Back Issue #126 Preview

LEGACY ISSUE starring THE FLASH 021 April 2

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The Flash and Kid Flash TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Brandon Routh Superman interview Green Goblin • Ant-Man • Infinity, Inc. Reign of the Supermen John Romita Father/Son Legacy

™

Volume 1, Number 126 April 2021 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTISTS Jose Marzan, Jr., recreation from a Mike Wieringo sketch (commissioned illustration from the collection of Nathan Turner) COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg

SPECIAL THANKS Jon Bogdanove Kurt Busiek Jarrod Buttery Gerry Conway DC Comics Tom DeFalco J. M. DeMatteis Robert Loren Fleming Matt Fraction Grand Comics Database Glenn Greenberg Tom Grummett Mendy Harris Heritage Comics Auctions Geoff Johns Dan Johnson John Joshua Dan Jurgens Karl Kesel

Christopher Larochelle Jose Marzan, Jr. David Michelinie Luigi Novi Karla Ogle Jerry Ordway Sandy Plunkett John Romita, Jr. John Romita, Sr. Brandon Routh Bob Rozakis Josef Rubinstein Rose Rummel-Eury John Schwirian Louise Simonson Roger Stern Superman Celebration, Metropolis, Illinois Roy Thomas Nathan Turner John Wells

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FLASHBACK: Growing Up Fast: Wally West’s Race to Become the Fastest Man Alive . . . 2 We zip through the Speed Force to witness the evolution of the one-time Kid Flash OFF MY CHEST: The Romita Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 A tale of the father, the son, and Spidey BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Green Genes: The Green Goblin, from Criminal Mastermind to Family Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 A star-studded examination of Harry Osborn’s devilish daddy issues INTERVIEW: Superman Returns’ Brandon Routh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 The actor who played two different Supermen is quite super himself FLASHBACK: Ant-Man: Never Let a Good Name Go to Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Scott Lang was not one to shrink from duty when stepping into Hank Pym’s old role FLASHBACK: Infinity, Inc.: Old Heroes Never Die, They Simply Fade into Infinity . . . . . 52 The story of the JSA legacy characters and the Crisis that altered their lives FLASHBACK: Reign of the Supermen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 After the “Death of Superman,” it took four Men of Steel to take Kal-El’s place BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Reader reactions

BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $90 Economy US, $137 International, $36 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Mike Wieringo and Jose Marzan, Jr. The Flash and Kid Flash TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies.

All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2021 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Legacy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

Legacy heroine Power Girl specialty drawing by the late, great Darwyn Cooke, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions. Power Girl TM & © DC Comics.

PROOFREADER Rob Smentek

by

Whiz Kid (left) Kid Flash and Robin no more, on George Pérez’s cover to New Teen Titans #39 (Feb. 1984). (center) Wally’s first solo run begins in Flash #1 (June 1987). Cover by Jackson Guice and Larry Mahlstedt. (right) Wally’s faster than ever before in the “Zero Hour” tiein Flash #0 (Oct. 1994).

Cover by Mike Wieringo and Jose Marzan, Jr.

John Wells

“Being a superhero isn’t easy, especially with a double-identity.

You can’t have a normal life… and as for marriage… well, I was lucky to find a girl like Iris. Not many women would put up with a husband who’s always on call to catch criminals or save the world.

How can I fault you for wanting a fair shot at a job and a family just like any other man?”

[Author’s note: Keith Dallas’ exhaustive The Flash Companion, published by TwoMorrows in 2008, was a vital resource when writing this article and includes many quotes from its Mark Waid interview that I conducted in November 2007. For brevity’s sake, the book is generally abbreviated as TFC here.]

TM & © DC Comics.

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So said Barry (the Flash) Allen to his nephew Wally West, a newly minted high school graduate who had just announced his plans to retire as Kid Flash once he finished college (1978’s DC Special Series #11, by Cary Bates, Irv Novick, and Joe Giella). It was a touching moment but also something of a hollow one in a universe where characters never got appreciably older.

RELUCTANT SUPERHERO

As the 1970s turned into the 1980s, the old rules were changing, and Wally West had to race to keep pace. Thanks to the creative team of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, Kid Flash was at the forefront of DC’s blockbuster New Teen Titans, albeit grudgingly at first. As the series launched, Wally was already retired, but was seduced into suiting up again thanks to the mysticism of Raven. Shaking off the enchantment, Wally eventually found a true girlfriend in his hometown of Blue Valley: the troubled, magnetic-powered Frances Kane (NTT #17).

In contrast to his fellow Titans, Wally was the member with a stable, happy relationship with his parents. Wolfman emphasized that in NTT #20’s (June 1982) “Dear Mom and Dad,” a tale written in part to balance the previous issue’s presentation of Kid Flash’s conservative, anti-Soviet rhetoric.

Ultimately, though, Wolfman admitted to Glen Cadigan in The Titans Companion (2005) that he “never liked” the character. In a group setting, he was simply too powerful. “If the goal is to put down the villain as opposed to make a good show, just send Kid Flash out and have him beat up the guy before the guy could see who was beating him up.”

Hence, Wally called it quits in NTT #39 (Feb. 1984) and declared his intention to be a full-time college student. Wolfman (with artists Carmine Infantino and Mike DeCarlo) checked in on the retiree in Tales of the Teen Titans #49 (on sale in September 1984), revealing that his speed was decreasing and causing him escalating pain. The Flash theorized it was a side effect of the chemical bath that gave both their powers.

“I was an adult when the chemicals altered my body,” he observed. “My body chemistry wasn’t changing.

But Wally was just a kid, still growing and developing.”

The end result may have genetic damage.

Famed writer Harlan Ellison expressed his opinion about Wally’s dire condition to Wolfman in a subsequent phone call. “I told Marv I didn’t like what he was doing to Kid Flash,” Ellison relayed to Don Thompson in The Comics Buyer’s Guide #572 (November 2, 1984). “I said he obviously didn’t like the character and planned to have him die of a heart attack while running. He said, ‘How did you know that?’ and I said, ‘Because you’re talking to someone who knows how to plot.’

“I suggested another direction he could take, and he liked it and went to Dick Giordano with it. Dick said it would make a mini-series. Marv said he couldn’t write it, and they talked about who could. Finally, they thought of me.” Ellison added that he’d likely change Wally’s codename. “Calling someone Kid Flash is so Fifties.”

With Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s monumental Crisis on Infinite Earths looming, Ellison’s miniseries never got past the conceptual stage. Indeed, The Flash itself was cancelled in July 1985 before Barry Allen died a month later in Crisis #8. Wally returned to the stage in Crisis #9, urged by the original Flash (Jay Garrick) to share his waning powers in Barry’s absence. Consequently, Kid Flash explained to Keith Dallas in The Flash was on the front lines during the final Companion (2008). “I think running battle with the Anti-Monitor and took 600 miles per hour is just fine, and that a blast of energy from the universewould still be an incredible power.” shattering villain.

For fans, the matter of Barry Allen’s One of the final scenes in Crisis successor had been settled. Behind #12 (on sale in December 1985) the scenes, however, DC executives revealed that this had been a good Jenette Kahn and Dick Giordano saw thing. Thanks to the cosmic radiation, Wally as a placeholder and put out Wally’s body chemistry had adapted an open invitation for writers to to its speed forces and Kid Flash pitch new versions of the Flash. was no longer dying. Retiring his marv wolfman Len Wein and Marv Wolfman’s distinctive yellow costume, Wally concept even made it into a write-up suited up in Barry’s old outfit. “I for 1986’s Amazing Heroes Preview Special #2. Secretly want the Flash—his Flash—remembered!”

S.T.A.R. Labs scientist Mackenzie Ryan, this Flash would “manipulate various forms of energy—light, sound, BIG SHOES TO FILL In January 1986, the newly minted third Flash returned and so forth—in order to defeat his foes.” Wolfman to the lineup of the Titans in New Teen Titans vol. 2 #19 even inserted Ryan into New Teen Titans #19 as an (cover-dated Apr. 1986). Having used the Anti-Monitor unseen character spoken to on the phone.

Meanwhile, in the fall of 1986 plans were afoot to scale back Wally’s powers, Marv Wolfman had no problem bringing him back. “What I wanted to do to launch a new company crossover called Legends, was slow him down to the speed of sound,” the writer developed by new DC editor Mike Gold and writer

Superhero Dropout Barry Allen and Wally West discuss Wally’s decision to give up his Kid Flash identity, from DC Special Series #11: Flash Spectacular (May 1978). By Bates/Novick/Giella.

Unless otherwise noted, all scans accompanying this article are courtesy of John Wells.

TM & © DC Comics.

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New Rogues Gallery Writer Mike Baron brought some new bad blood into the pages of Flash, including Vandal Savage, Kilg%re, and Speed Demon.

TM & © DC Comics.

MIKE BARON

character into a womanizing glory hog. And she felt we might go deeper than that. As an editor, however, Barbara was too good to suggest I just ignore what had gone before.”

What had come before provided ample story fodder. “I’ll be trying to rebuild his family life a little bit,” Loebs stated in The Comics Buyer’s Guide #727, “because right now he’s basically on the road to a psychotic breakdown. He just found out his dad, who was a really nice guy, then turned into an alcoholic, then turned into a Manhunter.

He went from being so broke that he had to charge people to run a heart cross-country to being the richest guy in the world. All in the space of weeks. He’s had the power to go at almost the speed of light reduced to nothing, then brought back to 700 miles an hour. So, his whole life is a series of incredibly improbable things.”

Luckily, Mike Baron had already provided Wally with a psychiatrist—Dr. Owen Slade—in Flash #9 so Loebs devoted a full story to one of their sessions in May 1988’s Secret Origins Annual #2. Bringing a fresh perspective to the adventures of Kid Flash and his relationship with Barry Allen, Slade argued that Wally had Imposter’s Syndrome. “Classically, it’s what boys feel who lose impressive father figures… a sense that nothing they earn is really theirs… that they will be revealed as ‘frauds.’ But that may be a tad narrow. After all, don’t we all feel sometimes, ‘What would they think of me if they knew who I really was?’”

This, Slade theorized, was the crux of why the Flash couldn’t regain the full measure of his old speed. “I think Barry’s stopping you. […] Your speed decreased when you were on your own and making decisions,

decisions you thought Barry wouldn’t like.” Urging Wally to stop putting so much pressure on himself, the physiatrist insisted, “You’re allowed to be happy. You’re allowed to be alive when Barry’s dead.”

It was counsel that Wally wasn’t ready to accept, but the words hadn’t been without effect. Another standalone Loebs story in June 1988’s Flash Annual #2 stabilized the young man’s relationship with both of his parents, particularly his mom.

“Mary West was a nightmare mother,” the writer bluntly declared in TFC. “She was a carping sodden parasitic hyper-critical drunk.

Even with losing all his money, I couldn’t understand how even a mostly grown son would stay with her. So, I put aspects of my relationship with my own mom, which was decent, into the character.

I let her change and grow.”

Loebs was less invested in Tina McGee as a romantic interest.

After sowing the seeds for a possible reconciliation with Jerry, the writer split up her and Wally at the end of Flash #16. The McGees remained recurring scientist contacts for the duration of Loebs’ run and beyond, though. Unexpectedly, Tina (as portrayed as Amanda Pays) also became a co-star in the 1990–1991 Flash TV series with John Wesley Shipp. Although Barry Allen was the nominal star, showrunners Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo saw great plot potential in having the female scientist as a central player.

Before he came onto the book, Loebs had begun to formulate plots involving Wally’s wealth. His sudden financial turnaround killed those ideas, but he wanted someone with money in the cast and drafted Chunk to fill the role as a series regular.

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No Walk in the Park (top) Homeless hero!

Flash #20 (Winter 1988) cover by LaRocque/ Mahlstedt. (bottom) Meet Linda Park, in Flash #28.

TM & © DC Comics.

“The red and yellow was not going anywhere,” artist Greg LaRocque explained in TFC, “and the design was classic, so after discussion with Brian, we decided we wanted to update rather than redesign. I thought the glossy look translated to a more modern look and fit the super-speed element perfectly. The eyes were something I took a lot of heat on early on, but again, I thought it looked cool and fit the speed look very nicely and set Wally apart from Barry’s look very dramatically.”

Three and a half years after his tenure began, William MessnerLoebs decided it was time to leave Wally West behind. Unable to turn down an offer to write Wonder Woman, he reluctantly settled his affairs. In Flash #61 (Apr. 1992), Mary West remarried and virtually every member of the supporting cast at the wedding reception seemed to have found a romantic partner. Everyone except Wally. Making a late arrival, Linda Park sat down beside him and smiled. “This is not,” the Fastest Man Alive mused, “a bad way to end an adventure.”

“After 46 successful issues,” Brian Augustyn wrote in his introduction to Terminal Velocity (1995), “Bill decided he had taken Wally as far as he could and moved on to other challenges.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I handed the baton to a relatively unknown writer named Mark Waid, who took over the race like a born sprinter. Mark and I had been friends since he was an editor at DC, and I knew we were already on the same track.”

Waid’s editorial tenure had ended badly, and it was Augustyn who kept the young man’s greg larocque foot in the door (and money in his pocket) by Facebook. assigning him scripts. Those included stories for the 50th Anniversary Flash Special (on sale in May 1990 and introducing 27th Century Flash John Fox), Flash Annual #4 (1991), and Flash TV Special #1 (1991).

“Flash has always been one of my favorite characters,” Waid told Paul Grant in Hero Illustrated #19 (Dec. 1994). I always wanted to have super-speed, because life is too damn short and I’m an impatient son of a bitch anyway. I think this is what makes Flash such an interesting and long-lived character. No one gets up in the morning and says, ‘Gee, I wish I could throw power blasts out of my hands.’ However, everybody in the world knows what it’s like to miss the bus. That’s why I think the Flash’s power is so cool. It’s something like flight that everybody, whether they read comics or not, can key into. I certainly did. That was one of the things that attracted me to the Flash. The other thing was he was a young, impatient, strong-willed hothead and God knows that’s something I keyed into pretty quickly as well. Wally West is my alter ego. Wally is the easiest character in the world to write for me. He’s what I’d be like if I was 60 pounds lighter and 10 years younger. Oh, and had super-speed.”

Unsurprisingly, Waid accepted Augustyn’s offer immediately.

“There was no hesitation on my part,” he declared in TFC. “There was a lot of hesitation on Brian’s boss’ part. Brian fought hard to get me on the book because the presumption by the bosses was ‘he’s just a fanboy. He doesn’t know what a story is, it’ll just be a big continuity romp and you’re just giving it to him because he’s your pal.’ You know, all that standard stuff. So, Brian and I worked very, very hard to make sure that we very quickly put our own stamp on that book.”

BORN TO RUN

That began by showing where Wally West came from. “Flash Year One: Born to Run” (Flash #62–65) ran as a twice-a-month event in issues on sale in March and April 1992 and included the basic details that fans already knew. On a trip to Central City to visit his Aunt Iris West, a boy from Blue Valley, Nebraska, met the Flash (secretly Iris’ boyfriend Barry Allen) and was transformed by an accident into Kid Flash. On that spine, Waid deepened Wally’s relationships with his distant parents, his swifter-than-light new mentor, and a wise, loving aunt who became his best friend.

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“I looked at both Wally’s parents and I just couldn’t just like the Flash. He got his wish. To me, Wally is one of see anything there that I could hook onto,” the writer the few guys in comics who gets up every morning and admitted in TFC. “But I had to break the assignment says, ‘My God, I have the greatest job on Earth. I can’t down and find the parts of me that echoed in the wait to be Flash today.’ That is core to Wally’s personality.”

With the preliminaries out of the way, Waid returned character and vice versa. What I fixated on was the notion of feeling trapped as a boy, feeling very held- to the present for an Aquaman guest-shot (Flash #66), down by parents who weren’t terribly affectionate or a two-part clash with an unhinged Abra Kadabra in the weren’t terribly good at giving guidance; and sort of 64th Century (Flash #67–68), and a crossover—joined

by Green Lantern writer Gerard Jones— being trapped in a small town and feeling like there that paired Wally with Barry’s old pal were bigger things out there.”

Hal Jordan against Grodd and Hector Iris West Allen was mostly forgotten by Hammond (Flash #69–70; GL #30–31). this point, murdered by the Reverse-Flash Conspicuously absent were any of in 1979 before her surprise resurrection Baron or Loeb’s regulars. “Previous in the 30th Century just prior to Barry’s writers had a tendency to concentrate own death in 1985. As far as her on the supporting characters,” Waid 20th Century friends and family opined in Hero Illustrated #18, “and knew, she was still dead, though. gave me the impression they weren’t “Barry and his wife were two as interested in Wally as they were characters I really, genuinely believed in the people around Wally. That’s loved one another,” Waid said in the certainly a valid approach, but it’s not Return of Barry Allen trade paperback an approach I like. Every once in a (1996). “We got to watch their while I get letters asking, ‘Whatever courtship, their engagement, their happened to Chunk or Wally’s marriage, their life together. And yet mark waid mom?’ I don’t care. The book is it ended so bittersweet.” about Wally.”

“I so loved Iris as a character, © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

The lone carryover was Linda Park, but a subplot as most of us did reading the Barry Allen Flash,” he added in TFC. “Like my own mother, Iris was a very free in issue #71–72’s tale of a new Dr. Alchemy had her spirit and a very kind woman who treated children very poised to leave Keystone for a TV position in Midway much like adults and never really talked down to them City. Getting his priorities straight, Wally dashed after her train and begged her not to go. One kiss later, and instead, brought them up to her level.”

As for the star of the book, Waid observed in Linda’s new job was history.

“I didn’t know that I really wanted to do much with Hero Illustrated #18, “I think Wally’s unique in that his personality is defined by his power. People ask me, Linda,” Waid admitted in TFC, “but she was there and ‘What would Wally West be doing if he didn’t have super- at that point, it made more sense for me to just pick up speed?’ I have no idea. Wally would have no idea because a character that had existed rather than try to create a it’s a dream come true to him. As a child, he wanted to be brand-new love interest for Flash.”

The New Look Flash Wally’s new costume premieres!

From Flash #50 (May 1991). And this revealing interior shot of Flash also doubles as the the cover’s corner box illo.

TM & © DC Comics.

Legacy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 11

by

Dan Johnson

Of all the businesses out there, you don’t really think of comics as being a family affair. That isn’t to say there haven’t been family legacies in the industry. There was, of course, Max Gaines, the founder of Educational Comics, and his son, William Gaines, who took his father’s struggling company and turned it into the legendary Entertaining Comics or EC. Then there is DC’s definitive Hawkman and Sgt. Rock artist, Joe Kubert, and his sons, Andy and Adam Kubert. There is even John Byrne, the man who reimagined the Fantastic Four and Superman in the 1980s, and his stepson, Kieron Dwyer, and last issue’s cover artist, Matt Wagner, and his son, Brennan, who has become a superb colorist.

But there is one family that shines brightest in comics, and that is the Romitas. The father, John, Sr., was one of Marvel’s most in-demand artists throughout his career and he was the man who helped design many of the company’s most famous superheroes, villains, and supporting characters. He was the man who designed such iconic characters as Wolverine, the Punisher, and the Kingpin. He was also Marvel’s art director from 1973 until the late 1980s. While serving in that role, he was the ringleader of Romita’s Raiders, an entry-level apprenticeship program that allowed new talent to do uncredited corrections on pages, and this program allowed many a rising star to break into the business.

The son, John, Jr. has also become a legend in his time. He was the artist who took the X-Men to their next level of greatness in the early 1980s, and he had a hand in revitalizing the very character on which his dad first gained fame, Daredevil, in the 1990s. In an industry where artists come and go and changing styles and tastes can make and break careers in a matter of years, John, Jr. is a talent that has always been, like his dad, in demand.

Heck, I feel we should also give a shout-out at this time to Virginia Romita, who worked with her husband and son at Marvel Comics serving as the company’s traffic manager during the time John, Sr. worked for the comic-book publisher. Her job was to see that the comics came out on time and that the office ran smoothly (well, as smoothly as any office that made comic books could run).

But getting back to John, Sr. and John, Jr., I feel we really need to focus on the character that they both have in common and on whom both have left their mark: Spider-Man. If you were to ask most comics fans who the greatest Spider-Man artists of all time were, I have no doubt that both Romitas’ names would easily be on a list of the Top Ten.

Artistic Wizards The Amazing Spider-Man, as penciled in 1996 by John Romita, Jr. and inked by John Romita, Sr., originally produced as the cover for Wizard #53. Original art courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com).

Romita portraits by John, Sr. Spider-Man TM & © Marvel.

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JAZZY JOHNNY SPINS HIS WEB

Jazzy Johnny (top) The iconic Romita, Sr. cover to Amazing Spider-Man #39 (Aug. 1966). (bottom) John, Sr.’s much more recent, yet undated, variation on that classic Spidey/Goblin epic, from the Heritage archives.

TM & © Marvel.

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John Romita, Sr. was making a name for himself on Daredevil and he came to be the artist on The Amazing Spider-Man only because the Web-Head’s co-creator, Steve Ditko, left the book after issue #38 (July 1966).

At the time John, Sr. came onboard, though, he wasn’t sure it would be a long-term assignment. “People laugh when I say this, but I did not want to do Spider-Man,” said John, Sr. in an interview with Roy Thomas for the book, John Romita… All That Jazz! “I wanted to stay on Daredevil.”

One thing John, Sr. is legendary for is his modesty, his humble nature. Indeed, this is the man who thought his artwork was the reason Captain America’s early 1950s revival was cancelled! “The only reason I did Spider-Man was because Stan asked me and I felt that I should help out, like a good soldier,” John, Sr. stressed during his interview with Thomas. “I never really felt comfortable on Spider-Man for years. I had felt at home immediately on Daredevil. On Spider-Man I felt obliged to ghost Ditko because—this may sound naive, but I was convinced, in my own mind, that he was going to come back in two or three issues.”

Not only did John, Sr. stay on Amazing Spider-Man for many years to come, first as its penciler and then as its inker, his artwork helped to increase the sales of the book. With John, Sr. drawing the book, Amazing found a whole new audience and generated a whole new group of fans.

John, Sr.’s time with Spider-Man is also memorable because of his streamlining the appearance of the character and giving Peter Parker and his supporting cast a more glamorous look (this was John romita, sr. due to his years working on romance comics at DC). Romita’s work became so associated with Spider-Man, his drawings of the character were used as model sheets for much of the merchandise that would be released in the late 1960s and early 1970s. John, Sr.’s influence could be seen in everything from action figures to posters to even the Spider-Man ABC cartoon series that premiered in the fall of 1967.

But all of that only came about once John, Sr. realized he shouldn’t ape Steve Ditko and he had to be himself, and in the process, make Spider-Man his own character.

“After six months, when I realized it wasn’t temporary, I finally stopped trying to ghost Ditko,” said John, Sr. “Till then, I was using a thin line. On [Amazing Spider-Man] #43 (Dec. 1966), the one with Jameson’s son, I outlined the whole thing with a Rapidograph and then used the big, bold brush to put ink in. I thought that was Ditko’s style. Looking back on it now, I realize I wasn’t doing a very good Ditko imitation, but I was not being myself, either. In Daredevil #18 (July 1966), my last issue, I was doing that big, bold thing that Frank Giacoia inked; and when I inked myself, like on the covers, it was a big, bold style with a big, heavy line. But on Spider-Man I was doing these nine-panel pages and the thin line, and I was doing Peter Parker without any bone structure—just like Ditko was doing, I thought. The only reason it wasn’t better was that I couldn’t ape him any better.”

According to John, Sr., as Spidey was becoming an even bigger hit with readers, he was also becoming a hit at the Romita home, and the wall-crawler became part of the family. I remember interviewing John, Sr. for a previous piece in BACK ISSUE and him telling me how John, Jr. grew up with Spider-Man in the household. It was almost as if John, Jr. and Spidey were brothers.

by

Glenn GREENberg

Norman and Harry Osborn. Both also known as the Green Goblin. Father and son. Connected not just by DNA, but also by insanity, an obsession with Spider-Man, and by what is probably the most distinctive hairstyle in all of comicdom. In the entire history of the web-slinging crimefighter, and perhaps of the entire Marvel Universe itself, there is no greater, more vivid representation of the concept of legacy than the passing of the Goblin mantle from the senior Osborn to his offspring.

Of course, no one—possibly not even co-creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko—knew anything about the Osborns when the Goblin made his initial appearances in The Amazing Spider-Man (Amazing) #14 (July 1964), 17 (Oct. 1964), 23 (Apr. 1965), and 26–27 (July– Aug. 1965). Readers met Harry first, in Amazing #31 (Dec. 1965), introduced as a schoolmate and potential rival of Peter Parker’s at Empire State University.

Norman was formally introduced in #37 (June 1966), though he may have been appearing as a background character “seeded” by Ditko as far back as #23. The full story of how, when, and why it was decided that Norman would turn out to be the Goblin has been a source of speculation, analysis, and debate for decades, and the full details may never come to light.

For his part, Lee always maintained that there was no master plan. “In the beginning, we didn’t know who [the Green Goblin would] turn out to be when he was finally unmasked,” Lee wrote in his 1976 book, Bring on the Bad Guys, which recounted the origins of some of Marvel’s most significant supervillains. In his introduction for the 1995 trade paperback, Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin, a collection of key stories focusing on the two characters, he wrote, “When Steve [Ditko] and I first unleashed him upon our woebegone web-slinger we hadn’t the slightest idea who the Goblin would turn out to be. …

To this day, I can’t remember whether it was Steve or I who decided to make him Harry Osborn’s father!”

Suffice to say that with Amazing #39 (Aug. 1966), one issue after Ditko left the series (never to return), Lee forged ahead with his new collaborator, artist John Romita, Sr., and firmly established the Goblin’s true identity in the Spider-Man canon, whether it tracked with Ditko’s intentions or not. And that momentous decision would impact the world of Spider-Man in a seismic way for decades, right up to this day.

But even before the big revelation, readers got a sense of the relationship between Norman and Harry— and it wasn’t very pretty. In Amazing #37, father and son inspect an Osborn electronics factory that was targeted for arson. Norman suspects the culprit was his ex-partner, Mendel Stromm, but Harry suggests that Spider-Man was responsible. “Someone else was behind this!” Norman tells his son. “But—who?” Harry asks. “None of your blasted business!” Norman replies. But Harry won’t let go

Like Father, Like Son Poor Peter Parker never gets a break, eh?

Detail from John Romita, Sr.’s dynamite cover to Amazing Spider-Man #136 (Sept. 1974).

TM & © Marvel.

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of his theory. “Wouldn’t it be somethin’ if Spider-Man is trying to work a protection racket?” he asks his father, who snaps back with, “Harry, don’t you ever shut up?!!!”

And that’s just in the first two panels of them ever being shown together. Norman is established right away as a distracted, tightly wound, short-tempered man, quick to lose patience with his son, while Harry is dutiful and eager to please his father.

Interestingly enough, readers would not get a full sense of the dynamics that lay at the heart of Norman and Harry’s relationship until many years later, after Norman was gone from the series and the various writers who followed Lee could explore the full impact that he had on his son.

DADDY DEAREST

The Osborns (top left) Readers meet Harry Osborn in Amazing Spider-Man #31. (top right) Norman the bad, mad dad. From Amazing #37. (bottom) Splash to the landmark Amazing #40.

TM & © Marvel.

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When the Goblin’s origin is revealed in Amazing #40 (Sept. 1966), it is told from Norman’s point of view, and he presents himself as a good, devoted father, having done his best to raise Harry as a single parent after the death of his wife, while tending to the needs of his growing business empire. Harry, as per Norman’s telling, has long been disappointed that he doesn’t get to spend a lot of quality time with his father, but understands the situation and accepts it with grace and maturity. At the end of the issue, Norman, stricken by amnesia, his time as the Goblin seemingly erased from his mind and his sanity restored, seems ready to move forward with a much-improved relationship with his son. And Harry, for his part, is more than receptive to Norman’s new attitude, completely unaware of the double life his father had been leading.

Stan Lee would write only two more Green Goblin stories before turning Spider-Man over to writer Gerry Conway in 1972. The first of these ran in the full-color magazine, The Spectacular Spider-Man #2 (Nov. 1968), after months of build-up in Amazing Spider-Man. During this period, the relationship between Norman and Harry is shown to be about as good as it ever was. By Amazing #47 (April 1967), Norman has even rented a two-bedroom apartment for Harry in Manhattan near ESU—and Harry invites Peter, to whom he has become a close friend, to move in with him. Norman befriends Peter and offers him a job. But in Amazing #61 (June 1968), Norman sees a photo of the Green Goblin and, for a reason unknown to him, it disturbs him deeply. In #62 (July 1968), Norman is haunted by strange, dim memories of the Goblin and Spider-Man but can’t piece them together, which causes him great stress and frustration. Harry takes it upon himself to look after his father, though this proves futile when Norman drops out of sight, leaving Harry consumed with worry. Things come to a head in #66 (Nov. 1968), in which Norman is revealed to be holed up in his factory, putting on his Goblin suit, his memory almost fully restored. He mutters about what a shock it would be to his “lily-livered” son if Harry were to ever learn who Norman Osborn truly is.

This leads into Spectacular #2, which features a 52-page story by Lee, Romita, Sr., and inker Jim Mooney, in which the Green Goblin is reborn—and out for revenge. The centerpiece, of course, is a battle between the Goblin and Spider-Man, with Osborn targeting Peter’s aunt May and intending to unmask the web-slinger in front of her.

The conflict ends only when Spider-Man turns the Goblin’s “hallucinatory gas” against him and creates a mental block that restores Osborn’s amnesia—and thus protects Spider-Man’s identity and his loved ones.

While the story doesn’t change the overall status quo in any major way, it is significant in that it establishes fairly explicitly that the chemical accident that caused Norman’s insanity and turned him into the Green Goblin also gave him super-strength, which explains why he was able to go toe-totoe with Spider-Man so many times. Norman’s super-strength is a plot point that would figure heavily in years to come.

coward.” Setting it in motion, Norman vows to himself, BACK IN ACTION “I’ll make a man out of Harry! Even if it kills him!”

Following the birth of their son Normie, Harry and The story offers a glimpse at what Norman was Liz receded into the background for a long stretch, like during a relatively calm period, when he had no but returned to prominence starting with Amazing memory of having been the Green Goblin and was Spider-Man #311 by David Michelinie and Todd ostensibly sane. “I think he was a bastard no matter McFarlane, Spectacular Spider-Man #146 by a what,” DeFalco says. “When he wasn’t returning Gerry Conway and Sal Buscema the Green Goblin, he was a ruthless (both Jan. 1989), and Web of Spider-Man businessman, and all he cared about was #47 (Feb. 1989) by Conway, Alex Saviuk, his company, his power, his money.” and Keith Williams. All three issues Norman’s plan involves hiring tied in with the supernaturalseveral gunmen to show up at Harry themed “Inferno” crossover storyand his friends’ regular hangout line that had launched out of the spot, the Coffee Bean, and menace X-Men titles. Harry, it is revealed, the customers when Harry is there, has been experiencing intense so that he can step up and prove nightmares involving his father. his courage. But it goes awry due to To make matters worse, he and his several unforeseen factors—one of family have been targeted by the which is Kraven the Hunter, who second Hobgoblin, Jason Philip tom defalco arrives intending to use Harry as Macendale, who demands that a pawn against Norman. Kraven is Harry turn over the formula that © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. seeking retribution for a previous gave Norman and the original business transaction between himself and Norman Hobgoblin their super-strength. Spider-Man that ended badly, as shown in Amazing #47 (Apr. 1967). intervenes, but Harry, now driven by desperation In the end, Harry fails to impress, even after a gun to the edge of his sanity, becomes fixated on the literally falls right at his feet, so his self-esteem takes thought that his father would never have allowed yet another hit—no doubt feeding into his later anyone to threaten his loved ones like this—so he psychological problems. can’t allow it either.

“I didn’t get to use Harry all that much,” DeFalco The story culminates in Amazing #312 (Feb. 1989), says. “But I always liked writing him.” in which Harry puts on the Green Goblin suit for the

No Secrets (left) Harry, who just lost his Green Goblin battle with Spider-Man, can’t keep his lip zipped at the end of Amazing #137. (right) From Amazing Spider-Man #263 (Apr. 1985), Harry and Liz Allan Osborn celebrate the birth of their son, Normie. This tranquil family moment didn’t last for long, however.

TM & © Marvel.

Legacy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

TM & © DC Comics/Warner Bros.

interview by

Michael Eury

transcribed by Rose Rummel-Eury

Legacy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 37

Christopher Reeve left behind some big boots to fill. Red ones, at that.

But ably stepping into them, in 2006’s Superman Returns, was actor Brandon Routh, who adroitly conjured the spirit of the Reeve Man of Steel while earmarking the character as his own in a blockbuster that should have warranted at least one sequel.

On Saturday, June 9, 2018, ye ed had the good fortune of interviewing the talented actor—known to audiences in television and film roles in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Chuck, and as Ray (the Atom) Palmer in Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, among many other credits— at the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois, where Brandon headlined as a special guest. While the topic was mainly his role in director Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, no one at the event—including Mr. Routh himself—knew at that time that just over a year later, he would return to the role of the Last Son of Krypton… albeit as the Superman of Earth-96, or the “Kingdom Come” Superman, in the CW’s December 2019 crossover miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths.

MICHAEL EURY: I’m Michael Eury, the editor of BACK ISSUE magazine, and it’s my honor to introduce to you today a talented actor with a diverse range of credits—but to this crowd, you’ll appreciate the fact that you’re about to get two, two, two superheroes in one. Brandon Routh, everyone! [applause] BRANDON ROUTH: Thank you, Michael.

EURY: This isn’t your first visit to Metropolis.

ROUTH: No, I was here in 2011.

EURY: You’re a native of the Midwest?

ROUTH: Yes, I’m from Norwark, Ohio. [crowd applause] I didn’t grow up on a farm, but a block away from a cornfield, which I ran through a lot as a kid. My town, growing up, was about the size of Metropolis, about 6,000 or 7,000 people.

EURY: Did you read comics?

ROUTH: I didn’t read comics. I didn’t have friends in that culture.

The one I collected was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but it wasn’t the cool Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it was the Archie Comics version. [audience applause] I grew up with football cards, stuff like that. I read a lot of fantasy novels, so my geekdom is in the fantasy world.

EURY: That makes you unique as a Superman, because most of the people who have donned the red cape on screen don’t have that background.

Yes, You May Call Me “Chief” Superman Returns star Brandon Routh and BACK ISSUE editor-in-chief Michael Eury, post-interview, Superman Celebration, Metropolis, Illinois, June 9, 2018. Do ya think ye ed could pass for Uncle Michael Kent?

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ROUTH: Because I was into fantasy novels and film, one movie my sister and I used to rent—endlessly—was Dark Crystal. [applause] If it was her choice it was Labyrinth, and if it was my choice, it was Dark Crystal. So that otherworldly nature was deeply imbedded in me.

My love of Superman began with the second film [Superman II, 1980], so I was definitely a fan of Superman, I just didn’t read the comics. Chris [Reeve] was, and is and will always be, my favorite. [audience whoops] EURY: How old were you when you first saw Superman II? ROUTH: Five or six when it came on television, when Superman II came out. I had Superman pajamas, which my mom still has, and a cape, and was jumping around and very excited about seeing the movie for the first time. I was so excited, I gave myself a migraine headache, so I was throwing up throughout the movie! [laughter] It was a very memorable experience.

EURY: You’re not one of those kids who put on the cape and tried to fly off the rooftop, were you?

ROUTH: No… the couch! [laughter] EURY: [pointing to woman backstage] Is that your mom? The lady who’s smiling so proudly?

ROUTH: That’s my mom! [applause] EURY: How did you get started in acting?

ROUTH: Professionally, after my freshman year at University of Iowa.

I was there as an English major and just kind of thought I might have a shot making money modeling locally in Des Moines, and doing some acting to make some money as a poor college student. That spun into going to New York to meet some managers and agents and I met someone there who wanted to manage me, so I moved to L.A. for three months and dropped out of college—which was challenging, because I loved school. Lived with some family who lived outside of L.A. —a great aunt and uncle, Uncle Dan and Aunt Sue—stayed with them and booked my first small gig and then got the bug! That was 1989.

EURY: What was your first role?

ROUTH: My first role was in a sitcom called Odd Man Out. I said five words, but it was a live studio audience. Most of my acting experience up to that point had been theater in high school and comedy. I loved hearing the audience feedback and the excitement and energy and thrill. That being my first paid gig after moving to L.A., I was hooked— hook, line, and sinker.

EURY: Being raised in the Midwest, did you find that gave you advantages or disadvantages when adapting to the environments of New York and L.A.?

ROUTH: Good and bad. My naiveté served as a positive and negative in certain instances. Not understanding certain social instances was good and bad at the time.

But we all work with what we have at the moment and in the end it worked out really well.

It certainly helped with Superman. Being from Iowa and having that certain sensibility—helped me to be who I am and gave me an energy that I carried with me.

EURY: Since most of these people are wearing a big red “S,” let’s cut right to Superman Returns. Walk us through the casting.

ROUTH: Casting was the hardest part for me. I had my first meeting about Superman through a television audition for a completely different project. I had impressed a producer who was a friend of the producer of the movie that was happening at the time.

He thought I looked a lot like Superman and should probably meet with him. They got me hooked up with the director at the time, so I sat down and met with McG. I later had a couple of auditions and screen tests along with a couple other candidates. That version of the movie didn’t end up happening for various reasons, and I was crushed watching four months of my life— dreaming about it—and then felt like it was taken away.

Then nothing happened for about a month and a half and I went back to my bartending job. Then, out of the blue, Bryan Singer and Mike Dougherty and Dan Harris came up with a script and pitched it to Warner Bros., and Warner Bros. loved it and that whole process started again. I met with them, they did casting auditions, screen tests, and then finally

got the role. From beginning to end, it was about a seven-month process. The whole film took ten months, so it was almost as long!

EURY: What about the physical training?

ROUTH: Once I got the role, I was in training for about four months before the movie started and all the way through the filming.

EURY: What was your workout regimen?

ROUTH: The first part was just getting my body ready to train heavily because I had never really trained.

I was always in sports, playing soccer growing up, but never really lifted weights. So, my first two months was doing that and getting my diet in line. That was three or four hours a day. Wasn’t much lifting, just stretching and yoga, so I wouldn’t hurt myself when I started lifting. Then, I started lifting and that was a couple of hours a day.

EURY: What was the costume made of? Obviously it was different from Chris’ and the insignia was different.

ROUTH: I believe it was a combination of Spandex and Lyrca. It was similar to what Chris had—it was a double-layered thing. When it wasn’t on anybody, it was this big [gestures a small size, and audience laughs]. Basically, it was a big rubber band. The cape was bigger than the suit and I don’t remember what it was made of. But we had a hundred different suits.

Different suits for different activities and different ways of flying. I had to wear a harness underneath. There were different suits to adjust to different harnesses.

EURY: How was it inside the suit?

ROUTH: When there was no breeze, it was warm.

When the weather was warm, it was warm, and when the weather was cold, it was cold. There was only about a five-degree variance inside and out. It was probably about 68 degrees was comfortable.

The Metropolis Marvel Artist Simone Bianchi illustrated this stunning rendition of Routh as the Man of Steel for Warner Bros.’ advertising campaign for Superman Returns.

Courtesy of Heritage Comic Auctions (www.ha.com).

TM & © DC Comics/Warner Bros.

Legacy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

TM

If the Marvel Age of Comics commenced with Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961), then its second recurring character is Henry (Hank) Pym, who first appeared in Tales to Astonish #27 (Jan. 1962). Hank invented a shrinking potion by isolating subatomic particles, which were later dubbed “Pym particles.” Testing it, he soon found himself to be “The Man in the Ant Hill.” Apparently, sales were good and so Stan Lee brought Hank back as the shrinking superhero Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish #35 (Sept. 1962). Hank later adopted the alias of Giant-Man (Nov. 1963), then Goliath (May 1966), then Yellowjacket (Dec. 1968), whilst occasionally revisiting his Ant-Man identity.

ANT-MAN’S BACK IN TOWN!

by

Jarrod Buttery

The cover of Marvel Premiere #47 (Apr. 1979) advertises “The Astonishing Ant-Man” but also asks: “Is this the real Ant-Man or an imposter?” Writer David Michelinie explained in BACK ISSUE #71 (Apr. 2014) that he had always had affection for shrinking heroes, and when he realized Ant-Man was not being used by Marvel (because Hank Pym was now Yellowjacket), he jumped at the chance to come up with a new Ant-Man—completely different to Pym. Michelinie kindly speaks with BI once again: “As far as I can recall, Ant-Man hadn’t been around for some time and no one seemed interested in using him. So that gave me pretty much a free rein on re-imagining the character with a brand-new civilian identity, personality, background, and supporting cast. It just seemed like a fun thing to do without a ton of history to bog things down, while still maintaining awareness and respect for that history.”

Marvel Premiere #47 opens in medias res with Ant-Man fighting armed goons. The introductory text box heralding the beginning—and possibly end—of a brand-new superhero career, suggesting that this Ant-Man is not Hank Pym. This is reinforced when our hero immediately expresses concern for the life of his daughter. [Hank Pym (at this point in time) has no daughter (that we know of).]

After a brief battle, a flashback informs us that this new Ant-Man is electronics genius and ex-burglar Scott Lang.

We meet Scott as he is released from prison and reunited with his nine-year-old daughter, Cassie. Scott stays on the straight and narrow, with a job at Stark International, but his world is turned upside-down when Cassie is diagnosed with an inoperable heart condition. Cassie’s only hope lies with heart surgeon Dr. Erica Sondheim. Scott traces Sondheim but finds she is being detained at Cross Technological Enterprises (CTE). Reckoning that he’ll need money to force his way inside, Scott returns to burglary. However, when he breaks in to an upmarket brownstone, he finds the Ant-Man costume and equipment and realizes he’s in Hank Pym’s house! Scott “borrows” the costume, figuring he can now sneak into CTE. Doing so, Scott discovers that Dr. Sondheim is held captive by the enormously muscled Darren Cross—CEO of CTE. Himself suffering a heart problem some months ago, Cross underwent insertion of an experimental nucle-organic pacemaker. The device boosted his heartrate, but also his metabolism and musculature—so much so that he now needs regular heart transplants (from unwilling donors) to

Big Shot Scott Lang, as the new Ant-Man, in his first starring role, Marvel Premiere #47 (Apr. 1979). Cover art

by Bob Layton.

TM & © Marvel.

Legacy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 45

Identity Theft (top left) Splash page to Marvel Premiere #47. By Micheline/Byrne/ Layton. (top right) Later in the story, Scott Lang makes an important discovery.

Special thanks to Jarrod Buttery for these scans. (inset) Martin Pasko (R.I.P., Marty) and Ant-Man writer David Michelinie at a DC Comicssponsored party, early 1980s. Photo by and courtesy of Bob Rozakis.

TM & © Marvel.

replace each worn-out heart.

Continuing into Marvel Premiere #48 (June 1979), our debuting protagonist must outwit Cross and rescue Sondheim, so that Sondheim can save Cassie’s life! Hank Pym observes most of the action from a distance and urges Scott to keep the costume, declaring, “The world can always use another hero!”

Previously, in BI #71, Michelinie stated that he came up with the idea of a reformed criminal for the new Ant-Man. Elaborating, Michelinie explains, “Yes, I came up with Scott’s backstory and personality myself. The only—and unintentional—input I received came from a lunchtime conversation between artist Bob Layton and myself. We were eating at a boisterous college-town restaurant with loud music and talk all around. I had finished telling Bob my ideas for the new Ant-Man and he wasn’t impressed. He thought the concept of a villain having a daily heart transplant, even with super-science involved, wasn’t believable. So, to lighten the mood, I joked that I was going to name the new civilian character ‘Scott Land,’ a pun on ‘Scotland.’ With all the noise Bob thought I had said ‘Scott Lang’ and offered that it was good idea since there was another

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Marvel character named ‘Lang’ and maybe I could tie in with that somehow.

So, being no fool, I said, ‘Uhhh, yeah! That’s exactly what I had in mind!’ And the name stuck.”

[Layton may have been referring to Steven Lang, who revived the Sentinels in Uncanny X-Men #98 (Apr. 1976), and who later merged his consciousness with the Master Mold in Incredible Hulk Annual #7 (Dec. 1978)—an issue which Layton inked.]

Regardless of the subtle name change, Scott is a Michelinie creation: “Scott Lang’s origin is simple: I originated and developed the character on my own, with no collaboration and no outside input other than editorial thumbs-up or thumbs-down. I don’t know how I can state it any simpler than that.”

Michelinie confirms that his idea was pitched to editor Roger Stern, who assigned John Byrne to pencils and Bob Layton to inks. Stern recalls, “When Marvel Premiere was added to my editorial duties, I started looking around for new material.

(I’d inherited a couple of projects already in the works. I believe that the Jack of Hearts story had been commissioned by Archie Goodwin. And the Man-Wolf two-parter had originally been plotted

It is an unwritten rule that superheroes exist in a perpetual state of the here and now. They seldom reflect specific events that would tie them down to any one era in time. These characters do not age and continue on in apparent defiance of the passage of time.

A legacy is something that is passed down to a person by a predecessor. For our purposes, that is a role—a costumed identity.

How can a legacy be established if these heroes do not grow older?

For some characters, they age gradually. This is how it is handled

by Marvel Comics. Peter Parker spent 20 years in college by our standards, and if Franklin Richards followed our calendar, he would be in his mid-50s today. For DC fans, this is handled by resetting the clock through various Crisis-level events. This way, Batman and his peers can stay a never-ending 30-ish, remaining fresh for battle for generations to come.

So, then, how can they have any type of a legacy? Was this not part of the explanation for the adoption of sidekicks, that someday they would grow up and assume their mentors’ jobs? Alas, the answer is no, as the Teen Titans can grow into the Titans, but never into the Justice League.

On the other hand, if one ignores the strictures imposed by Crisis on Infinite Earths, the beauty of a superhero legacy becomes apparent in the concepts created by Gardner Fox and Julius Schwartz in the story “Flash of Two Worlds” (Flash #123, 1961). In their desire to team up the Flashes of two clearly different realities, they opened the door to the multiple-Earth concept and a format where superheroes grew older. With the invention of Earth-Two, the Justice Society of America returned to continuity. As they were not part of the mainstream universe of Earth-One, possibilities for them emerged that could never be duplicated in the series of the “contemporary” heroes. Characters from Earth-Two could not only age, but face other forbidden problems, including death. At last there existed the possibility of a true heroic legacy, which began with the introduction of Power Girl.

A NEW GENERATION EVOLVES

In 1976, Gerry Conway revived All-Star Comics and the Justice Society.

As the average JSAer was in his 50s, Conway needed a few younger characters on the team to attract younger readers, which led to the addition of Robin, Star Spangled Kid, and Power Girl (see BACK ISSUE #33 and 71 for more details).

What is important here is that Power Girl was loosely connected to Superman. She was a modified version of Supergirl with no intention of assuming Superman’s role in the world (as proven by the lack of the S-shield on her costume). The idea of inheriting an older hero’s role emerged a few years later from Paul Levitz and Joe Staton (with a nudge from Bob Layton) with the appearance of the Huntress. This story was told in BACK ISSUE #38, but what needs to be acknowledged here is the unique nature of her conception. Huntress was Helena Wayne, daughter of Bruce (Batman) Wayne and Selina (Catwoman) Kyle. This was not an imaginary story like the tales of Batman II and Robin II recited by Alfred in the Silver Age—Batman and Catwoman had really wed and had a daughter. Also, as part of Huntress’ origin, Catwoman dies and Batman retires! Sacrilege? No, pure genius.

Batman is still active, single, and childless on Earth-One, but anything can happen on Earth-Two, as Levitz proved shortly thereafter when Bruce (Batman) Wayne was murdered! Now, we have a true tale of legacy, with Huntress carrying on as Gotham’s guardian for several years in the second feature in Wonder Woman.

The next stage in the JSA’s legacy arrived in Wonder Woman #300 (publication date February 1983). In a story designed to both celebrate Wonder Woman’s history and build a new direction for the character,

We’re the Young Generation Meet Infinity, Inc., on this spectacular Jerry Ordway cover for All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983).

TM & © DC Comics.

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TM

by

John Schwirian

Roy and Dann Thomas introduced Lyta Trevor, the daughter of Earth-Two’s Diana Prince and Steve Trevor.

Lyta is a teenager, training with her mother, but no indication of a superhero identity or even a hint of another appearance is given here. Thomas may have had no intention to develop the idea further at that time, but neither did he forget about it.

About the time that Wonder Woman #300 was at the printers, Roy and Dann Thomas were visiting New York City with the intention of proposing a new series called Time Titans to DC. “It had to do with mixing some DC heroes from various eras,” Thomas recalls, “like maybe the Viking Prince and different characters like that.

Maybe a cowboy character plus a couple of new characters—a different kind of group that went through time and so forth.” Before their meeting with DC, husband and wife did some sightseeing, including a trip to the Statue of Liberty. After the tour, as they waited for the ferry ride back to the city, they tossed about several story ideas.

Roy Thomas explains, “we started talking about the idea of the sons and daughters [of the JSA]. It might have been because we had already done Wonder Woman #300 where we roy thomas introduced the daughter of Wonder Woman, so maybe our minds were © Luigi Novi / on this because of that.” Just the Wikimedia Commons. skeleton of a pitch was developed on Liberty Island, but it was enough to get the go-ahead from executive editor Dick Giordano the next day.

The Thomases proceeded to put together a formal proposal that is reprinted in Alter Ego vol. 3 #44.

The core concept was to take the idea of the aging JSAers and continue the process started by Power Girl and Huntress, creating a new venue to showcase the modern characters of Earth-Two. The series would start with a ten or 12-issue origin saga with a big cast.

By tale’s end, some of the heirs would leave, get killed, or turn evil (or a villain turn good), with the remaining cast finalizing the membership. As stated in the proposal: “The whole idea is to get a ‘new generation’ of heroes to take over from the old.”

In addition to Power Girl and Huntress, the initial lineup was to include: Nuklon, the adopted son of Al (Atom) Pratt; Harlequin and Jade/Jayd, the twin children of Alan (Green Lantern) Scott and Molly (Harlequin) Mayne; Fury, daughter of Diana (Wonder Woman) Prince and Steve Trevor; Bobcat, Ted (Wildcat) Grant’s daughter; Blue Dolphin, Aquaman’s daughter; Shockwave, heir of Johnny Thunder; Silver Streak, a speedster; and

World’s Finest Legacy (top) Earth-Two characters Power Girl (Superman’s cousin) and the Huntress (Batman and Catwoman’s daughter) paved the way for the Infinitors. Power Girl illo

by Joe Staton and Joe Orlando, Huntress

by Staton and Bob Layton. (bottom) Roy Thomas introduces Lyta Trevor, in Wonder Woman #300 (Feb. 1983). Art by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano.

TM & © DC Comics.

Legacy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 53

Northwind, Carter (Hawkman) Hall’s heir apparent. Also appearing would be Sandy, Robin, Speedy, Star Spangled Kid, and maybe Blackwing (from the Huntress series in Wonder Woman #297–299).

Several names were batted around, including the Centurions, New Centurions, Centurions of Justice, Champions of Justice, Young Champions, Young J.U.S.T.I.C.E., and (jokingly) Junior Justice Society.

Artist Jerry Ordway remembers suggesting New Centurions, as “one of my fanzine characters was a group named the New Centurions, which I changed when I realized that there was a book by Joseph Wambaugh called The New Centurions.”

Thomas settled on The Centurions, which “had a military sound, or at least an action sound to it, like Avengers,” he explains.

“I didn’t like passive names like Defenders. I liked names like Invaders or Avengers.” However, a problem arose as animation studio RubySpears had copyrighted the name The Centurions for a series they had in production (and later hit the airwaves in 1986). So the team was renamed Infinity, Incorporated (or Inc. for short).

Roy Thomas laments that he “was never that wild about ‘Infinity, Incorporated.’ Dann had just invented the name and I certainly hadn’t come up with anything better, and DC seemed to like it.” Roy may not have been wild about the name, but fans, like Geoff Johns, felt different. “I loved the idea of infinity,” Johns tells BACK ISSUE, “like it is going to go on forever with these legacies and costumes—some were sons or daughters, but others were inspired to pick up the mantle.”

What’s in a Name? (top) “Centurions” was denied as the title for the new-gen heroes’ book due to a TV cartoon of the same title—which came full circle to DC in 1987 as a licensed comic.

Shown is a DC house ad for its Centurions book. (bottom) This slightly different version of Infinity, Inc. was teased in this two-page spread appearing in All-Star Squadron #28. Art by Mike Machlan and Jerry Ordway.

Centurians © 1987 Ruby-Spears Entertainment. Infinity, Inc. TM & © DC Comics.

54 • BACK ISSUE • Legacy Issue

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

With the series green-lighted, artists Mike Machlan and Jerry Ordway were brought in to develop visuals. The first step was to make sketches of the characters listed in the proposal, but alternate ideas were explored as well. According to Ordway, “Mike did most of the drawings because he was originally supposed to pencil the book and I wound up just basically art-directing it with him. The design of the characters, I’d say, was 70% Mike and 30% me. We would get together on Fridays, go to the comic store, and then afterwards we would go to a local bar and sit and sketch out ideas on napkins.

Then I would later do the color designs.” Roy Thomas had final say on the costumes and looks for the characters, which sometimes resulted in some strong discussions. “There were battles with costume colors because I thought of the characters as a group,” Ordway explains.

“If you have seven characters, you don’t want everyone to be red and yellow based or red and blue based.”

Nuklon (Albert Rothstein) is a perfect example of Machlan’s ideas.

“I don’t think I would have been bold enough to do a Mohawk,” Ordway chuckles, “even though it made sense as a play on the Atom’s costume when he had a fin on his helmet.” Thomas also toyed with calling him Nuklar or Stonewall.

Green Lantern’s twins underwent several changes. Conceptually, Jade (Jennie-Lynn Hayden) took shape rather quickly, as her powers were based on her father’s, but her brother developed more slowly.

Harlequin was the first thought for the brother—a possibly gay, carefree, fun-loving guy with a bag full of tricks. However, Roy Thomas never warmed to him. “One of the things probably that turned me against Harlequin,” Thomas recalls, “is that I wanted the heroes to have real superpowers. Having someone who is mainly a trickster didn’t appeal to me.” Another strike against Harlequin was the identity of his mother. “I know Mike drew a sketch of a male Harlequin that I think predated Obsidian,” Ordway adds, “and maybe he would have been Jade’s brother, but that was too much of an early tell as Roy wanted to make their mother’s identity a mystery.”

Obsidian (Todd Rice), as Jade’s brother, grew out of the idea of contrasting light and darkness. Machlan took a design for a possible Sandman and reworked it several times for Obsidian before hitting on the right look. Likewise, many names were considered, including Blackout, Umbra, Penumbra, Shadow Man, and Ebon, before settling on Obsidian. When not enshrouded in darkness, Todd Rice’s appearance is modeled after Tom Cruise and Jade after Rebecca DeMornay in Risky Business. Both characters are named after friends of Roy Thomas.

Jade’s design presented the biggest conflict of interests between writer and artists. “Jade was a kind of a fight because Roy wanted her to have long hair,” Ordway adds. “One of my and Mike’s things about Jade was that she was going to be green, so we did not want her to look like [Marvel’s] She-Hulk. So Mike and I agreed that Jade would be slim, with more of a dancer’s body, more lanky.

She-Hulk was big and had long, flowing hair. We wanted Jade to have short hair, more of a pageboy cut. That was a fight with Roy because he wanted more long, flowing hair, saying at one point that short hair wasn’t sexy. To appease Roy, when she first appears, her hair is short over the ears but long in the back and, as my ten issues of Infinity, Inc. progressed, I made her hair shorter and shorter.”

Fury (Lyta Trevor) initially was supposed to betray her teammates. “After all,” Thomas chuckles, “the old, original Furies of myth were pretty fierce creatures.”

At one point there was a

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family. by

Christopher Larochelle

A mysterious alien was launched to Earth from the far reaches of space. Upon arriving in Metropolis, Superman alone was left to fight this creature called Doomsday. The fight was fierce, and the outcome?

Both Superman and Doomsday were dead.

So… what happened next?

The follow-up to DC Comics’ 1992–1993 “Death of Superman” storyline was decided on when the creative teams of DC’s various Superman titles put their heads together under the editorial guidance of group editor Mike Carlin. Called “Reign of the Supermen,” the storyline wove through Action Comics (written by Roger Stern and penciled by Jackson “Butch” Guice), Superman (written and penciled

by Dan Jurgens), Superman: The Man of Steel (written

by Louise “Weezie” Simonson and penciled by Jon Bogdanove), and The Adventures of Superman (penciled by Tom Grummett, and the title that featured the only creative “change of guard” from the “Death” storyline as Jerry Ordway exited as writer with issue #500 while Karl Kesel stepped in). Each title featured a new character assuming the lead role in the series.

Things quickly changed from a “world without a Superman” to four different Supermen roaming around Metropolis, as the Kryptonian took the stage in Action Comics, Steel proved an appropriate fit for Man of Steel, Superboy starred in Adventures, and the Cyborg was the focus of Superman.

The “Death of Superman” issues sold incredibly well and succeeded in getting Superman a renewal of attention both with comics collectors and the general public. TV stations covered crowds that were lining up to buy copies of Superman #75, in which the titular hero collapses in front of the Daily Planet building. “There was a lot riding on the sequels,” recalls Louise Simonson. “Because the ‘Death of Superman’ had been so successful, we all felt a duty not to let our readers down, and to make the stories as good and as interesting as possible.

We all wanted to create a really good story that paid off on the death.”

Referring to the famous “Super Summits” that Mike Carlin used to keep four titles focusing on a single hero in sync with each other, Dan Jurgens reports that “each team or writer would start to come up with different ideas for what we wanted to do, and when we had made the decision to kill Superman, we did not know how we were going to bring him back. When we were going to bring him back, we had a vague idea that it would involve issue #500 of Adventures. As the ‘Death of Superman’ turned into a bigger and bigger thing, we knew that we needed a

Four Who Follow Limited edition Reign of the Supermen print (#165/500) illustrated and signed by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding, produced in 1997 and sold exclusively through Warner Bros. Studio Stores (gone but not forgotten!).

Scan courtesy of Heritage Comic Auctions (www.ha.com).

TM & © DC Comics.

Legacy Issue • BACK ISSUE • 63

Summit of Solitude (top) The fateful Superman #75. (middle) Superman group editor Mike Carlin, circa early 1990s, at a Superman Summit, where creators gathered to chart storylines for the interlocking Superman titles. Courtesy of Mike Carlin/ Facebook. (bottom) A young Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s 1933 sci-fi zine collaboration featuring a character that would evolve into the Man of Steel. Courtesy of Heritage.

Superman TM & © DC Comics.

Reign of the Super-Man © Siegel and Shuster estates.

64 • BACK ISSUE • Legacy Issue

really good solution. We would all send in some ideas and nothing was really clicking. Everyone brought in some pieces of ideas that sounded good, but we couldn’t put it together. It was Weezie who said, ‘It’s just too bad we couldn’t all do our own thing.

Too bad we couldn’t do all four ideas.’ We started talking about that a little bit… and all of a sudden, it started to come together! It started with this idea of not having the perfect solution to bring back Superman that ultimately ended up, by taking those four different routes, being the perfect solution.”

Editor Mike Carlin knew that it was important to keep the momentum going after the massive success of the “Death of Superman.” Speaking to Jermaine Mclaughlin with syfy.com in an article titled An Oral History of the Original Death and Return of Superman, 25 Years Later (published August 10, 2018), Carlin said, “We did have an ‘Emergency Super Summit’ when we saw just how huge the sales figures were going to be [for Superman #75]… and we knew we couldn’t just have Superman sit up in his coffin in Adventures #500 and say ‘I’m baaaaaaack!’ This meeting was away from IF in YOU ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW, the office in a hotel Tarrytown, New York, where we CLICK THE LINK TO ORDER THIS plotted ‘Reign of the Supermen.’”

ISSUE IN PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT! In order to work, the “Death of Superman” storyline required all four books to sync up perfectly with each other, telling a single story in lockstep, serialized on a weekly basis. The idea with “Reign” was that a very different approach would be taken for a few months, with each book able to have its own identity, as each featured a completely different character taking over as protagonist. “For a little while, the teams would all get to kind of do their own thing after years of forced collaboration—at least for a few months,” said Carlin. “Louise and Jon did their ‘everyman as Superman.’ Roger and Jackson explored the Kryptonian side of Superman.

Karl and Tom got to do the adventures of Superman when he was a boy. And Dan got to do the allpowerful superhero who needed no civilian life. #126‘Reign of The storyline would run BACK under ISSUE the banner “Legacy” issue! Wally West Flash, BRANDON ROUTH Suthe Supermen,’perman which itself was an homage toLang/ the interview, Harry Osborn/Green Goblin, Scott Ant-Man,by Infinity Inc., Reign of the Supermen, JOHN ROMITA original short story Siegel and Schuster entitled SR. and JR. “Rough Stuff,” plus CONWAY, FRACTION, JUR‘Reign of the Super-man,’ theMICHELINIE, pair’s first published GENS, MESSNER-LOEBS, ORDWAY, SLOTT, ROY THOMAS, MARK WAID, and more. WIERINGO/MARZAN work with a character named Superman, predating JR. cover! the debut of the caped version in Action Comics #1 by about five years.” (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 In order to preserve the fallout of the “Death of https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=133&products_id=1559 Superman” while ramping up the excitement for “Return,” there were a few business-related items that needed some attention. Again speaking with syfy.com in 2018, Mike Carlin reported that “we called [DC executive] Paul Levitz and the marketing guys to tell them our grand scheme: four titles all published the same day spotlighting a NEW Superman who might be the real deal… or not. They loved the idea, but with the solicitation cycle we would be telling people Superman was returning before they actually bought Superman #75! So everyone decided we would stop publishing Superman comics for three months, which was unheard of since 1938!! I was relieved that would give us three extra months to get those first four issues done… and then I wasn’t relieved because I had to publish SOME kind of Super-stuff in those three months. We did stuff like a Lex Luthor/Supergirl miniseries, and an actual issue of Newstime Magazine (the DC Universe’s version of Time Magazine). This marketing maneuver really was smart—it preserved our story’s surprises and added to the illusion that Superman was really gone forever!” It was decided, then… four titles, four Supermen.