had to be afraid of Man-Thing to suffer the chemical reaction.” In a few stories, the burns are caused by a reaction between the chemicals released by the person who’s afraid interacting with the chemicals in Man-Thing’s body. While this does provide some logic as to why it occurs, the explanation was quickly dropped. It was enough to know that fear caused his touch to burn.” The irony of having Wein write this story is not lost on Thomas. “It’s kind of funny because Len, at around the same time, was working on Swamp Thing.”

Swampy Smackdowns (top left) Ol’ Greenskin goes at it with the Heap-inspired Glob, in Incredible Hulk #121 (Nov. 1969). Cover by Herb Trimpe. (top right) Bernie Wrightson, artist of DC’s Swamp Thing, was the cover artist for Hulk #197 (Mar. 1976), co-starring Man-Thing. (bottom) A Man of Two Swamps: Swamp Thing co-creator Len Wein was also involved with Man-Thing in the Marvel muck monster’s early days. Hulk and Man-Thing TM & © Marvel. Len Wein photo © DC Comics.

Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

ADVENTURES INTO FEAR

From Savage Tales to Savage Land (left) Manny resurfaced in the Ka-Zar feature in Astonishing Tales #12 (June 1972), by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Dan Adkins, which included (right) Len Wein/Neal Adamsproduced Man-Thing material intended for Savage Tales #2. TM & © Marvel.

Though Savage Tales was gone, Man-Thing was not homeless for long as he took over the lead spot in Adventures into Fear (a.k.a. Fear) with issue #10 (Oct. 1972). Gerry Conway was back as the writer with Gray Morrow and Howard Chaykin on art. How did Gerry end up in Fear? “Marvel was expanding the number of color titles that we were doing,” Conway recalls. “One of the areas that Roy and Stan felt it would be viable to expand into was horror titles, since the Comics Code was being substantially weakened and rewritten. We were allowed to do books that we wouldn’t have been allowed to do a few years earlier. “I thought Man-Thing had a lot of potential,” contends Conway. “He was certainly a different type of character for Marvel to be exploring in that he was more of a reactive character than an instigator of action. As such, that was not typical of the Marvel format. A Marvel story in the early ’70s usually revolved around a character whose superpowers, or whose situation, provoked problems in their lives that they had to deal with. Man-Thing, because he was unintelligent, was reactive. As a result, the stories would have to revolve around the supporting cast, an interesting way to approach certain characters. He’s not a character that has an agenda. He has an agenda imposed on him by the circumstance that the creators put him in. It’s a rich environment.”

6 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

Conway uses this format in Fear #10 to tell the story of a domestic dispute between a young husband and wife that includes the husband attempting to kill their infant son by dropping him off a bridge. Luckily, Man-Thing is there to catch the infant and convey it to safety. Man-Thing intrudes on a fight between the couple and is overwhelmed by their emotions. The commotion he causes makes the couple remember why they fell in love in the first place. But as in Savage Tales, Conway would only write one story in Fear before another writer would take his place. Writer Steve Gerber took over with Fear #11 (Dec. 1972), his first regular assignment at Marvel, and would help define Man-Thing for many readers for years to come. [Editor’s note: For more on Gerber (1947–2008) and his career, see BACK ISSUE #31, our tribute issue to him.] “I had met Steve when I was still back in St. Louis when I was teaching high school,” recalls Roy Thomas, who was responsible for hiring Gerber. “He was in junior high, not the school I taught at. I was teaching just south of St. Louis County, while he lived in University City, a suburb to the west of the city. We met through the mail first, because he was a reader of the early Alter Ego. We got together eventually because we were only an hour or so apart, once I was living in the St. Louis area. We got along well, despite a several-year difference in age. The first few months I was in New York in 1965, he graduated from high school and his parents gave him a trip to

Monster on the Prowl Man-Thing’s two Savage Tales artists— Gray Morrow and Neal Adams— illustrated, respectively, the first two Adventure into Fear covers starring the bog beast, #10 (Oct. 1972) and 11. TM & © Marvel.

“When I was given the first assignment, I didn’t know whether I was ever going to be writing a second Man-Thing story,” Gerber told Jon B. Cooke in Swampmen (TwoMorrows 2014). “That wasn’t decided until after I got to New York. The first one I just did as a self-contained story, without even thinking about the future of the character or the book or anything, because I didn’t know whether I was going to have anything more to do with it.” After he got the series, Gerber had an interesting way to set the direction for the book, which hinged on the fact that Swamp Thing was starting at DC at roughly the same time. Gerber shared with Cooke in Swampmen, “We knew we were going to have this ridiculous situation of these two swamp monsters running around at the same time. Len was doing some work for Marvel, and he and I sat down one afternoon in the Marvel offices. He had been introduced to me as ‘Oh, you’re the guy who’s doing Man-Thing. I’m doing Swamp Thing.’ We made a decision that the two books were going to be nothing alike. I just asked him, ‘Well, do you have anything planned steve gerber MONSTER OF THE MYSTIC ARTS for the next X-number of issues of Swamp Thing?’ Fear #11 featured art by Rich Buckler and Jim Mooney 1982 photo by and courtesy of Alan Light. He said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t. Why don’t you tell me what you’re doing and I’ll do someand introduced an element of magic to the series. It’s not that difficult to assume some mystical force was present at thing completely different.’” Sallis’ transformation into Man-Thing, and he is a monster, so why not Gerber wrote most of the series “Marvel style,” giving the magic? In the swamp outside of Citrusville, Florida, teenager Jennifer penciler a plot and then scripting once the art was completed. Kale, with the help of her younger brother Andy, attempts to summon “A plot for a 20-page story for me would run about five or six the Nether-Spawn using a book they “borrowed” from their grandfather. single-spaced, typed pages which would break it down pretty After the incantation, they don’t notice anything and, assuming the tightly, actually,” said Gerber in Swampmen. “It was pretty much summoning to be a failure, head back to town. But it has worked and all there except the dialogue, and was generally broken down Thog, the Nether-Spawn follows them into town, with Man-Thing into groups of pages.” With Man-Thing being a reactive character, Gerber was able to bringing up the rear. Thog attacks the residents of the town and Man-Thing attempts to tell numerous kinds of tales, from mystical adventures to tales defend them, but he has grown weak. A new wrinkle to Man-Thing is tackling social issues. The first of those appear in issue #12 (Feb. 1973), that he is connected to the swamp and the longer he’s away from it, with art by Jim Starlin and Rich Buckler, which looks at racism. the weaker he becomes. The battle eventually returns to the swamp, Man-Thing unintentionally gets involved in a dispute between a where Man-Thing defeats Thog with the help of Andy, who burns the white sheriff and an African-American suspect and things do not book, which sends the Nether-Spawn back to where he came from. end well for either of them. New York as a graduation present, and he stayed a week at the place where I was already staying, with a guy named Dave Kaler, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. So we got to know each other a little better. We kept in touch and a few years later, in the early ’70s, he wrote me and said, ‘Help! I’m working at an advertising agency in St. Louis and I’m going crazy.’ “When he got to New York, he was as unhappy with the restrictions in comics as he was with advertising, because they’re not dissimilar. He was still a great person. I first put him on staff, but unfortunately, I don’t know why, but he kept falling asleep. You can’t do that when you’re an assistant editor. I’d walk in and find him sleeping at his desk, but not because he was lazy. [Editor’s note: Gerber suffered from a sleep disorder.] The staff job didn’t work out too well. He worked out pretty well as a freelancer. He certainly did a lot of interesting things over the course of his career in comics, and I’m pleased and proud to have played a part in getting him into the field. I wish he was still around.”

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The format of these initial stories seemed familiar to Thomas. “Whether he meant to or not, Steve kinda turned it back to the way the old Heap stories had been. If you’ve read any of those, quite often the Heap plays a supporting role in the stories. He’d hang around the edges of the story then come in at the end to knock off the bad guy or do something strange. Often he was a peripheral part of the story.” Gerber did create a rotating cast of supporting characters to the book, creating some stability for Man-Thing. Jennifer and Andy Kale are back in issue #13 (Apr. 1973), along with their grandfather, Joshua, who was only mentioned in issue #11. He bears a passing resemblance to THINGS GET WEIRD Stan Lee and is reveled to be the leader This issue introduced an important of the Cult of Zhered-Na. They know member of the creative team, penciler that Man-Thing is the protector of the Val Mayerik, who would stay on as swamp, which is actually a crossroads of artist through the rest of Man-Thing’s realities, and he will protect humanity run in Fear and the first four issues from a demon horde. Quite a step up of the Man-Thing series. val mayerik from being merely a monster acciden“I like Steve personally, I like his tally created when the Super-Soldier writing,” Mayerik shared with Jon B. serum reacted with the swamp water. Comicvine. Cooke in Swampmen. “I didn’t think Thog is back as well, causing troubles for everyone, Marvel was exhibiting any real concern for the character, including Man-Thing, as he restores him to his human for the book.” form as Ted Sallis. But he needs to be Man-Thing to Mayerik continued, “I spent all this time trying to protect humanity, so he’s his slimy self (for good) by make it look real Frazetta-like, with all these great the end of the story. renderings of the Man-Thing and the textures and the reflection in the water. And then, holy God in Heaven, they just butchered it. Besides the inking being horrible, Mayerik Mucks it Up they threw all these bright colors on it. They made the swamp look like a gymnasium. It was just terrible. (opposite page) The marsh monster as … The only guy that I was satisfied with, a guy named illo’ed in mixed media in the 1970s by Val Chic Stone, inked one job.” Despite Mayerik’s dissatisfaction for how his art Mayerik, from the Heritage archives. was handled, having an artist give a consistent look Man-Thing TM & © Marvel. to the series definitively helped, no matter how

In the Heat of the Night (left) Manny encounters racism (and a big snake!) in Fear #12 (Feb. 1973). Cover art by Jim Starlin and Herb Trimpe. (right) A spooky splash for issue #13, penciled by Val Mayerik. TM & © Marvel.

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bizarre or normal the story became. And things got much more bizarre quickly. Things heat up in issue #14 (June 1973) as the demon invasion begins. No, there aren’t demons running around. Instead they inhabit people and animals sending them on a murderous rampage. Man-Thing and Jennifer end up in another realm where they meet the newest member of the supporting cast, Dakimh the Enchanter. He also insists on referring to Man-Thing as the “Man-Object.” Things reach a climax in Fear #15 (Aug. 1973) as we learn that Zehred-Na was an Atlantean sorceress whose prophecies angered the leader of Atlantis, so she was banished. Turns out, everything she said was true. Dakimh is her last living disciple, Jennifer is her heir apparent, and she and Man-Thing manage to put a stop to the demon invasion. For now. More importantly, this issue introduced Frank Brunner as cover artist. Brunner’s rendition of Man-Thing remains a fan-favorite to this day. How did he start doing Man-Thing covers? “I had been working in the horror field of comics, Web of Horror, Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella before I joined Marvel,” says Brunner. “Roy Thomas thought I’d be very suitable to do Man-Thing covers and so did I.” Man-Thing turned out to be a character Brunner enjoyed drawing. “I thought the design was better than Swamp Thing! He just looked more swampy and unique. A truly scary-looking creature!

“I would get a copy of the script and pick a scene that I thought would be best. The only cover I got resistance on from editorial (Marv Wolfman/Len Wein, after Roy) was one of my favorites... the closeup shot on the cover of Giant-Size Man-Thing #4.” As beautiful as Brunner’s covers were, readers unfortunately never saw him draw a Man-Thing story. Was Brunner ever offered a full story? “Many times by Roy Thomas, but I was busy doing Doctor Strange! My philosophy was quality, not quantity!” Fear #16 (Sept. 1973) introduces a new adversary for Man-Thing, F. A. Schist, a developer who plans to drain part of the swamp to build an airport. Aside from the ecological effects this would have, with the mystic nature of the swamp, destroying it could re-open the gate to the netherworld. To add to the issue, the swamp is a home to a tribe on Native Americans, and they won’t take lying down the destruction of their home. And with Man-Thing’s connection to the swamp, destroying it could destroy him. A worker attempts to kill Man-Thing and ends up dead himself. There’s a lot going on in this issue, whose events span a few months of fictional time.

A DISRUPTIVE CONTROVERSY

Issue #17 (Oct. 1973) introduces a Superman tribute/parody character named Wundarr. Like Superman, he is rocketed away from his home world as an infant to save him from the planet’s destruction. Unlike Superman, he was not raised to adulthood by a kindly old couple. Instead, he’s stuck in the rocket and emerges in his early 20s as basically a superpowered infant. Since Man-Thing is what he first sees when he emerges, he assumes he’s his mother. The encounter does not go well for either of them. It also didn’t go well for Gerber. “Steve decided to toss that character in as a takeoff on Superman,” recalls Roy Thomas. “Somehow it came to Stan’s attention at an early stage, which means that somebody, quite likely I, may have brought it to his attention, as I became concerned that it was just too much like Superman. Stan certainly did. He said, ‘I don’t want any trouble with this. I don’t want to get a letter from DC or their lawyers. It’s fine otherwise, but you’ve got to change some things so it’s not so close to Superman.’ I talked to Steve about that and he said, ‘Okay.’ If he did anything to it, I couldn’t tell. And somehow it went out without my checking it carefully enough, or something. I don’t remember if we got a letter for DC or not. We might have… I think we probably did. Stan was just livid. Steve came very close to being fired over it. Stan called him in and raked him over the coals. Steve totally deserved it. If you’re working for a company and they tell you to do something or not to do something, you should do it or you should quit. Steve subverted our purposes. He’s very, very fortunate that Stan decided to give him one more chance. He was really skating on thin ice for a while after that. “I speak as the guy who hired Steve and really liked him,” Thomas adds. “It was a bad judgment he made. I got chewed out for not watching him more carefully. Stan knew that I didn’t have time to read every comic and had to trust these writers who were de facto editors to do what I told them. For my part, I was really pissed off that I had told Steve what needed to be done and he hadn’t done it. If he had done it again, I would have fired him.” While Wundarr never appeared in a Man-Thing story again aside from in a flashback panel or two, the character did appear as a supporting character, with a slightly changed origin, during Gerber’s brief stint as writer on Marvel Two-in-One. He would eventually evolve into the Aquarian during the “Project Pegasus” story in Marvel Two-in-One.

When Genres Collide (top) Detail from Fear #14 (June 1973), with Dakimh the Enchanter imperiling our witless “Man-Object.” (bottom) The legendary introduction of Howard the Duck, and a Korrek appearance, from Fear #19. TM & © Marvel.

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Brunner x 3 A trio of Frank Brunner Man-Thing covers: (top left) His first, on Fear #15 (Aug. 1973); (top right) issue #17, featuring the problematic Superman pastiche, Wundarr; and (bottom) the artist’s favorite, Giant-Size Man-Thing #4 (May 1975). TM & © Marvel.

MAN-THING QUACKS UP

Back in Fear #18 (Nov. 1973), the survivors of a bus/car accident attempt to survive in the swamp and Man-Thing tags along. It’s a nice, tense issue with lots of twists and feels very Hitchcockian. This leads to Man-Thing’s final issue of Fear, #19 (Dec. 1973), and it’s a doozy. It opens with Jennifer Kale dreaming of a battle taking place in a magical realm with a bizarre mix of combatants from various times and places. In the waking world, a barbarian named Korrek emerges from a jar of peanut butter (it’s as odd as it sounds), tries to kill Jennifer, and runs off into the swamp where he crosses paths with Man-Thing. And a duck named Howard waddles onto the scene for the very first time. Dakimh the Enchanter is also back and explains that the various realities that were held in delicate balance frank brunner have started converging on the nexus point—Man-Thing’s swamp. Jennifer is © Luigi Novi / kidnapped by the forces of ghe Overlord Wikimedia Commons. and demons overtake a Schist construction site, all leading to the conclusion in Man-Thing #1 (Jan. 1974). Things get really crazy as the Overlord appears and is revealed to be the returning Thog, the Nether-Spawn. Daredevil and Black Widow appear briefly in two panels and inadvertently help our heroes as Thog and his hordes head for the palace of the gods to take control. Trying to describe this battle would be a great injustice to how bizarre it is, including the true identity of the gods. It has to be read to be fully comprehended. Our heroes triumph, and things return to normal. Surprisingly, this was not the only first issue that month written by Gerber that featured Man-Thing. Marvel Twoin-One #1 (Jan. 1974) also debuted as the Thing heads to Florida. Benjamin J. Grimm is upset that some monster is using his name, the same objection that Roy Thomas stated earlier, and intends to clobber him. Instead, the two face the villainy of the Molecule Man. Back in Man-Thing, issue #2 (Feb. 1974) introduces a few new players. Schist hires Hargood Wickham to terminate the Man-Thing, as he has become a thorn in his side. Next is Ruth Hart, a pretty young biker girl whose gang is after her for supposedly stealing money from them. In reality, it was actually one of the other members. Most importantly, we meet Richard Rory, a chronic loser who is based on Gerber himself and would become his voice in the series. All of these people converge as Wickham comes dangerously close to destroying Man-Thing, and Rory helps Ruth prove her innocence and expose the real culprit. Issues #3 and 4 (Mar.–Apr. 1974) introduced a character that has stuck around the Marvel Universe in various forms, the Foolkiller. In this story, he is a religious zealot who keeps the corpse of his mentor, Reverend Mike, in a glass case full of fluid. He has come to Florida to kill Ted Sallis, F. A. Schist, and Richard Rory, all of whom he considers fools. He has deduced that Man-Thing is Sallis and kills him (he gets better) and takes off after the others. Anyone who won’t aid him is a fool, so he leaves Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 11

In the Mood for Ploog? Mike Ploog ManThing masterpieces: (top left) Cover to issue #5 (May 1974). (bottom) That issue’s opening page, featuring a dramatic reveal of mucky Manny. (top right) A monster-ific shocker for issue #8’s cover! TM & © Marvel.

a trail of bodies in his wake. He does manage to capture both Schist and Rory and is about to execute them when Man-Thing appears. A shot goes astray, shattering the glass coffin, and a piece of glass impales him, ending his reign of terror. This is also artist Val Mayerik’s final story in Man-Thing, but not his last time drawing the character. He drew Howard the Duck #22–23 (Mar.–Apr. 1978), a Star Wars parody, that featured Howard, Dakimh, Jennifer, Korrek, and Man-Thing facing the forces of the twisted Berserk Joe.

ENTER PLOOG, GIANT-SIZE, AND… NIXON?

Mike Ploog joined the creative team with issue #5 (May 1974), beginning a run that is a favorite amongst fans of Man-Thing. Ploog told me about his working relationship with Gerber when I interviewed him for mike ploog Modern Masters vol. 19 Mike Ploog (TwoMorrows 2008). “We did most of our plotting over the phone. Courtesy of Planet of the Apes Wiki. Steve would call me up and say, ‘Oh, Mike. I had such a terrible week. I’ve been sick, I’ve got a horrible cold.’ I thought, ‘That’s good, Steve. What are we going to do?’ Or, ‘Mike, my wife just left me and I wrecked the car and the house is on fire, but I haven’t got the energy to go put it out.’ I learned more about Steve’s personal life when I was working with him than I did about Man-Thing. Every time I saw Steve I hugged him because you can’t help it. You gotta love him. And he’s a fantastic writer.” A clown named Darrel has run off from a carnival that has set up in Citrusville and committed suicide. Richard and Ruth encounter Ayla Prentiss, a carnival performer who is distraught that Darrel has run away. They unfortunately run afoul of the carnival heavy, Tragg, and the owner of the carnival, Mr. Garvey. Ayla, Ruth, and Richard find Darrel’s body and his ghost leads them into the swamp where they encounter Tragg, Garvey, and of course, Man-Thing. They all become unwilling actors in a play of Darrel’s life, which is judged by three hooded figures. They condemn him and Man-Thing attempts to stop them from carrying out the sentence, but it is Ayla’s love for him that ultimately saves him. 12 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

Macabre Master A gorgeous Ploog splash, with Frank Chiaramonte inks, from Man-Thing #9 (Sept. 1974). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

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This story remains Ploog’s favorite as he told me in Modern Masters. “To me, that was a stroke of Gerber genius. Having the whole story take place in flashback that was acted out in the swamp was absolutely fantastic. You can see people sitting at the breakfast table and they’re knee deep in swamp water. I love that story.” Issues #7 and 8 (July–Aug. 1974) bring F. A. Schist’s story to a close as his construction site shuts down due to the new airport being shelved because of a very ’70s reason—the energy crisis. But it also reveals an ulterior motive: he was also searching for the Fountain of Youth. And it turned out he was closer than he realized. There is a mysterious Spanish settlement in the swamp that Man-Thing stumbles on after being attacked by a group of conquistadors. After Man-Thing’s driven away, he literally runs into Schist and Wickham. The three eventually converge back in the settlement and it’s discovered the fountain could restore Man-Thing to his human form. Things don’t end well and Wickham and Schist both end up dead, and Man-Thing again roams the swamp. Next comes what’s probably the most snicker-inducing title in comics, Giant-Size Man-Thing #1 (Aug. 1974). This story brings back the Glob from the Hulk story that Roy Thomas had done earlier. Except all that’s left is his brain, which is in the hands of a cult of entropists whose leader looks suspiciously like former president Richard Nixon. “That was my idea,” said Ploog in Modern Masters. “I got a lot of response to that. I had professors writing in. I didn’t know these guys read comic books. Political analysts and professors wrote to me about this Nixon character. The good thing about it is that it’s so poorly drawn that I didn’t get any kind of repercussions from the U.S. Government.” The brain “escapes” into the swamp during an encounter with Man-Thing and builds a new body for itself, that of an attractive young man who helps a scientist set up a city of the future in the swamp. The entropists discover him, turn him into a monster again who destroys the city, and battles Man-Thing.

THINGS GET WEIRDER STILL

Houston, We Have a Problem The artistry of Alfredo Alcala, as seen on the splash (top) to Man-Thing #14 (Feb. 1975). (bottom) That issue’s cover, by Gil Kane. TM & © Marvel.

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Back in the regular series, issues #9 and 10 (Sept.–Oct. 1974) tell the story of an old couple, a gentle old man and a cantankerous woman who live in the swamp, and their dog. The old woman is bitter at having spent the better part of her life so far from any creature comforts. When she apparently dies, her spirit takes over various elements of the swamp, attacking her husband, the dog, and Man-Thing. When it’s discovered this is not the woman’s spirit but an evil spirit, the dog attacks and defeats it, losing its life in the process. “Oddly enough, that was more or less one of my plots,” Ploog revealed in Modern Masters. “On television there was a Gunsmoke character, a haggy kind of woman who hung out in Dodge City. I can’t remember her name. I fell in love with this character. Jack Elam’s character falls in love with her. I told Steve, ‘We’ve got to do a story with that old lady that lives in the swamp with this Jack Elam kind of a guy.’ It just ran off from there.” Ploog’s run as artist concludes with issue #11, which introduces a lady named Sybil, who Richard Rory discovers in the swamp running from kidnappers. The masked kidnappers soon appear and a chase ensues that concludes with Man-Thing protecting her and Richard. Tragically, one of the kidnappers is revealed to be Sybil’s brother, who was disfigured by a napalm blast in Vietnam. The others are also disfigured soldiers who hoped this kidnapping would draw attention to their plight. They never meant to harm her, they just wanted their story to be heard. The legendary John Buscema, along with inkers Klaus Janson, Tom Sutton, and Tom Palmer, draws his first issue of Man-Thing with Giant-Size #2 (Nov. 1974), which is a riff on King Kong as well as an epilog to F. A. Schist’s story. His wife and daughter are convinced Man-Thing killed Schist. They arrange the capture of Man-Thing and bring him to New York. Of course, he breaks

free of his confinement and runs wild in the streets before collapsing from being away from the Everglades for so long. The daughter tires of vengeance and has the weakened Man-Thing returned to the swamp. The story is squarely set in the Marvel Universe and features guest appearances from the Fantastic Four and Tony Stark. Man-Thing #12 (Dec. 1974) is one of the stranger issues in the series. Titled “Song Cry of the Living Dead Man,” it is more a meditation on the creative process than anything else. The fact that Gerber makes this work as a comic story is impressive. Issues #13 and 14 (Jan.–Feb. 1975), with art by Alfredo Alcala in #14, return to a more mystical story than we’ve seen in a while. Dr. Maura Spinner sets out to do some scientific experiments in the Bermuda Triangle. Unknown to her, and everyone else on the ship, they have a stowaway. Man-Thing has stumbled into the ship’s hold and gets weaker and weaker the farther the ship travels out to sea. So when they discover him, he’s too weak to defend himself. Suddenly, a ghostly pirate ship with red sails appears in the sky and the pirates, led by Captain Fate, descend to the ship and abscond with Dr. Spinner and Man-Thing. The ship speeds away into outer space. The magic involved in what’s going on returns Man-Thing to full strength and he lashes out at the pirates. They eventually overwhelm him and toss Man-Thing over the side where he freezes in the vastness of space and burns as he reenters the atmosphere, splashing down next to the research ship. Captain Fate then reveals how Maura used to be their leader and they went to the fabled tower of an old satyr named Khordes to get its legendary stash of riches. They find the treasure and Khordes, who tells them they can have all the treasure they want if Maura stays with him. She’s shocked when her crew agrees. She deals Khordes a deathblow, and he curses both her and her crew as his tower falls. Man-Thing renters the picture, as where he has landed is where the tower fell. Touching Khordes’ skull brings back the tower and Khordes, who reveals he had tried to save Maura as he knew of Fate’s treachery. She agrees to stay this time as Man-Thing dispatches the pirates and wanders back to Florida along the ocean floor. Giant-Size Man-Thing #3 (Feb. 1975) reunites Man-Thing with Jennifer, Korrek, and Dakimh for an adventure on Korrek’s homeworld. It’s a fairly straightahead barbarian story. Mortak and the wizard Klonus plan to kill Korrek and take his throne, but Man-Thing arrives and saves him, though the fate of his kingdom is uncertain. They are both spirited away to Dakimh’s castle, where it is revealed that Jennifer has become his apprentice. Klonus, Mortak, and a dragon challenge the four in battle on Earth. They manage to win, but at a terrible cost as Dakimh is killed. Jennifer wraps the unconscious bodies of Mortak and Klonus in mystical cocoons and sends them hurtling into space. Remember that. It’s important. Issue #15 (Mar. 1975) is a done-in-one story, “A Candle for Sainte-Cloud,” in which Man-Thing may not even appear. A young woman named Sainte-Cloud buys a candle of Man-Thing in a shop, not knowing it is part of a trap laid by a jilted lover named Chuck. When the candle is lit, it releases a hallucinogen and he intends to rush in and save her from the hallucination. Things go horribly wrong as her current boyfriend is there when she lights the candle, as is Man-Thing (maybe). Chuck’s face ends up horribly burned, but was it Man-Thing who caused the injury or wax from the candle? This is a very interesting character-driven story that really shows Gerber’s growth as a writer.

A CRAZY CONCLUSION

Issue #16 (Apr. 1975) begins the build to the end of the Man-Thing series. A glam rocker named Eugene Spangler is at the top of his game. He shocks everyone when he says he’s going into seclusion. A young girl runs through the swamp. She trips and is attacked by an alligator but is saved at the last instant by Man-Thing. We then meet the reason she’s fleeing. She’s being pursued by, of all things, a mad Viking. The young girl runs into Spangler and his followers deep in the swamp, where we discover that the Viking is her grandfather who is out to destroy those who undermine the concept of masculinity. Spangler is definitely on his list. The Viking arrives at the encampment and kills many of Spangler’s followers. Man-Thing tries to stop him, and he does burn his hands, but not before the Viking has buried his axe in Spangler’s chest. Giant-Size Man-Thing #4 (May 1975) is best known for containing the first Howard the Duck solo story. But it also contains what may well be Gerber’s best Man-Thing tale, featuring art by Ed Hannigan and Ron Wilson. In Citrusville, Man-Thing stumbles across a funeral for a high school student named Edmond Winshed. Another student named Alice disrupts the

Burned a Good Book Lately? Gil Kane/Tom Palmer original cover art (courtesy of Heritage) to Man-Thing #17 (May 1975). TM & © Marvel.

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Gerber’s Goodbye The wordsmith signs off on this last page of Man-Thing #22 (Oct. 1975), the final issue of the muck monster’s first series. Art by Jim Mooney. TM & © Marvel.

funeral, saying that the assembled mourners killed him and Edmond hated them. His uncle can’t take it and begins to beat Alice until he’s stopped by Man-Thing. Alice’s big secret is she has Edmond’s diary, which she reads to her classmates. He was an overweight, nerdy kid who didn’t fit in. His one friend seemed to be his aunt. That didn’t end well as his uncle beat him because he thought the two of them were romantically involved. But he made another friend in Alice and the two became close. His end came when the gym coach had him run laps as punishment. The coach had him run so much that the strain was too great for his body and he had a heart attack and died. His schoolmates are shocked by what they hear. Not so the adults, who want to know what else is in the diary. They kidnap Alice and hang her from the rings in the gym to get what they want. Man-Thing is attracted to the emotions of the parents and attacks while her classmates rescue Alice. Man-Thing kills the coach, burning a hole through his heart. But even at the end, the coach does not believe that he did anything wrong.

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The plight of Edmond surely rang bells for many of the comic readers, even if the particulars did not. And the darker tone of the story would play out till the series concluded. Issue #17 (May 1975) saw a new member of the creative team arrive; artist Jim Mooney who would remain with the series till it concluded with issue #22. “I liked the way Steve Gerber wrote it,” Mooney told Jon B. Cooke in Swampmen. “I liked Steve’s writing, anyway. And it intrigued me. It was something that I put more time than I would have on any other strip, to lavish more care and attention on it, because I did enjoy it that much.” And it wasn’t just the stories, it was how he wrote. “Steve did not have plots. He wrote a full script, I thought, ‘Oh, God, back to DC.’ I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to like it. And I read it, and I thought, ‘Hey, this works. That panel should be there. This should be this way!’” Man-Thing has been away from the swamp too long following his ordeal in Giant-Size Man-Thing #4. In his weakened condition, he is captured by a group of angry men and taken to the sewage treatment plant where he’s dumped into a vat and left to dissolve. The Viking is still around and lurking in town. An angry mother, Olivia Selby, reads her daughter’s hygiene book and is shocked at what she finds. Radio DJ Richard Rory is sent to cover the mayor’s press conference about the Viking. The Viking, Olivia, and Richard all collide at the press conference. The mayor barely opens his mouth when Olivia and her band of angry moms unveil a banner declaring them the Mothers’ March for Decency. They intend to bring good values back to Citrusville. When the Viking arrives at the meeting, he’s hailed as a hero and they begin burning the hygiene books. Rory tries to stop the madness and gets clouted by the Viking for his trouble. The rise of groups such as the Moral Majority and others wanting to bring back what they considered decency into American life obviously alarmed Gerber as

they were also the subject of a storyline in Howard the Duck #20–21 (Jan.–Feb. 1978), when Man-Thing faced Sudd and the S.O.O.F.I. (Save Our Offspring From Indecency). In Howard, the storyline was parody. In Man-Thing, it’s played for pure horror as the mob overtakes the school and plans to burn all the books. The Viking even kills a biology teacher to the cheers of the crowd. Rory gets Astrid, the Viking’s granddaughter, to try to talk some sense into him. He kills her and the crowd believes she deserved it. It is then that a foaming, bubbling creature arises from the sewage treatment plant. It battles the Viking, the foam travelling from the Man-Thing to the Viking, engulfing him and destroying him. Man-Thing and Rory decide to leave town and Olivia Selby’s daughter begs to come with them. Rory agrees. We have a slight interruption for the final issue of Giant-Size Man-Thing. Issue #5 (Aug. 1975) is the weakest of the run, with three stories instead of one long one. Steve Gerber and Ed Hannigan provide a framing story as Ted Sallis and his date go to see a fortuneteller at a carnival. The fortuneteller spins three tales of his future as Man-Thing. The first, by Gerber and artist Tom Sutton, tells of a demonic cult in an apartment building and a summoning that does not go well. The second story is by Len Wein and John Buscema and is a riff on Romeo and Juliet set in the swamp. The final story, by Marv Wolfman, Hannigan, and Sutton, tells of one of Man-Thing’s burn victims who seeks revenge. While not a bad issue, it feels quite different from what is happening in the ongoing series. Issue #19 (July 1975) finds Man-Thing, Richard Rory, and Carol Selby in Atlanta. His ordeal in the sewage treatment plant altered Man-Thing so that he is now self-sustaining. He is no longer shackled to the swamp. Carol also drops a bombshell—she’s only 16, and Richard’s taken her across state lines, so he’s officially a kidnapper. And Man-Thing didn’t stay in the van at the motel parking lot and is causing a commotion. The biggest commotion, however, is caused by a masked villain called Scavenger. His kiss can literally kill, and even a short kiss can make you lose your mind. He turns out to be stunningly handsome and seems grateful when Man-Thing burns his face. After this scuffle at the motel, our heroes are sent packing. A short distance away, they are in a terrible car accident and the driver of the other car is mumbling something about a box and “he definitely isn’t human.” The box in question is a Nightmare Box and belongs to a woman named Dani. When she looks into the box, light pulses between them, filling the box, but with what and to what purpose? And then things get even stranger as demons disguised as Marvel heroes attack Man-Thing, which causes panic on the streets of Atlanta. The Scavenger returns and we finally get his origin. He was born without the ability to feel: heat, cold, touch, pain, pleasure, anything. He was made an offer to allow him to feel. When he kisses someone, it kills them but it also passes all of their feelings onto him so he can feel for a brief time. What the box is draining from Dani is emotions. She’s also Scavenger’s sister and has the opposite issue from him. She feels everything and it drives her mad. Emptying her emotions into the Nightmare Box is the only way she can function in society. The cocoons bearing Klonus and Mortak fall back to Earth (told you to remember them). They emerge and attack Man-Thing. And the villain behind it all is revealed. Thog, the NetherSpawn has returned. Issue #22 (Oct. 1975) brings the story and the series to a close in bizarre fashion as the story takes the form of a letter that Steve Gerber has written to editor Len Wein. He reveals how Dakimh came to him and told him he must chronicle the Man-Object’s adventures. He also writes of

Man-Thing Unleashed (top) Bob Larkin painted cover to the black-and-white magazine Monsters Unleashed #5. (bottom) A page from the second chapter of Gerber’s Man-Thing prose story, from the magazine Monsters Unleashed #9 (Dec. 1974). Illustrations by Pat Broderick and Allen Milgrom. TM & © Marvel.

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Our Cover Art Unplugged While colorist Glenn Whitmore did an awesome job adding hues to this illustration, it’s equally amazing to witness artist Rudy Nebres’ detailed linework in its original form. Special thanks to Ryan Bunn, who commissioned this piece and provided a scan for publication. Man-Thing TM & © Marvel.

how Thog escaped after the events of issue #1 and developed a plan to plunge our world into madness by creating a giant pyramid of the Nightmare Boxes. The madness in Cirtusville was a byproduct of all this. In the end, Dakimh has Gerber and Man-Thing team up to defeat Thog. A bizarre cosmic battle ends the off-the-wall story that seems fitting for the final issue of a title that could do most anything.

THE GERBER LEGACY

“The stories were good,” says Roy Thomas. “Steve did some interesting things, but it was never a big sales success. I think it could have been as successful as Swamp Thing if it had been handled in a little different way, but that was our fault too for not insisting, I suppose. At the same time, the character’s still around and he has a nice, rich heritage if we forget about that awful Syfy Channel movie.” The series was not the only place where Gerber wrote solo Man-Thing stories. There was a text story with spot illustrations by Pat Broderick that ran in Monsters Unleashed #8–9 (Oct.–Dec. 1974). The magazine format allowed him to tell more mature tales than he could in the monthly series. Rampaging Hulk #7 (Feb. 1978) contained a stunning story by Gerber and Jim Starlin that featured a woman with an odd ability—the different facets of her personality could manifest themselves as different people. Plus, Tony Isabella and Vicente Alcazar provided a story in Monsters Unleashed #5 (Apr. 1974) that gave some redemption to Sallis’ girlfriend Ellen. These were far from the only Man-Thing tales in the Bronze Age. You can find memorable guest appearances in Marvel Team-Up #68 (Apr. 1978), Marvel Two-in-One #43 (Sept. 1978), Master of Kung Fu #18 (Aug. 1974), Micronauts #7 (July 1979), Incredible Hulk #197–198 (Mar.–Apr. 1976; #197 features a Bernie Wrightson cover, completing the oddness of Swamp Thing’s creators working on Man-Thing), his “partnership” with the Legion of Monsters in Marvel Premiere #28 (Feb. 1976), and more before he once again got his own series [see article elsewhere in this issue—ed.]. But it would be difficult to find a creator who had more of an impact on the character than writer Steve Gerber. Gerber’s friend and frequent co-writer Mary Skrenes sums up the series in this way: “He wanted to collaborate with me and he gave me his Man-Thing series to familiarize me with his work. Reading those books, in sequence, over the next week was very entertaining and informative. I watched Gerber’s writing ability grow. Steve could always write, but as he found his voice, I watched his work mature, rapidly. It was quite remarkable. “Steve used the Man-Thing book to tell his kind of stories. He told me that Manny was a difficult and disliked character because it had no personality, thoughts, or feelings. He found it a perfect vehicle to tell stories about characters and concepts important to him. “The stories touched the hearts of many readers. Steve continued to get touching letters, from some of them, until he died.” An impressive legacy for both the man and the Man-Thing. Special thanks to Frank Brunner, Gerry Conway, Mary Skrenes, Roy Thomas, Jon B. Cooke, George Khoury, and KC Carlson for their assistance with this article. ROGER ASH lives in Wisconsin, where he works for Westfield Comics and the Baltimore Comic-Con.

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by J o h n

Wells

He wore a crimson shag rug as a cape and green-andblack-striped bikini briefs over a bright yellow body stocking. On spinner racks filled with colorful characters, he still stood out. Was this the future of superheroes, one might have asked in 1968, or should they beware… the Creeper? In November of 1965, Marvel Comics star Steve Ditko had walked away from Marvel Comics on a matter of principle. The Spider-Man co-creator had no problem finding work elsewhere, but those venues were struggling two years later. Supported by Charlton Comics editor Dick Giordano, Ditko had revitalized Captain Atom and created a new incarnation of the Blue Beetle, but the publisher opted to cancel its entire “Action Hero” line in 1967. National (DC) Comics’ newly installed art director Carmine Infantino saw this as welcome news. It’s unclear who made the first move, but Steve Ditko soon had a deal to develop new features for DC. Although he excelled at high fantasy on the order of his signature “Dr. Strange” run [in Marvel’s Strange Tales—ed.], the cartoonist leaned toward more grounded situations. He’d replaced Charlton’s Superman-esque Blue Beetle with an athletic-but-mortal character who supplemented his heroics with technology. And Ditko’s Mister A and the Question were each stylishly outfitted men who ruthlessly focused on crimes perpetrated by human villains. “I prefer conflicts that are based on reality rather than based on fantasy,” Steve Ditko explained in the 1968 fanzine Marvel Main #4. “When you get wound up with super villains, super fantastic gadgets and super incredible action, everything has to be made so deliberately that it all becomes senseless. It boils down to what you want a story to stand for.”

THE COMING—AND GOING— OF THE CREEPER

Talk show host Jack Ryder was also determined to stand for something, and it cost him his job two pages into “The Coming of the Creeper” (Showcase steve ditko #73, on sale in January 1968). Unable to hold his tongue when his guest Dr. Clayton Wetley issued a blanket condemnation of the police as symbols of violence, Ryder drew the wrath of the show’s sponsor—and a pal of the pacifist. Ryder had been fired for only minutes when the TV network’s security chief, Bill Brane, hired him back as an investigator. (Ditko may have chosen that job as a way of distinguishing his hero from news photographer

One-Hit Wonder Chief among the Creeper’s many, and scattered, Bronze Age appearances was this solo shot in 1st Issue Special #7 (Oct. 1975). Cover by Steve Ditko and Al Milgrom. Unless otherwise noted, all art scans accompanying this article are courtesy of John Wells. TM & © DC Comics.

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Peter [Spider-Man] Parker and TV reporter Vic [Question] Sage.) His first mission was to infiltrate a social gala where gangland forces led by “Angel” Devlin intended to deliver a Russian defector to Soviet handlers. Jack was up for the job, even with his last-minute discovery that it was a costume party and he had nothing to wear. Cannibalizing a box of remnants, Ryder arrived in a garish yellow, green, and red outfit and sustained a nasty knife wound before sequestering himself in a room with the pivotal Professor Yatz. Looking at his would-be rescuer, the scientist saw a means of hiding the creations that had made him a target of the Communist forces. First, he injected Jack with a serum that would enable him to heal almost instantly from any injury along with enhancing his strength and stamina. Yatz also implanted a disc in the investigator’s open wound, detailing that “it would rearrange the molecular structure of matter, making it weightless and invisible.” For Ryder’s purpose, it rendered his costume invisible and intangible whenever he pressed a matching disc in his palm. Yatz, inevitably, was gunned down in the melee that followed, but Ryder—dubbed “The Creeper” by a policeman—brought Devlin and many of his partners to justice. Improvising during the chaos, Jack ran with the gangsters’ reaction to his bizarre looks, adding a maniacal laugh to his act and making them question whether he was human or a demon. The performance was so good that the police wanted the Creeper almost as badly as the underworld by page 23. Following the obligatory appearance in the Showcase tryout title, Beware the Creeper (BTC) #1 went on sale in March 1968 and added new names to the credit box. The pilot had been edited by Murray Boltinoff and dialogued by Don Segall, but Ditko hoped to find a place for an old Charlton colleague. On the cartoonist’s recommendation, Dick Giordano was hired as a DC editor and succeeded Boltinoff with BTC #1. Also joining the team was Denny O’Neil, who began plotting and scripting the feature (initially under the pseudonym of “Sergius O’Shaughnessy”) after dialoging Ditko’s story for issue #1. On O’Neil’s watch, a recurring villain joined the series in the form of Proteus. A variation on Ditko’s earlier Chameleon in Amazing Spider-Man, the character sported a featureless snow-white head that he could reshape to resemble anyone he wished. Among those was the Creeper himself, whom Proteus framed for murder at the front of issue #2. In BTC #3, O’Neil also expanded Ditko’s small supporting cast of Bill Brane and social-climbing weathergirl Vera Sweet with the addition of Remington Percival Cord. A co-worker at WHAM-TV, Rip—as he was called— became fast friends with Jack and they were soon roommates. Once Proteus returned in issue #4, things went south for the relationship. The climactic issue #6 revealed that Cord was Proteus, a mad refugee from the island nation of Offalia, who’d stolen its “single state

The Creeper Faces Off (top) From the late Silver Age, Ditko’s dynamic splash to the Creeper’s premiere in Showcase #73 (Mar.–Apr. 1968). Original art scan courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). (inset) Proteus vs. the Creeper! The Ditko-drawn cover of Beware the Creeper #5 (bottom left) Chameleon vs. Spidey! Splash page from Amazing Spider-Man #1. Creeper TM & © DC Comics. Spider-Man and Fantastic Four TM & © Marvel.

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Doesn’t Play Well with Others Early Creeper appearances outside of his own series: (left) with Batman in The Brave and the Bold #80 (Oct.– Nov. 1968) and (right) with the JLA in Justice League of America #70 (Mar. 1969). Both covers by Neal Adams. TM & © DC Comics.

secret, a chemical that alters the molecular structure of flesh.” By the end of the story, Proteus was no more—killed in an explosion—and so was the series. Like most launches of the era, Beware the Creeper had failed to sell in the numbers that DC hoped, and it was cancelled. By that point, even Ditko had left the series, albeit for medical reasons rather than professional ones. A resurgence of the tuberculosis he’d suffered in 1954 forced the cartoonist to drop his assignments for the time being. He was able to pencil about half of BTC #6, but the story had to be completed by artists Jack Sparling and John Celardo. Even in a best-case scenario without illness or cancellation, Ditko would likely have made an early exit from the book. “Denny had written a script of Beware the Creeper,” Dick Giordano recalled in Comic Book Artist #1 (Spring 1998), “and he wrote something about this character who was described in the script as an ‘ex-criminal.’ Steve jotted down a very bold note on the script that ‘there was no such thing as an ‘ex-criminal.’ Once you’ve committed a crime, you’re a criminal for life.’ First of all, that wasn’t in the copy. There was no need for him to take that attitude, to take that harsh a view over what Denny had written. Basically, what it got down to at that point was that Denny and Steve couldn’t work together anymore.” “Steve, I think, probably very, very much disliked what I did to his character,” O’Neil conceded in an interview in Amazing Heroes #50 (July 1, 1984). “For one thing, I gave him a sense of humor [laughs]. And, I had no idea of what Steve’s feelings were when I wrote the Creeper initially. I might not have done some of those things if I had known, if I’d realized it was going so much against his grain. “On the other hand, I could never, never write anything he could conceive of as a hero. Because I think he writes monsters in the guise of heroes. Steve and I have virtually 180° different ideas of what constitutes a hero. For example, he recently did one of my Iron Man stories [1982’s Iron Man #160], in which it is acknowledged that Iron Man is an alcoholic. And Steve didn’t want to do that at all. Heroes are not alcoholics. My feeling is, of course, if you’re an alcoholic and you overcome it, you become twice a hero. But Steve doesn’t see it that way at all. Heroes have to be paragons. I find paragons generally dull.” O’Neil had also brought that sentiment to Justice League of America, where he added a bit of spice to the personalities of its heroic cast

when he began writing the book in 1968. Worlds collided in JLA #70 (drawn by Dick Dillin and Sid Greene) when the team decided to investigate whether the Creeper was a hero or villain. On sale just days after Beware the Creeper #6 in January 1969, the story ended with the team still conflicted. Superman, at least, was convinced that the guy with the sheepskin cape was one of the good guys. Batman felt the same, having instigated the Creeper query after meeting him in 1968’s The Brave and the Bold #80 (on sale between BTC #3 and 4). Despite the personality clash of the stoic Caped Crusader and his manic partner (rendered by Neal Adams), the villainous Hellgrammite was no match for the duo. The story’s significance is less its plot than its details. True to his reputation for playing fast and loose with continuity in his B&B scripts, writer Bob Haney portrayed Jack Ryder as an over-the-top TV reporter rather than an investigator although an editorial patch explained it away as a temporary assignment. Moreover, the story suggested that Jack’s WHAM-TV was based in Gotham City. Both aberrant points would become canon in the 1970s.

THE CREEPER RETURNS

Before that happened, however, Jack Ryder’s life almost took a thoroughly unexpected direction. In Newfangles #28 (Nov. 1969), Don and Maggie Thompson reported that then-fans “Tony Isabella and Klaus Janson have received permission from [DC publisher Carmine] Infantino to publish Beware the Creeper (with their own script and art and such). Work has been going on for some time now.” Speaking with Jon B. Knutson in Comic Book Artist #13 (2001), Isabella explained, “That came about because I really loved the character and wanted his adventures to continue after his book was canceled. So, I wrote DC publisher Carmine Infantino and asked if I could publish a Creeper fan magazine featuring new stories of the character. Much to my surprise, he said yes. “I wrote a 26-page story that picked up after the last issue of the actual Beware the Creeper comic book. It was supposed to be drawn by a fan artist by the name of Klaus Janson—I wonder if he ever amounted to anything—but he never turned in even a single page of artwork. As this was about the same time I was working my way out of college and starting to work for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, I was too busy to pursue the project further.” Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 23

Fan Fables (top left) Script page of Tony Isabella’s unproduced Creeper fanzine story. (top right) 1968 Creeper fan art by not-yet-pro Klaus Janson, for the cover of Concussion #7. (bottom) More Janson Creeper fan illos from GASlite #10. Creeper TM & © DC Comics.

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Janson’s own love of the Creeper was clear in spot art of the hero that he drew for fanzines of the era such as Concussion #7 (1968), Quintessence #1 (1969), and GASlite #10 (1973). While Janson never delivered the pages for the script that Isabella wrote, the young artist did write and draw a four-page Creeper story of his own for Quintessence #2 (1970). A sequel to Beware the Creeper #3, it featured the hero’s brief return to a remote island populated by people cut off from civilization since the early 1800s. “One may smile, and smile—and be a villain.” – William Shakespeare, from Act 1 of Hamlet. Back at DC, the Creeper finally made his return to the four-color page… just in time to say farewell. Denny O’Neil (as writer) and Dick Giordano (as inker) united with penciler Irv Novick and editor Julius Schwartz for “…And Be a Villain” in Detective Comics #418 (on sale in October 1971). Investigating a series of pharmaceutical robberies, Batman was stunned to discover that the perpetrator was the Creeper. Slowly driven mad by the chemicals he’d been injected with, the one-time hero was now trapped in his garish form 24 hours a day. Professor Yatz’s son Ishmael had assured Jack that he could deliver a cure derived from the stolen drugs but that was, of course, a ruse. In fact, the younger Yatz had been contracted to recreate his father’s serum for “a certain private espionage organization” and handed Jack a “cure” of poison to take him out of the picture. Despite having endowed

himself with enhanced strength, Ishmael was no match for Batman and the dying, crazed Creeper. The surprise came when the Creeper shimmered and changed back into his human form. It seemed, Batman concluded, that Yatz’s toxic cocktail had cancelled out the earlier serum. Jack Ryder lived and the Creeper, it appeared, was dead. Published during a period when the Batman creators were trying to rebrand the character as a dark creature of the night, the presence of a brightly colored adversary was something of a departure. Along with his personal attachment to the Creeper, though, O’Neil remarked in Amazing Heroes #50 that “he seemed to fit. I always thought that he would make a better villain than a hero [laughs]. Because he looks weird, he really looks almost Joker-ish. […] The visual contrast between them is so great that I thought at least we’d get interesting pictures out of it.” Reaction in Detective #422’s letters column was mixed. “The insanity behind the Creeper was that everybody thought he was insane,” reader Gene Bearringer wrote. “When you actually make him insane, you shoot down the whole analogy.” Among those sharing his opinion, apparently, was Len Wein. Nearly a decade O’Neil’s junior, the young writer had a fannish love of DC’s heroes and saw potential in the Creeper that was going untapped. In 1974, he sold Julius Schwartz on the ambitious five-part “Bat-Murderer,” wherein Batman stood accused of executing Talia and

Look Who’s Back! Batman once again encounters the Creeper in Detective Comics #418 (Dec. 1971). Original cover art by Neal Adams, courtesy of Heritage. Interior tale by Denny O’Neil, Irv Novick, and Dick Giordano. TM & © DC Comics.

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Quintessentially Creepy (opposite page) With DC Comics’ permission, young Klaus Janson wrote and illustrated this short story for the 1970 fanzine Quintessence #2. (this page) Another Creeper comeback, in Detective #447 (May 1975). Cover (top) by Dick Giordano, courtesy of Heritage. Interior page (bottom) by Len Wein, Ernie Chan, and Giordano. TM & © DC Comics.

Ra’s al Ghul in cold blood (Detective Comics #444–448). The plot came complete with a certain guest-star in the back half. At the time, each issue of Detective was a 100-Page Super Spectacular partly composed of vintage material, and reprint editor E. Nelson Bridwell made a point of doing some advance support of Wein’s story. Issue #443 republished the six-year-old Showcase #73 and introduced a new generation to the Creeper. Consequently, when Gotham’s WHAM-TV anchorman—not investigator—Jack Ryder implored Batman to surrender himself to authorities at the start of Detective #445, a fair amount of the readership undoubtedly expected his colorful alter ego to enter the fray soon after. That moment came in ’Tec #447 (May 1975, on sale in February), fittingly entitled “Enter: The Creeper.” Still grateful for his earlier salvation at Batman’s hands, Jack felt an obligation to bring him to justice before the police gunned him down. Activating his implant for the first time since 1971, the Creeper returned to action. He “was not cured,” he declared, “merely brought under control.” A clash at the Gotham Park Zoo—illustrated by Ernie Chan and Dick Giordano—culminated with the murder of a suspect… and not at the hands of the heroes. Persuaded that Batman was being framed, the Creeper was on board with catching the true mastermind. The Dark Knight declined the offer at the start of issue #448 and Jack agreed to stand down… but laughter bubbled out of him as he walked away. “Lord, that laugh can chill you,” Batman shuddered. “I’m just glad that character is on my side.”

CREEPER COMEBACKS

It won’t come as a surprise that the Creeper played backup anyway, helping reveal the fact that Ra’s al Ghul had faked the murders of himself and his daughter in an attempt to prod Batman into joining his criminal empire. The Creeper’s appearances in the multi-parter “were relatively brief,” Paul Levitz wrote in that summer’s 1st Issue Special #7, “but important to far more than the story. It brought the character back to our attention. Suddenly the Creeper was interesting again—and he was slated for a guest-shot in The Joker, and series revival talk began.” On sale in June 1975, the Schwartz-edited Joker #3 retained Ernie Chan as penciler (now inked by José Luis García-López) and reunited the Creeper with Denny O’Neil. A crossover between the characters was inevitable and O’Neil wasted little time in drawing parallels. In the opening pages, a witness’ description of a laughing, green-haired thief prompts him to accuse the Creeper of the crime instead of the true villain. The subsequent altercation went badly for the Creeper, who forgot who he was and wound up as a new toy for the Joker to play with. On the villain’s orders, the amnesiac hero kidnapped the creator of the Joker’s favorite comic strip… before being sent off to die in an explosion. The plot hinged in part on the Joker’s unwitting acquisition of Jack Ryder’s transformation disc. Accidentally pressing the device, the villain transformed him back to human form and snapped him out of his trance in the process. The most curious aspect of the story is neither of its leading men but its cartoonist target. Sandy Saturn was the creator of an obvious Peanuts parody called Cashews, but his physical appearance and angry demeanor bore no resemblance to Charles Schulz. Instead, Saturn’s visuals were based on legendary Captain Marvel co-creator C. C. Beck… and a recent contributor to DC’s Shazam! revival. Beck had been a vocal critic of the scripts he’d been getting— many by O’Neil—and modern comic books in general. The scene in which the Creeper bopped Saturn on the head reads as wish fulfillment. “The cartoonist in Joker #3 is definitely supposed to be C. C. Beck, who DC (just Carmine, really) resented for leaving Shazam!” the story’s colorist Carl Gafford confirms for BACK ISSUE. “Don’t recall if I was told to color his hair brown [rather than white], but I must have been.” Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 27

What’re You Laughin’ At? (left) The Creeper guest-stars (along with pastiches of C. C. Beck and Billy Batson) in The Joker #3 (Sept.–Oct. 1975). By O’Neil, Chan, and GarciaLopez. (right) Ryder-to-Creeper transformation page from 1st Issue Special #7. TM & © DC Comics.

There were no such in-jokes to be found in July’s 1st Issue Special #7, where the Creeper was test-marketed for a revival in his own book. “One of the factors that influenced us was the return of Steve Ditko to the DC scene,” Paul Levitz wrote within. “Steve’s pencils were the key to capturing the way-out mood of the Creeper, and Mike Royer volunteered to finish the job.” The script came courtesy of Michael Fleisher, not only a favorite of editor Joe Orlando on macabre series like Jonah Hex and “The Spectre” (in Adventure Comics) but also someone uniquely suited to embrace the Creeper’s now-explicit placement in Gotham. As author of The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Fleisher had spent years immersing himself in the history of multiple classic heroes. Among those was Batman (whose attendant volume was released in ’75), and the writer drew on the Caped Crusader’s past to deliver an obscure bad guy called the Firefly (from 1952’s Detective Comics #184). Slickly embellished by Royer, Ditko brought a refreshing sense of movement and body language to the Creeper that none of his successors had been able to duplicate. There was playfulness, too, in the Jack Ryder scenes, including one with WHAM station manager Hugo Marlies. The script played up the degree of the Creeper’s healing ability and strength in one sequence where the hero survived a fall from a skyscraper and then snapped handcuffs to escape from a hospital detention ward. The final page, however, is more evocative of Ditko’s harder-edged

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Question or Mister A. When the Firefly accidentally fell to his death, the Creeper’s response was “a long, chill, mocking laugh.” There was one more stop in the Creeper’s 1975 comeback tour and Denny O’Neil was there to write it. The location was issue #2 of Super-Team Family (on sale in September), a partly reprint giant whose new content strived to pair unusual combos. That was certainly true of this edition, where Jack Ryder’s alter ego joined forces with gray-templed boxer/crimefighter Wildcat. The commercial appeal of each character was questionable, enough so that the original cover for the issue was revised to spotlight a Batman/Deadman reprint rather than the new story. Regardless, the story—illustrated by Ric Estrada and Bill Draut, with editing by Gerry Conway—was pleasant enough. Now covering sports, Jack Ryder was in another fictional O’Neil island nation—San Lorenzo— and Wildcat was sparring with heavyweight contender Japhy Shim. Along for the ride was Proteus, who’d made a miraculous recovery since his passing in 1969. Now blaming his malleable features on “a sad accident,” the villain was selling his services to the highest bidder. As they worked to prevent Shim’s murder at Proteus’ hands, the Creeper and Wildcat made an amusing combo, trading barbs and grudging compliments in a nice play on the generation gap. Discussing the story’s protagonists in BACK ISSUE #66 (Aug. 2013), Gerry Conway remarked, “The less sense it makes, the better. I was going back to the

original Brave and the Bold mash-ups where they would team up these random characters. There would be these strange team-ups of characters from different universes. I think that was the big deal about Creeper and Wildcat. Wildcat was a very down-to-Earth, gritty, street-level character, and Creeper was more of an ‘in your mind’ character, where he is playing mind games but he was certainly using athleticism, too, which was the tie between the two of them. The Creeper just had a more intellectual approach to the whole thing.” Penciler Ric Estrada returned for a final run on the Creeper (with inks by Joe Staton) in February 1976 as he illustrated a trilogy in the back pages of Adventure Comics #445–447 (adding up to a collective 18 pages). Scripted by Martin Pasko, the first pages reminded readers why Jack Ryder was fired from broadcasting in 1968. Reporting on a series of suspicious suicides, Jack declared on live TV that the women may have been murdered. He was right, of course, and fought to save another target: physical therapist Joanne Russell. The truth was connected to a robotic mannequin named Manfred and a parapsychologist whose subconscious was causing terrible things to happen. By the end of the story, the threat had been eliminated and Joanne had discovered that Jack was secretly the Creeper. Alas, the budding romance was snuffed out before it could even begin. Based on tepid reader reaction, a follow-up trilogy with guest-villain Two-Face—announced in Adventure #448—was cancelled and the Martian Manhunter moved into the backup slot instead.

TRICKS AND TREATS

A Jack Ryder cameo in November 1976’s Teen Titans #46 notwithstanding, the Creeper was off-stage until Secret Society of Super-Villains #9 in June 1977. In an inspired twist courtesy of writer Gerry Conway and editor Jack C. Harris, the hero’s notorious reputation led to him getting an invitation to join the infamous group of costumed criminals. After discovering that team had been hired to steal a quartet of powerful sorcerous treasures, the Creeper decided to play along until he could figure out who wanted them. Adding to the irony was the fact that the traditional bad guy Trickster was now fighting those same thefts in retaliation for the Society kicking him out. Infiltrating the SSOSV had its drawbacks, though, and the colorful hero was deeply conflicted. Beyond the fact that he was helping to steal the objects of power, he was also troubled at having to fight heroes like Captain Comet and Kid Flash. Even if he won, he lost, the Creeper mused. “I’ll have made another enemy among people who should be my allies.” Still, the hero stuck it out and trailed team leader Funky Flashman to a drop-off point with the treasures. When Society member Wizard moved in to claim them, Jack Ryder was there with the police to ensure he was arrested at the end of SSOSV #10. The Wizard insisted that he, too, was a middleman. Further issues would reveal that the magical rogue had sought the objects for himself, but the Creeper wasn’t around to find out. Concluding he’d done all he could against the Secret Society, the colorful crusader returned to Gotham… and his own feature. SSOSV editor Jack C. Harris had also taken charge of World’s Finest Comics in 1977 and wasted little time in adding the Creeper to its lineup, replacing the Vigilante feature effective with issue #249 (on sale in November).

Odd Couple (top) This gorgeous Giordano Creeper vs. Wildcat cover art was reduced (see inset) when Super-Team Family #2 (Dec. 1975– Jan. 1976) was published. (bottom) Jack Ryder broadcasts ringside, from inside the issue. TM & © DC Comics.

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New Adventures (left) The Creeper hopped into Adventure Comics #445 (May–June 1976) to begin a short-lived backup helmed by Martin Pasko (we miss you, Marty!) and the Estrada/Staton art team. (right) Original art to the title page of Adventure #446’s Creeper tale. Courtesy of Anthony Snyder (www.anthonyscomicbookart.com). TM & © DC Comics.

Steve Ditko had returned to DC earlier in the year Harris, who also tweaked Ditko’s dialogue as needed. with the critically acclaimed Shade the Changing “I don’t recall any significant problems with the dialogue,” Man, and now he was united with his first creation Harris notes. “If there was, I always talked it out with for the publisher. Steve before my editorial pen made any slashes. Part of Harris tells BACK ISSUE that the reunion was my editorial ‘style’ was to always make notes as to why “suggested by Mike Gold. Mike (as DC’s publicity I was making changes. On my own scripts, if I questioned director at the time) felt it would be a good a change, the only answer I often got from editors policy to keep Steve busy and happy. was ‘It’s better my way.’ I usually interpreted Since my relationship with Steve was this as ‘I don’t remember.’ This always so good, it seemed like a good fit. annoyed me, so I always made sure I could Steve was very up for it, as I promised explain my reasoning if anyone asked. him, he would have complete creative (They rarely did).” control on the feature.” The feature kicked off with Jack Ditko hit the reset button to a Ryder and company being dispatched degree, restoring Jack Ryder to a to protect the network’s resident horror-movie hostess Moon Lady position with network security. This time around, Jack’s boss Bill Brane had against threats from a stalker dressed been replaced by hard-boiled, cigaras a gargoyle. A modern touch also chomping Sam Hagen. He also had found her opposed by a consumer help on the team, a competitive watchdog group that threatened to jack c. harris blonde named Fran Daye and a boycott the show’s sponsors. In eight bulked-up young man known only as pages, Ditko set the tone for the Dump. Still based in Gotham City per post-Ditko lore, series, packing ample humor in Jack and Fran’s rivalry the TV network was now referred to as the Cosmic and the Creeper’s theatrics and acrobatics. Broadcasting Network, bitter rival of the Superman books’ More laughs could be found in the form of Cosmic Galaxy Broadcasting System. The earlier WHAM-TV Broadcasting reporter Ben Briely, whose introduction went unmentioned in the series, but was eventually amply explained why he was nicknamed “Bruise.” reconciled as the local affiliate of the national CBN. Invariably, his attempts to get a story left him beaten DC Universe elements like Galaxy Broadcasting and up and hospitalized. Exaggerating the extent of injuries a footnote to the recent SSOSV story were added by to an amused Jack in WFC #250 (Apr.–May 1978, on

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sale in January), Bruise convinced him to finish his latest story… on ex-con Angel Devlin. A detailed origin flashback confirmed that this was the same gangster who played a pivotal role in Showcase #73. Determined to get even with the Creeper, the unrepentant Devlin dressed himself in the angel/devil outfit from the 1968 costume party so that the garish hero would know who killed him. That didn’t work out so well and Devlin wound up back in prison. “Steve always came in with a ready-made plot, usually in the form of light pencil layouts which he explained to me, panel by panel,” Harris explains. “If I had questions or suggestions, he was open to them. The only time I really directed him on a story was for WFC #250. “I originally wanted the issue to be a full-length story featuring all the heroes currently in the book with references to many other past World’s Finest (Best) Comics strips. However, I had promised Steve that no one else would mess with his character. So, I told him that the Creeper would still have his feature in #250, but I wanted something special for the anniversary issue. I suggested an origin re-cap since some readers might not know how the Creeper began. Steve agreed and the story was the result.” WFC #251 (cover-dated June–July 1971) found Cosmic Broadcasting imperiled by a costumed extortionist named the Disruptor. Mocked by network execs for their inability to catch the villain, Jack, Fran, and Dump put aside their rivalry to take on the Disruptor’s gang when they stormed the CBN offices. A madcap fight scene ensued as the three investigators threw punches and barbs alike. Ditko ingeniously employed Jack’s quick-change ability by having him bound into cubicles as the Creeper and change back and forth as he leapt out, creating the illusion that there were four people fighting back rather than three. The laughter at the end of the story was cut short by WFC #252’s installment (Aug.–Sept. 1978). In a surprise

callback to the 1976 Adventure Comics trilogy, Dr. Joanne Russell returned… as a corpse. After news reports that Russell had known the Creeper’s real name, Jack Ryder’s alter ego became the prime suspect. It was the only story during Ditko’s return that recalled the Creeper’s notoriety with the police. By the end of the episode, though, the hero’s name had been cleared and Joanne’s real killer—her secretary—was in custody. “This was Steve’s idea and plot,” Harris confirms. “I really don’t recall how this story came about. It might have been Steve’s reaction to someone ‘messing’ with his character and this was his resolution.” After sitting out that more serious episode, Fran, Dump, and Sam were back for WFC #253, wherein Jack Ryder snagged a cushy assignment to bodyguard a glamorous actress. The rest of the crew was left to get beaten up when a terrorist tried to destroy a Gotham building. Thanks to the actress’ flight delay, the Creeper used Jack’s downtime to his advantage and helped take down the menace. Said threat was a classically weird Ditko creation, a sphere named Rollo with smaller globes as a wheel and hands on elongated arms.

Fanzine Darling (left) The Creeper by artists Carl Potts and Terry Austin graced the cover of The Comic Reader #144 (June 1977). (right) Look who’s hanging out with the Secret Society of SuperVillains! From issue #9 (Sept. 1977) by Conway, Buckler, and McLeod. Creeper TM & © DC Comics.

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Creeper in World’s Finest Comics (top) Old Yeller gets welcomed by WFC’s cast in issue #249 (Feb.–Mar. 1978). Illo by Kurt Schaffenberger, with a Ditko Creeper image. (bottom) Splash to #250’s Ditko-drafted tale. TM & © DC Comics.

THE DC EXPLOSION… AND IMPLOSION

The summer of 1978 was meant to be a celebratory one for DC, one in which the page count of its standard titles were expanded from 32 pages to 44 with an attendant price increase from 35¢ to 50¢. Among the items on the menu for the DC Explosion were spotlights on second- and third-tier characters and the Creeper was on that list. In June, he was cover-featured with Batman on The Brave and the Bold #143 (Sept.–Oct. 1978). The entry point was “the most respected man in America,” veteran Cosmic Broadcasting newsman Montgomery Walcott. Jack Ryder regarded the Walter Cronkite lookalike as a friend and idol, so he was taken aback when Batman produced evidence that the man was also a drug kingpin. Overcoming his disbelief, the Creeper ultimately helped bring Walcott down. Written by Bob Haney and Cary Burkett, the story was the first occasion that legendary B&B artist Jim Aparo had to draw the Creeper in action. At the end of 1974, Aparo had illustrated a few pages of Jack Ryder for Detective #445 but the title’s accelerated schedule from bimonthly to monthly left the artist unable to draw the subsequent Creeper guest-shot. The B&B story was meant to be followed by a 25-page Creeper solo story in August’s Showcase #106. Written and illustrated by Ditko, the tale afforded the cartoonist the length to do things that were impossible in the eight-page package. A pair of double-page spreads appeared in the story, the second featuring a cameo by the Odd Man, a new Ditko creation intended for Shade the Changing Man. There was also room for Ditko to explore a unique crisis for his hero. As a side effect of an electrical staff wielded by the mad Dr. Storme, Jack lost control of his transmitter and began involuntarily switching back and forth with his Creeper persona. At one juncture, in mid-transformation he caught a falling Fran, and she vanished along with his garish costume. Floating like a phantom until Storme inadvertently initiated another switch, Fran wrote the whole thing off as a hallucination… including the evidence that Jack was the Creeper. “I remember pitching the idea of another Creeper Showcase issue,” Harris tells BACK ISSUE. “Of course, he had appeared in Showcase before. Issue #73 (1968) had been his debut, but I thought he deserved another chance to try for his own book. So did the higher-ups, but when I pitched it, they asked, ‘Does Steve want to do it?’ When they posed that question, I realized I had never actually asked Steve if he wanted to write and draw a full-length issue! I immediately got on the phone and Steve was pitching story lines seconds after I told him of the opportunity. I thought it was a fun story and I loved it when he threw in the Odd Man.” Unfortunately, Showcase #106—and, for that matter, #105—never went on sale. An unforeseen corporate cutback crushed the DC Explosion, resulting in a burst of cancellations that included Showcase. Moreover, the titles that survived the DC Implosion shrank back to 32 pages. In the aftermath, the publisher was left with dozens of stories that no longer had a home. That required shuffling and the larger Dollar Comics like World’s Finest suddenly became a refuge for that material. [Editor’s note: We’ve touched on the infamous DC Implosion many times in these pages, but for the definitive story, see the superb TwoMorrows book Comic Book Implosion by Keith Dallas and… John Wells.] Evicted in favor of Hawkman, the Creeper was gone from World’s Finest after November 1978. In WFC #254’s story, he faced a seeming child called Mr. Wrinkles who could temporarily age anyone he wished. Hilariously, even the Creeper’s green wig and red shag rug/cape turned white. The final episode (WFC #255) spotlighted Fran as she took on the knife-wielding Dagger Lady. 32 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

B&B Seein’ Ya! (top) The Creeper and Batman, together again, in Brave and Bold #143 (Sept.–Oct. 1978) and 178 (Sept. 1981). Covers by Aparo and Buckler/Giordano, respectively. (bottom) Photocopy of the first page of Curt Swan’s pencils for an aborted Superman/Creeper team-up intended for DC Comics Presents. TM & © DC Comics.

“I don’t recall the reason we switched out the Creeper for Hawkman,” Harris remarks, “but I do know Hawkman was a personal favorite of mine. However, at the same time, I loved every opportunity I had to work with Steve Ditko. I suspect the reasons came from both editor and publisher to make a change, but after all this time, memory does not let me in on the specific details.”

THE CREEPER CONTINUES… ELSEWHERE

By this point, Ditko had been approached to begin drawing for Marvel, starting with a revival of their Machine Man book. Ever a professional, the cartoonist was far ahead of deadline for DC and had other Creeper stories in various stages of completion that would never be published. Rather than let them go to waste, he reworked the stories to feature characters that he owned himself. Hence, Cosmic Broadcasting became Starwide TV, home to security agents Zaz Ager (Sam Hagen), Cora Dyne (Fran Daye), Lew Bren (Dump), and Jay Oaker… alias the Shag! In this form, the Shag premiered in Ditko’s World #1 (May 1986) from Renegade Press. That story was reprinted in 1989’s Ditko Package from Robin Snyder along with three other Shag adventures. At eight pages, “Shag vs. the Smasher” is a probable candidate for the episode that would have appeared in World’s Finest #256 in 1979. Along with its plot involving an embittered ex-actor/stuntman, the story revealed that Lew/Dump had been an ex-cop and ex-con before joining the security team. Ditko also emphasized the dual meaning of Jay Oaker’s name as co-workers referred to him as “Joker” and Joke.” Incredibly, DC’s next intended Creeper story was also retooled for another publisher. In 1980, the fan favorite team of Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers agreed to reunite for a Madame Xanadu miniseries. As he waited for work to commence, Englehart also wrote a script for the Julius Schwartz-edited team-up title DC Comics Presents that would feature Superman and the Creeper. Just as Curt Swan began penciling the DCCP story, everything fell apart. A dispute over his pay rate led Englehart to reclaim rights to the plots and he ultimately retooled them—with Rogers—for Eclipse Comics. The Madame Xanadu tales were recreated as 1983’s Scorpio Rose #1–2, while the DCCP tale was overhauled for 1981’s Eclipse, the Magazine #1. Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

Imploded! Ditko’s Creeper cover intended for the cancelled Showcase #106. TM & © DC Comics.

The original plot for “A Man Called Slab” referenced the recent Cosmic Broadcasting/Galaxy Broadcasting rivalry in a big way. Investigating Superman for a Cosmic exposé, Jack Ryder paid a visit to Clark Kent to announce his intentions. Further, he declared that his story would also address the role that Galaxy and its media outlets like the Daily Planet and WGBS played in promoting the Man of Steel. Before Ryder could get far, he crossed paths with an old acquaintance—and current Galaxy employee— who was about to be transformed into a literal man of metal called the Slab. Inevitably, this put Superman and the Creeper on opposite sides in the conflict that followed. Ultimately, though, Ryder’s alter ego would find himself in the awkward position of owing his life to the Metropolis Marvel. When reworking the story for Eclipse, Englehart switched the genders of both of his leads. Clark/Superman became Hanna a.k.a. S-329, Agent of Storbor. Meanwhile, Jack was now Sweeney, who transformed herself into a bird-creature known as Klonsbon the Foozle.

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PAPERCHASE

Shortly after the Foozle came on the scene, the real Creeper returned in June 1981’s Brave and the Bold #178 (cover-dated Sept. 1981)… and so did Jack Ryder’s first nemesis. Dr. Clayton Wetley was back on the airwaves of WHAM-TV (no mention of Cosmic Broadcasting here) and preaching about the “freaks and malcontents” that were assaulting America’s “traditional values.” Ryder boiled as he listened, but Hugo Marlies reminded him “that could’ve been your show. You’re the one who gave up newscasting to work in security, remember?” Wetley had stirred many viewers to anger and bigotry, but the threat that attracted the most attention was a bizarre paper creature whose origami form was murdering people throughout Gotham. Batman and the Creeper ultimately linked the entity to the doctor himself, whose unconscious physic powers were animating it. Author Alan Brennert, primarily working as a writer and editor for television, was a longtime comics fan. The previous winter, he’d created a sensation with the critically acclaimed Batman story “To Kill a Legend” in Detective Comics #500, and its fans included the man who drew it. “Dick Giordano called me up and said, ‘I’m the new editor of Brave and Bold, would you like to write some stories for me?’” Brennert tells BACK ISSUE, “and I immediately said yes. I’d loved Dick’s line of Action Heroes at Charlton and I jumped at the opportunity to work with him as an editor. And of course, I’d also be working with Jim Aparo, whose beautiful linework I’d admired on Charlton’s Nightshade, Wander, and other features. I’d also liked Dick’s editorial work at DC in the late 1960s, and so those characters (Creeper, Hawk and Dove) sprang naturally to mind.” The most memorable moment in the story came after a tip from the long-lost Vera Sweet alerted Jack to the fact that there was an opening at the WHAM anchor desk again. Easily reclaiming his old job, Ryder ended his first newscast with a scathing condemnation of this new wave of intolerance. Afterwards, Batman asked if he was worried that taking such stands might endanger his secret identity. “If I had to live in constant fear of exposing my identity,” Jack replied, “if the only way I could show any courage was putting on a costume, what the heck kind of hero would I be?” “I was a huge fan of Steve Ditko’s work, especially the Question, and enjoyed the Creeper when he debuted at DC,” Brennert notes. “Jack Ryder was, like Vic Sage, originally a television journalist in his day job (later a security consultant at the network). What appealed to me about the Question was the idea of a character who was courageous in both his civilian life and his heroic identity; Ditko’s speech about ‘What Makes a Hero?’ in Mysterious Suspense #1 had deeply impressed me (and I kind of paraphrased the essence of it in a scene between Jack and Batman). I wanted to bring Jack Ryder in line with that kind of character. “I respected Ditko’s philosophy on the Question—I still love the scene in the sewer in which some thugs beg for his help as they’re being swept out to sea and his response is basically, ‘Why? You were just trying to kill me, and you want me to risk my neck now to save you? Lotsa luck, amigos.’ Had I been writing the Question I would have been faithful to Ditko’s philosophy, but Jack Ryder had never expressed any political beliefs, even when Ditko was writing him, so I felt I had some latitude to make him a bit of a liberal in denouncing the then-popular ‘Moral Majority’ (though I never used that term). Besides, I needed Jack to voice an unpopular opinion that took some courage to do, and in the Reagan era, opposing the politics of the Moral Majority was not a popular stand.

“Looking back, I’m not so happy with the story and that all falls on me: I created one of comics’ most truly ridiculous villains in the Origami Man, one that even Jim Aparo’s brilliant artwork could not save. (Origami Man was actually inspired by the semi-invisible villain of the unpublished Blue Beetle #6, who was also kind of ridiculous now that I think of it). But I was thrilled to be writing it at the time. “In fact, I also had in mind a Superman/ Creeper story that I intended to pitch to Julie Schwartz for DC Comics Presents, in which Clark Kent and Jack Ryder meet at a network affiliates convention in Metropolis. But I never got around to pitching it.”

to Boston, as I was living in Foxboro, MA (my hometown), and had planned to inject some local color. “I was a huge fan of the Creeper and managed to pester/cajole folks into letting me get my mitts on him,” Gafford continues. “I colored the reprint of the origin from Showcase #76 when it ran in the 100-Page Super Spec Detective in 1974, and eventually followed that up with the Ditko Creeper story in 1st Issue Special in 1975 and his guest-starring in Joker #3 and the backup series in Adventure that Ric Estrada and Joe Staton drew back in 1976. “Around 1981, DC got some new editors and one of them was Ernie Colón, who had impressed publisher Jenette Kahn with his presentation BACK IN A FLASH for comics based on Atari characters By November 1982, Jack was on the (Warner Communications had just then unemployment line. Returning in a new bought Atari). Dr. Fate had just moved backup series in The Flash #318, Ryder from the back of The Flash, and they revealed that “ever since ‘Gotham were looking for a replacement. alan brennert Gossip,’ I’ve been the Typhoid Mary Ernie was now the editor and I of local TV.” Relocating to Boston, Jack pitched the Creeper with the excuse was hired by H. J. Harrigan to be a roving investigative that—being red and yellow like Flash—he could work reporter for WBST-TV, in partnership with producer Wendy out well on any covers with Flash (yeah, lame excuse, Fargo. The Creeper had work to do, too, beginning with but it worked). an extortionist who’d also just blown in from Gotham. “Joe Orlando had just gotten back from meeting Their first encounter did not go well. The hero took a some of the artists in England and one of them who machine gun blast to the chest as episode one ended. he said would work well with DC was Dave Gibbons. Best known as a colorist, writer Carl Gafford explains At this same editorial meeting, I slipped Ernie a note that to BACK ISSUE, “I had moved Jack Ryder from Gotham Dave would be perfect for the Creeper. Ernie said after

Repurposed Creeper (left) Steve Ditko’s reimagined Creeper as Shag, from 1986’s Ditko’s World #1. (right) This Shag tale from 1989’s Ditko Package (from Robin Snyder) may be the writer/artist’s reworking of his Creeper story intended for DC’s World’s Finest #256. © Steve Ditko Estate.

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Scarlet Speedster’s Yellow Journalist The Creeper, by Carl Gafford and Dave Gibbons, briefly found a home in the back pages of The Flash. Title pages from (top left) Flash #318 (Feb. 1983) and (top right) 319. (bottom) Channeling his inner Ditko was the Creeper backup’s new penciler, Chuck Patton, inked by Mike DeCarlo. From Flash #321 (May 1983). TM & © DC Comics.

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talking to Dave that Dave was a big fan (‘Even have the Showcase issue,’ he said). Gibbons’ enthusiasm and natural talent were readily apparent in the first two expertly staged, slickly rendered installments. “We got two stories done before DC suddenly cut the backup strips,” Gafford details, “and then later at practically the last minute, brought them back. Chuck Patton had been given my Creeper script as a penciling tryout, and that ran in Flash #320, cut down from seven pages to five to make the deadline.” By this point, the Creeper had shrugged off his pointblank bullet wounds and earned the enmity of affluent Boston crimelord Wesley Winterborn III. Meanwhile, Gafford details, “a deadly drug started making the school scene, where addicts could turn into monsters after continued exposure.” The victims included H. J. Harrigan’s teenage son, and the situation was one that Ryder could empathize with. Although the detail never made it into the story, Gafford intended to reveal that “Jack was divorced, with very little contact with his preteen daughter.” Effective with Flash #322 (June 1983), Gafford was removed as scripter but remained as colorist. “My last scripts were tossed and [incoming writer] Nick Cuti was told to make what he could from them (they never asked me to make the revisions).” Charged with tying up loose ends, Cuti quickly moved the action to the mysterious Kraken Institute where the monster-making drugs had originated. Contriving to bring the entire cast—Wendy, Harrigan, and even Winterborn— to the site, the writer killed off everyone on page six when

Creeper, the Almost-Series (top) Keith Giffen’s planned Creeper maxiseries was teased in Flash #323 and (bottom) touted in Comics Buyer’s Guide #495, but never materialized. Inks by Gary Martin. Creeper TM & © DC Comics.

the Institute was blown to bits. On the final page, Chuck Patton was replaced by Keith Giffen for a 12-panel sequence where the Creeper’s bloodied hand emerged from the rubble, healing rapidly before a familiar face popped up. “The Creeper will return,” a caption declared, “as a DC maxi-series by Keith Giffen.” The Comics Buyer’s Guide #495 (May 13, 1983) confirmed the news. “I’ve always liked the Creeper,” the popular Legion of Super-Heroes/Omega Men artist explained, “but I always thought of him as more of an uncontrolled malevolent character. So, I worked up this idea and brought it to Dick [Giordano] and Ernie [Colón]. […] It means I’ll be leaving The Omega Men as penciler. But after a few issues, I was beginning to make the Vegan star system look just like the Legion’s era, something I felt would ultimately hurt both books. So, I suggested moving on to something else, and Ernie liked my idea for the Creeper.” The maxiseries never happened, in part, perhaps, because Giffen’s attention was redirected toward the breakout character Ambush Bug, who was awarded a miniseries of his own in March 1985. (Giffen did insert Jack Ryder into a panel of an Ambush Bug/Superman story in 1984’s Action Comics #563, though). Cameos were the order of the day for many DC heroes in 1985 thanks to the Crisis on Infinite Earths mega-event. The Creeper was no exception, making brief appearances in Crisis #5, 9, and 10, as well as All-Star Squadron #54, Infinity Inc. #22, and Swamp Thing #46.

THE SPIRIT SQUAD AND BEYOND

The Creeper made a more substantial guest-shot in 1985’s Blue Devil Annual #1. After being magically enslaved in his Creeper form by Felix Faust, the Creeper broke the spell by transforming back to Jack. Soon, he was surrounded by other weird heroes like Madame Xanadu, Man-Bat, the Phantom Stranger, Black Orchid, the Demon, and title character Blue Devil. Surrounding the Creeper with characters that were legitimately supernatural or off-the-wall in ways he only pretended to be made for great comedy. By the end of the issue, Jack had gotten into the spirit of things so well that he suggested they form a kind of “spooky Justice League of America. We’d call ourselves—I dunno—the Creeper and his Spirit Squad.” The collective verdict: “That’s the stupidest idea I ever heard!” One month after the Annual, the Creeper finally made it into DC Comics Presents in a team-up with Superman, complete with Steve Englehart as scripter. “I was just doing the occasional team-up for Julie Schwartz,” the writer tells BACK ISSUE. “I honestly don’t remember if I chose the Creeper or the Creeper was handed to me; I think it was the latter.” In the Superman/Creeper team-up in DC Comics Presents #88 (Dec. 1985), Keith Giffen (inked by Karl Kesel) was also on hand, as penciler, and collectively they delivered a very different version of the character. Still living in Boston, Jack Ryder was now broadcasting independently on cable TV’s Eye Channel and offering airtime to eccentrics like a street corner prophet predicting the end of the world. As in Englehart’s first 1980 plot, Jack and Clark Kent did not see eye-to-eye in DCCP #88. With the Crisis on Infinite Earths still in full swing, the Galaxy Broadcasting reporter was dispatched to Boston in a futile attempt to convince his colleague that he was irresponsibly panicking the public. Like Clayton Wetley before him, Ryder now heard “restraint” as “censorship” and vowed not to be silenced. After Jack’s next guest was possessed by a demon and took control of all viewers, the broadcaster privately conceded that he might have made a mistake. The demon was able to affect even Superman, but Ryder theorized that his alter ego might be “something else altogether.” Sure enough, the madness in the Creeper’s mind was enough of a challenge to distract the entity long enough for the Man of Steel to banish it. “He could never conquer me,” the Creeper boasted. “My mind isn’t like yours—or anybody else’s.” “That’s for sure!” thought Superman. The uninhibited take on the garish hero was meant as a point of distinction on Englehart’s part. “I’ve talked before about differentiating among styles of crazy for the Batman villains,” he tells BACK ISSUE, “and the Creeper was yet another craze-o, so I tried to find a way to set him apart. I played him as Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 37

Creeper persona. A loose retelling of Showcase #73 in 1987’s Secret Origins #18 (co-plotted and penciled by Giffen) cemented the characterization.

Beware… Giffen, with writer Steve Englehart, finally got his chance to draw the Creeper in this Superman team-up in DC Comics Presents #88 (Dec. 1985). Cover inks by Giordano, interior inks by Karl Kesel. TM & © DC Comics.

younger than the Batman boys, a little hipper; I saw him as able to pass a lot of his lunacy off as just attitude. The Creeper was nuts, but Jack Ryder was just considered ‘colorful.’ When Keith translated that into art, the Creeper was pretty scary, so our combination conjured up a very nice character. To that point, I think, the Creeper had been a little too brightly lit and more ‘pretend’ crazy.” Reflecting on the character’s original run, Englehart adds, “[I] love Ditko. As I say, he didn’t go for actually ‘scary,’ but his run had that off-kilter vibe Ditko had when left to his own devices. The stories sometimes didn’t fully cohere but the character was always fun to spend time with.” A few months later, the Crisis ostensibly rebooted the DC Universe, albeit more for some characters than others. For all intents and purposes, though, the post-Crisis Creeper had premiered in DC Comics Presents #88. Going forward in titles like the 1987 Justice League relaunch (including Keith Giffen among its creative team), Jack Ryder became an infamous tabloid TV journalist who was genuinely crazy in his

38 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

Further explorations of the Creeper seemed to be an ongoing game of oneupsmanship. According to the 1997–1998 Creeper series, Jack was bipolar, and his origin linked to Proteus. The animated New Batman Adventures (1997–1999) offered an unhinged Creeper born in a variation of the accident that created the Joker. A 2006 miniseries claimed that the Creeper was an entity created through “smartskin” technology who could switch places with the separate Ryder. Once merely being crazy became passé, Reign in Hell #1 (Sept. 2008) claimed that the Creeper was a demon bonded to Ryder, while the New 52’s Katana #3–6 (June–Sept. 2013) declared the character was an ancient Japanese oni who lived to sow chaos. Most recently, the Rebirth incarnation of the Creeper was an ally of villains like Black Adam and Giganta in issues of Doomsday Clock (2019–2020). None of them bear more than a superficial resemblance to the colorful creation of Steve Ditko and his Bronze Age successors, but their continued presence ensures that readers are still able to beware… the Creeper. JOHN WELLS is a comics historian specializing in DC Comics who has served as resource for projects ranging from Kurt Busiek’s The Power Company to Greg Weisman’s Young Justice animated series. He is the author of the TwoMorrows books American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960–1964 and 1965–1969, and co-author (with Keith Dallas) of the book Comic Book Implosion.

by M

ark Arnold

In the 1950s, prior to Harvey Comics acquiring the Paramount Pictures Famous Studios license which gave them permission to publish such characters as Baby Huey, Little Audrey, and Casper the Friendly Ghost, Harvey was publishing a line of horror comics that historians now agree are some of the best ever published, next to EC Comics. In fact, Harvey published the very first horror comic: Front Page Comic Book in 1945, which predated the EC line by five years. Unfortunately, it was a one-shot. When the Comics Code Authority started cracking down on publishers, Harvey transitioned its titles from the likes of Tomb of Terror, Witches Tales, Black Cat Mystery, and Chamber of Chills to more newspaper-comic-strip reprint titles like Blondie, Joe Palooka, Mutt & Jeff, and Dick Tracy, and the aforementioned children’s line. Eventually, the newspaper reprint titles also fell by the wayside as Harvey acquired the complete rights to the Famous Studios characters, and, by 1965, Harvey was only publishing titles featuring Casper and the rest of the Harveytoons. Harvey was also publishing titles featuring new characters inspired by the Harveytoons like Richie Rich, Little Dot, and Little Lotta. Harvey didn’t forget its horror roots. Amazingly, by Harvey publishing books with Casper, Wendy, Spooky, Nightmare, the Ghostly Trio, Hot Stuff, and a few others, the company was able to skirt the 1954 Comics Code Authority rules that stated: “All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted,” and “Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited,” because these characters hid behind a cute design and humor, and were geared toward small children. When the Comics Code Authority loosened its guidelines in 1972, every publisher took advantage of the relaxed rules. Marvel started long-running titles such as Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf by Night. DC converted House of Mystery and House of Secrets into horror anthologies and added many new titles featuring witches and ghosts. Charlton started The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves and a few other series of chillers. Some of these even predated the relaxed rules of the Code as the comic-book companies kept pushing the envelope. Even Archie Comics got on the bandwagon by converting their long-running Madhouse title into a serious horror anthology rather than the silly comic book that premiered Sabrina, the Teen-Age Witch. Sabrina also headed up her own anthology title that was more serious in nature called Chilling Tales of Sorcery. This was 40 years before true Archie horror titles such as Afterlife with Archie. One reason for the more relaxed rules surely had to do with the wild success of non-Code-approved comic magazines like Warren’s Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella; the various horror publications produced by Eerie Publications with titles such as Horror Tales, Terror Tales, and Tales from the Tomb; and Skywald with its Psycho, Scream, and Nightmare titles.

Bronze Age BOOs! Your favorite Harvey Comics heroes hopped aboard the horror bandwagon in the early ’70s! TM & © Classic Media, LLC.

Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

HARVEY MYSTERY/HORROR THEMED ISSUES, FROM 1972–1982 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Casper’s Ghostland #82-88, 94 Casper’s Strange Ghost Stories #1–14 Devil Kids starring Hot Stuff #67–72 Friendly Ghost, Casper #177–178, 180–183 Hot Stuff, the Little Devil #126–132 Hot Stuff Creepy Caves #1–7 Little Dot #158–160, 162 Little Lotta #113–119 Playful Little Audrey #113–118 Richie Rich, the Poor Little Rich Boy #132, 135 Richie Rich and Casper #1–45 Richie Rich and Dot #1 Richie Rich and Jackie Jokers #10–13, 16–18 Richie Rich Bank Books #15–18 Richie Rich Billions #1, 3–5 Richie Rich Cash #1–7 Richie Rich Diamonds #18–19 Richie Rich Dollars and Cents #67–69 Richie Rich Fortunes #22–24 Richie Rich Gems #1–6 Richie Rich Jackpots #15, 17–20, 22 Richie Rich Millions #68, 71–73, 82 Richie Rich Money World #16–21 Richie Rich Profits #1–8, 10, 15 Richie Rich Riches #15, 17–20 Richie Rich Success Stories #61–64 Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery #1–47 Shocking Tales Digest #1 Spooky, the Tuff Little Ghost #143–148 Spooky Haunted House #1–15 Spooky Spooktown #54, 57–60 Super Richie #1–18 Wendy, the Good Little Witch #85–87, 89–91

Harvey slowly entered the fray after the loosened Code rules with a spinoff title featuring Casper’s ghost cousin, Spooky, called Spooky Haunted House, cover-dated October 1972. At first, there was nothing to this title to distinguish it from any other Spooky title, but slowly, longer, slightly scary, and mysterious stories appeared. Spooky Haunted House lasted 15 issues, through February 1975 (cover date). Spooky Haunted House was the lone title in this new genre until 1974. Covers and stories to new titles issued in 1974 veered toward this more mystery/horror theme with Richie Rich and Casper #1 (Aug. 1974); Richie Rich Cash #1 and Richie Rich Gems #1 (both Sept. 1974); Richie Rich Billions #1, Richie Rich Profits #1, and Richie Rich and Dot #1 (all Oct. 1974); along with Casper’s Strange Ghost Stories #1 (a.k.a. Casper Strange Ghost Stories), a reprint title that featured multi-part Casper mystery adventure stories from the 1960s and 1970s, that lasted through #14 (Jan. 1977). Richie Rich and Casper kept the theme throughout its entire run through 1982. Every issue was drawn by Warren Kremer, and virtually all were written by Ralph Newman or Stan Kay. Originally, the title was to be called Casper and Richie, and artwork for the first two covers were produced, but eventually the title was changed as popularity demanded yet another Richie Rich title. The late Chris Barat, who wrote extensively about Richie Rich for The Harveyville Fun Times! fanzine, had this to say about the Richie Rich and Casper series, calling it “unique among Richie and Harvey titles for the remarkable consistency of its basic themes and general tones. Richie Rich and Casper began a few years prior to the original Harvey line’s implosion and subsequent precipitous decline, which may explain why it has hitherto been overlooked in discussions of Harvey’s classic titles. It represents a legitimate high point in Harvey’s history: the joint adventures of Harvey’s two most famous characters, drawn by the artist most responsible for the modern Harvey style, Warren Kremer, and the linking together of the two most famous venues in the Harvey World, Richville and the Enchanted Forest.” Harvey editor Sid Jacobson comments about writer Stan Kay’s role on Richie Rich and Casper: “The things he did best were these wonderful Casper stories! We created a book, Richie Rich and Casper, and it was done in a way where Richie never knew whether he really ever met this ghost sid jacobson or not, the way it was done. You could interpret it in different ways. He did all those stories, and Shure Jacobson. they were very, very good.” Barat continued, explaining how Richie was perfectly suited for the transition from abundance of wealth gags to adventure hero: “When you look at Richie’s most successful stories and strip away the frills, you find a kid who’s capable of using his guts, his brains, or his personality to solve problems, and is never willing to back away from adventure. At his very best, he’s Jonny Quest or Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse (or Carl Barks’ ducks), a quasi-realistic hero teetering on the edge of fantasy and a good role model for young kids and the young at heart.

40 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

“Harvey may have largely buried this aspect of Richie’s personality under a ton of recycled, simplistic five-page plots, but during the character’s glory years from the mid-’60s to the mid-’70s, it was fully in view more often than not.” (For those so inclined to do further investigation, see the “Barat’s Top Ten Best Richie Rich Stories” sidebar.) The following month featured the debut of Hot Stuff Creepy Caves #1 (Nov. 1974), an all-new title starring Hot Stuff, the little devil, that also had a more mystery/ horror slant. It was originally advertised as to be called Hot Stuff Hottest Devil, but the name was changed at the last minute before going to press. This title lasted for eight issues through November 1975 (cover date). In this same month, the rest of the Richie Rich line, which previously focused on humor stories, followed the mystery/horror suit with suitable covers and stories. The change occurred with Richie Rich Millions #68, Richie Rich Riches #15, and the debut of Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery, a title that lasted 47 issues, through September 1982, certainly the longest-running title of the mystery/ horror titles. All of these titles featured brand new stories.

Barat had this to say about some of the Vaults of Mystery stories, citing it as “the only regular Richie titles with the slightest pretension toward carrying on a common theme from issue to issue.” Barat acknowledged “that atypical trademark of a worried Richie toting a money bag and lighted candle that appeared in the upper-left-hand corner of the cover,” and “the consistency with which it employed mult-part feature stories. Every other standard Richie title presented four- to five-pagers, but Richie Rich Vaults generally bucked this trend.” The late Ernie Colón, who illustrated the majority of these newer mystery stories of Richie’s, had this to say about Harvey horror in general and his inspiration for the mystery titles in an interview by Shaun Clancy on November 14, 2018: “Horror, I kind of stayed away from. No big deal. I didn’t particularly care for it. I didn’t care for romance [comics], and I didn’t care for superheroes, so where does that leave me? I wrote a few stories, but I was not driven to write. I wrote a few things.

Yikes! Creepy Bronze Age Harvey covers, courtesy of Mark Arnold TM & © Classic Media, LLC.

CHRIS BARAT’S TOP TEN BEST RICHIE RICH MYSTERY/HORROR ADVENTURE STORIES 1. “Arachnid, the Spider of Paris,” from Richie Rich #81 (May 1969). Reprinted in Richie Rich chris barat Bank Book #11 (June 1974). 2. “Crash Landing,” from Richie Rich #43 (Mar. 1966). Reprinted in Richie Rich Millions #32 (Dec. 1968), Richie Rich Dollars and Cents #64 (Dec. 1974), and Richie Rich Gems #37 (Aug. 1981). 3. “The Doomsday Bomb,” from Richie Rich and Jackie Jokers #10 (May 1975). Reprinted in Richie Rich Best of the Years Digest #5 (Mar. 1980) and Richie Rich Adventure Digest Magazine #7 (Sept. 1994). 4. “The Fantastic Weapon,” from Richie Rich Dollars and Cents #41 (Mar. 1971). Reprinted in Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery #14 (Jan. 1977), Richie Rich Million Dollar Digest #8 (June 1982), and Richie Rich Money World Digest #2 (Dec. 1991). 5. “The Googol Strikes,” from Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery #9 (Mar. 1976). Reprinted in Richie Rich Adventure Digest #6 (June 1994). 6. “The Hidden City,” from Richie Rich Millions #35 (May 1969). Reprinted in Richie Rich Success #54 (Feb. 1974), Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery #25 (Nov. 1978), and Richie Rich Digest Magazine #13 (June 1988). 7. “Long Ago Today,” from Richie Rich #132 (May 1975). Reprinted in Richie Rich Diamonds #44 (Sept. 1979). 8. “Moonstar,” from Richie Rich #64 (Dec. 1967). Reprinted in Richie Rich #228 (July 1987). 9. “The Mystery at Playhouse 13,” from Richie Rich Cash #25 (Sept. 1978). 10. “Seance at Spectro Castle,” from Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery #13 (Nov. 1976). Reprinted in Richie Rich Million Dollar Digest #21 (May 1991). Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 41

Ghost in a Trance Original cover art (attributed to Ernie Colón) from Casper’s Strange Ghost Stories #10 (May 1976). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Classic Media, LLC.

“I am a huge fan of Herge,” Colón said. “He did Tintin. It’s French from Le Journal de Tintin. I buy them and reread them and I give them as gifts, but I don’t think my work looks like that. I just admire it.” Although Colón drew most of the stories, the majority of the covers for these books (and most Harveys) were drawn by the incomparable Warren Kremer. In another interview with Colón in Comics Interview #13 (July 1984), the artist did reveal that he wrote more than he later remembered: “I wrote a lot of stories for Richie and Casper. I’ve written a lot of things for my own amusement. I don’t consider myself a writer. I am really an artist who occasionally writes. I think that in order to be considered a writer, I should have paid bigger dues to writing. My dues have been paid to art. But I enjoy writing—as long as I don’t have to do it. I think if someone told me, ‘Tomorrow morning, you have to start earning a living writing,’ I’d panic!” Amazingly, the Richie Rich character did tend to lend itself to the same type of mystery adventure stories as found in the Tintin books, much more so than Spooky or Hot Stuff, which may account for why the Richie Rich line of comic books so easily expanded during the 1970s, while the other Harvey character lines shrank.

MORE HARVEY HISTORY FROM TWOMORROWS! Check out our sister publication RetroFan #11 for columnist/historian Will Murray’s incisive look at “Who Created Casper, the Friendly Ghost?” Look for this cover…

42 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

After this, the mystery/horror theme permeated all of the Harvey titles for a time, and the ones that worked best kept the format the longest. Starting with December 1974 cover-dated issues, the genre appeared in Devil Kids Starring Hot Stuff #67, Little Dot #156, Playful Little Audrey #113, Spooky Spooktown #54, and Wendy, the Good Little Witch #85. With January 1975 cover-dated Harveys, these titles joined the others in the fray: Casper’s Ghostland #82, Friendly Ghost, Casper #177, Hot Stuff #126, and Little Lotta #113. By this time, some of these titles were reprints and sometimes only the covers of the issues had the mystery/horror theme. The next month, Richie Rich Jackpots #15 and Richie Rich Bank Book #15 (both Feb. 1975) followed suit with all the other titles. Richie Rich Money World transitioned with #16 (Mar. 1975), and Richie Rich Success #61 (Apr. 1975), and Richie Rich #132, Richie Rich Fortunes #22, and Richie Rich and Jackie Jokers #10 (all May 1975), but many other Richie Rich titles were already transitioning back to humor covers. With Richie Rich Dollars and Cents #67 (June 1975), all non-Sad Sack Harvey titles transitioned to the mystery/horror genre for a time. The success of some of these titles featuring new Super Richie stories led to Super Richie getting its own title with #1 (Sept. 1975). Richie Rich Gold and Silver also debuted that month, but never had a non-humor issue. By the February 1976 cover-dated books, the horror/ mystery fad at Harvey was over and humor covers on all titles resumed except for the aforementioned Casper’s Strange Ghost Stories, Hot Stuff Creepy Caves, Richie Rich and Casper, Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery, and Spooky Haunted House, who all carried on with the format until the end of their respective runs. Jacobson discussed the seemingly endless amount of Richie Rich titles in Comic Book Artist #19: “What it would be like is kind of a thing where, ‘Jesus, Richie’s got 10 books; I think we ought to try three more. Come up with titles.’ So then you go Gazillions, you go for Silver, Vault of Mystery, whatever. We used to add like one each time! Then we’d do three more! It worked! There was enough interest in Richie Rich, and this was all prior to Richie Rich being on television! Sales figures were incredible. It was a phenomenon!” To make room for many of these new Richie titles, many long-running titles were canceled, including those starring Baby Huey, Little Audrey, Little Dot, and Little Lotta. One last attempt was made with the November 1981-dated books with the Shocking Tales Digest one-shot that featured classic horror and mystery tales from the 1950s. The digest was not CCA approved and any references to Harvey Comics were removed from the digest’s cover. Ernie Colón provided a new cover for this edition. The Harvey mystery/horror-themed issues were and are an interesting diversion for those who may have grown up on Harvey Comics. Fans consider these stories to be some of the best featuring these characters as the stories tended to be longer and more developed than the regular Harvey humor stories, and some only collect those issues designated as a mystery/horror themed book. Give them a try. MARK ARNOLD is a comic book and animation historian. He has written many books including ones on Harvey Comics, Archie Comics, Dennis the Menace, The Chipmunks, Cracked magazine, and many more. He is currently at work on a book about MAD magazine and a TTV Scrapbook featuring Underdog.

All characters TM & © their respective owners.

BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

ER EISN RD AWAINEE! M NO

MONSTER MASH

GROOVY

MARK VOGER’s time-trip back to 1957-1972, to explore the CREEPY, KOOKY MONSTER CRAZE, when monsters stomped into America’s mainstream!

A psychedelic look at when Flower Power bloomed in Pop Culture. Revisits ‘60s era’s ROCK FESTIVALS, TV, MOVIES, ART, COMICS & CARTOONS!

(192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $11.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-064-9

(192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-080-9

MIKE GRELL

LIFE IS DRAWING WITHOUT AN ERASER Career-spanning tribute to a comics art legend! (160-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $27.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-088-5 (176-page LTD. ED. HARDCOVER) $37.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-087-8 (Digital Edition) $12.99

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID

ED AND EXP COND SE ION! IT ED

ISBN: 978-1-60549-094-6

THE MLJ COMPANION

Documents the complete history of ARCHIE COMICS’ super-heroes known as the “Mighty Crusaders”, with in-depth examinations of each era of the characters’ history: The GOLDEN AGE (beginning with the Shield, the first patriotic super-hero), the SILVER AGE (spotlighting the campy Mighty Comics issues, and The Fly and Jaguar), the BRONZE AGE (the Red Circle line, and the !mpact imprint published by DC Comics), up to the MODERN AGE, with its Dark Circle imprint! (288-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $34.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-067-0

COMIC BOOK IMPLOSION

In 1978, DC Comics implemented its “DC Explosion” with many creative new titles, but just weeks after its launch, they pulled the plug, leaving stacks of completed comic book stories unpublished. This book marks the 40th Anniversary of “The DC Implosion”, one of the most notorious events in comics, with an exhaustive oral history from the creators involved (JENETTE KAHN, PAUL LEVITZ, LEN WEIN, MIKE GOLD, and others), plus detailed analysis of how it changed the landscape of comics forever!

ER EISN RD AWAINEE! NOM

(136-page trade paperback with COLOR) $21.95 (Digital Edition) $10.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-085-4

(272-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $36.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1

IT CREPT FROM THE TOMB Digs up the best of FROM THE TOMB (the UK’s preeminent horror comics history magazine): Atomic comics lost to the Cold War, censored British horror comics, the early art of RICHARD CORBEN, Good Girls of a bygone age, TOM SUTTON, DON HECK, LOU MORALES, AL EADEH, BRUCE JONES’ ALIEN WORLDS, HP LOVECRAFT in HEAVY METAL, and more!

EXPANDED SECOND EDITION—16 EXTRA PAGES! Looks back at the creators of the Marvel Universe’s own words, in chronological order, from fanzine, magazine, radio, and television interviews, to paint a picture of JACK KIRBY and STAN LEE’s complicated relationship! Includes recollections from STEVE DITKO, ROY THOMAS, WALLACE WOOD, JOHN ROMITA SR., and other Marvel Bullpenners! (176-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99

HERO-A-GO-GO!

MICHAEL EURY looks at comics’ CAMP AGE, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, and TV’s Batman shook a mean cape!

(192-page trade paperback) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $10.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-081-6

ER EISN RD AWAINEE! NOM

JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

The final complete, unpublished Jack Kirby stories in existence, presented here for the first time, in cooperation with DC Comics! Two unused 1970s DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales, plus TRUE-LIFE DIVORCE and SOUL LOVE magazines! (176-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES:

THE WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

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! (224-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $37.95 (240-page ULTRA-LIMITED HARDCOVER) $75 (Digital Edition) $15.99

8 Volumes Covering The 1940s-1990s

MAC RABOY

Master of the Comics

OR -COL FULLDCOVER HAR RIES SE nting me f docu ecade o d y! c a e h s histor ic com

MAC RABOY perfected his art style on such 1940s comic book creations as DR. VOODOO, BULLETMAN, SPY SMASHER, GREEN LAMA, and his crowning achievement, CAPTAIN MARVEL JR., before moving on to illustrate the FLASH GORDON Sunday newspaper strip. Author ROGER HILL documents the life and career of the master artist in a full-color hardcover with never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of a true Master of the Comics! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

So, you want to hunt monsters? You want to protect the innocent from things that lurk in dark alleys, in primordial forests, in fetid swamps? You want to protect the innocent from flying, crouching, hungry beasts? You want to shine a light in the dark places to expose the fanged, clawed unthinkable? Well, then, if you are going to be a monster-hunter, you brave soul, then you must know your monsters. Because here, there be monsters. That’s true in today’s comic-book world and it was true in every age of comic publishing. But in the Bronze Age, oh, my dear dwellers of darkness, it was truer than ever. Marvel Comics had its pantheon of beasts that was designed to strike fear into the hearts of all who encountered them. DC Comics had its fair share of shambling, tooth-gnashing beasties that would make one’s short hairs stand at attention. Even the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Atlas/Seaboard Comics had a pantheon of creatures that deserve recognition. So get out your silver bullets, your stakes and crosses, and most importantly, your courage, as we bravely peer into the abyss at the horrific heroes of Atlas/Seaboard and uncover true terrors that have almost been forgotten. [Editor’s note: Atlas Comics was the short-lived, mid-1970s comics imprint from Seaboard Periodicals of New York City, created by former Marvel Comics publisher Martin Goodman, who left Marvel in 1972. Herewith the company will be referred to as Atlas. The Atlas roster of characters is currently under development for movies.]

by M a r c

If there was one thing that the co-founder of Atlas Comics, Martin Goodman, was good at, it was playing the hits. Back when Goodman ran Marvel Comics, before the rise of Kirby and Lee and the Marvel Age of superheroes, Goodman would chase trends. This statement is meant with no disrespect, because some truly fine comics from every conceivable genre were born because of Goodman’s propensity to follow the zeitgeist. So when monster comics became a go-to genre in the early to mid-1970s, Goodman did what he always did: he jumped on the monster train and filled it to bursting with more beasts than you can shake a stake at. The editor of the tragically short-lived Atlas line of comics, Jeff Rovin, recalls to BACK ISSUE the days the monsters competed with superheroes for the dominance of the Bronze Age comic racks: “There was a trend—the anthology titles at DC, Swamp Thing, Weird Western Tales, Weird War. At Marvel there was Brother Voodoo, Dracula, Son of Satan, Chamber of Chills, and so on.” But the trends of the day were not the main reason Rovin championed horror. “My background was horror comics: I was assistant editor on Nightmare and Psycho at Skywald, in 1971,” Rovin informs. [I was also] “Joe Orlando’s assistant on House of Mystery, House of Secrets, and others in 1972 (my first comic-book script was for Joe’s Dark Mansion), then assistant editor at Warren Publishing from 1973–1974.” With those horrific credentials, Rovin, along with legendary editor Larry Lieber, was the perfect ghoulish overseer for the coming Atlas monsters. And indeed, when it came to fanged and clawed protagonists, Atlas was ready to spring myriad freshly minted monster antiheroes on an unsuspecting comic-book public. Now, if you’re brave enough, let us learn of these monsters so we may begin our hunt, my valiant hunters of darkness. But beware, these Atlas creature features may not have been around for long, but they are not for the faint of heart.

TM & © SP Media Group.

NEW HORRORS AWAKEN

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Buxton

THE BRUTE

“Out of the past he came, a nightmarish beast-man from the very dawn of time. A murderous, blood-hungry monster caught somewhere in the evolutionary twilight between ape and man.” This very Bronze Age and wonderfully overwrought intro serves as the opening to Atlas’ man-monster: the Brute. And if you choose this creature for your hunt, my monster finders, know that you put yourself in grave peril of being savaged to pieces. Because this Brute has no fear. This overly muscled killing machine made his debut in The Brute #1 (Feb. 1975) at the dawn of the Atlas/ Seaboard era, where ideas sprung up like fungus on an ancient cave wall. The Brute was obviously Atlas’ answer to Marvel’s Incredible Hulk as the Brute was an overly muscled engine of raging destruction. As we mentioned, brave monster hunters, the Brute and his Atlas monster ilk were a huge part of the heroes that kicked off the Atlas wave. “I felt strongly that with DC and Marvel still primarily leaning heavily on classic and celestial superheroes, ‘the supernatural’ would be a strong, distinguishing ‘through-line’ for Atlas characters,” Rovin tells BACK ISSUE. “It was actually June 1974 when Atlas got underway. The TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker had been announced for debut in September. Assistant editor Ric Meyers and I were fans of the original TV movies and, with that on the horizon, the Goodmans [Martin and his son, Chip—ed.] agreed that the genre might be hot. So horror became our foundation.” If horror became the foundation, the Brute and his close character proximity to the Hulk would, at least in theory, become a pillar of that foundation. “He’s a hairy Hulk!” artist Alan Weiss quips recalling his time on The Brute. However, Weiss was not the first artist to bring Atlas’ engine of rage to life. The Brute #1 was penciled by longtime Justice League of America artist Mike Sekowsky, with a script by Michael Fleisher.

Edited by Rovin, the inaugural issue of Atlas’ prehistoric monstrosity sports an eye-popping cover by Dick Giordano. The Brute that appears on the cover of issue #1 was a crystalline blue creature that really jumped off the page. The cover Brute was not visually derivative of the Hulk at all, but was a uniquely colored giant that was a hellish sight to behold—even for the most seasoned monster hunter. While Sekowsky’s interior art is capable and memorable, the Brute in the comic is not of the same color or anatomical design that was featured on the cover. “We did the best we could to make it distinctive,” Rovin recollects. “The character wasn’t supposed to be solid blue, but more crystalline as on the first cover. Unfortunately, the coloring process didn’t allow that.” That’s not to say that The Brute series wasn’t a worthy attempt at creating a memorable comic-book monster… it just fell into the big criticism that all things Atlas suffered from—it was more of the same of what had already worked for other companies. One thing can be said for the first issue of The Brute, the titular character certainly lived up to its name.

Home of the Whopper Wow, that Brute’s a big’un! Original Sekowsky/Marcos art from The Brute #1 (Feb. 1975). TM & © SP Media Group.

After Atlas One-time Atlas Comics editor Jeff Rovin, with X-Files actress/author Gillian Anderson, from their book promotion for A Vision of Fire, written by Anderson with Rovin. Courtesy of Jeff Rovin. Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 45

Big Blue Behemoth Or should we say Crystalline Creature? (top) Cover to The Brute #1 (Feb. 1975), by Dick Giordano. (bottom) The Brute vs. Reptile Men in issue #2 (Apr. 1975). Main cover art by Giordano, with foreground characters by Larry Lieber and Frank Giacoia. TM & © SP Media Group.

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In the opening pages of the inaugural issue, a group of teenage cave explorers encounter the Brute—and the Brute kills two of them! Right there, in full color (even if it wasn’t the colors Rovin wanted), the Brute, Atlas’ new monster anti-hero, slaughters two children! Well, that escalated quickly. Even the Hulk did not indulge in full-scale child slaughter. The Brute was not horror-adjacent like the Hulk—he was the real deal. After the murders of the children, the issue delves into the Brute’s origins. It seems that the Brute was once a member of a prehistoric tribe that, as Fleisher writes, was “between ape and man.” This cave-dwelling warrior was frozen during a great ice age and remained in a state of suspended animation within a cavern located in Minnesota. In the present, Fleisher introduces readers to the supporting cast: the brilliant and empathic Dr. Ann Turner, who wants to study this reported cave monster; police chief Frazier, who takes on the “Chief Brody from Jaws” role; and the angry father of the murdered boys who swears to kill the Brute. There are parallels to not only Marvel’s Hulk but to Frankenstein and King Kong as well as the Brute is a childlike monster that is defending himself against a world that he does not understand. While a bit paint-by-numbers, the first issue of The Brute was certainly memorable and terrifying with multiple violent murders and a stranger-in-a-strange-land vibe that helped set this opening issue apart from your typical comic monster. So again, my brothers and sisters in monster hunting, if you decide to test your mettle against the Brute, leave your kids with a sitter. Because… yikes! The Brute #2 (Apr. 1975) features a satisfying monster mash as Brute takes on the Reptile Men. This issue starts off with the Brute murdering more innocent people. The prehistoric savage stows away on a small plane and kills the hapless pilots in mid-flight. The sequence features the Brute grabbing one of the pilots, crushing him into a fleshy, meaty ball, and tossing him 40,000 feet to his death. Eeeeshh. From there, the plane crashes and the Brute is abducted by an atypical mad scientist and his even more atypical hunchback assistant. The scientist is trying to create a race of amphibious reptile men and is able to implant a mind-control device in the Brute’s brain. The cackling evil scientist sends the Brute to attack the mad man’s colleges that mocked and rejected the whole idea of amphibious lizard people. Imagine? The Brute isn’t having any of it and busts up the whole operation by turning his primal rage on the reptile man in a creature feature worthy of Chiller Theatre. Alan Weiss came aboard The Brute with issue #3 (July 1975), along with writer Gary Friedrich. Friedrich had already guided the story paths for some of Marvel’s most renowned horror characters, so the blue cavemen savage was in good hands creatively for this third, and as fate would have it, final issue. Looking back on his time on The Brute, Weiss recalls how he started with Atlas: “Alan Kupperberg was working at Atlas in some capacity. He was a friend and wanted to get me to do some work for the company. Originally I was to draw one or more issues of their Conan parallel, IronJaw. For some reason, the Brute came up first instead. That was a disappointment, but I tried to find ways of having some fun with it.” Weiss was certainly up to the task of making the Brute more than just a Hulk derivative. All characters have potential, depending on their creative handling. The challenge for the Brute character was to raise him above being a mere Hulk rip-off.” Weiss gave it his best in an issue that saw the Brute shot by police—a lot—plus the introduction of the Brute’s first and only costumed foe. The Brute also goes an entire issue without slaughtering an innocent person! You see, after the Brute is shot in the head by overzealous police, he undergoes emergency surgery that saves the prehistoric man-beast’s life. When the Brute awakens, he is reunited with Ann Turner and learns to talk. Weiss may have wanted to move the Brute visually away from being a “Hulk rip-off,” but the monster’s infantile utterance made the Atlas monster even more Hulk-like. Turner wants to study the Brute, but of course, the monster escapes and is once again hunted and hounded by the puny humans. Arriving is a mysterious costumed figure named Doomstalker, a robotic masked cyborg controlled

by yet another mad scientist, and the Brute’s first classic DEMON HUNTER comic-book battle begins. Fear not, monster hunters, for you will not be alone as But never ends, because like the entire Atlas pantheon you track down the world’s most dangerous creatures, of heroes, monsters, space swashbucklers, soldiers, for there are hearty souls that will hunt with you! cowboys, and teen heartthrobs, the Brute’s story comes One of those heroic monster slayers is Atlas’ Demon to an abrupt conclusion with the impotent implosion Hunter, a little-known horror protagonist that made of the Bronze Age Atlas Comics. Weiss did his one blink-and-you’ll-miss-him appearance. level best to make his time on The Brute However, this hunter of darkness lived on something special, but the artist was not under the auspices of none other than fully satisfied with the result. Weiss tells Marvel Comics! Intrigued, my monsterBACK ISSUE, “…my main memory is hunter brethren? Well, then, read on for the brief spark and flame that was how disappointed I was with that issue Demon Hunter! of The Brute. I was not at all happy with the inking especially. I knew [inker] Jack Editor Jeff Rovin had always been Abel well. Loved the guy. But it was fascinated by demonic myth and not a good match. Whether directed pulpish tales of macabre. Rovin tells editorially or not, most, if not all, of the BACK ISSUE, “My first job out of high anatomy on the Brute was changed or school was proofreading H. P. left out, as were attempts at somewhat Lovecraft for Beagle Books in New York. I was 19 and was mesmerized more human, sympathetic, or more alan weiss by the stories. I had always wanted realistically lit facial expressions in all DC Database. but a few cases.” to do something like the Cthulhu The Brute could have and should have been so much Mythos (I was hardly alone in that), and in November more. What started as an attempt to mirror The Incredible of 1974 made the first notes for a character who Hulk became a book that, at times, took daring chances would be the sentinel protecting us from ancient and even embraced the horror genre more than the demons: Demon Hunter.” Lovecraft’s Great Old Ones Bronze Age Hulk stories ever did. So if you encounter and tales of demonic possession were certainly in the this prehistoric terror in the wilds of northern Minnesota, zeitgeist in 1975, so Demon Hunter #1 (Sept. 1975) my brave monster hunters, tread carefully, because this certainly looked like it belonged alongside the other blue-skinned Brute is not afraid to get blood on his hands. demonic heroes of the mid-Bronze Age. Rich Buckler And in his teeth. And on his loincloth. was credited with the “concept, plot, and art,” while

I Will Survive You have to look closely under Jack Abel’s heavy inks to find traces of penciler Alan Weiss’ distinctive style. From The Brute #3 (July 1975), the final issue. TM & © SP Media Group.

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Having a Ball Pablo Marcos flew solo on the cover art to issue #3. Both, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © SP Media Group.

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David Anthony Kraft handled the script. The Buckler cover features the title character, bedecked in his large blue cloak and red hood, and sporting a battle axe battling a bat like demon in front of a large very Ghost Rider-like flaming skull. There was a great potential to this first issue of Demon Hunter, a potential that would be marginally realized elsewhere, but like all Atlas titles of 1970s, the one and only issue was just a small taste of the horrors that could have been. Demon Hunter #1 introduces Gideon Cross, Vietnam veteran, skilled sniper, cult member, and Mafioso. Upon returning from Vietnam, Cross is searching for a purpose. He joins the Harvesters of Night cult of demon worshippers. This band of satanic miscreants gives Cross a mystic cloak from which he can pull arcane weaponry. In service of the Cult, Cross joins the mafia and serves as a hitman, discovering a sinister plot to raise a race of demons and devils on Earth, a plot known as Xenogenesis. As Demon Hunter, Cross swears to bring down the cult and stand between humanity and the dark hellspawn of the netherworlds. Whew. As you can see, my monster hunters, there’s a lot of hellfire and brimstone (and plot, so much plot) crammed into Demon Hunter #1. But Gideon Cross is a distinctive character that was perfect for the mid-1970s. Cross was a cynical, post-Vietnam anti-hero that was trying to find meaning in a world plunged into chaos. As Demon Hunter, his occult powers were visually interesting and there was tons of potential set up in the chaotic and complex story crafted by Buckler and Kraft. According to Rovin, there was also intriguingly so much more to come planned for Demon Hunter. “I created a chart for the entire Atlas Universe and saw Demon Hunter, Devilina, and Dr. Mercurio (from Weird Tales of the Macabre) as a team. Never got to do it.” Comic readers and monster hunters will never see Gideon Cross and his weapon-producing cloak fight side-by-shapely side with Devilina, but at least we have a taste of what could have been with the one and only issue of Demon Hunter. But in an odd way, we have a little more than that. After the Atlas tent folded, Buckler and Kraft found themselves back at Marvel Comics. In “Ready for the Spotlight!,” an article written by Jarrod Buttery for BACK ISSUE #71 (Apr. 2014), Kraft related that he ran into Buckler in the halls of the House of Ideas and the two began spit-balling how to continue the rich buckler story began in Demon Hunter #1. Kraft recalled, “I changed his costume colors, Rich changed his costume design a little © DeviantArt. bit, we changed his name, of course—but if you look at his backstory it’s a direct continuation from the Atlas issue.” At Marvel, Demon Hunter became Devil-Slayer and continued to try and stop Xenogenesis in Devil-Slayer’s first appearance in the pages of Marvel Spotlight #33 (Apr. 1977), a “Deathlok the Demolisher” issue. There were plans to continue the Devil-Slayer story, but, as fate would have it, the Slayer’s first issue was the final installment of Marvel Spotlight. Instead, Kraft took Devil-Slayer with him to the pages of The Defenders as the monster hunter joined Marvel’s non-team. You’d think that would be the end of the legend of Demon Hunter that began in the pages of a single Atlas issue, but no. In 1981, Rich Buckler began to publish his own magazine entitled Galaxia. In those pages, a new character with a similar costume, identical powers, and the same mission statement as Demon Hunter and Devil-Slayer appeared. This new hero, Bloodwing, continued every tradition that began in Demon Hunter, including the tradition of not being published very long as the third time’s a charm (not really) hero fluttered off into the darkness where almost forgotten comic-book heroes are doomed to dwell. But we remember, do we not, monster hunters? So let us raise our swords to Demon Hunter, a product of his time and a hero and fellow monster slayer that existed at three separate publishing houses. Not bad.

What Does a Demon Hunter Do? He becomes a Devil-Slayer, that’s what! (top) Buckler-drawn splash to Atlas’ Demon Hunter #1 (Sept. 1975). (bottom) Buckler and Klaus Janson’s cover to Marvel Spotlight #33 (Apr. 1977), premiering the Demon Hunter makeover Devil-Slayer. Demon Hunter TM & © SP Media Group. Marvel Spotlight, Deathlok, and Devil-Slayer TM & © Marvel.

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Wrath of the Grim Ghost (left) Spectre scribe Michael Fleisher was paired with artist Ernie Colón on Atlas’ gritty Grim Ghost. Splash to issue #1 (Jan. 1975). (right) While not as identifiable as a Marvel analog as other Atlas titles, Grim Ghost #2’s cover features a cover blurb that probably raised a few eyebrows at the House of Ideas, home of its own Son of Satan. TM & © SP Media Group.

THE GRIM GHOST

the trappings of the Grim Ghost that made this Atlas monster hero so unique. His form-fitting mask, his period garb, his flying steed, and his swashbuckling demeanor all made Grim Ghost a stand-out in the Atlas explosion of endless characters and concepts. But it was the Colón artwork that truly made Grim Ghost feature rise above from the pack. Rovin gushes, “Ernie Colón’s work was gorgeous. We had met at Skywald and he was one of the first artists I engaged. The first two issues are among my favorites.” The first issue of The Grim Ghost begins with a violent fur robbery. A beautiful thief named Goldie and her gang gun down a security guard and get ready to make off with their plunder when the cackling Grim Ghost appears for the first time. He makes the gang disappear and turns Goldie’s bullets into long-stemmed roses. The gallant ghost then turns Goldie to smoke and hints that he has sent the highwaywoman to Hell. Colón’s lines and sense ernie colón of design make this sequence a spooky delight. The issue then flashes to the origin of the Grim Ghost as Colón gets to show off his versatility by rendering Colonial America as magnificently as he did the back alleys of the 1970s. The Ghost’s origin might have been an iconic addition to the Bronze Age if Atlas survived beyond the mere relative eye-blink that it published comics. The atmosphere of the inaugural issue owes a great deal to the horror tradition reminiscent of Hammer Films, as one can almost hear the horse hooves clip-clopping on the misty cobblestones of the Colonial era as the tale of the Grim Ghost unfolds.

Now we come to the Atlas headliner that is probably the best known of these obscure creature features: the Grim Ghost, another supernatural hero that followed the trend of horror heroism of the Bronze Age. When Grim Ghost #1 (Jan. 1975) mystically appeared on the comics stands, the legend of Atlas Bronze Age horror was born. Written by Michael Fleisher, a scribe who already earned his horror cred with his legendary work on the “Spectre” feature in DC’s Adventure Comics, and deftly drawn by the great Ernie Colón, the Grim Ghost was a supernatural hero like no other. The Brute and Demon Hunter may have been darkly fun, but they were derivative when compared to other creatures of the Bronze Age; Grim Ghost was refreshingly different. Yes, DC Comics published the ghostly pirate the Gay Ghost in the Golden Age (first appearance Sensation Comics #1), but it was

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Betwixt Hellfire and Brimstone Original cover art to Grim Ghost #3, illustrated by the legendary Russ Heath. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © SP Media Group.

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Fleisher and Colón introduce readers to the highwayman known served evil in life but is now forced into the role of hero. The Grim as the Grim Ghost. When readers first see this fearsome but dashing Ghost is a monster out of time, a man who must walk the misty figure, he waylays a carriage, seduces a beauty, and murders a purgatory between the living and the dead as he serves his dark foppish man of wealth. Tired of the Ghost’s predications, the master. Plus, the Grim Ghost’s presence and origin story would have wealthy residents of the Colonial town the Ghost bedevils use the allowed Rovin and the powers-that-be at Atlas to make their new beauty on the carriage, one Sarah Braddock by name, to set a trap publishing initiative a cohesive universe. “When I laid out the Atlas for the Ghost. Enter Mathew Dunsinane, a roguish and charming Universe,” Rovin remembers, “I also had it in mind that the Grim visitor who is quite taken with the lady Braddock. Of course, Dunsinane Ghost—serving Satan—would ultimately meet Devilina, the devil’s sister. We never got to develop that idea.” is actually the Grim Ghost, and Sarah goes right to work. There were two more issues of The Grim Ghost. In the Dunsinane dons his Grim Ghost garb to rob Sarah of her second issue (Mar. 1975), by Fleisher and Colón, the virtue (indeed, the tale of the Grim Ghost does not fit creative duo expand the book’s supporting cast and well into the modern era) when the trap is sprung! The authorities bust down the door and apprehend further show off the Ghost’s macabre powers. In this the Grim Ghost. Brought down by the promise of issue, Mathew Dunsinane meets police commissioner carnal delight! Superman has his kryptonite. Green Marten and his beautiful daughter Jaqueline. The Lantern has the color yellow. I guess Grim Ghost issue also expands the setting and trappings of the has his libido. Dunsinane is hung from the gallows Ghost as Fleisher establishes that Dunsinane now and finds himself in Hell. There, Satan, clovenlives in the same ancestral mansion he did in hoofed and oozing a classical evil as rendered by Colonial times. He dresses in period clothing and Colón, offers him a chance to return to the land of refuses to use electricity or other modern conveniences. the living in exchange for Dunsinane becoming This is wonderful character work as the creative Satan’s avatar on Earth in the modern age. Satan team establishes Dunsinane as a Bruce Waynegives Dunsinane his ghost costume, a flying horse, plus-type character. There is great story potential tony isabella and mystical powers. The vengeful and caddish with this setup, and it remains a true shame that John Trumbull/East Coast Comicon. Grim Ghost is born. we only got three issues of The Grim Ghost. Truly, Jeff Rovin feels that of all the Atlas horror-heroes, the Grim Ghost the surface was barely scratched. had the most potential. “Look at the Costa Bower and Banshee in In the second issue, the Grim Ghost stops a yacht robbery and Disney’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People and you’ll see what I mean,” ends a hostage situation by sending all the perpetrators to Hell Rovin says. The Ghost is a man of complex appetites, a man who by shooting them with his mystical guns. The Ghost’s firearms do not simply shoot bullets… no—and take heed, ghost hunters— the Grim Ghost’s guns shoot sparks that act as portals to Satan’s underworld! Of course, Jacqueline falls head over heels for the archaically gallant Dunsinane. This would be the last time Fleisher would write Dunsinane. Issue #3 of The Grim Ghost (July 1975) sees Tony Isabella handling the writing chores for Atlas’ ghostly avenger. Isabella recalls his early days at the short-lived Atlas: “Jeff Rovin… invited me to meet with him at the Atlas offices and asked me to write The Grim Ghost. I was freelance at the time, dealing with some issues with the post-Roy Thomas Marvel and Atlas paid higher rates than I was getting at Marvel. I figured I should at least take a shot at diversifying my client list.” Isabella had “no direct influences, save for my love of giant monsters as seen in movies and the pre-hero Marvel comic books. I learned some useful ways of writing character and moody bits from writers like Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, Len Wein, Steve Gerber, Marv Wolfman, and others.” And that mastery of mood was on full display in Isabella’s one and only issue of The Grim Ghost. Like a true master, Isabella expands the world of the Ghost and creates a hellish underworld hierarchy that could have led to some truly horrific stories if Atlas did not enter its own purgatory. In the third and final issue, the evil Brimstone is introduced, a rival to Satan who wants to claim souls on Earth to become soldiers in his army dedicated to overthrowing Satan his own damn self and conquering Hell. To help Dunsinane battle Brimstone, Satan resurrects Sarah Braddock, the woman who betrayed Dunsinane in the Colonial era. Sarah inhabits the body of Jaqueline Marten as the Ghost’s love life gets very complicated. So with a new villain, an intriguing supporting cast, and a hellish mission, the Grim Ghost was ready to become a force in horror comics. And then Atlas went away and The Grim Ghost dissipated along with it. The Ghost seems to have left somewhat of an impression on Isabella, who recalls, “He was something different from the

Horning In New series writer Tony Isabella raises Hell in issue #3 with the demonic Brimstone. TM & © SP Media Group.

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characters I’d written at Marvel. On Ghost Rider, I had the traditional situation of Satan being the bad guy. On Grim Ghost, had it continued, I planned to do a flip and make Satan… well, not a hero, but someone who wasn’t any worse than the other side.” In fact, Isabella would return to The Grim Ghost in a brief 2010 Atlas revival. Isabella enjoyed his time on the character and reveals to BACK ISSUE that he was hoping for more. “The one issue I wrote in the 1970s didn’t really leave any lasting impression on me. The six-issue series I did with Kelley Jones in 2010 was a different story. I wanted to continue that series, but it was not in the cards. I even inquired about buying all rights to that series, but was rebuffed.” What could have been with Isabella guiding the Grim Ghost’s dark mission is indeed haunting to consumers of the comic-book macabre? But we still have three haunting issues filled with to-die-for Ernie Colón artwork, and these issues must, for the time being, satisfy our appetites.

THE BOG BEAST

We now come to Atlas’ slimiest creation. Swamp monsters are a time-honored comic-book horror tradition. Not to be left in the dark, Atlas had its Bog Beast! Created by writer Gabriel Levy and penciler Badia Romero, Bog Beast made his sticky debut in Atlas’ black-and white horror magazine Weird Tales of the Macabre #2 (Mar. 1975). “We just wanted to have fun with this,” Jeff Rovin relates to BACK ISSUE. “The idea for the subterranean race was triggered by the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men, and the look was a nod to a comic book I’d worked on at Skywald, The Heap.” In Bog Beast’s debut story, readers are introduced to a down-on-his-luck news photographer assigned to a story on the La Brea tar pits. The photog witnesses a strange creature emerging from the pits, and readers encounter the Bog Beast! Surprisingly, the monster can think clearly and is very empathic to emotions around him. Readers are given idea that the Beast is

really no beast at all, but a scientist on a mission for his people to explore the surface world. The misshapen scientist stumbles into a Hollywood studio, where he causes and explore a series of life-threatening mishaps. Bog Beast saves an actress from drowning after he breaks a rain machine, and of course, the police arrive to hunt and hound the mud monster. The pathos is very similar to Skywald’s perennial swamp monster, the Heap, and Marvel’s early attempt at a swamp beast, the Glob [see this issue’s opening Man-Thing article— ed.]. With the twist of Bog Beast being a scientist of a race of tar people, Atlas found a very different direction in which to explore the muck-monster genre. But before we continue to hunt Bog Beast, let us discuss the character’s home, Tales of Evil, a classic anthology title that Atlas hoped would have horror fanatics drooling. “We wanted to try everything, from gothic to classic to sexy to grotesque,” Rovin tells BACK ISSUE. The first issue of Tales of Evil (Feb. 1975) was a throwback to the 1950s weird anthologies like Tales of Suspense and Journey into Mystery, but the second issue began what was to be a series of rotating features making the

Big Top Terror (left) Weird Tales of the Macabre, #2, page 14, featuring Bog Beast. (right) From the Heritage archives, Frank Thorne’s original cover art to Tales of Evil #2 (Apr. 1975), starring Bog Beast. TM & © SP Media Group.

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What’s in a Name? (left) Tales of Evil editor Larry Lieber had, over a decade earlier, worked on a Marvel story that used the “Bog Beast” name. From Tales to Astonish #56 (June 1964). (right) Bog Beast is hunted on the splash page of Tales of Evil #2. Ant-Man and the Wasp TM & © Marvel. Bog Beast TM & © SP Media Group.TM & © Marvel.

title a horror version of DC’s perennial Showcase. In issue #2 of Tales of Evil (Apr. 1975), writer John Albano and artist Jack Sparling continue the tale of the Bog Beast. Sparling renders his sticky monstrosity as a misshapen hunk of melting stone, a gaunt and oddly angled nightmare that really does pop off the page. Of course, the Beast instantly runs afoul of two crooks on the run and the police soon arrive. The issue opens with a beautiful woman, with a burly dude complete with patented 1970s no-shirt and vest ensemble. These groovy anarchists just bombed a bank and run into the titular muck monster. The Bog Beast fights off cops and goes on the run with the corrupt fringe. As Bog Beast and the vest guy camp out, the lady crook stumbles across a traveling circus and sells poor Boggy to the freak show. A bunch of carnival roustabouts net the Beast and drag him off to the circus. The guy and the girl get into a violent shouting match about her betrayal of their new friend. The woman shoots the guy and runs off. Dying, the dude stumbles to the circus, where he frees Bog Beast. The saga of The Bog Beast continues a backup feature in Tales of Evil #3 (July 1975) as Levy and Romero return to the feature they introduced in Weird Tales of the Macabre #2. The creative team introduces elements of the supernatural into the Bog Beast’s third appearance. The wandering muddy scientist stumbles over a gruesome murder. A group of scientists are torn to pieces and the helpful Bog Beast finds an unconscious woman.

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Seeking to get the woman help, he gently carries her towards the city when suddenly, she transforms into a werecat. Bog Beast fights his first monster, but when the woman transforms back to her human form, the police arrive and see the hideous tar monster standing over the prone form of a battered woman. The police capture Bog Beast as the final Atlas appearance of its very own muck monster comes to a close. Another Bog Beast story did see the light of day in an unexpected place. In 1982, an Australian anthology comic, Fearful Spectres (1982) from Gredown Comics, published a “lost” Bog Beast story that was prepared for publication at Atlas. In this installment by Romero and Levy (presumably; there are no credits in the issue) entitled “The Sun-Spawn Stalks,” Boggy debuts a new power: To escape confinement, Bog Beast turns into liquid form and oozes between the bars of his cell. He then confronts a woman who is made of living flame and the Beast once again turns into liquid to smother the power of his new adversary. And with that lost unexpected lost tale, the wandering scientist made of tar shambles off into history. There really was something special about Bog Beast, something atypical. Maybe it was his sensitivity, his inquisitive nature, that made him more than just another muck monster. Like most Atlas Bronze Age creations, the shifting creative teams did Bog Beast no favors, but there was a little bit of gold hidden beneath the lawyers of ooze and muck. Remember that, monster hunters, if you encounter Bog Beast during your travels.

THE MAN-MONSTER

pitch: Challengers of the Unknown, Jonny Quest, that Marvel had a Man-Thing and a Man-Wolf; DC had sort of action-adventure comic. The second pitch: a Man-Bat. So Atlas answered with its very own The Creature from the Black Lagoon and Jack Man-Monster! Kirby monsters in general.” And that’s Half-man, half-monster (duh), exactly what the initial Man-Monster Man-Monster starred in Tales of Evil #3 story tried to be: a classic Kirby monster, and was brought to the unsuspecting a hapless, flawed man transformed monster-hungry public by plotter into the unthinkable. Tony Isabella, writer Gary Friedrich, The one and only Man-Monster and co-plotter and artist Rich story opens with champion Olympic Buckler. According to Isabella, swimmer Paul Sanders out frolicking on however, the credits of the debut a beach with two bikini-clad “women’s issue of “Man-Monster” were not lib magazine reporters.” Paul is the son exactly accurate. “There was no of an oil billionaire and he takes two collaboration with my friend Gary,” ladies out on his yacht to show them Isabella reveals. “I wrote a panelhis father’s oil rig. To further impress larry lieber by-panel plot for the first story. the women, Paul jumps into the water Rich Buckler got his name on the to show off his swimming skills. At that story as a co-plotter, but he wasn’t. Tenebrae/Wikipedia. moment, the oil rig digs too deep When I got busy with Marvel work, which was my and a strange “bacterial force” transforms Paul into main source of income, I told Larry I would be unable the amphibious Creature-like Man-Monster. From there, to write the script. the ladies try to help Paul, who transforms back and “I’m fairly certain it was Larry Lieber who came forth uncontrollably. While Paul is human, a costumed up with the name ‘Man-Monster.’ He designed the visual for the character.” We should pause here, my fellow monster hunters, and take this moment to acknowledge Mr. Lieber. His name, bold professionalism, endless creativity, constant class, and editorial stewardship are all over the Atlas Bronze Age line. It was Lieber’s dynamic energy and limitless imagination that birthed so many characters that never reached their potentials for myriad reasons. To Isabella, Lieber was one of the major bright points of Bronze Age Atlas: “I enjoyed working with my longtime friend Larry Lieber…” Between Marvel, DC, and Warren, the Universal pantheon of horror icons was pretty much re-created in comic-book form during the Bronze Age. There were plenty of vampires, werewolves, monsters created by a Frankenstein, and mummies to go around. The gill-man Creature from the Black Lagoon archetype monster was noticeably absent. Other than the Manphibian at Marvel, there really was no attempt to cash in on Universal’s success with the Creature. Until Man-Monster. [Editor’s note: Artist Dave Cockrum, who co-created Manphibian for Marvel’s 1975 blackand-white magazine The Legion of Monsters #1, also introduced Devil-Fish a year earlier in DC’s “Legion of Super-Heroes” feature appearing in Superboy #202.] Rovin tells BACK ISSUE that the Man-Monster feature was “originally conceived as a throwback to The Horror of Party Beach (a 1964 horror movie spoof which had also been a fumetti magazine at Warren) and the early Roger Corman films.” Soon, the camp approach was jettisoned for a more classical horror treatment. Rovin continues, “I had worked with writer Gary Friedrich at Skywald, but Larry Lieber tossed that innocent approach for something more Marvel-like—again, at Martin’s [Goodman] insistence.” So what started out as a riff on The Horror of Party Beach became a part-Hulk, part-Creature from the Black Lagoon, part-beach monster potpourri of Bronze Age chills. Tony Isabella has his own memories of developing Man-Monster in Tales of Evil #3. “I pitched Atlas. Twice,” Isabella says. “My first pitch would have set most of the initial action in a high-science research facility with the title character traveling the world on missions. They wanted more of a monster approach, which led to the second pitch.” The second pitch is what mostly saw the light of day. The idea was, according to Isabella, “My original

Creature Feature Splash to Tales of Evil #3 (July 1975), starring the beach-bound Man-Monster. TM & © SP Media Group.

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Getting Cross with the Drac Pack (top) Son of Dracula gets the cover spotlight on the June 1975 edition of The Comic Reader. (bottom) Page 1 of Frank Thorne’s atmospheric Son of Dracula, from Fright #1 (June 1975). TM & © SP Media Group.

criminal named Hell-Blazer shows up and tries to convince Paul to join him to take down Paul’s billionaire father. Paul seemingly knows Hell-Blazer from some past misdealing but refuses to join with the costumed baddie. Paul transforms into the Man-Monster and fights Hell-Blazer, burning down a hotel owned by Paul’s Montgomery Burns-like dad. As expected, the monster is blamed as the issue comes to a close. A Man-Monster solo comic is promised but, of course, this never comes to fruition as Atlas folds and Man-Monster swims off into obscurity. Like most Atlas monsters we have covered, Man-Monster was a haphazard but earnest affair that seemed rushed in many ways. For example, one of the feminist reporters keeps referring to her Afro and calling everyone “sister” but is colored in Caucasian skin tones. Meanwhile, Hell-Blazer just pops in out of nowhere in the middle of Paul’s transformation narrative. It seems like the powers-at-be at Atlas were desperate to do both superheroes and monsters and had trouble focusing on one or the other. But like most of these Atlas horrors, there was a great deal of potential with Man-Monster. It would have been super-cool to have a Creature from the Black Lagoon type sharing rack space with the vampires and the werewolves of the Bronze Age. Add a bit of the old Kirby tragic monster archetype, and the Man-Monster could have been much more than a throwaway concept, especially if a writer with the ability to find fascinating directions for any character like Tony Isabella stayed aboard to steward the project. But that was not to be as other writing duties called Isabella away from Atlas and Man-Monster. Isabella recalls, “I left the project so early, I didn’t make any preliminary plans for Man-Monster as he eventually appeared. Since I was never paid for my contribution, I supposed I can claim ownership. But, as I would be more interested in my original pitch, I’d concentrate on that material.” As for how he would continue the saga of Atlas’ amphibian monstrosity, Isabella speculates that he would “probably combine it with my mostly unused pitch for Morlock 2001 and the Midnight Men. I came up with the Midnight Men along with some really farout stuff. I wasn’t paid for that either. But, lest you think I’m blaming Atlas for that, I’m not. I felt bad for leaving Larry in the lurch and so donated my work to him and the publisher. Nothing in writing. It was a handshake deal with a good friend.” And with that memory, we must dog-paddle away from Man-Monster, a creature feature for a monster-hungry Bronze Age readership. So, as you set sail to bag some beasts, my monster hunters, beware the Man-Monster, the not-quitelegendary terror of the seas.

SON OF DRACULA

Over at Marvel, the House of Ideas had a major monster hit on its hands with Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s Tomb of Dracula. “Son of” films were a Hollywood staple from its golden age of horror. There was Son of Kong (1933)¸ Son of Frankenstein (1939), and even a film version of Son of Dracula (1943) starring Lon Chaney, Jr. Martin Goodman’s Atlas Comics followed Marvel into the literary realm of Dracula because, after all, Dracula was in the public domain. Rovin tells BACK ISSUE that Son of Dracula “…started as Night Creature, who was going to be the first (and thus oldest) vampire on earth. In November of 1974, Martin suggested Son of Dracula because Marvel had a Dracula comic. Eventually, that won out.” With Goodman trying to emulate Marvel’s genre-bending success story Tomb of Dracula, The Son of Dracula was born. While the concept may have been an echo of what Marvel was doing, Atlas certainly turned to some seasoned pros to bring the scion of Dracula to life. Horror maven Gary Friedrich was the writer, while the always gritty and evocative Frank Throne was on art. Visually, Son of Dracula was a Hammer film come to life. Thorne rendered lurid details and did not skimp on gothic atmosphere or titillation. The Dracula presented in the one and 56 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

only issue of Son of Dracula could have been a stand-in for Marvel’s mustachioed, tuxedo-clad Count. In my opinion, Son of Dracula could have been a perfect companion book to Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula if it was published by the House of Ideas. Fright Featuring the Son of Dracula #1 (June 1975) opens as Dracula saves a beautiful girl from being burned at the stake as a witch. Drac does not have altruistic motives, as he plans to dine on the nubile young girl. When Dracula gets her back to his castle, he spies a birthmark upon her body that signifies her as a part of the Dracula clan. Because “Fourth Cousin of Dracula” is not a marketable title, the woman convinces Dracula to breed with her. Ignoring that whole incest thing, Dracula agrees to keep his line going even though he hungers for her blood. Nine months later, a bouncing baby Son of Dracula is born. Eventually, the King of Vampires gives in to his base nature and bites his cousin. She will transform into a vampire the next day, so she knows what must be done. She gives her son to a kindly peasant woman and returns to Dracula. Much to Drac’s horror, the woman impales herself without telling her dark husband the location of the child. Sex, incest, suicide. Atlas did not skimp on the darker side of storytelling when it came to Son of Dracula. Rovin who tells BACK ISSUE, “Hammer [Films] was sadly faded by then, but the last of their Dracula movies certainly encouraged us to push the envelope on blood and sex.” Push it Atlas did as evident by the rest of Son of Dracula.

Friedrich and company flash-forward a few decades as the son of Dracula is now working as a university professor by the name of Adam Lucard. Here, Atlas borrows a bit from the Universal classic Son of Dracula (1943) and Lon Chaney, Jr.’s Count Alucard (Dracula backwards, natch). (Hey, if you gotta “borrow,” “borrow” from the classics.) Lucard is the envy of his female students but he wants nothing to do with campus life. Every night, Lucard sleeps with a cross on his chest to keep his family curse at bay. When one of his female admirers breaks into his home and removes the cross, Lucard goes full vampire in an odd bit of business. In this sequence, Lucard goes to bed wearing a turtleneck (’cause it’s the ’70s), but when the crucifix is removed, Lucard awakes wearing a full cape ensemble. Huh. Anyway, as the Son of Dracula, Lucard takes a few lovely victims and returns home where he sees that he is covered in blood. The same Atlas refrain follows as the Son of Dracula and his anthology Fright have a stake driven through their hearts along with the rest of Atlas. Alas, we monster hunters are never to see a reunion between father and son or learn how fabric changes when one transforms into the undead. But for all that, Son of Dracula is still a Bronze Age horror curiosity and a perfect example of a Martin Goodman-style publication. Goodman’s philosophy was, if the other guy is doing it, do it louder. This idea was never more apparent than in than the debut and farewell of Son of Dracula.

Family Affair Important origin pages by Friedrich and Thorne from Fright #1’s Son of Dracula story. TM & © SP Media Group.

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TARANTULA

Hellllllp Meeeeee… (top) Artist Dick Giordano flies in for this creepy cover for Weird Suspense #1 (Feb. 1975). (bottom left) Splash page to the first Tarantula tale. (bottom right) Courtesy of Jeff Rovin, Pat Boyette Tarantula sketches. TM & © SP Media Group.

Speaking of the Martin Goodman principle of chasing the trends, we come to Tarantula. My monster hunters, you know what was popular in the mid-1970s? Monsters. You know what else was popular? Spider-Man. Well, you better believed that Atlas mashed up a monster with a superpowered spidercharacter to create the horrific Tarantula, a monster that made his debut in Weird Suspense Featuring the Tarantula #1 (Feb. 1975). And let me tell you, the Tarantula might be the most terrifying, the vilest, of all the Atlas monsters. In the first issue of Weird Suspense, writer Michael Fleisher and artist Pat Boyette introduce Count Eugene Lycosa, a man of wealth who is cursed to transform into the flesh-hungry man-spider, the Tarantula. The first Tarantula tale begins with a prison break. When the murderous escapees arrive into a gothic mansion, they force their way inside where they find Count Lycosa and his manservant. The Count, who Boyette renders as having a startling resemblance to one Christopher Lee, transforms into his spider persona, paralyzes the crooks with his potent spider venom, webs them up, and (wait for it, monster hunters) devours them! Yes, Atlas, in its attempt to have its own monstrous version of Spider-Man, introduces the world to a cannibal super-monster—and that’s not even the crescendo of the weirdness! You see, throughout the Atlas line, there were oldschool ads shilling toys and pop-culture knickknacks and playthings of the era. One such advert has a number of Atlas characters hawking toys based on the

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Web Woman Original cover art by Larry Lieber and Frank Giacoia for the second Tarantula issue, Weird Suspense #2 (Apr. 1975). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © SP Media Group.

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perennial cartoon favorite The Flintstones. The Tarantula is featured in one such Flintstones’ ad. Yes, Atlas had a cannibal hawking Flintstones merch. Ah, Atlas, how we miss you. Anyway, after Tarantula devours his foes, the first issue then moves onto the origin of the monster. Back in the Middle Ages, somewhere in Europe, a spider priestess arrives at a town and uses her giant spider monsters to kidnap her hapless prey. Circe-like, she transforms her victims into spiders. A descendant of Count Lycosa disguises himself as one of the spider beasts and tracks the arachnid queen to her lair. He confronts her and leads an angry mob against the witch and her spiders. As she burns at the stake, she curses the Count’s descendants to live their days as flesh-hungry spider beasts. Again, this character was used to sell toys. Let’s not forget that. All jokes aside, The Tarantula #1 is a bloodcurdling bit of horror like no other Bronze Age monster mag before or since. It is a surreal tale of transformative terror that was as random as it was daring. Lycosa is almost a cypher, but the origin and shocks in this issue are just insane. Jeff Rovin explains how Lycosa and his spider persona were born. “Art student Dick Siegel was a friend and he did the first (crackerjack!) designs in the office. I showed these to Michael Fleisher, who added his characteristic Grand Guignol approach (which I had tamped-down on Grim Ghost).” Grand Guignol is the right description, and things got grander and gorier in the second issue (Apr. 1975), by Fleisher and Boyette. The spider witch, now named Rak-Nora, arrives in the present day and goes on an orgy of spider-destruction. She once again transforms a bunch of folks into slavering spider monsters, and it is up to the Tarantula to bring an end to his familial foe’s reign of terror. As Tarantula, Lycosa savagely cuts a bloody swathe through the spider minions before tossing Rak-Nora off a cliff. What’s interesting about Tarantula is that he has no hesitation, no compunctions, about being a half-human cannibalistic spider. He goes where he’s needed to help people, and Lord help any villain that gets in his way. Tarantula is not a reluctant monster protagonist; Lycosa embraces his bestial nature making Tarantula a very different kind of Bronze Age beast. Or he was until Weird Suspense/Tarantula #3 (July 1975), an issue that sees writer Gary Friedrich joining Pat Boyette to present the final adventure of the archna-cannibal. In this issue, Friedrich goes for a Larry “Wolf Man” Talbot approach to Lycosa as the Christopher Lee lookalike spends the issue lamenting his spider curse. The Rich Buckler cover (inset) is gorgeous but very misleading as it features the Tarantula fighting a gargoyle. No such story takes place; instead, Lycosa’s spider alter ego faces off against an Arabic crook who has the power to bring inanimate objects to life. The issue also introduces Lycosa’s lovelorn secretary Natalie. Now, here’s where things once again get very, very strange. After Lycosa transforms into the Tarantula, the spider beast hungers for human flesh. The Tarantula remembers Natalie and drives (yes, there’s a panel of Tarantula tooling around town in a car) to Natalie’s place to devour his office assistant (call HR!). Already present is the matter-manipulating villain who attacked Natalie during the night. The Tarantula defeats a statue the villain brings to life and, of course, devours the villain. Tarantula transforms back to Lycosa before the spider monster can turn its attentions on Natalie, which is good because eating the supporting cast is never awesome. And yes, my eager monster hunters, the aforementioned Flintstones toy ad appears in this very issue!

Petrifying Pitchmen (top) Atlas horror stars hawk old toons and serials in this 1975 house ad. (bottom) 1975 Ernie Colón original art hyping many of Atlas’ stars. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © SP Media Group.

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It’s interesting that Friedrich went the traditional Wolf Man-like monster route. When Fleisher wrote Tarantula, Lycosa embraced his inner beast, but with the new writer, things changed as Lycosa laments his curse. Maybe he was tired of finding new secretaries. And that brings us to the end of our journey through the nightmares of Bronze Age Atlas. As Rovin tells us, as 1975 was coming to an end, “The tent was already folding. Many stories were commissioned and drawn but never published,” which means we must close the monster manual on the Bronze Age beasties of the nearly forgotten Atlas era. But there were monsters and nightmares that were almost realized, like, as Rovin informs BACK ISSUE, “the giant monster saga Walt Simonson drew.” What? Now there’s some monsters we would love to hunt. Plus, Rovin teases, “I had a master plan, a chart, which was presented to Chip Goodman,” that would have connected the monsters of Atlas into a cohesive narrative and perhaps even a team. Imagine the Brute, Demon Hunter, Bog Beast, Man-Monster, Grim Ghost, Son of Dracula, Devilina, and Tarantula coming together or tearing each other apart. The depraved possibilities are endless. As for horror and monsters in the Bronze Age, Tony Isabella recollects, “I saw it as a genre that deserved to be part of the comics. Sometimes there were a great many monster/horror comics in the mix. Sometimes not so many. I think that will continue to be the case. Ups and downs. “The Atlas approach was the Martin Goodman approach of the 1940s and 1950s, just taken down several notches,” Isabella continues. “At Timely/Atlas [Marvel], Goodman could publish as many titles as he wanted. If the romance books were selling, he did a lot

of those. Same for all the genres. That only ceased when he found himself constrained by a distributor with ties to DC Comics and which limited him to a dozen or so comic books per month. His distribution was spotty in the 1970s, but I’ve no doubt that if his sales had permitted, he and son Chip would’ve gone the same route [with Atlas Comics]. If the horror/monster books sold great, Atlas would have flooded the market with them.” When looking back at the heroic monsters of Bronze Age Atlas, Isabella remembers, “They were protagonists. They had elements of superheroes and horror characters. But they were neither all bad or all good. The Grim Ghost was a highwayman, but he battled evil. Man-Monster was a hero with a tragic transformation, but he was not a bad man. Sometimes fans and pros get hung up with a ‘one or the other’ mindset. Just let the characters be the characters.” And the characters that were featured in the monster mags of Atlas were indeed unique. Slime beasts, cave monsters, cannibalistic spiders, ghostly thieves, and fish creatures. These Atlas monsters may not have stalked the racks for long, but if one looks hard enough in the back-issue bins of yore, one can find some truly horrific monster-heroes that are just too strange to be forgotten. Happy hunting.

Atlas Rarities Jeff Rovin was kind enough to share with BACK ISSUE (left) this listing of mid- to lateSeptember 1975 Atlas print orders, and (right) the cover rough for the unpublished Weird Tales of the Macabre #3. Thank you, Jeff! TM & © SP Media Group.

MARC BUXTON is a proud contributor to websites like Comic Book Resources and Den of Geek US. He is an English teacher, and Marc’s loving wife thinks he owns way too many comic books. Marc has been reading comics since the dawn of time and is still deeply in love with every era of the great medium.

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What is it about the swamp that both draws and repels us? Is it the abundance of life, some quite harmless, with others more lethal? The unknown is everywhere, and therefore, so is the inevitable fear of the unknown. What secrets are hiding in the swamp, where visibility is so very limited? The swamp is the ideal backdrop for the unexpected and the bizarre, and those terms are easily at the top of the description of the bog beast known as Man-Thing. Man-Thing received his own series in 1974 and that 22-issue run is covered in detail elsewhere in this magazine. The run ended with the final edition cover-dated October of 1975, but you can’t keep a good Man (-Thing) down and the series was revived in 1979, starting over again with #1’s “Frightful 1st Issue” and sporting the tagline above the title, “Whoever knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing.”

“BOB WIACEK IS INTERESTED IN MAN-THING.”

The first issue (Nov. 1979) was scripted by Spectre and Jonah Hex writer Michael Fleisher under a cover by Bob Wiacek, who would go on to render all the covers for the series and more often than not inking the interiors, this time over the pencils of Jim Mooney, who had been the penciler for the last several issues of the 1974 series. Bob shares with BACK ISSUE his lobbying efforts when he learned of the probable resurrection of the swamp monster: “I’d heard that Man-Thing was coming back, so I went by the Marvel offices and I went to [editor-in-chief] Jim Shooter and I said, ‘Jim, if it comes in, I’d like to do it.” He said, “Okay, Bob, we’ll consider you, no problem.” And then I didn’t hear anything about it, so I figured, I don’t want to be a pain, but I’ll just remind them, so I went in to see Jim again. I wanted to show how interested I was and he said, “All right,” and he put up a sign on his door that bob wiacek said, “Bob Wiacek is interested in Man-Thing.” He was just trying to © Luigi Novi / be funny, as usual, and he said, Wikimedia Commons. “We’ll give you a shot at this, Bob. “So, I asked him if it would be possible for me to pencil and ink the covers and he said, ‘Okay, we’ll give you a shot and see how you do.’ So, they liked the first cover and they liked the second and it went along and then they thought my composition was a little weak, so that’s why they brought in Ed Hannigan [to lay out covers], whom I learned quite a bit from.” When asked why he approached the newly minted editor-in-chief, it was quite simple: “Well, the thing was I didn’t know who the editor was going to be.

Frightful First Issue Man-Thing vol. 2 #1 (Nov. 1979), beginning Manny’s short-lived, 11-issue return. Cover art by Bob Wiacek. TM & © Marvel.

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by B r y a n

D. Stroud

If I had known, I’d have gone to the editor and not Jim. I just heard rumors they wanted to bring back Man-Thing and I asked Jim who to talk to and he said, ‘No, we haven’t picked an editor yet.’” Jim Shooter acknowledged that Bob’s story sounded familiar: “Bob was great and he never bugged me. He’s just one of the greatest guys in the world. Someone must have come up with a proposal for [Man-Thing] and found it good. At that time, we were on the rise. We’d turned it around and were doing well and so, we were looking to publish stuff basically and Man-Thing had its little cult following.” Issue #1 re-establishes the backstory that led to the man trapped in the Man-Thing, biochemist Dr. Ted Sallis, who had managed, in his isolated laboratory/shack deep in the Everglades, to reproduce the fabled Super-Soldier formula responsible for the transformation of Steve Rogers into Captain America. Unfortunately, others took a keen interest in the formula and Sallis was able to escape an ambush, but in the process of fleeing in his car, he took the extraordinary measure of injecting himself with the serum before plunging over an embankment and into the waters of the swamp. What emerged was no longer Ted Sallis, but the mute, unthinking Man-Thing, who only responds to strong emotions in those that surround him. The Super-Soldier serum remains a desperately soughtafter commodity by both friend and foe, and soon there are infiltrators into the Everglades to seek out the Man-Thing. Their goal is to restore enough of his intelligence to extract the formula. He is successfully trapped and being brought gradually back to some awareness when armed forces arrive to intervene. In the melee that follows, the efforts are for naught as all has been destroyed and the mindless Man-Thing again seeks shelter in the Florida swampland. In the following issues, things take a decidedly strange turn as the macabre Man-Thing is transported via an experimental device being field-tested in the swamp by scientists into the snowy climes of the Himalayan Mountains. Before the strange journey is over, the Man-Thing will have encountered a climbing party searching for the legendary Abominable Snowman, encounter genuine Yeti creatures, and rescue the female member of the climbing party by grabbing onto the strut of an airplane departing the region. Bob Wiacek offers an interesting recollection for the early part of the series: “On the second issue, I don’t know if they were lost or stolen or what, but they’d lost the pencils. They had Xeroxes of them in those pre-computer days, but they had to have someone light-box those pencils. So, I had these really beautiful, definitive pencils to go by and I was able to tighten them up and ink them off the light-boxed stuff. So, it was interesting, that second issue of Man-Thing was not the original pencils that I had inked.”

Reborn in the Bayou Original Mooney/Wiacek art to the splash page of Man-Thing #1. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

AN X-CELLENT NEW WRITER

With issue #4 (May 1980), a shakeup in the creative team takes place. Michael Fleisher’s scripting duties have given way to popular X-Men scribe Chris Claremont, and Don Perlin is now penciling Man-Thing. Claremont jumps right into the cliffhanger he’d inherited, as the bog beast and Elaine Simpson, who he’d managed to save, plunge from the aloft aircraft to the mountain peaks below. Before we can learn of their fate, we segue to a battle between Dr. Stephen Strange and a menace known as Azrael. As Claremont was the current scribe for the Doctor Strange title, it was likely an easy way to do a crossover maneuver. (Claremont was unavailable for comment for this article.) Once Strange triumphs, he and his companion, Madeleine De St. Germaine, are on their way to Citrusville, Florida. Dr. Strange is seeking information about Baron Mordo and begins by making a call on the Citrusville Sheriff’s Department and specifically, Sheriff Daltry. There have been multiple disappearances in Cypress County and Strange suspects Baron Mordo is behind them. The duo’s destination is deeper into the swamp, and soon Strange’s suspicions are confirmed when they come upon Elaine Simpson and a hostile Man-Thing. It is soon evident the swamp creature is under the thrall of Baron Mordo, who is responsible for transporting the two refugees from the Himalayas. After a titanic battle, Dr. Strange seems to be felled by the Mordo-manipulated Man-Thing, but for resolution, the reader is directed to the next issue of Doctor Strange. Issue #5 (July 1980) introduces Barbie Bannister into the swamp. A girl of privilege, Barbie has followed some impulsive decisions that nearly led to her demise after her parents were murdered, but she managed to escape kidnapping at sea and has landed in the Everglades. Her captors continue to pursue her, but her fear has triggered the response of the swamp beast known as the Man-Thing. Soon the pursuers attract the bog beast’s attention and are quickly dispatched, while Barbie finds her way to a road where she’s discovered and taken to Citrusville for medical treatment. There she meets Sheriff John Daltry. By the end of this issue, she begins to regain her health and confidence, even managing to subdue the leader of her captors. The letters columns in Man-Thing seemed to reflect approval of Chris Claremont’s succession as writer. Interestingly, Chris himself answered them and promised that “…the next batch of issues will concentrate on the more fantastic side of the quag-beast’s nature.” Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 63

THE HAND OF FATE

Call of the Wild From issue #2, Jim Mooney’s layouts (courtesy of Heritage) for story page 5, and that finished page as published. TM & © Marvel.

Chris Claremont was as good as his word, and with issue #7 (Nov. 1980) and a tip of the hat to early Man-Thing scribe Steve Gerber, we witness the return of Captain Fate. Fate and his crew of pirates were originally rolled out in Man-Thing #13 (Jan. 1975), and they were a unique threat as they piloted their massive, red-sailed 18th Century galleon through the skies on their mission of pillage and plunder. This time, the ancient sailing vessel is the cause of the crash of an airliner in the jurisdiction of Sheriff Daltry, who is now keeping company with Barbie Bannister. They listen in on the flight recorder retrieved by government officials and the horrors that led to the disaster. After pilots spot the bizarre UFO, the galleon erupts in cannon fire and then uses some supernatural power to “freeze” the airplane in mid-flight as the pirates board the craft, killing the pilot and making off with female passengers and crew and luggage. After they depart, the aircraft unfreezes, explodes, and crashes. Beyond the recording, the only other piece of evidence is a Diasturian sword found buried in the chest of a crewmember.

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Barbie, having some background on historical swords, asks to borrow it and research it further to provide a possible historical link. As she and Daltry leave with the artifact, a few crewmembers from Fate’s ship lay in wait to retrieve the captain’s sword, but before they can strike, they encounter the Man-Thing. One recognizes the swamp creature as “…the monster who helped Khordes!” They go on the offensive with their cutlasses, but the quag-beast, pained by their emotions and evil, lashes out and the battle is on. Captions describe their prior meeting in the Bermuda Triangle and the explanation that the ship and crew had been cursed to sail the space winds forever to pay for past misdeeds, but activity that included Man-Thing had lifted the curse. Apparently, something reinstated it. After Man-Thing cleans house, Daltry and Barbie leave the area without being aware of how narrowly they made their escape. The lone survivor of the crew returns to the ship to report failure. Captain Fate, not in a forgiving mood, has the man destroyed and vows to retrieve his Spanish sword. At the Citrusville library, Barbie and the Sheriff are researching the sword and Daltry comments how it feels good in his hand when they are abruptly under attack. The crew is back in greater numbers, determined to get Captain Fate’s cutlass back. Daltry soon learns that he’s up against supernatural creatures immune to bullets and forsakes his sidearm for the sword. He discovers he has a strange gift for wielding the blade, and the carnage he is causing with the pirates both excites and frightens him. With the crew back on their heels, Daltry grabs Barbie’s hand so they can escape. Blocking the exit with a heavy desk, they run to the Sheriff’s jeep only to see Captain Fate on the deck of his vessel overhead, demanding his weapon be returned. The Sheriff refuses and the chase is on until, in an attempt to dodge cannon fire, the zig-zagging jeep gets stuck in the swamp. The couple takes off on foot and soon encounter the bog beast, but Fate’s

cannon’s fire again and in the aftermath, the crew captures Daltry, Barbie, and Man-Thing. In the following issue, Man-Thing #8 (Jan. 1981), despite their best efforts, Sheriff Daltry and Barbie Bannister are helpless prisoners aboard the Serpent’s Crown. Daltry is in the hold with the Man-Thing while Barbie is placed with other women in a holding area and is being prepared as a pirate’s wench. And just when you thought things couldn’t get stranger, a scene unfolds in the North Atlantic where a stone tower rises out of the ocean along with a sunken vessel named the Athena, that had succumbed to the Serpent’s Crown two centuries ago. Then, two figures pop into existence atop the tower. The woman, bedecked in pirate gear, is called Maura Spinner and used to be an oceanographer. She is now the lover and companion of the other figure, who is named Khordes, who happens to be a satyr, the last of his kind, and a sorcerer to boot. Khordes uses his abilities to rejuvenate the ancient vessel. He and Maura board her and the ship then takes to the skies. Back aboard the Serpent’s Crown, Barbie Bannister has been making some inquiries and has learned that Maura Hawke was the original captain of the ship and Jebediah Fate was her first mate. He desired her position and convinced the crew to maroon her on the isle of Khordes. Maura placed a curse on the crew while Khordes placed one upon Maura, leading to her being reincarnated in the body of Dr. Maura Spinner. Now that the backstory is filled in, Daltry has managed to escape his imprisonment and the Serpent’s Crown is soon under attack by the Athena. Amidst the chaos of the battle, Captain Fate meets his end at the burning touch of the Man-Thing, and John Daltry has claimed the sword of Jebediah Fate while Khordes uses sorcery to send the crew to their final reward. As they disembark from the Serpent’s Crown, currently docked at a Naval base near Citrusville, the sheriff discovers some invisible barrier is keeping him aboard. As the sword and Daltry’s hands take on an otherworldly glow, the Serpent’s Crown abruptly takes flight and the curse continues, but this time with Daltry aboard, ending this bizarre two-part tale.

Master of the Murky Arts (top) New writer Chris Claremont came on board with Man-Thing #4 (May 1980), and brought Dr. Strange along with him! Cover by Wiacek. (bottom) Arrrghh, matey! Fer a landlubber, that Wiacek draws great pirates. Original art to #8’s cover, from the Heritage archives. TM & © Marvel.

A FILL-IN, A DEAD SOLDIER, AND A TEAR-STAINED GOODBYE

Issue #9 (Mar. 1981) seemed to be an effort out of continuity, with a Dickie McKenzie script and Larry Hama and Danny Bulanadi handling the art chores on the lead story. Bob Wiacek was still our cover artist, but why the sudden switch in the rest of the creative team? Wiacek offers a little insider information to BACK ISSUE: “Toward the middle, they weren’t happy with one layout I did, so they had Ed Hannigan do a bunch of 8½x11 drawings of the covers, much like Marie Severin was doing way back in the ’70s. She was doing a lot of layouts for the covers and giving them to the artists. Ed was doing the layouts for a lot of covers and they had me study what Ed was doing to help improve my composition. So, Ed started with issue #9. That’s actually the one that Larry Hama drew while I inked the backup story with Ed on that particular issue. I think Larry had penciled the story for inventory and I think perhaps the issue was late. They wanted to get this issue out fast, so they gave it to Danny Bulanadi to ink Larry’s story on that issue.” When issue #10 (May 1981) arrived, the regular creative team was back in the saddle, though the interior inking credits listed “Wiacek & Co.” Bob describes the situation as a classic deadline crisis: “Frank Giacoia inked a couple of pages, Bruce Patterson inked a few. Al Milgrom. It was all deadline.” Perhaps the most significant event in this issue is the appearance of John Kowalski, who first appeared in War is Hell #9 (Oct. 1974). Kowalski has strolled into Citrusville and promptly encounters the Man-Thing and then inexplicably intuits that Ted Sallis is in this nightmarish creature. The traveler remarks that he can cure him, or at least release him from his torment, but doesn’t know if that’s a wise course of action. Before matters can be further pondered, a motorcycle rides past with other riders in pursuit and to their eyes, it is simply two men standing alongside the road rather than Kowalski and Man-Thing. Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 65

Guest-Stars Drop In (left) War is Hell’s John Kowalski strolls into town in issue #10. (right) Yep, that’s Chris Claremont nursing his woes on the splash to Man-Thing #11. Art by Val Mayerik and Bob Wiacek. TM & © Marvel.

Further up the road, a fight is breaking out amongst the bikers and Kowalski appears and breaks things up. Soon the swamp creature emerges and all the bikers flee except for the victim of the attack, one Andy Kale, who lives nearby. Man-Thing departs into what is described as a place of magic within the swamp that contains the nexus of realities and gateway to an infinite number of alternate universes, with the Man-Thing himself as guardian of the gateway. Kowalski and Andy are soon headed for the Kale farmhouse, where his sister, Jennifer, a budding Atlantean sorceress, is trying to help Barbie Bannister find out what has happened to her love, John Daltry, but her powers are not up to the task. As the tale continues to unfold, Kowalski ultimately reveals that he is, in fact, the incarnation of death. He offers his services to Barbie Bannister to save Daltry from his fate, but the price will be high. She must join Kowalski as death forever after. [Editor’s note: Readers curious about the offbeat battle tales starring John Kowalski should return for our upcoming “Soldiers” issue, BACK ISSUE #127, which includes a War is Hell article and much more, all under an astounding Sgt. Rock cover by Brian Bolland.] For the concluding issue in the series, all the stops are pulled out. To the alert reader, the corner box on the cover shows the Man-Thing with a tear running from one eye to accompany the modified logo: “Tear-Stained Last Issue of The Man-Thing.” Per Bob Wiacek, the corner box was his idea. “I had an idea that I drew out for Danny [Fingeroth, editor]. That Man-Thing in the corner, crying, on the cover? That was my idea. So, he agreed. It was the last issue, so sure, why not?”

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The splash page features Chris Claremont himself sitting in McShanahan’s Pub in Manhattan in a booth with a drink, a cigarette, and a copy of a Man-Thing comic book on the table. Standing at the bar are artists Val Mayerik and Bob Wiacek. Bob recalls his appreciation in getting to work on Val Mayerik’s pencils in this issue: “I really enjoyed that in particular, the last issue. I only wish it had been extended a bit more so that he could have done a number of issues. In fact, if you look at the splash to that particular issue, you see Val and I talking at the bar. That’s Val and I talking in the foreground near the table.” Val Mayerik similarly appreciated Bob’s inking on this final issue: “I remember I was happy with his inking, for sure. It was hard to pair me with the right inker in those days. I liked Bob’s work on that Man-Thing issue.” When queried about being brought in for the wrap-up, Val shares that his experience on the title likely held sway: “They knew this was the last issue in the series and there may not have been anyone readily available at the time and since I was familiar with the character and I knew what was going on there, I think they probably thought of me. It was just my earlier association with the character [see lead article in this issue—ed.] and they thought I might be the appropriate artist to end that series. That’s my guess.” Chris Claremont seemed to again borrow a page from Steve Gerber’s playbook with this final effort. When the prior series came to a close it featured Steve Gerber explaining to editor Len Wein why he couldn’t go on producing the Man-Thing and in the course of the story, he met up with Man-Thing and Thog, the Nether-Spawn. In this issue, Claremont is approached

We’re Outta Here! (top) Wiacek cover art to the offbeat final issue, #11, with its weeping Manny corner box illo. Courtesy of Heritage. (bottom) From the collection of Bryan Stroud, a Man-Thing sketch by Bob Wiacek. Man-Thing TM & © Marvel.

in the pub by Jim Shooter, Louise Jones, and Danny Fingeroth, who’d received Chris’ resignation and wanted to know why. Claremont reveals that he thought his Man-Thing stories came from his dreams and imagination, but one night he spotted a pirate ship with red sails floating in mid-air. Beating a hasty retreat, he found himself in the sanctum of Dr. Strange where he found Strange and Clea dead. While taking this in, John Daltry appears and announces he killed them and then runs Claremont through with his sword. Meanwhile, back at the Citrusville library, Man-Thing has burst in, seemingly drawn again to John Kowalski, who is researching in the stacks with Barbie Bannister nearby. John reiterates that in order for Barbie’s love, Daltry, to be released from his pirate’s fate, she will have to become death. She agrees and is transformed into an angel of death at Kowalski’s hands. The trio then do some time traveling, where she learns of the origins of the enchanted sword and how it possesses those who wield it and steals the souls of those it slays. It can only be defeated by someone no longer living, leading to the necessity of Ms. Bannister’s transformation. More travel through space and time and Barbie discovers where John Daltry is holding multiple captives, to include Dr. Strange, Clea, Jennifer Kale, and Chris Claremont. Daltry then summons his HeadMaster, Thog, the Nether-Spawn, looking like the devil himself and a truly cosmic battle commences. Before it all ends, Thog eliminates the threat of the Man-Thing by transforming him back into Ted Sallis, but somehow the spell cast by the Nether-Spawn concurrently causes Chris Claremont to become the Man-Thing. By turns, Thog is attacked by Barbie Bannister and then the Man-Thing until he is no more, having succumbed to the burning of the Man-Thing’s touch. The other captives are now freed and use their combined magical abilities to break Thog’s spell, restoring Claremont, but returning Sallis to his prior status as Man-Thing. The final scene brings us back to McShanahan’s, where Claremont says that during his flight home from Miami, he decided to tender his resignation as chronicler of the Man-Thing title. Shooter says he’s decided to cancel the book and they all depart, but not before the innkeeper, who is actually Dakhim the Enchanter, self-proclaimed source of the inspiration for Man-Thing tales for both Claremont and Steve Gerber, offers what is likely the perfect coda: “Weep not for Theodore Sallis. He knows nothing of his fate. Like John Kowalski, he must right the karmic balance that he unwittingly upset by the way he lived his life. For him… for us all—there is hope.” What makes the Man-Thing work? Is he simply another sympathetic monster? Val Mayerik offers these closing thoughts to BACK ISSUE: “I think a lot of monsters work if they’re multi-faceted, which Man-Thing, while he’s not multi-faceted in the sense that he doesn’t even have an intellectual process and he’s pretty one-dimensional in certain ways, but he’s vulnerable and seems to have sensitivities and he tends to be misunderstood. I think all those things lend to people identifying with it or at least having some kind of sympathy for the character. I think the character just seems to have some complexity and it seems to be a character that can bring about some sort of sympathy and empathy.” Perhaps one day Ted Sallis will be freed of his prison, but until then, we can continue to enjoy the imaginative and bizarre exploits of the creature he has become: the Man-Thing! Frequent BACK ISSUE contributor BRYAN STROUD is a longtime fan of DC Comics, particularly the Silver and Bronze Ages, and has been contributing to the website of his lifelong best friend, Ron Daudt, for over a decade, doing reviews of those classics.

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Born to Be Wild Javier Saltares’ Ghost Rider #1 cover art, reinterpreted in color by Bill Wray. From the Shamus Modern Masterworks Collection, via the archives of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

by P e t e r

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Yo u n g

A quick Google search and a brief scan of the search results are all it takes to discover that the 1990s were a very polarizing time for the comic-book industry. At the peak of the decade, the industry as a whole was selling about 48 million copies per month. Flash-forward about seven years to the very end of 1999, and the industry that was now suffering from its great collapse was only selling about seven million copies each month. Yes, the ’90s was a time of corporate greed, gimmick covers, and shock-value storytelling that never boded well for the industry. However, to completely write off the 1990s like some fans do is crazy, because the ’90s gave us some of the best comics ever, such as Garth Ennis’ Preacher, Jeff Smith’s Bone, and Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross’ Marvels, to name a few. In fact, if you were to ask top current comic creators like Robert Kirkman of The Walking Dead or Skottie Young of I Hate Fairyland and Deadpool what they thought of the ’90s, they would answer just like I would, that the ’90s was their decade for comics. I am a millennial, and a self-professed lover of 1990s comics. Though controversial with the readership today, many of the replacement legacy characters of the decade are what I consider to be my versions of the iconic heroes. Ben Reilly is my Spider-Man, Azrael to me will always be the coolest Batman, and I wouldn’t be opposed if Marvel brought back Thunderstrike. While all these aforementioned characters were met with… let’s just say divisive responses amongst fans, a few characters were embraced, such as Kyle Rainer as Green Lantern. One character that did emerge out of the ’90s and was not only liked by fans, but also transcended to become arguably more popular than the legacy character from whom he took the mantle, would be Danny Ketch as Ghost Rider.

A BRIEF GHOST RIDER HISTORY

Johnny Blaze, the original Ghost Rider with a flaming skull and motorcycle, made his debut appearance in Marvel Spotlight #5 back in 1972. According to Roy Thomas while he was editor-in-chief at Marvel, his friend Gary Friedrich approached him with the idea of a new villain for Daredevil called Ghost Rider, reusing the name of an old Marvel Western character that was later redubbed Phantom Rider. Thomas told Friedrich no, claiming it was too good of an idea for a villain and that the character needed his own series. Artist Mike Ploog, who at this time had just finished drawing three issues of Marvel Spotlight featuring Werewolf by Night, was tasked with designing the character, including the flame around Ghost Rider’s head, which made for a cool visual. The final design was then run by Stan Lee, who insisted that the character be called Johnny Blaze. The origin of this Ghost Rider is pretty straightforward. Johnny, in an attempt to save his adopted father and stuntman Crash Simpson from an incurable disease, turns to occult magic in hopes of summoning the Devil and striking a deal. Johnny ends up accidentally summoning the demon (and Marvel supervillain) Mephisto, who agrees to cure Crash in exchange for Johnny’s soul. Crash never learns that he is cured and ends up dying while attempting to jump over 22 cars in front of an audience at Madison Square Gardens. After Crash’s death, Mephisto shows up to take Johnny’s soul, explaining that he upheld his end of the bargain because Crash didn’t die from his disease. Using the same occult book Johnny had been studying and through the love she had for him, Roxanne Simpson was able to drive off Mephisto and save Johnny’s life. Down, but not defeated, Mephisto used what little control he still had over Johnny to bond the demon Zarathos to him. Now, every night, Johnny would be cursed to transform into the Ghost Rider. Through the success of his tryout issues in Marvel Spotlight, Ghost Rider graduated to his own series, which sold fairly well through the ’70s. In the ’80s, sales on Ghost Rider began to dwindle. At the time J. M. DeMatteis was writing the book in 1982, he was informed that Ghost Rider was being cancelled and was given ample time to finish the series’ storylines properly, something almost unheard of in comics. In the final story arc to the series, Roxanne Simpson, finally finding peace in life after leaving the love of her life Johnny and the Ghost Rider behind, settles in a small town called Holly. Roxanne quickly discovers that something is up when the local pastor of the town renames himself the “Sin Eater” and begins to turn the populace into hollow shells of themselves, claiming he is devouring their sins. Roxanne seeks out Johnny and begs him to use the Ghost Rider to help the town of Holly. At first Johnny sees nothing wrong with the pastor and agrees to have his sins absolved. During this process the Sin-Eater triggers Johnny’s

Hell on Wheels It all started here: Marvel Spotlight #5 (Aug. 1972), introducing Johnny Blaze as Ghost Rider. Art by Mike Ploog. For BACK ISSUE’s previous coverage of the Bronze Age Ghost Rider series, see issues #15, 71, and 95. TM & © Marvel.

transformation into the Ghost Rider, trapping Johnny in the Sin Eater’s Soul Crystal, the Ghost Rider (Zarathos) now free of being a host to Blaze. During this confrontation, the true villain, a creature called Centurious, emerges from the crystal. Zarathos is pleased at first now that he is free to go back to his evil demonic ways, though soon realizes that without Johnny Blaze his powers are weakened, and not having a host means he will eventually die. Zarathos ends up confronting Centurious and in their final battle both he and Centurious end up trapped in the Soul Crystal, freeing Johnny of his curse. The series ends with Ghost Rider #81 (June 1983), with Johnny and Roxanne deciding to put the events of the whole series behind them as they ride off into the sunset.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Shortly after DeMatteis’ time on the book, a young and up-and-coming assistant editor named Howard Mackie was hired by Marvel. Mackie was a huge fan of the Ghost Rider series, after being introduced to the character in his pre-teens, the image of a skull consumed by fire captivating him. “Johnny Blaze was particular favorite of mine, right through to the series ending, when it was being drawn by Bob Budiansky and written by J. M. DeMatteis,” Mackie tells BACK ISSUE. Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 69

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A New Ghost Rider is Born (opposite page) Highlights from Ghost Rider #1 (May 1990). (top left) Title page, with creator credits. (top right) The Ketch sibs take an ill-fated cemetery detour. (bottom left) Danny’s encounter with a motorcycle changes his life. (bottom right) Ghosty evades the cops! (this page, top) Courtesy of Heritage, original Saltares cover art to Ghost Rider #4 (Aug. 1990), featuring longtime Marvel baddie Hyde. (bottom) Judging from this stunner (courtesy of Heritage), it’s no wonder why the team of penciler Javier Saltares and inker Mark Texeira, along with writer Howard Mackie, quickly became fan-favorites. From Ghost Rider #6 (Oct. 1990). TM & © Marvel.

Mackie hoped one day that Marvel would revisit the character. During the 1980s, Marvel editor/writer Mark Gruenwald was Mackie’s mentor and friend. Around 1989, after years of Mackie pressing people at Marvel to revive the character of Ghost Rider, Gruenwald approached Mackie, encouraging him to turn in a pitch for a new Ghost Rider series. “When I was asked to do a pitch for a new Ghost Rider, I said great, and I was told at the time by editorial the only caveat was [that it could not be] Johnny Blaze. That is why Danny Ketch was invented. So I did Danny Ketch, and once the series was a successful as it was and I had a little bit more clout, I immediately brought Blaze back into the book.” Mackie’s pitch for the new Ghost Rider was simple, just like its predecessor’s premise. The series revolved around Danny Ketch, loosely based upon Mackie himself. “One of the things that they tell you, one of the early rules of writing, is to write what you know, so I took that literally,” Mackie says. “There are many, many aspects of Danny Ketch that are me.” javier saltares When coming up with a name, Mackie drew inspiration from the lore of early hangmen who were called “Jack Ketch.” After playing with this name for while, Mackie discarded it in favor MarvelFandom.com. of Danny Ketch because the phonics of “Jack Ketch” made it sound like it was all one word. Jack would later become the name of Danny’s childhood friend. While the original Ghost Rider series focused heavily on the nomadic, wandering Johnny Blaze, this series would be based in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, an area of New York where Mackie had grown up. One of the primary settings especially in the early issues of the series was the Cypress Hills Cemetery. Mackie recounts that the local cemetery was a huge place of interest for him as a child. He would often hang out at night in the cemetery and even go sledding when it would snow. “That is where I grew up,” Mackie remembers. “I used to hang out in those cemeteries and imagine ghost stories it in my head and get all scared.” Initially Mackie was upset to hear the news that this new series couldn’t be his childhood favorite character and reluctantly began thinking up a new character and origin. What Mackie didn’t know at first was that multiple well-established, fan-favorite writers were also coming up with pitches as well. Today Mackie believes that had he known that several people were going to be turning in pitches, he probably wouldn’t have accepted Gruenwald’s encouragement to come up with an idea that would be liked by marketing. As Mackie went into his weekend brainstorming, at no point did he ever take into account of what the fans would want. Nor did he ponder what the marketing team would want. It turns out that luck was on Mackie’s side, as it was his pitch that won over editor-and-chief Tom DeFalco. “When my pitch was approved by editorial and was moved up the ranks of sales and marketing, marketing said no,” Mackie reveals. “Marketing said this book can’t be published as an ongoing series, because [Ghost Rider] is a failed character because the previous series was cancelled because of poor sales. [They said,] ‘You are an unknown writer,’ which is true—I had written some stuff, but a lot of one-shots and the Avengers Spotlight stories featuring Hawkeye at that point, and it had two unknown artists, relatively unknown artists, in terms of Javier Saltares and Mark Texeria. They said, ‘It’s just not going to sell, so we shouldn’t do it.’ This was a months-long argument between the editor-in-chief… and sales and marketing, and ultimately we had to reconfigure how the story was going to be done so many times that ultimately Tom DeFalco had to put his foot down and say, ‘The hell with it, we’re just publishing it!’” Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 71

Despite the flash of luck that took him from an assistant editor to a full-fledged writer in such a short amount of time, Howard Mackie was still a name nobody knew outside of the actual Marvel office; the same could be said of penciler Javier Saltares and inker/finisher Mark Texeira. In retrospect, it is amazing to think that Ghost Rider would be launching the careers of so many people at one time. Prior to this, Saltares didn’t have much work under his belt, while Texeira had a few penciling credits to his name on Marvel titles such as ROM and Buckaroo Banzai. The basic premise of the new Ghost Rider was a mutual collaboration between Mackie and Saltares, with Javier drawing mostly what was being described to him. According to Mackie, almost every character in Ghost Rider is an extension of the writer himself or based on someone in his personal life. Even Ghost Rider himself embodies the idea of what a true defender of Brooklyn would be. Mackie and Saltares kept the original Ghost Rider’s tight -fitting clothing, but Javier opted for a more modern biker’s look. Mackie insisted that this new Ghost Rider be much more muscular than his Johnny Blaze predecessor. Saltares modernized Marvel’s new Spirit of Vengeance by giving him an ensemble of a leather jacket, jeans, biker boots, and studded gauntlets around his forearms, complete with his very own mystical chain for a weapon. Mark Texeira has stated in interviews that he and Javier Saltares drew inspiration from Frank mark texeira Miller’s Daredevil as well as Miller’s Ronin series from a few years prior. In a pinch, © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. Ghost Rider can whip his mystical chain, turning the individual links into shuriken (Japanese hand blades). Further evidence of Miller’s inspiration can be seen when the series introduces Hand Ninjas early in the series. Perhaps the only design conflict to occur between Mackie and Saltares came when designing the new Ghost Rider’s bike. Mackie believes that every incarnation of Ghost Rider should ride a Harley Davidson. “Ghost Rider is a biker dude, but that is just my preference,” Mackie says. Saltares pushed back, arguing that at the time you didn’t see people riding Harleys as much anymore, with younger riders instead favoring Japanese custom bikes. The artist further stated that if this Ghost Rider were to efficiently ride around the crowded streetsof Brooklyn, he would want a motorcycle that could move swiftly and turn sharply, something you simply would not be able to do on a Harley. A big fan of Akira, manga that was very popular at the time, Saltares drew Ghost Rider’s bike design from that source. Honoring that comics is a collaboration between a writer and artist, Mackie consented to Saltares, and the team was now all set to begin their first issue together. “Ultimately, it all worked out, though,” Mackie admits. “I like the design. That front piece that Javier created looked almost like a skull. That to me was cool.”

Tex Takes Over After (top left) solo illustrating the cover to Ghost Rider #6, inker Mark Texeira became the artist of Ghost Rider beginning with (top right) issue #7 (Nov. 1990), featuring the creepy criminal Scarecrow. (bottom) Autographed Texeira original art to the blazing-skull cover for Ghost Rider #15 (July 1991), courtesy of Heritage. (inset) Its published form, with its glow-in-thedark cover gimmick. TM & © Marvel.

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What Howard and Javier could not have anticipated at the time was that their design would define the Ghost Rider character for decades. To this day, the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider is considered the definitive design amongst general readers and movie audiences. People may associate Ghost Rider’s alter ego with the name Johnny Blaze, but it is Danny Ketch’s visual that is largely considered what Ghost Rider should look like. “If you really think about it, Blaze was a stunt driver, and his whole look reflected that,” says Mackie, “where what we were going for in the reinvention of Ghost Rider was for more of a biker look, and even though the bike didn’t quite fit into that, the leathers the chains, the studs on the shoulders did.”

A BLAZING-HOT NEW BOOK

Ghost Rider #1 by Howard Mackie, Javier Saltares, and Mark Texeira hit newsstands and comic shops in mid-March of 1990, carrying a May 1990 cover date. Upon reading the debut, it is quite clear why this series became such a huge hit. The first issue, like with the original Johnny Blaze series, opens with a straight-to-the-pointorigin story. On Halloween, a young Danny Ketch and his sister Barbara, on foot, are cutting through a Brooklyn park. Danny is fearful and nervous, the complete opposite of his bold sibling. They are soon ambushed by a group of kids calling themselves the Cypress Hill Jokers, who attempt to steal Barbara’s purse. She fights them off while Danny stands scared, unable to do anything. Ashamed, Danny begins to apologize for not being able to protect his sister. The siblings continue on and stumble upon a crimelord, Deathwatch, and his men, engaged in a confrontation with mobsters in the employ of the Kingpin, a.k.a. Wilson Fisk, warring over a briefcase containing canisters of bio-toxins. The Ketch kids are spotted and both criminal groups open fire at them, with Barbara being gravely wounded. Scared and alone, Danny carries his injured sister to a nearby junkyard to duck their pursuers. While hiding and covered in the blood of his sister, Danny sees a motorcycle with a glowing gas cap. He feels compelled to touch the cap… and immediately bursts into hellfire, transforming into the Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider declares that has come to exact vengeance upon those who would dare spill innocent blood and begins to dispatch both the crimelords’ henchmen. The police show up and Ghost Rider flees with Danny’s sister, losing his pursuers by revving his motorcycle up the side of a building. Ghost Rider drops off Barbara at the hospital and then zooms to the Cypress Hill cemetery, where he painfully transforms back to Danny Ketch. Danny rushes to the hospital to meet his mother, and learns that Barbara is now comatose. Desperate to help his sister, Danny returns to the cemetery to retrieve the bike, hoping it will have some sort of power to heal Barbara. Meanwhile, Deathwatch, a paranormal, grabs ahold of one of his surviving men and is able to view his memories, witnessing the encounter with the Ghost Rider. Deathwatch pronounces that Ghost Rider is now his number one enemy as he begins his search of the city for his missing briefcase containing the bio-toxin canisters.

I Burn for You One of Ghost Rider’s many memorable covers, a painted illo by Nelson, from issue #18 (Oct. 1991). TM & © Marvel.

Since Danny Ketch’s personality was based upon Howard Mackie himself, did the writer borrow from other figures in his life for Danny’s sister Barbara? “I have three older sisters, so they all got rolled into one fictional sister,” Mackie laughs. Of the family matriarch, Mrs. Ketch, Howard says, “I was raised by a single mom. My dad died when I was very young. So there are aspects of Mrs. Ketch that certainly reflect my vision of my mom at that time.” Ghost Rider #1 defied all expectations and was in the top five the week it debuted, surprising the marketing team at Marvel, who had little faith in the title and character. Each subsequent issue sold better than the prior issue, creating a giant snowball effect that nobody at Marvel could have predicted. The new Ghost Rider series quickly became one of Marvel’s most popular and top-selling titles, selling “beyond the expectations of sales, and the numbers just continued to go up, according to Mackie. “To their credit, the people in sales and marketing apologized to Tom [DeFalco] for fighting so much.” After the debut issue, the series begins a fun, formulaic structure of each issue being somewhat standalone, featuring a different villain for Ghost Rider to encounter. Mackie says that these first dozen or so issues are very personal to him as they showcase his fears and events that were going on in his life. Early issues pit Ghost Rider against established Marvel rogues Mr. Hyde, Flag Smasher, and Scarecrow, and feature crossovers with the Punisher and the X-Men. Through these issues loose subplots begin to thread together, including a mysterious man following the new Ghost Rider’s coverage in the news and the beginnings of who this new Ghost Rider actually is. Almost immediately we learn that not only does this Ghost Rider bear little resemblance behavior-wise to Zarathos, Danny’s Spirit of Vengeance is completely devoid of an evil personality. While Johnny Blaze was forced to transform into the Ghost Rider every night, Danny’s Spirit will only emerge when innocent blood is spilled and by Danny placing his hand on the motorcycle’s gas-cap medallion. Mackie chose to go this route because it allowed the conflict of Danny being able to fight with the Spirit of Vengeance and attempt to suppress the transformation. Perhaps the biggest development in the series first year of publication is the introduction of the vampiric villain Blackout, first seen in Ghost Rider #2 (June 1990), the right-hand man of Deathwatch. Ghost Rider ends up horribly scarring the face of Blackout, who in retaliation later kills Danny’s comatose sister in the hospital. This brutal act cements Blackout as the archenemy for the series. Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 73

Danny Drops In Before long, the new Ghost Rider could not be limited solely to his own title, his many appearances including (left) Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man #7 and (right) numerous short stories in the anthology Marvel Comics Presents (issue #99 cover by Sam Kieth). TM & © Marvel.

If you want to sample the series, one of the best issues to read is Ghost Rider #7 (Nov. 1990), which just so happens to be Howard Mackie’s favorite issue. Here, Ghost Rider hunts down the psychopathic Scarecrow, best known as a Captain America villain, who is sadistically murdering people at random on the streets. “I got to use a character that most people want to call a B-level villain,” Mackie says, “though that seems to be a compliment. He was probably more of a C-level villain at that point.” It is a powerful issue because it touches upon Mackie’s biggest fear of the time—the safety of his newborn child. In the issue, Scarecrow brutally kills a woman and her baby, resulting in an enraged Ghost Rider hunting him down. This issue is also very significant because it is the first issue in the series to feature Mark Texeira on full art duties and not just inking. Deadline challenges gave way to talk about finding a new penciler for the series, so inker “Tex” volunteered to do both layouts and inks on issue #7 in order to give Javier Saltares a chance to catch up on future issues. While Saltares is an amazing penciler and created memorable character designs, nobody can render a human skull like Tex can. Mackie gives full credit to Tex for setting a horror-esque tone for the book and bringing in a dark atmosphere. With issue #13 (May 1991), Texeira becomes the fulltime artist on the book. My absolute two favorite issues of the series—which are, in my opinion, the two greatest issues featuring Tex’s art in all its glory—are issues #14 and 15. Fans of 1990s comic books will remember Ghost Rider #15 for its fully embossed, glow-in-the-dark cover. Both issues also serve as the Next Big Thing to happen in the series, reintroducing original Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze into the Marvel Universe. It turns out the mysterious man following the Ghost Rider news coverage is none other than Johnny Blaze, who has tracked Danny down with the intent of killing him and what he believes is Zarathos. As Blaze interrogates Ketch, we discover that Johnny is now married to Roxanne, has two kids, and has bought the Quentin Carnival. Unable to overcome his own moral compass and kill Danny, who he sees as innocent to this whole situation, Blaze is forced to face Ghost Rider after severely beating Danny. Ghost Rider insists that while he doesn’t know exactly who he is, there is no way he is the demonic entity Zarathos. The two-part story ends with Danny and Johnny 74 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

forming an uneasy truce and Blaze stating he will be keeping an eye on both Danny and the Ghost Rider. The following dozen issues see Danny learning to fight from Blaze, and embracing and attempting to work with and understand the Ghost Rider as he has his final confrontations with Zodiac and Deathwatch. More plot elements are also introduced such as a mysterious organization called “The Firm,” which begins to have connections to everything Ghost Rider encounters, and Lt. Badilino, a police officer hellbent on bringing Ghost Rider down by any means necessary.

RISE OF THE MIDNIGHT SONS

For two years, Ghost Rider under Howard Mackie became a sales juggernaut and Mark Texeira and Javier Saltares were propelled into comic-artist stardom. After the final showdown between Ghost Rider and Deathwatch in Ghost Rider #24 (Apr. 1992), the series saw the departure of Mark Texeira from the book. Perhaps the biggest reason for Ghost Rider being as successful as it was is the creative freedom Mackie was given… or at least this is what the writer himself thinks. Mackie believes that all his best work usually came from when the suits upstairs stayed away from anything he was writing or didn’t believe his vision would succeed. Now that Ghost Rider was a huge success, Marvel marketing saw money to be made from the Ghost Rider brand. Marvel editorial and marketing shoehorned Ghost Rider into guest-shots in other series, from Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man to issues of The X-Men. Mackie’s friend on the Marvel editorial staff, Terry Kavanagh, saw the marquee value of Ghost Rider as a feature in the company’s resident anthology series. “[Terry] was the editor of Marvel Comics Presents, and at a certain point had wanted to do Ghost Rider as one of the lead features in there,” Mackie remembers. “So I ended up writing a number of stories for him on that title.” [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #110 for a look back at Marvel Comics Presents.] Special publications were released including a Ghost Rider Poster Magazine, a Ghost Rider and Cable one-shot collecting their serial from Marvel Comics Presents, and a reprinting of Johnny Blaze stories packaged under the title The Original Ghost Rider. And thus the idea for the “Midnight Sons” grouping of titles was born. The Midnight Sons would take many of Marvel’s supernatural

characters and interlock them as an imprint, allowing less-popular characters to sell better and writer Mackie to tell event-style crossovers with Ghost Rider. The Midnight Sons imprint made its debut in the summer 1992 crossover “Rise of the Midnight Sons,” which sees the mother of demons, Lilith, freed from her prison made from the body of a leviathan. She begins to track down her various children, including Blackout. Her plan is to take out the thorns in her side—Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze—and then she will be able to take over the world. Ghost Rider and Blaze thus must team up and recruit a team strong enough to vanquish Lilith. Under the watchful eye of editor Bobbie Chase, the Midnight Sons line consisted of Ghost Rider, Ghost Rider and Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance, Morbius: The Living Vampire, Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins, and Nightstalkers, the latter a supernatural team book co-starring Blade the Vampire Slayer, Hannibal King, and Frank Drake. “I was working closely with Bobbie Chase through most of my run on the series, and she remains a very good friend,” Mackie says. Sales on the crossover went quite well, which meant that marketing wanted more crossover events. With the creation of the Midnight Sons line came the end of Howard Mackie’s full control of the Ghost Rider saga, as now storylines going forward would have to be discussed in committee meetings. Mackie admits, “It was at or around that point that I had less of a voice in the direction and the story.” This started a slow descent for the main title that would begin to be marred by convoluted continuity and art teams frequently coming and going, with no artist doing a stint as long as Tex or Saltares. “Bobbie Chase was actually the separate editor-in-chief—there multiple editor-in-chiefs at the time—and she was the editor-in-chief of the “[Marvel] Edge group,” Mackie explains. “But honestly, at that point Marvel was just publishing too much.” Mackie has stated that his original plan was to reveal that the Spirit of Vengeance bonded to Danny was in fact Zarathos all along. This revelation would draw from various plot points from the first 25 issues of Ghost Rider and cumulate in three Midnight Sons crossover events. The scribe was going to explore how certain hosts impact Zarathos’ actions and behavior, but Marvel marketing didn’t allow this idea to fully come to fruition. Mackie told his Ghost Rider narrative using the main title and the newly launched Ghost Rider and Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance. The main Ghost Rider book was used to draw upon the plot elements from the issues prior, which revealed that Centurious was the true mastermind behind the Firm. Spirits of Vengeance focused on what the title suggests and was used to set up the next Midnight Sons crossover. Spirits of Vengeance originally featured amazing artwork by Adam Kubert, who would sometimes even get his and his brother Andy’s legendary dad, the late, great Joe Kubert, to ink pages. Another great feature to the newly launched Spirits of Vengeance series was that Mackie could draw from his love of original Ghost Rider lore and bring back original Bronze Age villains such as Steel Vengeance and Steel Wind. The Quentin Carnival and its cast of characters also played a huge role in Spirits of Vengeance. The next two major crossovers were titled “The Missing Link” and “Midnight Massacre.” Both these crossovers built upon each other and cumulated in the final event, “Siege of Darkness.” Together, all of these crossovers revealed that Danny Ketch was adopted and that the medallion of power was actually a crest belonging to his bloodline, which revealed that Johnny Blaze is actually Danny’s long-lost older brother. In “Siege of Darkness,” the brothers, side-byside with the help of the Midnight Sons and the Quentin Carnival, prepare to do battle with a very-much-alive Lilith and Centurious. During the final battle it is revealed that Centurious is actually playing host to the original Ghost Rider, who emerges from Centurious,

killing him. The event ends with Danny and Ghost Rider dying in battle with Zarathos. The ’90s was the decade for legacy characters to be temporarily replaced, and despite Danny Ketch being in print for only a few years, he was no exception. While the Midnight Sons crossovers were taking place, another subplot evolves involving Badilino selling his soul to Mephisto and being turned into a version of Ghost Rider more reflective of his dark personality. Calling himself Vengeance, Badilino’s skeleton head looks demonic and is black like his soul. Mephisto even gifts him a flaming motorcycle created from the blood of innocents, and Vengeance vows to finally kill Ghost Rider. However, Danny’s death negates Badilino’s mission, so instead Vengeance attempts to atone for his wrongdoings and becomes the new protector of the streets of Brooklyn, dealing out lethal justice as he attempts to track down and kill the new crimelord who took over for Deathwatch, Anton Hellgate. Eventually, writer Mackie brings Danny back but departs the book shortly after. One of Mackie’s last story arcs involves the explosive fight and finale between Blackout and Ghost Rider, in which Ghost Rider decides to take lethal measures and chains Blackout to the World Trade Center to burn to death by the rising sun.

GHOST RIDER’S LAST RIDE

Before leaving the title for good with Ghost Rider #69 (Jan. 1996), Mackie co-wrote a passing-of-the-torch issue with new Ghost Rider writer Ivan Velez, Jr., a one-shot called Ghost Riders: Crossroads (Nov. 1995), with art by Cary Nord, inked by Bob McLeod, Al Milgrom, and Mike Witherby. Crossroads sets up the series’ new villain, Blackheart, Mephisto’s son, now ruling his father’s throne, who sends Scarecrow to meddle with the Ghost Rider brothers.

Your Two Favorite Ghost Riders—Together! Ketch and Blaze, side-by-side, in Spirits of Vengeance #1 (Aug. 1992), part of the popular “Rise of the Midnight Sons” initiative. Cover by Adam Kubert. TM & © Marvel.

Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 75

The New Order Cometh (right) Writers Howard Mackie and Ivan Velez, Jr. co-wrote the transitional one-shot Ghost Riders: Crossroads (Nov. 1995). Cover by Cary Nord and Bob McLeod. TM & © Marvel.

When Velez takes over Ghost Rider with issue #70, he takes the series into a different direction. With artist Salvador Larroca, Velez wraps up the few loose plot points from Mackie’s run, the first being Badilino losing control of his Spirit of Vengeance. Unable to control his power, Badilino tracks down Hellgate in order to kill him. Ghost Rider ends up fighting Vengeance, which results in Ghost Rider receiving a penance stare from his foe. Afterwards, Vengeance detonates himself, killing Hellgate and his men and sending Badilino straight to Hell, where he is greeted by Blackheart. The penance stare that Ghost Rider received awakens memories of who he was. This is where Velez’s run truly starts afresh, as Danny seeks the aid of Dr. Strange to help Ghost Rider from going insane from his returning memories. We learn that Ghost Rider’s real name used to be Noble Kale and that he comes from the 18th Century. His backstory: The son of a pastor, Noble falls in love with an African-American woman named Magdelena, a cultural taboo during that time. They keep their relationship a secret from Noble’s father. Magdelena learns that Noble’s father is actually a servant of Mephisto and is burned as a witch for her discovery. Magdelena places a curse upon the town, and Pastor Kale trades his son Noble’s soul to Mephisto in order for his own protection. Mephisto learns that Nobel is attached to the medallion of power and turns Noble into the first-ever Spirit of Vengeance. Mephisto’s brother, an archangel called Uriel, demands Noble’s soul be spared. Thus a deal is made in which Noble would stay in a void, and when certain members of his family come into contact with the medallion of power he will be bonded to them. Like many of the stories that attempted to retcon or explain Ghost Rider’s origin, this was met with mixed reactions among fans. The other plot running through the book at this time has Blackheart creating his own group of Spirits of Vengeance, in order to enact his plan to extend his rule beyond his own realm. Blackheart’s goal is to obtain the medallion of power from Ghost Rider. To do so, he offers Ghost Rider the chance to lead his Spirits of Vengeance, offering him the chance to return to his Noble Kale body and free Danny’s bloodline of the curse. During this time, Marvel Comics was facing bankruptcy, and Ghost Rider’s new manga-style art, a drastic change from what went before, caused sales to drop. Javier Saltares was brought back to the book in late 1997 to attempt to improve sales, with Marvel’s marketing department warning that if sales continued to drop, the book would be cancelled. Even the return of Mark Texeira as inker with issue #92, reuniting Ghost Rider’s original fan-favorite team, could not reverse the trend. Ghost Rider #93 (Feb. 1998) was the last issue, leaving the series on a cliffhanger ending where Ghost Rider accepts Blackheart’s offer, while Danny is killed. A final issue of the series wouldn’t see publication for almost ten years, when it was eventually published as Ghost Rider Finale #94 (Mar. 2007), released to drum up hype for the first Nicholas Cage-starring Ghost Rider movie from Sony. Speaking of Marvel movies, there is talk that Ghost Rider is going to be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, 30 years after Howard Mackie’s first issue of Ghost Rider introduced the Danny Ketch version of the character that most fans identify with. While Mackie doesn’t yet know which version of the character will make it to the screen, he does have his opinions on the matter.

Noble Causes (left) Under new management, Ghost Rider has memory flashes of a past life. From Ghost Rider #77 (Sept. 1996), written by Ivan Velez, Jr., with art by Salvador Larroca and Sergio Melia. TM & © Marvel.

76 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

Wizard on Wheels From Gareb Shamus’ collection courtesy of Heritage, original cover art for the second issue of Wizard, produced by Javier Saltares in 1991. Ghost Rider TM & © Marvel.

“I would love for each for it to be Danny Ketch for a variety of reasons,” Mackie laughs. “But… I think there was a missed opportunity and unfortunately a misstep in terms of the previous [Ghost Rider] movies that were done with Nicolas Cage. I was not as big of a fan as I might have been. The reason I wanted to write Ghost Rider was because I was a fan of Johnny Blaze. I feel like the Ghost Rider did appear on the screen was an amalgam of Blaze/ Ketch, and something that Cage just decided was something he wanted to do. “I think it would be great if the people at Marvel Studios, who just recently got ahold of Ghost Rider, were able to do something fun.” The interview with Howard Mackie was conducted by Peter Young on a panel at the Baltimore Comic-Con on October 19, 2019. PETER YOUNG has been reading and collecting comics since 1996. The first comic book he remembers his mother buying for him was Spectacular Spider-Man #232.

“I do not read any stories featuring a character once I’m done writing them, primarily because I do interviews like this and I never want to even inadvertently say something that could be construed as criticism of another writer’s work, because everybody has their own vision on a character and it is not my place to judge. I do not own the characters. I worked for Marvel and I knew what the rules were. “But I was at a comic-con about two weekends ago and was walking down an aisle and I saw a gentleman [writer Ed Brisson] standing or sitting behind a table with a big banner behind him featuring Ghost Rider, and I just walked over to the table and I saw that there were copies of this new Ghost Rider series and I decided to play around with him a little bit. I didn’t have my name tag on, so I walked up to his table and said, ‘Oh, Ghost Rider, cool.’ So he started engaging me as one does a fan on the other side of the table. I told him that I have always liked that character, and asked if this was a new ongoing book? He responded with yes, and I told him well in that case I’m going to have to read it, he said good. I stuck out my hand and introduced myself as Howard Mackie. His eyes got wide and he began to stutter and said, What!?! It turns out he was a big fan of my Ghost Rider run and he wanted to let me know that he will be using Ketch along with many other characters that I created. Lilith is in the first issue. “Anyways, he gave me a copy of the book and autographed it for me. [Ghost Rider artist] Aaron Kruder, who was at the convention, also autographed it for me. Being polite I took the book, but really didn’t intend to read it, because of my rule. “So the next morning I was sitting at my table, and this was before the show opened, and I had nothing to do and the book was just there, so I read it, and I after I finished I went back to Ed the writer and said, ‘Hey, I read your book and I kind of hate you right now because it is amazing. I really do believe that.’ For the rest of the show, anybody that came to my table with Ghost Rider material, I made sure I sent them over to Ed. The book was so good, it’s literally a natural extension of the characters that I helped create years ago. I felt like if they’re doing an amazing job. I know they’re really going to put Danny Ketch through the wringer, and I wanted to let both he and Eric know that anything they do to Danny, they’re actually doing to me about as close to me as you can come.” Howard Mackie Baltimore Comic-Con Panel, October 19, 2019 Horrific Heroes issue • BACK ISSUE • 77

TM & © Marvel.

HOWARD MACKIE ON MARVEL’S NEW GHOST RIDER

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

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IN MEMORIAM

CARL GAFFORD

1953–2020

BI TWO-IN-ONE Courtesy of Bob Smith.

As production on this issue was winding down, we learned of the July 13, 2020 passing of Carl Gafford, a fan-turned-pro best known as a colorist but whose comics work also included stints as a production artist, editor, and writer. Bronze Age fans fondly recall Gaff’s contributions to the DC-produced fanzine The Amazing World of DC Comics, his remarkable seven-year stretch as colorist on Legion of Super-Heroes, and his work on Marvel’s Hanna-Barbera line of the late ’70s, although his credits extended to several other publishers as well. His quotes in this issue regarding his writing and coloring Creeper stories may very well be his last interview, and we are honored to preserve his remarks and celebrate his artistry. BACK ISSUE extends its condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Carl Gafford.

TITANS TOGETHER!

An editorial shout-out to Michael Lovitz, who owns the original George Pérez art to the unpublished New Teen Titans cover which appeared as BI #122’s cover. Michael wrote me to kindly offer a scan for publication after we had already received one from the archives of Andy Mangels. I didn’t want Michael’s generosity to go unacknowledged… and a comp copy of #122 was also sent his way. Thanks, Michael! 78 • BACK ISSUE • Horrific Heroes issue

Well, it’s one of those combined letters again. Even with staying home for a couple of weeks there are more things to do than time to do them. First off, issue #118. Alex Ross. Fantastic Four. Nothing else needs to be said, but I will anyway. Mr. Ross’ love of the Bronze Age always brings a smile to my face. I can still picture, from one of his art books, the picture of Red Tornado and the word “please.” I believe it was his plea when he and Paul Dini were doing the tabloid-size Justice League book. Marvel’s recent mining of the Marvels series’ legacy, as well as Ross’ stint on their line’s covers, proves that he is still perceived as a fan favorite. I wonder if he has ever considered a stint as only a penciler on a book. I was just looking at the Superman/ Kingdom issue he did during his collaboration with Geoff Johns on Justice Society, and his pen and ink work is almost as good as his painted stuff. As you predicted, I loved John Wells’ “lost” DC stories article. I had heard of a few of these things before, but having everything together in one article was fantastic. He even explained what happened to a few stories I have come across in my letters column research [Brian Martin is currently researching a future BI article on Bronze Age letterhacks—ed.]. Now I don’t have to track them down! I was one of the people who just about salivated when I found out the lost Michael Fleisher Spectre stories were going to be illustrated by Jim Aparo. If only every script that was completed before cancellation could be resurrected somehow. Kind of like they did with the Seven Soldiers script that finally appeared in Adventure Comics. I for one would love to see the Star Sapphire script by Bob Rozakis that I sent you [see last issue’s Star Sapphire history—ed.] come to life.

One final word on Mr. Wells, if I may. Anyone who enjoyed that article is sure to love the TwoMorrows book, Comic Book Implosion, that he co-authored with Keith Dallas. It contains tons of inside stuff. My own personal caveat to that book is that it is seldom mentioned that DC did effectively “explode” a few years later when most of the plans begun then came to fruition. The underlying reasoning for the Explosion initially was to create an environment where comics could reach a greater readership and become financially viable for major book chains, something we see as commonplace now. As a huge Mike Grell and Jon Sable (and, of course, Batman) fan, I was really looking foreword to that crossover. Too bad. I remember Impact Comics and, like a lot of series, they never seemed to find their niche. Which really describes those characters as a whole. I was on hand when Red Circle launched them in the ’80s (insert BI #94 plug here), but they never seemed to live up to their potential or find an audience. I recently reread Skull & Bones, and could not detect any Curt Swan underlying the pages. Maybe I’ll have to go back and take a look. Seems to me that a few years before, while he was still doing Superman, that Mr. Swan made a concerted effort to add some “excitement” to his style. Not that his many fans thought he needed to, but…. That might explain why the pages he laid out did not stand out from the others. Finally, is it just me, or do Trevor Von Eeden’s pages from Batman: Top Hat and Nails remind anyone else of the wonderful work of Norm Breyfogle? When I first looked at them I thought that’s whose work it was. As for issue #119, I’m sure a lot of readers are like me and hold a special place for the group depicted on the cover where the Guardians of the Galaxy are concerned. The memories of Mr. Milgrom were especially insightful. I thought it was amazing to see the cover to Marvel Presents #9 (originally slated for #8, of course), since not long before the issue came out I commented to someone that it was the first cover of the series I ever saw and is still probably my favorite. Prince Street News was again a hilarious look at just how silly some of the comic-book superhero conventions are. Thankfully we can all laugh at them and still enjoy them. If I had a nickel for every female I have ever heard mention how impossible it would be to fight crime in high heels… The Jim Valentino conversation held wonderful insights into his plans, his thinking, and his feelings about those characters. It was an excellent examination of a creator and a series. As for Rocket Raccoon, just another example of the all-pervasive influence of those loveable Moptops from Liverpool. Looking foreword to next issue, whenever things get back to whatever normal will be. – Brian Martin Grendel TM & © Matt Wagner. All Rights Reserved.

While it’s unlikely that DC will commission new art for previously unpublished scripts, Brian, I have to give DC props for publishing some earlier comic casualties in their collected editions. Case in point: The Joker Bronze Age Omnibus’ inclusion of the never-beforepublished Joker #10.

A GAGGLE OF GUARDIANS GUSHINGS

So glad to see THIS Guardians of the Galaxy group get their spotlight! This is the group I grew up with, so it’s “my” Guardians. I still like this team. – John Hijatt I loved The Guardians of the Galaxy… it was like the Legion of Super-Heroes of Marvel, instead of DC. Marvel’s Guardians didn’t use so many characters, like Legion did, and that was good for the stories. – Pete Stancheck The Guardians remain my favorite super-team of the 1970s (since I regard myself as an SF fan first and a comics fan second). – John Joshua Bummer. I subscribe to BI, but I have little to no interest in the Guardians of the Galaxy. I never read the comics growing up. Never dug the regular art teams on the books. Sometimes the intensely focused themed issues of BI leave some of us out. Maybe loosen that focus to include other subjects so the issue appeals to more than fans of just the cover feature? – Tim Pervious Tim, that’s the one snag with character-spotlight issues, that they won’t be everyone’s fave. For BI #119, I purposely included the Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon histories to appeal to readers who might not be GotG fans, since those characters had rich histories before being brought into the Guardians. And if space had allowed, I would’ve inserted an article on DC’s Guardians of the Universe, to include a DC property in an otherwise all-Marvel issue (like when we added Captain Comet to issue #29’s “Mutants”/X-Men lineup). An editorial confession: Sometimes a subject doesn’t appeal to my inner fanboy, either, but I find I always learn a great deal upon reading those articles. Luckily, even if an issue’s subject doesn’t speak to you, there’s another one on its heels that hopefully will.‬Thanks for being a subscriber and supporter of BI! Next issue: Creator-Owned Comics, featuring an in-depth Grendel interview with MATT WAGNER! Plus: Wagner’s Mage, COLLEEN DORAN’s A Distant Soil, STAN SAKAI’s Usagi Yojimbo, STEVE PURCELL’s Sam & Max, JAMES DEAN SMITH’s Boris the Bear, and a Q&A with LARRY WELZ’s Cherry Poptart! Also featuring Grendel’s DIANA SCHUTZ, THE PANDER BROTHERS, TIM SALE, JOHN K. SNYDER III, and BERNIE MIREAULT. Featuring a Hunter Rose Grendel cover by Wagner. Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in sixty! Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

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!

RETROFAN #11

HALLOWEEN ISSUE! Interviews with DARK SHADOWS’ Quentin Collins, DAVID SELBY, and the niece of movie Frankenstein GLENN STRANGE, JULIE ANN REAMS. Plus: KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER, ROD SERLING retrospective, CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, TV’s Adventures of Superman, Superman’s pal JIMMY OLSEN, QUISP and QUAKE cereals, the DRAK PAK AND THE MONSTER SQUAD, scratch model customs, and more fun, fab features! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

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RETROFAN #7

RETROFAN #12

Hollywood interviewer CHRIS MANN goes behind the scenes of TV’s sexy sitcom THREE’S COMPANY—and NANCY MORGAN RITTER, first wife of JOHN RITTER, shares stories about the TV funnyman. Plus: RICK GOLDSCHMIDT’s making of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, RONNIE SCHELL interview, Sheena Queen of the TV Jungle, Dr. Seuss toys, Popeye cartoons, DOCTOR WHO’s 1960s U.S. invasion, and more fun, fab features! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Dec. 2020 Look for #13 in February 2021!

RETROFAN #8

RETROFAN #9

RETROFAN #10

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!

With a JACLYN SMITH interview, as we reopen the Charlie’s Angels Casebook, and visit the Guinness World Records’ largest Charlie’s Angels collection. Plus: interview with 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!

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with ’70s’ Captain America REB BROWN, and Captain Nice (and Knight Rider’s KITT) WILLIAM DANIELS with wife BONNIE BARTLETT! Plus: Coloring Books, Fall Previews for Saturday morning cartoons, The Cyclops movie, actors behind your favorite TV commercial characters, BENNY HILL, the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, 8-track tapes, and more!

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Celebrating fifty years of SHAFT, interviews with FAMILY AFFAIR’s KATHY GARVER and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour’s GERI “FAKE JAN” REISCHL, ED “BIG DADDY” ROTH, rare GODZILLA merchandise, Spaghetti Westerns, Saturday morning cartoon preview specials, fake presidential candidates, Spider-Man/The Spider parallels, Stuckey’s, and more fun, fab features!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

RETROFAN #1

RETROFAN #2

RETROFAN #3

RETROFAN #4

RETROFAN #5

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!

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!

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/Batman memorabilia, & more!

Interviews with 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!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

ALTER EGO #166

ALTER EGO #167

ALTER EGO #168

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #23

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #24

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!

Salute to Golden & Silver Age artist SYD SHORES as he’s remembered by daughter NANCY SHORES KARLEBACH, fellow artist ALLEN BELLMAN, DR. MICHAEL J. VASSALLO, and interviewer RICHARD ARNDT. Plus: mid-1940s “Green Turtle” artist/creator CHU HING profiled by ALEX JAY, JOHN BROOME, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and Mr. Monster on MORT WEISINGER Part Two, and more!

Two RICHARD ARNDT interviews revealing the wartime life of Aquaman artist/ co-creator PAUL NORRIS (with a Golden/ Silver Age art gallery)—plus the story of WILLIE ITO, who endured the WWII Japanese-American relocation centers to become a Disney & Warner Bros. animator and comics artist. Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, JOHN BROOME, and more, behind a NORRIS cover!

WENDY PINI discusses her days as Red Sonja cosplayer, & 40+ years of ELFQUEST! Plus RICHARD PINI on their 48-year marriage and creative partnership! Plus: We have the final installment of our CRAIG YOE interview! GIL KANE’s business partner LARRY KOSTER talks about their adventures together! PABLO MARCOS on his Marvel horror work, HEMBECK, and more! Cover by WENDY PINI.

TIMOTHY TRUMAN discusses his start at the Kubert School, Grimjack with writer JOHN OSTRANDER, and current collaborations with son Benjamin. SCOTT SHAW! talks about early San Diego Comic-Cons and friendship with JACK KIRBY, Captain Carrot, and Flintstones work! Also PATRICK McDONNELL’s favorite MUTTS comic book pastiches, letterer JANICE CHIANG profiled, HEMBECK, and more! TIM TRUMAN cover.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Dec. 2020

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Feb. 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Dec. 2020

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #25 WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

BACK ISSUE #125

BACK ISSUE #126

BACK ISSUE #127

BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH discusses his new graphic novel MONSTERS, its origin as a 1980s Hulk story, and its evolution into his 300-page magnum opus (includes a gallery of outtakes). Plus part two of our SCOTT SHAW! interview about HannaBarbera licensing material and work with ROY THOMAS on Captain Carrot, KEN MEYER, JR. looks at the great fanzines of 40 years ago, HEMBECK, and more!

CREATOR-OWNED COMICS! Featuring in-depth histories of MATT WAGNER’s Mage and Grendel. Plus other indie sensations of the Bronze Age, including COLLEEN DORAN’s A Distant Soil, STAN SAKAI’s Usagi Yojimbo, STEVE PURCELL’s Sam & Max, JAMES DEAN SMITH’s Boris the Bear, and LARRY WELZ’s Cherry Poptart! With a fabulous Grendel cover by MATT WAGNER.

“Legacy” issue! Wally West Flash, BRANDON ROUTH Superman interview, Harry Osborn/Green Goblin, Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Infinity Inc., Reign of the Supermen, JOHN ROMITA SR. and JR. “Rough Stuff,” plus CONWAY, FRACTION, JURGENS, MESSNER-LOEBS, MICHELINIE, ORDWAY, SLOTT, ROY THOMAS, MARK WAID, and more. WIERINGO/MARZAN JR. cover!

“Soldiers” issue! Sgt. Rock revivals, General Thunderbolt Ross, Beetle Bailey in comics, DC’s Blitzkrieg, War is Hell’s John Kowalski, Atlas’ savage soldiers, The ’Nam, Nth the Ultimate Ninja, and CONWAY and GARCIA-LOPEZ’s Cinder and Ashe. Featuring CLAREMONT, DAVID, DIXON, GOLDEN, HAMA, KUBERT, LOEB, DON LOMAX, DOUG MURRAY, TUCCI, and more. BRIAN BOLLAND cover!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Spring 2021

(224-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $37.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Jan. 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships March 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships May 2021

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

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 • Now shipping!

OLD GODS & NEW: A FOURTH WORLD COMPANION (TJKC #80)

Looks back at JACK KIRBY’s own words, as well as those of assistants MARK EVANIER and STEVE SHERMAN, inker MIKE ROYER, and publisher CARMINE INFANTINO, to show how Kirby’s epic came about, where it was going, and how he would’ve ended it before it was cancelled by DC Comics!

HOLLY JOLLY

MARK VOGER’s sleigh ride thru Christmas pop culture! Explores movies (Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life), music (White Christmas, Little St. Nick), TV (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), books (Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol), decor (1950s silver aluminum trees), comics (super-heroes meet Santa), and more! Featuring CHARLES M. SCHULZ, ANDY WILLIAMS and others!

(160-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $26.95 (192-page FULL-COLOR hardcover) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 • Ships Winter 2021 (Digital Edition) $15.99 • Now shipping! ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4 ISBN: 978-1-60549-097-7

BRICKJOURNAL #65

BrickJournal celebrates the holidays with brick sculptor ZIO CHAO, takes a offbeat look at Christmas with our minifigure customizer JARED K. BURKS, and decks the halls with the holiday creations of KOEN ZWANENBURG! Plus: “AFOLs” by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, step-bystep “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and more! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Dec. 2020 Look for #66 in February 2021!

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