Back Issue #132 by TwoMorrows Publishing

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WOLVERINE

’s First Solo Series

by CLAREMONT, MILLER, and RUBINSTEIN

Black Panther • The Falcon • FF vs. X-Men • Iceman • Machine Man Magik • The Punisher • X-Men vs. Avengers & 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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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.

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

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

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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.

HORRIFIC HEROES! With Bronze Age CREATOR-OWNED COMICS! Featuring histories of Man-Thing, the Demon, and in-depth histories of MATT WAGNER’s the Creeper, Atlas/Seaboard’s horrifying Mage and Grendel. Plus other indie heroes, and Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) sensations of the Bronze Age, including rides again! Featuring the work of CHRIS COLLEEN DORAN’s A Distant Soil, STAN CLAREMONT, GERRY CONWAY, ERNIE SAKAI’s Usagi Yojimbo, STEVE PURCELL’s COLON, MICHAEL GOLDEN, JACK KIRBY, Sam & Max, JAMES DEAN SMITH’s Boris MIKE PLOOG, JAVIER SALTARES, MARK the Bear, and LARRY WELZ’s Cherry TEXIERA, and more. Man-Thing cover by Poptart! With a fabulous Grendel cover by RUDY NEBRES. MATT WAGNER.

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“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!

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BRONZE AGE TV TIE-INS! TV-to-comic adaptations of the ’70s to ’90s, including Bionic Woman, Dark Shadows, Emergency, H. R. Pufnstuf, Hee Haw, Lost in Space (with BILL MUMY), Primus (with ROBERT BROWN), Sledge Hammer, Superboy, V, and others! Featuring BALD, BATES, CAMPITI, EVANIER, JOHN FRANCIS MOORE, SALICRUP, SAVIUK, SPARLING, STATON, WOLFMAN, and more! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

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TV TOON TIE-INS! Bronze Age HannaBRONZE AGE PROMOS, ADS, AND Barbera Comics, Underdog, Mighty Mouse, GIMMICKS! The aborted DC Super-Stars Rocky & Bullwinkle, Pink Panther, Battle of Society fan club, Hostess Comic Ads, DC the Planets, and Smokey Bear and Woodsy 16-page Preview Comics, rare Marvel Owl. Bonus: SCOTT SHAW! digs up custom comics, DC Hotline, Popeye Captain Carrot’s roots! Featuring the work Career Comics, early variant covers, of BYRNE, COLON, ENGEL, EVANIER, and more. Featuring BARR, HERDLING, FIELDS, MICHAEL GALLAGHER, WIN LEVITZ, MAGUIRE, MORGAN, PACELLA, MORTIMER, NORRIS, SEVERIN, SKEATES, PALMIOTTI, SHAW!, TERRY STEWART, STATON, TALLARICO, TOTH, and more! THOMAS, WOLFMAN, and more! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99

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THE KIRBY LEGACY AT DC! Explores Jack Kirby’s post-Fourth World Bronze Age DC characters! Demon, Kamandi, OMAC, Sandman, and Kirby’s Odd Jobs (Atlas, Manhunter, and more). Plus: the SIMON & KIRBY Reunion That Wasn’t! Featuring BISSETTE, BYRNE, CONWAY, GIBBONS, GOLDEN, GRANT, RUCKA, SEMEIKS, THOMAS, TIMM, WAGNER, and more. Demon cover by KIRBY and MIKE ROYER! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

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Volume 1, Number 132 December 2021 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Josef Rubinstein (a recreation of the Frank Miller/Rubinstein cover for Wolverine #1, Sept. 1982) COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore

PROOFREADER David Baldy SPECIAL THANKS Lee Benaka Alex Jay Jon Bogdanove Terry Kavanagh Eliot R. Brown Todd Klein Michael Browning Christopher Larochelle Bob Budiansky Alan Light Jarrod Buttery Franck Martini Dewey Cassell Al Milgrom Chris Claremont Frank Miller Tom DeFalco Ian Millsted J. M. DeMatteis Paul Neary Bill DeSimone Fabian Nicieza Bobby Drake Ann Nocenti Chris Eliopolous Luigi Novi John Figueroa Tom Orzechowski Danny Fingeroth Patrick A. Reed Beth Fleisher Josef Rubinstein Stephan Friedt Rose Rummel-Eury Kahlil Gearon Louise Simonson Grand Comics Jerry Smith Database Tom Speelman Steven Grant Roger Stern Larry Hama David F. Walker Heritage Comics Ron Wilson Auctions Doug Zawisza Don Hudson Mike Zeck Chris Ivy

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BACKSEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FLASHBACK: Wolverine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The seminal 1982 four-issue classic by Claremont, Miller, and Rubinstein FLASHBACK: The Falcon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Captain America’s feathered friend flies solo FLASHBACK: Magik—Storm and Illyana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Between the panels of X-Men and Magik, big changes for Colossus’ sis FLASHBACK: Machine Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 DeFalco, Trimpe, and Windsor-Smith study humanity through robots FLASHBACK: Kitty Pryde and Wolverine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Claremont and Milgrom take Marvel’s readers to Japan FLASHBACK: Iceman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 The coolest X-Man leaves his amazing friends for a solo series INTERVIEW: Steven Grant on The Punisher: Circle of Blood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 A candid conversation with the writer who revolutionized the Punisher INTERVIEWS: Worthy Opponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Claremont, Milgrom, and Stern discuss their respective Marvel “Versus” limited series BEYOND CAPES: Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Paul Neary, Tom DeFalco, and a paranoia-fueled limited series OFF MY CHEST: The Black Panther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Comics scribe David F. Walker analyzes T’Challa’s 1988 comeback PRO2PRO ROUNDTABLE: Wolfpack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Oral histories exploring the development of Ron Wilson’s hip-hop heroes FLASHBACK: X-Terminators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Jon Bogdanove takes BI readers behind the scenes of this mutant tie-in BACK TALK: Reader Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 IN MEMORIAM: David Anthony Kraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

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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 Josef Rubinstein, after Frank Miller. Wolverine © Marvel. Other characters © their respective companies. All Rights Reserved. All editorial matter © 2021 TwoMorrows and Michael Eury. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

Detail from cover of Black Panther #3 (Sept. 1988). Art by Denys Cowan and Sam DeLarosa. TM & © Marvel.

COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg

by M

It all started with Alex Haley. Author Haley’s celebrated 1976 book, Roots: The Saga of An American Family, generated tremendous public awareness of African-American heritage and the horrors of slavery, and ignited a wide-sweeping curiosity about genealogy that has blossomed in recent years. When Roots was adapted for television in January 1977, Haley’s epic was too complex, and its subject matter too vital, for condensation into a mere two-hour “Movie of the Week.” And thus was popularized the television miniseries, a multi-part but finite storyline of a predetermined length. In Roots’ case, it was a 12-hour adaptation, aired over eight consecutive evenings. Roots wasn’t the first American TV miniseries, as 1976’s multi-part Rich Man, Poor Man had done well the previous year. Nor was Rich Man, Poor Man the first miniseries produced for television, as the format dated back to a 1953 six-part BBC serial, The Quatermass Experiment. But Roots was an unprecedented ratings smash, attracting 130 million viewers a night, guaranteeing that more miniseries would follow. And follow they did, becoming special broadcasting events, with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars signing on for Nielsen-spiking, early-1980s miniseries such as Shogun, The Thorn Birds, and The Winds of War. But it was Roots and its exploration of a clan’s memoirs that brought the miniseries format to the world of comic books. “The story you demanded—the life of Superman’s father—Jor-El!” was told by author Paul Kupperberg and artists Howard Chaykin and Murphy Anderson in comics’ first miniseries, the three-issue World of Krypton, in 1979. As detailed in BACK ISSUE #62, World of Krypton #1–3 was originally intended to run as three issues of DC’s tryout title, Showcase, but its graduation to its own series opened the door for many other short-term concepts. And so, the miniseries (or mini-series, or, in Marvel-speak, the limited series) was born. The emergence of the direct-sales market and the comic shop allowed publishers to begin targeting fans—not simply produce material for a mass market—creating opportunities for characters such as the X-Men’s Wolverine and Captain America’s partner the Falcon to get a shot at solo stardom. Be they three issues or four, or five or six, or even more ambitious

ichael Eury

Roots author Alex Haley at a 1980 book signing at Texas Hall, University of Texas. (inset) Comics’ first miniseries, DC’s World of Krypton #1 (July 1979). Cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano. Photo: University of Texas. Superman TM & © DC Comics.

ones spanning eight or 12 issues, the miniseries—or maxiseries, in the case of the longer ones—became a Bronze Age mainstay. This issue we explore a handful of Marvel limited series, and before long, we’ll do the same with DC pre-Crisis miniseries, in BACK ISSUE #137. Before you hoot and holler, “Hey, where’s (insert the name of your favorite 1980s Marvel limited series here)?!”—several Marvel minis and maxis have been previously explored in these pages, specifically: • Cloak and Dagger: BI #45 • Contest of Champions: BI #41 • Elektra Assassin: BI #90 • Hawkeye: BI #56 • Hercules: Prince of Power: BI #53 • Longshot: BI #29 • Rocket Raccoon: BI #119 • Secret Wars and Secret Wars II: BI #82 • Squadron Supreme: BI #58 • Vision and the Scarlet Witch: BI #45 • West Coast Avengers: BI #56 From 1982’s first Wolverine solo series to 1988’s “Inferno” tie-in X-Terminators, there’s a ton of fun awaiting you this issue. Enjoy! One more thing: As I write this in June 2021, I’m honored to announce—in case you missed the news—that BI was nominated for a 2021 Eisner Award in the category “Best Comics-Related Periodical/ Journalism.” Also nominated was our big sister publication from TwoMorrows, Roy Thomas’ Alter Ego (congrats, Roy!). This was BI’s fourth nomination; the magazine won the category in 2019. While the recipient will be known by the time you read this, still, we’re giddy over the nom and deeply appreciative of BI’s talented contributors… as well as the readers and retailers that support our magazine.

2 • BACK ISSUE • 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue

by C h r i s t o p h e r

Larochelle

“I’m the best there is at what I do. But what I do best isn’t very nice.” The splash page that begins Wolverine #1 (Sept. 1982) sums it up nicely. With a closeup, detailed portrait of the scrappy X-Man, the essentials are all covered. Though the above line would soon become something of a mantra for the man sometimes known as Logan, this opening page of his first solo miniseries is the first time it had ever hit the printed page. By 1982, Chris Claremont had been steering the ship of the Uncanny X-Men for a number of years and well over 50 regular issues. What had once been a modest bimonthly book (resuscitated after years spent solely reprinting earlier stories) had become a true sales juggernaut for Marvel. With mutants selling so well, there was logically a chance to expand. When the opportunity to send one of the book’s most popular characters out into the uncharted territory of a limited series came up, of course Chris wanted to seize it. “[X-Men editor] Louise [nee Jones] Simonson and I were kicking around ideas,” says Claremont. “What would be the one thing that would work, that readers would consider unexpected? What would be the one character that we were not exploring in the main series? And what could we do that would present the reader with significant surprises that would also have an impact on the main series? As a counterpoint, Storm was in the process of going through some major moments in Uncanny at that time.” Claremont knew something he just hadn’t been able to get to yet in the pages of the regular comic: “I wanted to explore an aspect of Logan that no one had really thought of or acknowledged. There is more to him than just a brute with claws.” Working on Wolverine presented Claremont with something exciting: “I had the opportunity to work with Frank Miller. I had to see what I could present to him that he would consider fun and I would consider fun. Frank and I were stuck in a tailback on I-5 in San Diego, driving up to Mark Evanier’s house for a post– San Diego [Comic-Con] party, and I started pitching it. Frank’s attitude was, ‘I don’t want to do four issues of just punching and hitting,’ and I said, ‘Neither do I. We can do that anytime in the regular series.’ I wanted to go into his background, which involved the two of us synergizing our mutual interest in Japan—its culture, the challenges—because for me, Logan was always the conflict between the animal side of his nature and the human side of his nature. The point for me in terms of Logan is that he is in eternal conflict between the two sides of his nature. If you look at any room he’s staying in, or his room at the X-Mansion, half of it is a disaster: beer cans all over the place, and the other half is perfect. He’s caught between two different aspects of his soul and his personality.” Logan’s fight against a grizzly bear in the opening pages of the miniseries’

Welcome to My Comic, Bub Wolverine #1 (Sept. 1982), Logan’s first solo outing. Cover by Frank Miller and Joe Rubinstein. TM & © Marvel.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

Limitless Duo From “back in the day”: (left) Wolverine writer Chris Claremont and editor Louise Jones (Simonson) in the Marvel offices, 1980s. (right) Penciler Frank Miller, at the 1982 San Diego Comic-Con. Claremont and Jones photo © Marvel. Miller photo by and courtesy of Alan Light.

first issue seems to externalize the animal/man conflict Lord Shingen, had incurred. Logan’s blood boils. that is constantly boiling beneath the surface with him. He knows it is Noburu-Hideki, the new husband, who Another important person in the Wolverine creative is abusing her. Before long, he is in battle against team is Josef Rubinstein. Credited on all four issues as Shingen himself in an attempt to get down to the the finisher (as opposed to simply an inker), Rubinstein’s bottom of things. “The first time Logan faces Shingen, role in how the completed artwork in the limited series Shingen beats the living daylights out of him,” says Claremont. “Logan is trying to prove himself and yes, looked cannot be understated, even if it often has he is drugged, but Shingen is trying to prove to been in the past. “There’s this thing called Mariko that Logan is unworthy of her. He’s the Kirby Barrier,” says Rubinstein. “Can fighting with a bokan—a practice sword. you draw an entire comic book in seven No blood is shed; it’s all about humilidays like Jack Kirby did and still make ation.” Logan awakens on the streets it look good? Frank was still doing of Tokyo, but he is not alone. Another Daredevil at the time, and he decided mysterious woman has found him… that he would give himself the As Wolverine #2 (Oct. 1982) opens, challenge of drawing an issue of Logan and his new companion are Wolverine every week, but because of besieged by a number of Hand ninjas. that, he didn’t make them full pencils… Introductions are brief, but Logan quickly giving me a lot more room to do my comes to recognize the prowess thing. If you look at Daredevil and of Yukio. She is a capable fighter, a Wolverine, they look completely josef rubinstein dangerous woman, and one who different. Even though Dick Giordano soon throws Logan off guard. Yukio taught both of us (Daredevil inker Klaus gets close to Logan and his narration Janson and myself), Wolverine was just Gage Skidmore. left a lot more open for me to do. Because I had done takes over: “The chemistry is perfect. But I can’t— very little work with Frank at the time, I would call him won’t respond. My eyes see Yukio’s face… but my brain up constantly: ‘What do you want in panel three? What’s transforms the image into Mariko’s.” Symbolism once again enters the story as Chris that? Can I add a shadow? What does that mean?’” The Wolverine limited series sends the man known Claremont introduces Yukio. “The conflict with [Logan] as Logan far away from the rest of his teammates, is why on one hand, Mariko is the embodiment of journeying to Japan to reconnect with Mariko, the perfection for him and Yukio is the bad girl,” Claremont beautiful, mysterious woman he had met back in tells BACK ISSUE. “He’s drawn to them both. The Uncanny X-Men #118 (Feb. 1979). Logan’s mail to challenge, unfortunately, is they are both taking the Mariko has been returned, undelivered and unopened. place of who he really loves, which is Phoenix, or Jean. He knows something isn’t right and quickly boards a But she’s dead and he’s moving on. The thing with plane bound for Tokyo. After some frustrations, Mariko Mariko is he wants to be that ideal that will win her, is found, badly beaten. Since Logan last saw her, she ignoring the reality that he’s already done that—she has been married off to settle a debt that her father, is his and he is hers.”

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It doesn’t take long for readers to find out that there is more going on with Yukio—she is actually in the employ of Lord Shingen. Though she is upset at being put into real harm while out with Logan, Shingen knows that a real threat was necessary to gain Logan’s trust. He tells Yukio to carry out her next assignment of killing a rival of his named Katsuyori. After this, she should shift her attention to eliminating Logan. Since getting close to Katsuyori also means getting close to Noburu, Logan is all too willing to go along with Yukio’s latest mission. Wolverine #2 ends with Yukio succeeding against Katsuyori and Logan launching himself into a berkserker rage to defend Mariko from harm. The results horrify Mariko, doing absolutely nothing to make being with him instead of Noburu seem like a safe plan. Issue #3 of Wolverine (Nov. 1982) logically starts off with showing the ramifications of the previous issue’s events. Simply put, things are not going well. Logan has hit rock bottom here, getting into drunken bar fights as Yukio looks on. Here Logan has definitely run away from Mariko and finds some kind of refuge with “the bad girl.” The Hand ninjas once again catch up to the pair, and Logan is knocked out for a time. Upon waking, he mistakes Yukio for Mariko and the assassin is greatly angered. Before long, Yukio has completed another “hit” by killing Asano, who had been a trustworthy ally to Logan during his time in Tokyo. The companionship of Yukio and Logan, it seems, has come to an end. By the end of issue #3, Logan is seeing things much more clearly and he makes some resolutions in a powerful final page. “The key isn’t winning or losing. It’s making the attempt,” Logan’s narration expounds. “I may never be what I want to be—but how will I know unless I try? Sure, it’s scary, but what is the alternative? Stagnation—a safer, more terrible form of death. Not of the body, but of the spirit. An animal knows what it is, and accepts it. A man may know what he is—but he questions. He dreams. He strives. Changes. Grows. You took my dreams from me, Shingen. But only for a time. Because I’m a man, Shingen! Not a beast. A man! That mistake is going to cost you.”

This page continues the character arc that is central to the miniseries. What else was there to Wolverine that we didn’t already know? “That was me, in a way, addressing the audience—he’s more than what you think and more than a cliché,” says Chris Claremont. Accompanying Claremont’s text on this page is a panel that fills the majority of it, showing a wonderfully detailed portrait of the newly hopeful Logan. Josef Rubinstein has a story to share about this: “Frank and I were on the same airplane coming back from San Diego one year, and I had bought a bunch of Joe Kubert comics. While Jack Kirby is arguably the greatest comic artist who ever lived… it’s Kubert who really got my heart racing. So I said, ‘Hey, Frank, look what I bought,’ and I handed him this stack. He looked at it… and I really think that Frank was using Joe Kubert’s storytelling and page layout for [Wolverine]. If you look at issue #3, that shot of Wolverine with his head turned up… I was afraid of that head for a long time, and finally I just did it. And I thought, ‘Kubert,’ and I wailed away at it. When it was done, I called Frank and I said, ‘I think we did it on this Kubert head.’ I was thinking Kubert in a lot of that stuff.

Turning Japanese (left) Wolverine #1’s splash page. You’ve probably committed its caption to memory, haven’t you? (right) The love he can never forget, Mariko, lures Logan to Japan in #1. TM & © Marvel.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

Men of Honor Logan and Shingen in combat, from Wolverine #1. Original art signed by penciler Frank Miller, with finishes by Joe Rubinstein. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

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And then those layouts… three panels and then a big one… I think that Frank was, too.” Wolverine #4 (Dec. 1982) sees Logan completely consumed by his mission against Shingen. The Hand can’t deter him any longer. While Yukio gets tangled up with Shingen, Noburu tries to run away with Mariko. Logan appears within Shingen’s stronghold and Noburu feels threatened. He tries to warn Logan to back off and even holds a gun to his wife’s head. Noburu falls—three knives sticking out of his back, the signature weapons of the assassin whose story is intertwined with Logan’s. Yukio, for all her faults, saves Mariko in the end. Logan is thankful, but Yukio slips away after one last kiss. Following all of the twists and surprises in the plot that wove throughout the limited series, everything comes down to a tightly paced, climactic battle between Logan and Lord Shingen. Chris Claremont’s words step back as Frank Miller’s beautifully choreographed, horizontal panels take over the storytelling. The first battle between these two characters was fought with wooden bokan swords, but things are different here. “When we get to the end… that’s a blood fight,” says Claremont. “There are ways to hurt Logan, and ways to potentially kill him or reduce him to the point that he is functionally helpless. Shingen can hurt him to the point of being fatal. It’s a matter of choices. At this point, it’s not about Logan trying to prove himself; it’s about Logan trying to stop the villain. At the same time, it is not a pleasant battle. We were trying to present it graphically, within the context of the Comics Code. The irony there is because it’s a challenge, it’s up to the creators to come up with far more visually and textually subtle ways of demonstrating what’s happening. Now you can get away with anything—therefore, everybody can be lazy and do it. This way, the reader comes into the event and applies their imagination to fill in the blanks and becomes part of the story as it’s being told. For me, as a creator, that’s a far more effective and eloquent way of telling the story.” Powerfully, the panel featuring Shingen’s death doesn’t even show the antagonist. Instead, the focus is on Logan as his eyes go red and a signature sound effect accompanies the image: SNIKT.

Logan Unleashed (top) Wolverine #2 (Oct. 1982). (bottom) His paws have claws. Epic berserker rage sequence from the second ish. TM & © Marvel.

WOLVERINE: THE MAKING OF

Chris Claremont’s approach as the writer of Wolverine shifted as the series progressed. “The plot for issue #1 was 22 pages for a 20-page story, because I was writing everything—not just simply what was happening, but scraps of dialogue,” says Claremont. “The character behind the event—the physical mise en scène. As we got further into the story, neither of us needed all that description. We both knew what we were doing and trying to evoke. All I had to do was to structure how the pieces fit together. By the time we got to issue #4, basically it was a 20-minute phone call, where Frank and I bounced ideas and structure back and forth. I wrote it up, which was two-thirds of a page of typing, sent it off, and that was it. When you have two creators who are totally in synergy like that, you don’t need to talk a lot. It’s all there, so you go with it. “The interesting aspect of [Miller’s] visual storytelling, is that knowing my rep, he would design the pages to leave lots of space for me to write. The joke of this was—I looked at the art and thought, ‘Oh, the symmetry of all this action here and all this blank space there, I don’t need to say anything—the art says it all.’ As the series evolved, I kept my mouth shut. There was no need to say anything in the crucial fights, especially the last fight, because the pictures were ‘worth the 1,000 words’ each. There was nothing for me to say.” The intersection of Frank Miller’s and Josef Rubinstein’s careers came well in advance of the 1982 release of Wolverine #1. “Frank would have me redraw little bits of anatomy on his jobs,” Rubinstein says. “I want to make it clear… I never drew a page, never drew a figure. I take no credit for his career, but I know anatomy. I would alter things for Frank. That’s why I inked the first cover for Daredevil that Frank drew [#158, May 1979], even though Klaus Janson inked the interior. Frank knew me, and I think he was worried about who would get his first cover, so he gave it to me. We were friendly, and I guess he liked my work. We were both down at the Marvel offices, and he said, ‘Hey, we’re doing this Wolverine miniseries… do you want to do it?’ And I go, ‘Yeah… okay’ [laughs]. Who knew it had 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 7

He’s the Best (top) Miller/ Rubinstein covers to issues #3 and 4. Note that all four Wolverine covers feature a dominant image of Logan and no background. (bottom) A Kubertesque Logan, from issue #3. TM & © Marvel.

legs? Who knew it was ‘historic’? You do it because you want to do it. You do the best you can because you want to be proud of the finished product and you want them to give you another job.” Even though Wolverine was a success (no matter how it is looked at), Josef Rubinstein wasn’t sure of how he felt about it for years afterward. “I didn’t care for what I did at all,” he reports. “I felt that what Klaus was doing on Daredevil was perfection. My stuff didn’t look a thing like it, so I felt like I was letting Frank down and myself. I was doing the best that I could, but I didn’t like it. So for 25 years, I had people saying, ‘Hey, I love Wolverine!’ and I was kind of like, ‘Yeah… thank you.’ Then one day, 25 years later… I had the nerve to look at it, and I thought, ‘Well, that’s not bad.’ I had gotten rid of my preconceptions of what it should have been and looked at it for what it was.” Working on Wolverine was an assignment that both Chris Claremont and Josef Rubinstein were happy to take part in. “If a sh*tty inker had done it, would the series still have been a hit?” asks Rubinstein. “Would they still love that it was Frank Miller, and that it was written by Chris? I don’t know. But I did contribute,” To Claremont, the ending of the story is key: “The point for Logan is… how will Mariko ever forgive him for killing her father? The surprise for him at the end is that she does. The punchline is the last page where Mariko says, ‘Come to the wedding.’ The X-Men are like, ‘Holy cow!’ That leads into the two-parter I did with Paul Smith [in Uncanny X-Men #172–173, Aug.–Sept. 1983]. The point in the story is not the event as ‘event,’ but the event as ‘character.’” The Wolverine limited series added layers to a mysterious X-Man, providing new story ideas to immediately fuel Claremont’s main series. The expansion of Logan’s character in this miniseries is certainly a joy not to be missed! The author would like to thank Rose Rummel-Eury for her transcription services, Beth Fleisher for arranging an interview with Chris Claremont, and Josef Rubinstein and Chris Claremont for their time and insights. CHRISTOPHER LAROCHELLE is a lifelong comics fan. As a teacher and a librarian, he gets to spend a lot of time talking about powerful storytelling with many people. The first of several articles he has contributed to BACK ISSUE was featured in #62.

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How would you react if I told you could get a complete comic-book story—89 pages worth—for $2.40? Sure, this BACK ISSUE is full of such tales, fine. I’ll give you that. What if I told you that story included two Avengers, a crimefighting bird, a Spider-Man foe, a Sentinel (yes, from the X-Men), some not-so-subtle hints about the title character being a mutant, and a guest appearance by President Ronald Reagan? Now that I know I have your attention, let’s get into the 1980s time capsule that is The Falcon limited series.

NO FANFARE

by D

oug Zawisza

The Falcon #1 (Nov. 1983) hit the stands with a seriously roughed-up-looking Sam Wilson in a battleworn version of his Falcon uniform, bracing himself against a stressed brick wall. The logo treatment is less than dynamic, however. Made to look like spray paint on the wall behind Falcon, the title The Falcon stood out on the stands due to its human simplicity, but blended in beautifully with the magnificent Paul Smith-drawn cover. For many fans of the highflying partner of Captain America, this single cover has become an iconic image evocative of Wilson’s toughness, invoking thoughts of the now-famous line from the cinematic version of Falcon’s crimefighting partner, “I can do this all day.” Written by Jim Owsley, penciled by Paul Smith, inked by Vince Colletta, lettered by Rick Parker, colored by Christie Scheele, and edited by Jim Shooter, The Falcon #1 gave Sam Wilson, along with his sidekick bird, Redwing, a chance to fly solo. Assistant editor of the Marvel Comics’ Conan titles, Jim Owsley pitched the idea to Marvel Comics’ editorin-chief Jim Shooter in mid-to-late summer 1981. Shooter liked what Owsley proposed and gave the story the green light. On his website, www.digitalpriest.com, Jim Owsley (now known as Christopher Priest), explains that the story of Sam Wilson in the pages of The Falcon #1 was sold as a one-shot, “…and [Jim] Shooter gave it to some new kid named Paul Smith. When the pencils came back, everybody in the office fell over themselves gawking at Smith’s pencils, but nobody read the story. So Smith got discovered but [Owsley] didn’t.” In the 1980s, a sold story did not, however, equal a published story. The Falcon (and other characters) had previously been able to enjoy solo adventures in the pages of Marvel Premiere. Unfortunately, Marvel Premiere had wrapped up in 1981. So the story was shopped around the Marvel offices a bit. From the text page at the back of The Falcon #1, Owsley relates the story’s flight pattern: “Enter Al Milgrom. This is about, oh, February of ’82 by now. He was working on a then-unknown project called Marvel Fanfare [check out BACK ISSUE #96 for much more about Marvel Fanfare]. Jim [Shooter] figured we could run the Falcon story in there! It’s well

Had Enough? Sam Wilson takes a licking and keeps on ticking on The Falcon #1’s (Nov. 1983) cover. Art by Paul Smith. TM & © Marvel.

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Flying Solo (left) Eye-catching interior splash from The Falcon #1 (Nov. 1983). Story by Jim Owsley, art by Paul Smith and Vince Colletta. (right) Owsley’s text page from issue #1, with a Falcon illo by Mark Bright. TM & © Marvel.

done! It’s neat stuff! Jim likes exclamation points!!! FALCON’S SECOND WIND He gave the job to Al! Al said he’d run it! Problem was, While Sam Wilson and Snap Wilson are two split civilian Al had an office full of well done, neat stuff!” personas for the Falcon, the narrative of series seemed So, The Falcon #1 languished a bit longer. ready to be split by stalled inertia and creative upheaval. In 1982, following the success of its first-ever Owsley had a strong self-contained story in The limited series, Contest of Champions, Marvel launched Falcon #1 that introduced Falcon’s friend on the police more limited series, with Wolverine and The Vision and force, Sgt. Francis Tork, a character Owsley (and later as the Scarlet Witch each following suit. Shooter was Christopher J. Priest) would revisit. Sam Wilson on a roll and was ready to give The Falcon the and Sergeant Tork are an odd couple, played all-clear to take flight. mostly for lighthearted interactions, but both Smith, however, had moved on. sincerely trusting the other. Tork more than As Owsley recounted, Smith got slightly resembled a cross between Chuck discovered. By the time his issue of Norris and Hill Street Blues’ Mick Belker The Falcon hit the stands in 1983, with a shotgun, an itchy trigger finger, Smith had already been published and a strong penchant for not caring in Marvel Fanfare #4 (Sept. 1982), about much else other than who was had completed his first stint on on Letterman on any given night. Doctor Strange, and had moved on The Falcon #1 showcases Sam to Uncanny X-Men, where his star Wilson’s job as a social worker, public continued to ascend. defender, and concerned citizen. Priest continued his recollections: Owsley splits the issue between Sam christopher priest “Shooter commissioned three more and the Falcon’s interest in helping (James owsley) Falcon stories, teamed Priest with a young gangster named Miguel some OTHER new guy named Mark Martinez get his act together and Gage Skidmore. (now M. D. or ‘Doc’) Bright, and the the trouble caused by construction two of them hammered out Priest’s first published magnate Daryl Kane and his US Government Housing work, the FALCON LIMITED SERIES. Again, to his Project high-rise. As Wilson puts it, “[The] knowledge, Priest is the first (1983) African-American workmanship is poor, your materials shoddy. In ten published writer in mainstream comics.” Furthermore, years your new buildings will be more slums.” The Falcon was the first limited series starring an The two tales congeal into an explosive finale, thanks African-American superhero. to a new armored character dubbed Nemesis. Over the

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course of the issue, Falcon stops Miguel from making a 1974), where Professor Charles Xavier mentions Falcon big mistake, represents him in court, challenges Kane’s has a “paranormal mind” due to his unique connection to Redwing, but defers the conversation to a later capabilities, and fights Nemesis twice. The Falcon day. The connection with Redwing turns the #1 sets the foundation for the series, giving tide in this issue, with the winged wonder’s us Sam’s place in the world, a glimpse into pinioned pal saving Sam’s bacon. the construction of Falcon’s supporting When Falcon returns to the city, cast, his professionalism as both he’s able to diffuse the riot, with Wilson and Falcon, and hints into his embers of misunderstanding, fear, broad network that spans beyond hatred, rage, and revenge still burning the pages of this limited series. brightly, Xeon declares the Legion will Following The Falcon #1, Paul just have to do things their way. Smith returns to draw one more The Falcon #3 opens with Sam image of Sam Wilson, bringing Wilson swooping through a blaze, trying to into Smith’s then-current gig drawing rescue citizens and shop owners who the X-Men and vice versa. The cover are consumed by their desire to save of The Falcon #2 depicts a Sentinel m. d. bright their shops and the goods in them. holding a limp Falcon by the scruff Among the owners is Mr. Brown, a of his costume, gazing past Falcon Self-portrait from a Milestone trading card. man who helps Sam Wilson turn the towards the reader, as if asking our © DC Comics. page on forgiveness for himself. The opinion on the seemingly lifeless hero. The interiors for The Falcon #2 mark the serial chaos is attributed to the Legion as readers learn Falcon storytelling debut of Mark Bright, who brings Mike has been fighting this calamity for 11 hours straight. Gustovich with him on inks. Bright (later credited in comic-book work as M. D. Bright or Doc Bright) and Gustovich bring a darker look to the series, with heavier shadows and more detail lines than Smith and Colletta, but the overall tone and appearance are mostly aligned with the series’ debut issue. Bright’s drawings fill in details, creases, and wrinkles that Smith’s open line work left to imagination, and coupled with the heavy inks from Gustovich, the art adds grit and shadow to the story just as it slides more into a street-level tale. The other change in the creative team as of the second issue is Owsley’s Conan editor Larry Hama joining the series in the editor’s chair. The story continues to expand Falcon’s world, reaching into the hero’s history and providing new groundwork for the remainder of the series. The Falcon is working with a reformed gang—the Legion—who want to properly announce their place as a neighborhood watch crew by having a solidarity march in their gang colors. Taking responsibility to get proper civic approval for the rally, Falcon leaves his check-in with Legion leader Xeon to attend a meeting with Sgt. Tork, where Falcon hopes to get the parade approved. Uncharacteristically walking the distance in costume, Falcon passes a construction site filled with rubble and trash. From within the site, Falcon is detected by a Sentinel (Sentinel A-7), declared a mutant, and attacked. The Sentinel subdues Falcon and takes him to an abandoned and forsaken headquarters in upstate New York, far away from the Harlem streets where the battle started and where the Legion are set to march, unaware that their rally was never communicated, let alone approved. The resulting miscommunication quickly boils into a full-fledged riot wherein a Legion member faces the all-too-familiar, tragic scenario for a young African-American man—that of shoot-first, ask questions later. A despondent Xeon places the tragedy on the absent Falcon’s shoulders. The Sentinel’s perception of Falcon being a mutant spins out of Captain America and the Falcon #174 (June

Walking Tall (inset) Sam’s in big trouble on Paul Smith’s cover to The Falcon #2 (Dec. 1983). (right) Penciler Mark Bright, inked by Mike Gustovich, ably takes control of the art in issue #2. TM & © Marvel.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 11

Sam and Redwing Original cover art to The Falcon #3 (Jan. 1984), by artist Alan Kupperberg. Courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

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Lights Out for Electro Falc takes on another Marvel menace, in The Falcon #4 (Feb. 1984)—featuring a cameo by Captain America! By Owsley, Bright, and Gustovich. TM & © Marvel.

By issue’s end (and series’ finale), Sam Wilson returns to good graces as a hero, as a social worker, as the partner of Captain America, and as an ally of the residents of Harlem. Even the police chief declares Wilson a credit and an asset to the city. The Falcon limited series did a lot to improve Sam Wilson’s position in the Marvel Universe, but there was never any follow-up action taken. He didn’t join a team, he didn’t get a second miniseries, he didn’t even return to Captain America on a regular basis as the Falcon. A couple months later, in the pages of Captain America #290 it is revealed Wilson’s bid for a congressional seat was unsuccessful. Sgt. Tork would follow Owsley to the writer’s successful run on the Marvel Knights Black Panther series (Nov. 1998– Sept. 2003), which Owsley wrote as Christopher Priest. Falcon would make an occasional appearance there before writer and character would reunite in the 14-issue Captain America and the Falcon series (May 2004–June 2005). Falcon received another opportunity to fly solo shortly after a stint of serving as Captain America in a 2017 solo series largely made possible due to interest in the character following his silver-screen debut. Owsley and Bright reteamed as well, finishing out the Power Man and Iron Fist series from issue #114 (Feb. 1985) through the series’ finale in issue #125 (Sept. 1986). They also collaborated on some Green Lantern adventures in Action Comics Weekly and co-created Quantum and Woody for Acclaim Comics. The Falcon #1 was released at a point where Marvel Comics was really leaning into the miniseries concept under the banner of “limited series.” When this issue hit the stands, it joined works already in progress such as Hawkeye #3 and Cloak and Dagger #2. Many more would follow, some of which are covered in this very BACK ISSUE. Worth noting, however, is that The Falcon had wrapped publication by the time Marvel tried a longer-form limited series—the 12-issue Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars. Why mention that here? Sam Wilson was a character Marvel was giving a strong push to, and Secret Wars was a merchandising maneuver. Mattel included the Falcon (minus Redwing) in the Secret Wars toy line, despite him not appearing in any issues of Secret Wars. Electro also made the toy line, albeit in a limited, foreign release. One wonders how big an impact this series had on those decisions. Three decades later, The Falcon still holds up as a powerful story of responsibility, redemption, representation, inclusion, and optimism. Amazingly, 40 years after Owsley pitched the initial story, those messages are just as impactful and perhaps needed even more. DOUG ZAWISZA has written a few articles for BACK ISSUE, and also about other highflying heroes in the Hawkman Companion, currently available from TwoMorrows. He makes his roost in Michigan with his wife and kids.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 13

Colorist Stephen Mellor replaces Christie Scheele in this issue and brings all of the reds, oranges, and yellows a blaze demands. Mellor also uses more atmospheric blues over the foreground and background characters, drawing attention to the tale’s central cast, while amping up the emotions in the story through four-color saturation. Sam Wilson’s Snap persona had been put to rest in the pages of Captain America #276–278 (Dec. 1982–Feb. 1983) in a backup trilogy written by J. M. DeMatteis and drawn by Mike Zeck. DeMatteis brought Wilson to grips with his Snap persona, and helped Sam settle the effects of his past, clearing Wilson to run for a House of Representatives post. That congressional campaign doesn’t come up in the pages of The Falcon, save for a brief mention in the “Crib Notes” text piece of The Falcon #3, where it declares this limited series occurs before his campaign. During the fevered pitch of the city’s strife, Tork challenges Wilson that Sam might not have ever forgiven himself for Snap’s misdeeds. Feeling responsible for the flood of trouble caused by the Legion, Falcon is in a spot where he needs to forgive himself to be able to move forward. Add to the mix a paranoid supervillain about to step out of the shadows just as the Legion springs their diabolical trap on the President of the United States. Touring Harlem on a “fact-finding mission,” President Ronald Reagan has no idea what he is headed into, and his Secret Service team never sees trouble coming. Naturally, Falcon arrives on the scene, which is just enough to trigger Electro into attacking the hero he has presumed is tailing him, refusing to let Max Dillon live his life. The bolt-faced baddie gets the drop on Falcon just as Falcon extends an olive branch to the Legion, ending The Falcon #3 in a subdued cliffhanger of coincidences. Further, Captain America shows up to lend his partner a hand. The conclusion of The Falcon #3 underscores Bright’s relative newness, as the issue wraps with every scene’s conclusion falling just short of being dynamic in a page that has five action-packed panels, all demanding more real estate than they were given. The Falcon #4 has its work cut out for it: resolve the kidnapping of President Reagan, close out the battle between Falcon and Electro, get Captain America involved, have the Legion find an agreeable end to their demands, and get Sgt. Tork a beer. Oh, yeah, there’s also a skydiver named Rachel who appeared in The Falcon #2, showed up in #3, and might be a potential romantic interest for Sam. The final issue of this limited series opens with Electro attacking the Legion to claim their hostage as his own hostage. All interested parties converge on the president’s location, with Tork and Captain America providing comic-book buddy-cop action and laughs, Electro displaying how far gone he truly is, and the Legion refusing to believe Falcon didn’t set them up in the previous issue. Electro gets the drop on Cap, taking out the Star-Spangled ShieldSlinger quickly. Left to tackle the electrifying fiend by himself, Falcon uses his brain to beat Spider-Man’s frequent foe. Falcon closes out the issue without his flight, and readers learn Black Panther constructed the wings for Wilson, just in case they had missed that exchange back in pages of Captain America and the Falcon #171 (Mar. 1974). Once Electro is neutralized, with Cap and Tork at his back, Falcon convinces Xeon to take advantage of the opportunity presented to him with President Ronald Reagan an arm’s length away and in a position to listen. Xeon follows Falcon’s lead and introduces his team to President Reagan, whose fact-finding mission is now remarkably rewarded, with the Gipper learning about the struggles Xeon and company endure just to get out of bed.

There is so much that can happen between the panels of a comic book, as Scott McCloud explained in Understanding Comics (1993). It’s doubtful that McCloud was talking about a seven-year gap that took place between three panels of an actionpacked scene. Yet, that is exactly the setup of Marvel’s Magik (Storm and Illyana) four-issue limited series (Dec. 1983–Apr. 1984).

THE ROOTS OF MAGIK

It all starts with Uncanny X-Men #160 (Aug. 1982), the second of two done-in-one issues where the X-Men face different forces of evil: Dracula, the Prince of Darkness in #159 (July 1982), and Belasco, the ruler of Limbo—a divergent version of Earth—in #160. In #160, the X-Men, having been stranded on arch-foe Magneto’s island, are captured in another realm by its demonic ruler, Belasco. Belasco’s sinister plans include Colossus’ seven-year-old sister, Illyana. Chris Claremont explains why to BACK ISSUE: “Illyana is the only character that starts out as an innocent, but who also has a blood connection to the team, i.e., she’s Colossus’ little sister, which means he’ll do anything to save her. The last thing we’d done just prior to this was [show] Illyana being unable to sleep and Kitty telling Illyana her fairytale [the classic Uncanny X-Men #153, Jan. 1981]. ‘Oh, isn’t this fun; isn’t this wonderful?’ Bear in mind they are on this island of evil, and then things start going wrong, big time. Everything has consequences and they are unknown.” In this alternate Earth, some members of the X-Men have been killed (Wolverine, Colossus) and some have evolved into different directions (a twisted version of Nightcrawler, an older Storm). Belasco has captured chris claremont Illyana to promise her a “glorious destiny.” The X-Men, helped by © Luigi Novi / the older Storm, manage to escape, Wikimedia Commons. but at the last minute, Belasco grabs Illyana from Colossus’ arms. Kitty tries to get her back and succeeds—but between those three panels, Illyana has turned into a 13-year-old girl. What happened there? Why is she wearing a medallion with a pentagram with three red gems? It will take a little more than a year to find out…

TEAMING UP WITH BIG JOHN

The Magik limited series was the second X-Menrelated miniseries, following 1982’s four-issue Claremont-Miller Wolverine. Chris Claremont wrote all four Magik issues. The first two issues were drawn by John Buscema, issue #3 by Ron Frenz, and issue #4 by Sal Buscema. Tom Palmer inked all four issues, giving a visual continuity to the book like he would in the 1990s with The Avengers.

Everybody Do the Limbo! Belasco raises hell on the cover of Magik #1 (Dec. 1983). Cover pencils by John Buscema, inks by Tom Palmer. TM & © Marvel.

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by F

ranck Martini

Claremont was fond of John Buscema’s Magik superhero stories—mostly Conan-related material— work and wishes he could have done the full limited and it would take a couple of years before he would series: “One would have to be a fool not to want return to the regular Marvel Universe in Avengers. to work with John Buscema,” the writer tells BACK Claremont and Buscema would work together ISSUE. “He was one of the very best. He could give again in 1988 on Marvel Comics Presents and the you a finished book, layouts, if he was dueling first 14 issues of the Wolverine ongoing series. his brother Sal, they could easily do a book a day and relax the rest of the POWER, CORRUPTION, week. John, in terms of full pencils… AND LIES you have no idea how good these In issue #1, we find out that Belasco’s people were! John and Jack Kirby plan is to corrupt Illyana’s soul to could lay out the entire Marvel line. try and conquer the “Earth-616” Yeah, other artists could come in to realm. He uses a pentagram locket finish it, but the storytelling was all that can contain five pieces of there. The reality is, nobody today is a person’s soul. Once completed even close.” with all five segments of a corrupted Claremont also implies that the soul, Belasco and his demons will series was written in order to play on be able to cross over dimensions Buscema’s tastes and strengths: “For and attack. john buscema me, the chance to work with John? We also find out that the cast of ‘Holy cow! I’m in the big leagues!’ that world’s twisted X-Men had not But how can I find a way to make him interested to do fully been revealed, and that a more feral version of something new to him and by extension, how to make Kitty Pryde called Cat was also there. the audience interested? So, that’s what I tried to do. Each issue presents the continuing corruption The problem is, deadlines get thrown in and John got of Illyana’s soul, but also her development and pulled in to another emergency, so we had to get a growth. Issue #1 (Dec. 1983) showcases her fill-in with someone else. Even back then, we had to apprenticeship as a sorceress with Storm. Issue #2 deal with publishing necessity.” is focused on the years she spent with Cat, and These two issues were penciled during a five-year how she became more of a fighter. Then, in issue period when John Buscema was illustrating non- #3, Illyana is captured by Belasco and turned into

They Grow Up So Fast… Illyana’s startling transformation, from Magik #1. By Claremont, J. Buscema, and Palmer. TM & © Marvel.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15

On Her Own (top) Illyana faces the limbo Nightcrawler on the cover of Magik #2 (Jan. 1984). Cover art by Ron Frenz and Tom Palmer. (bottom) The baby sis of Colossus is led astray at the conclusion of issue #2. TM & © Marvel.

a demonic arts apprentice. Finally, issue #4 sees the final steps of her development and how she manages to escape Belasco’s realm. Each issue is filled with moments of sorrow and sacrifice, and the Illyana that rejoins the X-Men is definitely a different person than she was “three panels ago.” Part of her powers are mutant abilities that developed in issue #3, and she also has powers tied to the magic and demonic arts that she learned both from Storm and Belasco. The question that the limited series does not really answer is: Who really won this conflict? Was it Illyana, or was it Belasco? Chris Claremont shares his views: “The person who went into that grinder is a kid, and what comes out is a demon in human form. The thing about my Illyana… she is everything Belasco wanted her to be and more, except that—this is the story that Bill Sienkiewicz and I were playing with in 2020’s New Mutants Special—she is evil. She is incurably evil, except there’s a part of her still fighting—desperately—to be the Illyana that’s worthy of her friends in the New Mutants and Kitty and everybody else.” Magik proposes a very interesting What If?-like take on established characters since, in Belasco’s realm, the cast we meet is based on a totally different situation. “Illyana went in there with a team of X-Men, and they didn’t get out,” Claremont explains. “We’ve already established there is a multiverse. Obviously, something happened. If we’d had another three or four pages, maybe we’d found some more bodies of X-Men in there.” A lot of the tension felt in Magik relies on the hope one can have in the redemption of the characters: “The Storm in that story,” says Claremont, “unlike the Storm on 616, emphasized the magic in her soul, rather than the superpower in her soul—the ‘mutancy’ in her soul. The Nightcrawler there was evil, and here he is good. That Nightcrawler obviously never went to church. Logan was just dead. It’s a nightmare place and unfortunately, Illyana got stuck there for half her life.”

IMPACT AND CONSEQUENCES

The first impact of the limited series is that now that she’s returned seven years older and with special powers, Illyana cannot go back to the Soviet Union, where her parents would not recognize or accept her. So it was logical that she would join a team for companionship. The X-Men, engaged in the Brood saga in outer space, would be presumed dead for a while. Meanwhile, Professor Xavier had created a new team of young superheroes—the New Mutants—an international roster that started in a dedicated graphic novel and continued in a regular series. Illyana joins in New Mutants #14 (Apr. 1984), which can be viewed as the direct sequel to Magik, since the first pages of the story follow directly the end of Magik #4. Claremont intended for her to join the New Mutants as he wrote Magik: “There was no way she was going in the X-Men. Kitty was a fluke. She arrived at the school when no one else was there and the X-Men was the only team in town. That’s why the first decision Xavier took as soon as he came back to himself, i.e., got his legs back thanks to the Shi’ar, was, ‘You’re 13, you go with the kids.’ Kitty’s attitude was, ‘No! I helped you save the universe—twice! I’m not on the kids’ team. I’m in the X-Men.’ Kitty’s reaction is, ‘Professor Xavier is a jerk’ [the famous Uncanny X-Men #168, Apr. 1983]. But Illyana’s reaction is, ‘Oh, for goodness sakes—grow up.’ A lot of ways, even though they’re the same age, she’s the older one, simply because of her experiences. It’s a toss-up, especially when the Kitty-Logan miniseries happens. They’ve both been through the wringer.” Illyana immediately plays an essential role in the team, and her presence and her good-evil dichotomy will be crucial in several subsequent stories in the classic Claremont-Sienkiewicz run, or later on during the “Inferno” 16 • BACK ISSUE • 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue

crossover. S’ym, one of Belasco’s main demonic creatures introduced in Uncanny X-Men #160, would play an important role in Magik and in New Mutants #14 and would also be central in the Inferno crossover. Is that enough to create a direct connection between Magik and Inferno beyond the obvious demonic connection? Not really for Chris Claremont, who recalls Inferno and similar crossovers with mixed feelings: “There are rarely direct connections. Backseat series like that didn’t exist when I did the miniseries. That was an invention later in the decade that part of me wishes was run over by a truck. Because the minute you do a series like Inferno, you have to stop dead for three issues. You have to set it up, get into it, deal with it, come out of it the other end. Back then, we were thinking in isolation, not in corporate terms. But in corporate terms, bosses were looking at this, thinking, ‘Oh, those numbers are good, let’s do it bigger. Let’s do it better.’ Over time, you have a situation where the year is built on setting up one mega-group crossover sliding out of that one into the next one and a lot of titles, especially lesser titles run the risk of losing their individuality and whatever makes them fun and interesting to the reader and it all becomes setup and execution.”

CORRUPTION OR REDEMPTION?

Magik is the groundwork of what Illyana will be as a character, a twisted soul that is always torn between her good and evil sides. Claremont further explains, “She is in perpetual conflict of good versus evil and has no idea of who’s going to win, because, as the story goes, she has no idea of which part of herself wants to win more than the other. For me as a dramaturgist, that’s great!” Our final question: “Was Magik a tale of redemption or corruption?”

For Claremont there is no need for a black-and white situation: “Why do they have to be either? On the surface, you could call it a redemption story, except the last page has Illyana standing there with doubts because she doesn’t know the ending. That’s why somewhere down the line in the New Mutants story I did with Rick Leonardi, she reverts to her demon-self and this is where she has the Baba Yaga fantasy [Uncanny X-Men #231, July 1988]. And the desperate thing… the aspect paradigm for New Mutants at this point, Magneto is holding onto her with all his strength to prevent her from going dark. The New Mutants are holding onto Magneto as their teacher with all their strength to prevent him from going dark. The problem is, who the hell is holding onto the New Mutants? It is telling the story from the perspective of adolescence where seeing the threat is easy, but seeing the resolution...? They don’t know how it’s going to end.”

The Choice Illyana is put to the test in Magik #3 (Feb. 1984). By Chris Claremont, Ron Frenz, and Tom Palmer. TM & © Marvel.

Magik may not be Claremont’s favorite tale (“That’s a story that could use a second draft”), but, like a lot of the 1980s miniseries, had major direct and indirect consequences on the characters they

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 17

Corruption or Redemption? (left) Bret Blevins and Tom Palmer’s startling Darkchild cover to Magik #4. (right) Brother Sal Buscema pencilled the limited series’ final issue. TM & © Marvel.

COLLECTED EDITIONS Magik has been reprinted in different collected editions: A premiere hardcover was released in 2008 with the four-issue limited series only, then a softcover edition including Uncanny X-Men #160 was published in 2013. Magik was also integrated into vol. 10 of the Uncanny X-Men Marvel Masterworks series, in the first New Mutants Epic Collection– Renewal, and in Uncanny X-Men Omnibus #3. It is also available digitally.

spotlighted and long-term ramifications. It is a story that raised the stakes for all involved characters, that also took an even more dramatic turn to the mutants’ mythos—a seven-year-old girl turned into a demon-looking creature—was certainly something that had not been done before, and it established Illyana as a dramatic and polarizing character. And this is what she still is, after almost 40 years of twisted and dark stories. In short, like a lot of Claremont stories, Magik made us care, because, as Chris Claremont concludes, “We don’t have superpowers, but we can face similar questions, similar answers. That’s the way I try to tell the stories.” Many thanks to Chris Claremont for his amazing insights, Beth Fleisher for setting up the interview, Christopher Larochelle for conducting the interview with Chris, and Rose Rummel-Eury for the transcription. FRANCK MARTINI discovered the Spider-Man daily strip and after that, “Nothing would ever be the same again.” When no one is watching, he is also a mild-mannered communications manager with a patient family and a cat named Krypto. He sometimes takes part in the Epic Marvel Podcast.

18 • BACK ISSUE • 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue

by B

ill DeSimone

“Machine Man Returns!” Marvel’s house zine Marvel Age #7 (Oct. 1983) teased an upcoming “All-New Limited Series” to be written by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Herb Trimpe. DeFalco previewed the series’ then-futuristic 2020 setting and his distinction between Marvel’s two main artificial men, Machine Man and Vision. With Trimpe’s character sketches of Machine Man and supporting cast, the article ended promising “on sale in September. We’ll be waiting.” Well, they didn’t say which September, and many months later, we were still waiting. In that time, Barry Windsor-Smith was added to the creative team. When Machine Man #1 (Oct. 1984) was published at last, the final product was an impressive piece of comics art. The series offered commentary on what it means to be a decent human being mixed in with superhero action, future speculation, and some humor.

THE HISTORY: KUBRICK, KIRBY, AND DITKO

In an eight-page article in BACK ISSUE #25, writer Allan Harvey did a phenomenal job breaking down the Machine Man story from conception through the 1984 limited series. The Machine Man character is not in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, but comes from writer-artist Jack Kirby’s 1976 Marvel adaptation of the movie. Kirby, with inker Mike Royer, started his version of the 2001 saga with a film adaptation in a tabloid-sized Marvel Treasury Special, followed by a Machine Man monthly series with plots similar to the film. After seven issues, an ongoing character is created, known sequentially as X-51, Aaron Stack, and Mister Machine. This 2001 series ended with #10 (Sept. 1977), and after a six-month break, restarted with a new name: Machine Man. This series, also by Kirby (with Royer), ran nine issues (the cover date of Kirby’s Machine Man #9 was Dec. 1978), and as Harvey described told “a single, ongoing story where MM tries to find his place in the world.” At this point, Kirby left Marvel for animation. Machine Man the character guest-starred in The Incredible Hulk #234–237. Written by Roger Stern and drawn by Sal Buscema, with inks by Jack Abel and Mike Esposito, this story wrapped up the Kirby saga and brought Machine Man into the then-current Marvel Universe proper. After the last Hulk story with Machine Man was published, the next month Machine Man #10 (Aug. 1979) started, written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by Steve Ditko. Wolfman made changes to the some of the details of the character, but also to the context. According to Harvey, “Whereas Kirby had always emphasized MM’s humanity, Wolfman tended to have him make speeches about how hard it is to be a machine in a world of men.” Wolfman left after five issues, and the new writer was Tom DeFalco. Ditko stayed as artist, to good effect, as both Harvey and DeFalco raved about the results. Allan Harvey: “…a rip-roaring revival of the Silver Age House of Ideas… for any fan of early Marvel comics,

Checking Under the Hood Machine Man #1 (Oct. 1984). Cover art by Barry Windsor-Smith. TM & © Marvel.

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Earlier in BI, DeFalco told Allan Harvey, “Herb Trimpe and I enjoyed working together… Herb and I kicked into story mode and we came up with the idea for Machine Man 2020. I wrote an outline that breaks the story into four issues.” Machine Man #1 (Oct. 1984), “He Lives Again!,” introduces society 36 years in the future, introduces most of the main players, and sets THE STORY: DeFALCO, HAMA, AND TRIMPE When Machine Man came back in 1984, the obvious thing to do up the conflict. We first see Machine Man as a box of trash parts being disposed of by an eliminator robot maintaining a storage facility. would have been to pick up right where the character ended We meet the Midnight Wreckers, the group of years earlier. Editor Larry Hama encouraged DeFalco to scavengers on one side of the larger societal conflict. find any other approach. DeFalco told Alex Grand and We also meet the big bad on the opposite side, Jim Thompson of the Comic Book Historians Online Sunset Bain, Madame Menace from the original Fanzine (Oct. 21, 2019) of his conversation with Hama: series. And one key character is teased through the “[Hama] said, ‘Well, is there a character you’d like first issue, to be revealed in the last panel: Jocasta, to do? And I said, ‘You know, I always felt bad that former Avenger but more importantly Machine Machine Man ended too soon. I’d like to do some Man’s love interest from the original series. Machine Man again. And he said, ‘Yeah, but we don’t Issue #2, “If This Be Sanctuary?!,” heightens the want to do the traditional Machine. We’ll want to do conflict between the Wreckers with Machine Man, something different. Something far out…’ I started work and Bain and her allies. As the Wreckers try to make coming up with ideas, and I approached Larry and I their way to Sanctuary, more players on the other said, ‘So this is what I’m thinking… remember the last side are introduced. Senator Brickman from the scene of Indiana Jones [Raiders of the Lost Ark] where tom defalco original is now a former ambassador with a guilty they put the ark in a box and they lose the box? Well, conscience. “Arno,” a specialist called in by Bain, they find the box, but in the box is Machine Man.’” Hildy DeFalco. The new Machine Man series would start in the future, when is first seen via monitor with an “ST” in the background, and in the box and its contents were found years after the earlier series. another last-page-and-panel-reveal turns out to be Arno Stark, the Iron Man of 2020, and superficially Machine Man’s direct opponent. Thirty-six years later, to be precise, placing the series in 2020. That character is revealed in issue #3, “Rime of the Ancient Why 2020? “Why not 2020?” Tom DeFalco tells BACK ISSUE. “When Herb Trimpe Wrecker!” Bain’s master plan is explained, and all the players are and I worked out the story, we wanted to set it in the future—far enough fully introduced: Arno Stark on Bain’s side, and Gears Garvin, another original, on the side of the Wreckers and Machine Man. to age our main villain and be able to add some techno-twists.” Actions by the characters show their true selves, from Brickman toasting his misery to Machine Man saving Sanctuary at great cost to himself, instead of finishing Stark. Issue #4, “Victory,” puts Machine Man’s leadership, heroism, and humanity on full display. In the previous issues, Machine Man is finding his way; he even spends a big chunk of the story “zapped” with an “electronic impulse disruptor,” stuck repeating commercial jingles as the Wreckers and he make an escape. Visually, he’s part of an ensemble. His image doesn’t dominate the pages as the story plays out. This all changes in “Victory.” As the chapter starts, he has taken in all the information, listened to the arguments, and decides a course of action. The Wreckers choose to follow his lead, even though they disagree with him. Then it’s all action, much of it focused on the fight between Stark and Machine Man, but that’s really the undercard. The real conflict is Machine Man vs. Bain, which he wins, of course, but not with a conventional resolution. The point of his fight was to negotiate the peace, not kill his opponents. The action and plot are part of the appeal of Machine Man; the art and themes also stand out. this run is a joy…” DeFalco himself in the BI interview had great things to say about following Kirby, working with editor Denny O’Neil, and working with and getting to know Steve Ditko. This run ended after five issues, but DeFalco kept the character in mind.

THE ART: TRIMPE “AND” WINDSOR-SMITH

DeFalco alluded that Barry Windsor-Smith joined the creative staff late in the process: “…Herb and I worked out the entire fourissue story and main characters together long before Barry joined us.” The first three issues credit DeFalco for the script, Trimpe for breakdowns, and Windsor-Smith for finishes and color. The last omits Trimpe, and credits DeFalco for “plot/script and Windsor-Smith for “plot/art/color.” In interviews, DeFalco is very quick to praise Trimpe in general, and even wrote the Foreword to TwoMorrows’ The Incredible Herb Trimpe by Dewey Cassell and Aaron Sultan. He points out, “Herb designed all

Meanwhile, One Year Earlier… Machine Man is announced in Marvel Age #7 (Oct. 1983). Art by Herb Trimpe. Scan courtesy of Bill DeSimone TM & © Marvel.

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And you may ask yourself… “…How did I get here?” Machine Man, reactivated, before the series’ awestruck supporting cast. Original Herb Trimpe/Barry Windsor-Smith artwork from Machine Man #1, signed by Windsor-Smith and courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

barry windsor-smith Portrait by Michael Netzer.

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the new characters and the visual motifs of the world of 2020. I believe that he was already penciling the second issue when Barry Windsor-Smith dropped in for a visit, saw all the work he had done, and was so impressed that he asked to join the team.” From their comments in BI #25, while Trimpe may not have been a fan of the art collaboration, Windsor-Smith was appreciative. He told Gary Groth in The Comics Journal #190 that after leaving Marvel and spending years on single images for his Gorblimey Press that he had forgotten how to draw for comics: “…So my good friend Herb Trimpe bailed me out on that by letting me work over his layouts for Machine Man. Then I picked it up again really bloody fast, a little bit too fast for Herbie because by the second or third issue I’d be erasing his layouts and putting in my own work…” Based on his career, Trimpe’s art probably would have worked on its own. What’s left of it, pre-Smith, is in the Marvel Age preview and the corner boxes of the original run. His Machine herb trimpe Man is very Kirby-ish: Instead of anatomy, the muscles are shaped with chunks of black, a bit © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. more rounded than Kirby’s. The Wreckers have smaller physiques with their body shapes defined by the folds in their clothes. And the story as a whole is a pretty straightforward read, as compared to, say, Weapon X, the Windsor-Smith-written-and-drawn Wolverine story a few years later which also dealt with man and technology, which even Windsor-Smith acknowledges many found challenging to follow. But there is no denying the appeal of Windsor-Smith’s art. All the covers of the original series and most of the reprints are his. The only text on the original published covers is the title and issue-number data. No “Return of Machine Man!” No “Return of Superstar Conan artist BWS!” The 1988 Machine Man trade paperback and two 1994 reprints use minimal words. The cover art is allowed to speak for itself. The detail that Windsor-Smith had put into Conan the Barbarian backgrounds and Gorblimey prints shows up as the wiring and components of Machine Man. Regardless of how they got there, the finished product has great visual storytelling. In issue #1 there is a transition from the Wreckers’ hideout in an abandoned McDonald’s, with detail work implying the cramped quarters, followed by a page turn to a full-page, full-figure attack by the C-28 Death-Dealer! The frantic pace of that fight abruptly slows on the last page to the last panel reveal of Jocasta. The action sequences of the ambush have multiple changes in point-ofview and varying panel sizes to create a pace, only to stay with a steady grid and fixed view of the torture sequence, drawing it out for the reader, only to pick up the pace again with her escape and the capture of the Wreckers. Issue #2 finishes with the slow reveal: Small panels capturing small movements by Stark lead to a full-page-and-panel Iron Man 2020 in full armor, with the word balloons and feet breaking the panel border. Issue #3’s full-page reveal is of the floating Sanctuary, which visually reminds readers of Kirby’s New Genesis from New Gods #2. The panels on the page prior are closeups obscured with cloud cover. The turn to the full-page Sanctuary above the clouds with the Moon in the background and flying motorcycles tries to reflect the change from cramped to awe. There’s too much happening in issue #4 for full-page panels. The action sequences are violent and brutal, but not in terms of gore. Quick cuts between characters, changing points of view, and story beats of the fights propel the reading. In one sequence, as Machine Man approaches Bain’s office window, the POV is above and behind MM with the security drone in the frame.

The (New) Gods Must Be Crazy (top) From Machine Man #3 (Dec. 1984), evoking Kirby’s New Genesis is this awe-inspiring full-pager unveiling Sanctuary. (bottom) Windsor-Smith’s attention to detail over Trimpe’s layouts, such as the numerous shards of glass in the final panel from this page from Machine Man #4 (Jan. 1985), was astounding. TM & © Marvel.

22 • BACK ISSUE • 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue

Iron Fists “Fight promoter” Tom DeFalco puts Iron Man 2020 and our hero into combat, as rendered by Trimpe and Windsor-Smith, in the final issue. TM & © Marvel.

Over the next three panels, the POV gets so close to Bain’s office that we see what the drone sees on a monitor, then swings around in time for MM to crash through the glass and through the panel borders. Of course, Windsor-Smith drew every shard. The 1994 reprints use Windsor-Smith’s art for the covers. The first, not used in the original miniseries, combines the rebuild of Machine Man with the flying vehicles from the story and computer board backgrounds. The second doesn’t make sense: a robot punches his armored opponent, neither using their tech or powers. Out of context, it looks incongruous because it is. It’s a panel from the last issue: Stark is trash-talking Machine Man during their fight. When Stark says, “Do you have the courage to face me on equal terms this time? CAN YOU FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN?!” In the very next panel, Machine Man punches him in the face. “KA-CHOK!” In context, not using tech made perfect ironic sense. “If I remember correctly, that line and scene was pure Barry,” DeFalco added.

THE THEMES

DeFalco and Trimpe did not speculate on the futures of the X-Men, the FF, or the Avengers… except for almost predicting the future star of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iron Man 2020, though, is not Tony Stark. DeFalco: “Herb and I discussed various characters, trying to determine who would still be in action 40 years in the future. We both saw superheroes as super-athletes, figuring that the wear, tear, and physical punishment of endless super-battles would not lead to long careers. The effects of radiation might also eventually lead to cancer or whatever. Anyway, we eliminated most of the then-current heroes, but realized that Iron Man’s tech might still be operational— even if Tony wasn’t.” Flying motorcycles, dystopia, robotics, floating sanctuaries… but the rejuvenating qualities of a movie franchise was a step too far to predict. They did come up with a story that superficially looks like Man vs. Technology, except in this case, the technology is the good guy. Under all the action and future speculation, a more basic question is addressed: What makes a decent human being? Not compared to droids or artificial intelligence, but to other humans. Sunset Bain is concerned with her financial empire and fading looks. Brickman is just scared and unwilling to face consequences of his actions, even though over the course of his lifetime he’s won. Stark is happy to take Bain’s money, and Bain is willing to kill Stark if it means killing Machine Man. Arno Stark is an egotist and a mercenary, and not to put too fine a point on it, as Machine Man fights Stark: “Know something, Stark? You’re a bigot!” and “The fact that you were born human doesn’t make you superior to me!” DeFalco puts these attitudes to contrast with Machine Man and his allies. MM fights on behalf of his current allies and wants to know what happened to his original friends. Hassle gives herself up to save her friends. Jocasta, in spite of 40 years of loyalty, interrupts Hassle’s torture and later assists MM and the Wreckers. Gears is genuinely friends with MM regardless of his nature, and with the Wreckers, “…because they wanted more out of life!” Machine Man, despite not being human, voluntarily fights through his own destruction several times on their behalf. And yet, when he wants to attack Bain directly and Hassle wants to murder her, he pushes back, and ultimately wants to negotiate a peace. DeFalco: “Also, at its core, MM 2020 is a love story—as MM tries and fails to regain his lost love. I freely admit that ripped the ending off of Casablanca.” Of course! He foreshadowed this in issue #2 when the Wreckers are ambushed as they try to arrange “safe transport” from a “fat man” who can only be the Sidney Greenstreet character (“Signor Ferrari 2020”). The ending isn’t a direct copy: Jocasta stays behind with the corrupt Bain, while Machine Man

leaves, a role-switch from the movie, in which Rick stays behind with the corrupt Louis, as the love of his life leaves. But the tone and the dynamic is the same: the protagonists do the right thing, even if it means letting each other go. Under all the dystopia, conspiracy, and futuristic action, DeFalco, Trimpe, and Windsor-Smith ultimately describe an optimistic and romanticized view of how people should act. In addition to the original single issues published from October 1984–January 1985, Machine Man was reprinted in 1998 as a TPB with a new Windsor-Smith cover, in 1994 as a two-issue Machine Man 2020, and in 2013’s Iron Man 2020 TPB. Special thanks to Tom DeFalco. His MR. RIGHT with Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema is an all-ages comic, with two done-in-one stories in each issue. Issue #1 premiered from Apex Comics in the fall of 2021. Herb Trimpe (1939–2015) is the subject of TwoMorrows’ The Incredible Herb Trimpe by Dewey Cassell and Aaron Sultan, and outside of comics, worked as a chaplain at the World Trade Center after 9/11, for which he won the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award. Barry WindsorSmith’s website is barrywindsor-smith.com/ story-teller/; Mr. Windsor-Smith was not available for comment for this issue. His hardcover graphic novel Monsters was released in April 2021. An established comics critic in his own mind, BILL DeSIMONE has had one (that’s 1) letter published in Amazing Heroes and one (1) in John Byrne’s Next Men. A personal fitness trainer by trade, this is his first article for BACK ISSUE.

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COMICS DESIGN ILLUSTRATION PINUPS RECREATIONS and more!

by T

om Speelman

By 1984, the X-Men were on top of the world. Marvel’s Merry Mutants had gone from being best known as the only real dud that the Lee/Kirby team ever produced (at one point, X-Men itself was a reprint-only title) to the bestselling comic on the stands, being more popular than Marvel’s own mascot, Spider-Man. It’s not hard to see why: Writer Chris Claremont (who stayed on Uncanny X-Men and its attendant spinoff and companion titles for an astonishing 17 years) and his collaborators like artists John Byrne, Brent Anderson, and Paul Smith, plus editor Louise “Weezie” Jones [Simonson], all showed an astonishing gift at combining the soap-operatic plotting that had defined the Marvel Age of Comics with an ability to deftly flesh out kitty pryde what, in time, became the most sprawling cast of characters in From X-Men #139 cover. TM & © Marvel. superhero comics.

THE INEVITABLE WOLVERINE SEQUEL

A few years after Claremont’s 1975 start on Uncanny, Marvel capitalized on the title’s obvious success by letting him and Frank Miller tackle the first solo adventure of the man once known as Weapon X, Wolverine. That first Wolverine miniseries (as covered elsewhere in this issue) was an obvious, colossal hit in addition to being a high point of both men’s careers. So, naturally, Marvel was eager for a sequel. But the way Claremont tells it, the idea for Kitty Pryde and Wolverine, a six-issue miniseries penciled and inked by Al Milgrom, colored by Glynis Wein, and lettered by Tom Orzechowski (with Louise Jones and Ann Nocenti editing), came from him, not from Marvel brass. “I’m not sure Marvel asked,” Claremont tells BACK ISSUE. “I think it was our idea. [A] lot of this stuff wasn’t Marvel saying, ‘We want you to do a Kitty/Wolverine miniseries.’ The biggest argument I had was when they wanted to do a Wolverine [ongoing] series. I fought it tooth and nail because for me, my perception was, ‘Yes, it will sell brilliantly. The store owners want it, but the more you do it, the less interesting he becomes.’” Regardless, artist Al Milgrom, then coming off of his tenure as a Marvel staff editor and still drawing The Avengers and The Spectacular Spider-Man, was excited to join the project. As he recalls to BI, “I was running around the office, complaining I never got to work on the X-Men. And Weezie said, ‘Well, we’ll set you up with something.’” As to why he was so eager to work on the X-line, Milgrom points to the royalty scheme then-Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter had recently introduced to compete with DC’s. “Shooter, not being anybody’s fool,” he recalls, “said, ‘Uh-oh; [this could] be a problem.’ So he went up to the powers-that-be and said, ‘Look, we’ve got plenty of our top guys talking about leaving for DC and we can fix that.’ And they came up with a comparable plan.

Just a Phase She’s Going Through Allen Milgrom’s split cover for Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #1 (Nov. 1984). TM & © Marvel.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 25

Sprite No More The youngest X-Man becomes a ninja and battles Ogūn in Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #2 (Dec. 1984). By Claremont and Milgrom. TM & © Marvel.

“After decades of the industry saying they were paying all they could,” Milgrom notes with an unmistakable wryness in his voice, “it turned out there was a lot of money available.” Not only did this new royalty policy (referred to internally as “incentives”) inform Milgrom’s decision to give up his staff position to go back to freelancing, but he also reasoned that, with the X-Men’s overwhelming popularity, he would earn more to keep providing for his family. “I was raising three kids,” he points out. That motivation was also why he chose to ink his own pencils as “I figured it was a way to earn double the royalties. And Chris was game, which was good; I’m not one of the great artists, and they usually got the top guys to work on X-Men.” Claremont was indeed thrilled to have Milgrom on board. “I think Al… did a fantastic job. [Our collaboration was] great. He inked Jim Starlin for years. How do you not learn to tell stories or present drama [when working with Starlin]?” In recalling Milgrom’s artwork for Kitty Pryde and Wolverine, Claremont says, “If you go through it,

it’s not a contemporary storytelling story [compared to other comics of the 1980s]. It’s a lot of panels. It’s a lot of closeups. It’s a lot of emotion. It’s not perfect; it’s not glorious. It’s guttural, but the story is guttural. You’re seeing art in many ways that is a visual evocation of what’s happening to Kitty. The story isn’t necessarily about Logan, but it’s all about Kitty. It’s all about Kitty from the perspective of the impact that it has on Logan and the things you learn about him in the process.” Indeed, while Wolverine is the draw, the main focus of the limited series, published as Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #1 (Nov. 1984)–6 (Apr. 1985), is Kitty “Shadowcat” Pryde. Back home in Deerfield, Illinois, for the holidays and dealing with both her parents’ divorce and longtime boyfriend Colossus dumping her after falling in love while on Battleworld with an alien who subsequently died in the epic crossover Secret Wars, Kitty accidentally overhears her father, bank president Carmen Pryde, getting threatened and assaulted by the Yakuza members whose corporation now own his bank when he won’t help them launder money. Impulsively reasoning that he needs her help, Kitty follows her father to Japan by phasing onto a one-way plane to Tokyo where he’s set to meet with the corporation president. There, she gets wrapped up in Yakuza intrigue and falls prey to their enforcer, the Villainous Ogūn. Once a noble warrior—and, as it’s later revealed, Wolverine’s ex-mentor—Ogūn turns out to be a telepathic mutant. Kidnapping Kitty, he brainwashes her into a lethal ninja, psychologically breaking her down in the process and also cutting her trademark long hair, as depicted in a harrowing, multi-page sequence showing Kitty being mentally reduced to an infant and built back up into a killer through brutal torture and conditioning.

26 • BACK ISSUE • 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue

When not at the drawing board… …you could find (top) Al Milgrom (right) playing paddle ball with Mark Gruenwald (seated, at left). 1980s photograph from the Marvel offices. Courtesy of Bryan D. Stroud. (bottom) This shocking cliffhanger of KP&W #3 popped readers’ eyes right out of their heads.! TM & © Marvel.

Sent after Wolverine and his antihero semi-love interest, Yukio—who’s teamed up with Logan after he chanced to answer a call to the X-Mansion Kitty placed from Tokyo, realized where she was, and traveled there to look for her—to kill them, she manages to run Logan straight through with a katana sword. Discovering what’s been done to Kitty, Logan, with Yukio’s help, ferrets her and her dad (who Yukio had earlier rescued) to the stronghold of the Clan Yashida, the family of his one great love, Lady Mariko. There, while Kitty manages to wrest herself back in control, Logan explains that Ogūn— who is also, he reveals, possibly immortal—has imprinted his mind onto Kitty’s. And, if she does not face up to what she’s done, he will eventually take control. After going through the long, arduous process of rebuilding Kitty physically and mentally, the two head for a final confrontation with Ogūn while also saving the lives of Mariko and her and Logan’s foster daughter, Amiko.

AN ENDURING CHAPTER IN THE X-MEN SAGA

Even today, with decades of character development and lore piled onto Kitty and Logan, the Kitty Pryde and Wolverine (KP&W) series still resonates for many reasons. For one, it’s the story where Kitty, in an act of defiance against her kidnapper, formally names herself Shadowcat. For another, it’s one of the earliest and most formative examples of a recurring pattern in X-Men comics to this day: that of Wolverine taking the young, inexperienced girl on the team and becoming her mentor, a pattern that’s continued over the decades with Jubilee, his clone/daughter Laura, and many others. It’s an astonishing piece of work in both Claremont and Milgrom’s long, storied careers. The former even admits that of all the stories he’s done, KP&W still ranks “[near] the top.” This is because, among other things, he notes that it’s a turning point for Kitty: “She may start issue #1 coming back from ice skating as a 13-year-old kid, but when she’s eating ice cream in the last panel [of issue #6, after the final fight with Ogūn], like it or not, she’s a 13-yearold woman. She’s a grownup. There’s no way she can go back.” When asked if Ogūn had a specific inspiration point, Claremont states, “Specifically, no. He is everything. He was, to a large extent, Logan’s teacher in the best sense of the word, until Logan found out what kind of man he was and walked away. It wasn’t like he suddenly popped his claws and killed him. These are choices you make: ‘I will not fight you because I owe you for…’ [to use] one of the better clichés, ‘everything.’ Now, he realizes, ‘Maybe I should’ve. Maybe I probably would’ve

died, but maybe I should’ve fought him.’ Bear in mind, back in those days [referring to Logan’s pre Weapon X past], Logan was like Sabretooth. He had healing, but he had bones—there was no adamantium. Death was a practicality.” As for Milgrom, he thinks fondly of the story, with one glaring exception: “I should’ve put Wolverine on the cover of the first issue. He only shows up for a bit in the interiors but I should’ve taken artistic license and put him on.” The rationale for this, of course, is that back then (and still true today), comics with Wolverine on the cover sold way more than other comics. Still, though, Milgrom notes the series did sell well. Milgrom also asserts that he went to great pains to give the series a distinct look. He doesn’t recall if he and colorist Glynis Wein ever spoke at all but states that she “was the coloring expert, and I was

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Quick Study Kitty’s ninja training progressed throughout the limited series, building to her confrontation with Ogūn. TM & © Marvel.

happy with that.” The artist adds that he also didn’t communicate much with writer Chris Claremont during the limited series’ production. “I figured he and Weezie, who was a terrific editor, would do a good job, and they did.” In creating a specific look for KP&W, Milgrom also states that he “tried to change up my penciling and inking from my usual Kirby/ Buscema approach... which led to looser pencils on the first two issues that I tried to tighten up while inking. Some of the way I changed my inking for this assignment, I owe to [Steve] Ditko and [Joe] Kubert.” Milgrom also recalls that, at this point in his career, “I mostly did my own inking on pencils on covers rather than interiors; I was trying to do a more graphic style. And I found a nice complimentary inking style by myself.” Milgrom also explains that here, as with other covers he drew, he took great pains to try and do away with an element of comic covers that he resented for taking up space: the UPC code, or barcode, on the Direct Market editions of each issue. Back then, as he notes, the UPC was either a huge barcode sitting in the lower left corner of each cover or a drawing of Spider-Man’s head (done up in black as the black costume had come out of Secret Wars). Wanting to give each cover a distinct look by visually splitting it down the middle, whether that be the first issue showing Kitty walking between the Deerfield and Tokyo landscapes or the fifth issue’s striking depiction of Wolverine and his extended claws serving as the backdrop to Kitty and Ogūn squaring off, Milgrom managed to also design the covers so that, on most of them, the UPC box was gone on the Direct Market editions. However, as he wryly notes, due to miscommunication, the UPC box still remained on two covers (and also the newsstand and Canadian editions of each cover).

INCORPORATING JAPANESE CULTURE

The main challenge, Milgrom says, was one that plagues virtually every freelancer: tight deadlines. Originally pitched as a four-issue miniseries, KP&W became six issues because “Chris fell in love with the story as he was writing it, asked for two more issues, and got them. As always, because I was doing too much work for my own good, the first couple of issues were rushed.” Describing the process

as “pretty straightforward all along,” the artist recalls that he “started out taking some more time. But, as the issues progressed and our deadline got closer, I had to give up penciling Avengers. I thought I would come back [after KP&W], but Bob Budiansky and John Buscema came back [as writer and artist] instead. I was offered West Coast Avengers with Steve Englehart instead, as a consolation prize.” [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #110 for our coverage of the Englehart/Milgrom West Coast Avengers collaboration.] The tight deadlines also found Milgrom thus not being able to build up a huge collection of reference photos, or “a morgue” as they were called, for the Tokyo skyline and cityscapes. “I had some reference photos of Tokyo,” he recalls. “I did have a lot of visual reference for pagodas, [but otherwise] I used a lot of silhouettes and faked it.” For the most part, despite using specific things like Japanese candy wrappers as sign references, Milgrom mostly stuck to a tactic he heard artist Carmine Infantino mention he used once: “He said that he would look at a picture [of a place], put it away, and then do his own impression of it.” Milgrom recalls an example of this in the first issue’s sequence where Kitty phases onto an airplane to stow away to Tokyo. “I always had a horrible time drawing airplanes, so… I had to use extreme forced perspective. It may not have been accurate, but it looked cool.” As to “cool,” there was another factor that colored Kitty Pryde and Wolverine’s arrival into the world: the emergence of manga in North American comic shops and newsstands. Compared to today, when publishers like Viz Media and Yen Press dominate the comics and graphic novels market unquestionably, the early manga market, with publishers like Viz (then known as Viz Communications), First Comics and Eclipse, was a far more niche and riskier prospect. Publishers like the above, and later, Marvel’s own Epic Comics imprint, tried to mitigate that risk by taking steps to appeal to existing comics fans. First, rather than bringing over the collected book volumes of manga that dominate today, they combined multiple chapters of a series (as in Japan, most manga are published weekly) into a single-issue format. Second, the manga artwork was “flipped” from its original right-to-left format to the left-to-right format expected by Western readers. Third, several American comics pros

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Mistress of Stealth… Mistress of Death? (top) Kitty’s mutant powers come in handy on issue #5’s splash. (bottom) Will Ninja Kitty’s rage get the best of her in this climactic scene in issue #6 (Apr. 1985)? TM & © Marvel.

were brought onto each property, from legendary letterer Tom Orzechowski working on Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind to Adam Warren writing and drawing original comics based on Haruka Takachiho’s Dirty Pair to Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Matt Wagner drawing original covers for First’s release of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima’s Lone Wolf and Cub. Claremont, as is well known, was and still is passionate about manga and Japanese culture in general. “Coming from an island, I loved the island on the other side of the world,” he explains. “It’s synergy. I have more than a meterlong shelf of books of Japanese culture. I’ve been involved in reading and researching it all of my professional life. It’s for me, more at least then, was a lot more intriguing than Chinese culture. Everything has evolved since then, and I bounce back and forth. It was what I liked back then.” For his part, Milgrom was aware of manga but didn’t read it and “didn’t understand the frustration. I read Akira [by Katsuhiro Otomo, which Marvel’s Epic Comics published for years with pioneering computer coloring by Steve Oliff] and I enjoyed it. The drawing was stunning, but there was not a lot of characterization, I felt.” However, he acknowledges that the things that make manga different from American comics are “maybe [why] it’s popular.” Finally, another cultural backdrop this miniseries came out against was a virulent, vicious tide of Japanophobia in the United States in the 1980s. The rise of things like Japan’s auto industry outpacing America’s and several American record labels being sold to Japanese corporations resulted in anti-Japanese both in fiction (like Japanese characters being portrayed as sinister in novels like Tom Clancy’s Debt of Honor and Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun) and, horrifically, in real life (most notably a group of US congressmen smashing Toshiba products on live TV in 1987 and the brutal murder of Chinese-American draftsmen Vincent Chin by two disgruntled white Detroit auto workers who assumed he was Japanese, who they blamed for one of them being laid off). Given that comics have been no stranger to such racist, anti-Asian sentiment (see, for example, the designs and names of DC Comics villains Mongul and the Dominators), and given the uprise in anti-Asian hate in the United States in recent times as of this writing, it seemed pertinent to ask if Claremont and Milgrom were aware of such things back then. (It should be noted here that, while Ogūn and the Yakuza he works for are villainous, they are not overtly written or drawn in a racist fashion.) For his part, Milgrom points back to Claremont’s undeniable affection of Japanese culture, reiterating that “Wolverine was very much a samurai. While I was aware of Japanophobia, I did not consciously avoid it here.” He also recalls a moment when, driving back to New York from his native Michigan, a gas station attendant disparaged him for driving a Toyota, derisively referring to it with an antiJapanese slur. “And I remember I said to him, ‘It’s a great car. If Detroit ever makes cars like this again, I’ll buy those.’” A minor gesture, perhaps, but surely a welcome one. It’s no surprise that, with mindsets like Milgrom’s and Claremont’s, Kitty Pryde and Wolverine stands as not only a corrective to the Japanophobia of its era, but as one of the best Marvel miniseries of the 1980s, if not all time.

TOM SPEELMAN has written for Funimation, Polygon, Comic Book Resources, and Comics Alliance, among many others. Additionally, he is a freelance light novel editor for Cross Infinite World and has proofread, adapted, or copy-edited over 100 manga and light novels for Seven Seas Entertainment, Kodansha Comics, and other clients. The co-host, alongside Tyler Gorman, of the Pokémon podcast Gotta Recap ’Em All!, he can be found on Twitter yelling about anime and comics @SpeelmanTom.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 29

The original X-Men were like a family, especially in the early years. When Professor Charles Xavier first gathered his merry band of mutants— Scott, Jean, Hank, Warren, and Bobby— they were all looking for a place where they could feel safe and at home, not despised or threatened, and they found it at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. As revealed in 1968 in a three-part origin story in X-Men issue #44–46, Robert “Iceman” Drake’s powers first manifested themselves publicly while he was on a date. When bullies harassed the young couple and one of them tried to abduct his girlfriend, Bobby encased him in a block of ice. Pursued by a mob, the sheriff put Bobby in a jail cell. Professor Xavier sent Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, to break a reluctant Bobby out of jail, then Xavier offered Bobby’s parents an opportunity for him to attend the school. Bobby’s parents were aware of his abilities, but had encouraged him to hide them, so they readily agreed. Xavier used his own abilities on the townspeople to eliminate any memory of Bobby’s powers. So, Bobby became the second mutant to join the X-Men. Some heroes are loners, others are joiners. Over the years, Bobby repeatedly proved himself a joiner. He remained with the X-Men until the Professor welcomed a new international group of mutants to the team, at which point Bobby and most of the other original members left. But it wasn’t long before he joined his former X-Men teammate, the Angel, along with Hercules, Ghost Rider, and Black Widow to form the Champions [see BI #19 and 65 for more about The Champions—ed.]. The Champions worked fairly well together as a team, in spite of their diverse backgrounds, and Bobby even got a new uniform in issue #14. j. m. dematteis Unfortunately, The Champions title was short-lived—a total of 17 issues and a few guest appearances—and it wasn’t long before Bobby once again found himself in search of a family, which turned out to be the New Defenders. Enter writer J. M. DeMatteis. DeMatteis’ earliest work for Marvel was writing for CRAZY humor magazine in 1977 and 1978, followed by an adaptation of the movie Xanadu for Marvel Super Special #17, published in summer 1980. Later that year, DeMatteis began writing regularly for Marvel, beginning with Conan the Barbarian. Then, in early 1981, DeMatteis became the regular writer on The Defenders with a story titled “Eternity… Humanity… Oblivion!” When The Defenders began in 1971, it was with the unlikely pairing of Dr. Strange, the Hulk, and the Sub-Mariner, but by this time, the group had adopted a rotating lineup not unlike the Avengers, although they considered themselves a “non-team.”

Ice, Ice, Baby Spider-Man’s amazing friend in a series all his own! Iceman #1 (Dec. 1984). Cover by Mike Zeck and John Beatty. TM & © Marvel.

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by D e w e y

Cassell

Bridge Over Troubled Walkers Bobby’s running behind on the title splash from Iceman #1. (inset) Saturday morning’s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends brought the frosty X-Man to wider acclaim in the 1980s. TM & © Marvel.

DeMatteis was a fan of comics before becoming a professional, as he recalls, “When I first got into Marvel, in the seventh grade, I fell in love with the original X-Men. (The book was being done by Roy Thomas and Werner Roth at the time.) Then I doubled back to the early Lee-Kirby X-Men stories. In fact, the first back issue of a comic book I ever bought was X-Men #1… which, at the time, cost something like ten dollars! (A fortune to a 12-year-old.) If I’d only held on to it!” So, it is not a surprise that DeMatteis brought X-Man the Beast into The Defenders in issue #104. He then introduced Iceman into the storyline in issue #122 (Aug. 1983), giving Bobby a new home. Angel became the third of the X-Men to join when the book became The New Defenders with issue #125. (The indicia did not change.) While DeMatteis left the title six issues later, Iceman and his fellow mutants would remain until it was cancelled with issue #152 (Feb. 1986). But DeMatteis had a fondness for Iceman. He explains, “There was an everyman quality about Bobby Drake that I liked. He didn’t feel like a Great Classic Hero. He just seemed like a regular guy, a vulnerable, somewhat confused, young man. There was something real and relatable about him that drew me.” And DeMatteis wasn’t finished with the character, adding “I’d been using Iceman in The New Defenders and had an urge to explore the character a little more in a solo series. I walked into editor-in-chief Jim Shooter’s office, said, ‘Hey, I’d love to do an Iceman mini.’ He said, ‘Yes’—and that was it. THE ICEMAN STORY UNTHAWS Easiest approval ever!” The Iceman story begins simply enough, in Iceman #1 (Dec. 1984), One factor in the decision may have been the popular Spider-Man with Bobby returning home for his father’s retirement party. and His Amazing Friends television cartoon, which included Iceman The reunion with his parents goes as he expected, with them and Firestar. The show originally ran Saturday mornings on complaining about his superhero activities, preferring he NBC from 1981 to 1983, but repeats were still airing in become an accountant. Bobby himself is torn between 1984. The cartoon had provided increased exposure trying to have a normal life and the lure of excitement for Iceman, and Marvel may have hoped it would in being a superhero. But continued pressure from translate into comic-book sales. his parents leads to an argument and Bobby leaves The editor for the four-issue Iceman limited the party only to bump into the beautiful girl next series was Bob Budiansky, who had worked with door, Marge. So far, the story is one that most DeMatteis before. “Over the previous few years we young people can relate to. But as they sit and had worked well together on Ghost Rider and then talk on Marge’s front porch, the story takes a on a Sub-Mariner miniseries; me as the artist, he as decidedly unexpected turn. the writer,” Budianksy notes. “So, we had a good Two creatures, named White Light and the Idiot, working relationship, and now I was on staff as an crash onto the porch. Bobby quickly sends Marge editor. At that time Marvel was publishing a lot of inside the house as he ices-up to face the sudden miniseries, I had room in my schedule to add this threat. As a battle rages outside, Marge and her bob budiansky miniseries, and so I agreed to do it.” family rush into a closet containing some kind of For his part, DeMatteis was glad to be portal. Bobby’s parents come outside to see what working with Budiansky again. “Bob Budiansky © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. the commotion is about and watch the house was—and remains—a great guy: an editor skilled as both a next door collapse. Mrs. Drake fears for her son, but Iceman rises writer and artist, who gave me lots of room to play and tell my from the rubble. However, Marge and her family, as well as the story in the way I wanted to,” DeMatteis states. “I’m sure he strange attackers, are gone. had input and guidance along the way, but, all these years later, In the second issue, we learn that the being that sent the I don’t recall anything specific.” two creatures is named Oblivion, and since they failed, he sends Budiansky has a similar recollection about providing guidance. another one named Kali. Meanwhile, Bobby finds a futuristic box “I don’t believe I did. I’m sure I would have had to check with the in the wreckage, which he takes back to his house. His father and X-Men editor of that time—Louise Simonson—about the usage of mother are outraged that he displayed his mutant powers in front Iceman and any other X-Men characters in the miniseries.” of the guests and ruined the party. As he sits alone and frustrated 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 31

A Chilly Reception (left) “Mr. Iceman” (“sir,” even!) works with the police on this splash from Iceman #2. Original art from the collection of Kahlil Gearon. (right) We Are the Champions… …and the X-Men… and the Defenders, guest-stars on the Zeck/Beatty cover for Iceman #3 (Apr. 1985). Original art courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

on his bed, the box begins to make a repeating sound. Then all of sudden, Bobby and the box disappear, only to reappear in the 1940s. Bobby is disoriented and when a police officer stops him for “wearing his underwear,” Bobby attempts to flee, only to be shot in the arm. He is discovered by a young Willie and Maddy Drake, who take him into their home and bandage his wound. As they talk, Bobby comes to realize that these people who will become his parents are not “towering creatures of myth, but two fragile flesh-and-blood human beings.” And then Kali appears, attracted by the “bounce-box.” Bobby ices-up to fight the creature and protect his parents, but the villain gets the upper hand. Bobby’s father tries to help Iceman and is mortally injured. As his father dies, Bobby fades away into Oblivion. Fans who read the limited series in later years observed that this plot twist predates a similar situation in the movie Back to the Future, where Marty McFly meets his younger parents in the past and almost prevents his own birth. DeMatteis doesn’t take credit for the idea, though, pointing out, “Those kinds of stories existed previous to the Iceman series. Just go back to Rod Serling’s classic Twilight Zone episode ‘Walking Distance,’ where Gig Young’s character walked into his own past and encountered his parents and his younger self.” In issue #3, Bobby meets the being called Oblivion, “The One who embodies non-existence.

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Before the multiverse was… I was. At the end of all things… I wait. I am the void.” And Bobby learns that Marge is Oblivion’s daughter, whose real name is Mirage. Oblivion gives Bobby a chance to bring Mirage to him, in exchange for restoring his father and his old life. When Bobby tries to convince her to return to her father, Mirage gets angry and a fight ensues. On the last page, Iceman lies beaten and Mirage vows to return home to challenge her father. The final issue recounts the reconciliation between Mirage and her “father,” as well as Iceman fighting Oblivion over his very existence. Unsurprisingly, Bobby wins his freedom in the end, not from his strength, but because, for an instant, he enabled Oblivion to taste love. And so, Bobby winds up back in his bedroom at his parents’ house. He is overjoyed to find his father alive and reconciles with his parents, learning that they felt guilty about him being a mutant. As he prepares to leave, Angel and the Beast appear, come to get him so they can “save the world” as the New Defenders. This was certainly not your typical X-Men story, which was DeMatteis’ intent. “I often write intuitively, so no matter what my initial plans are, the story takes on a life of its own,” DeMatteis tells BACK ISSUE. “I also love cosmic comics… and this was a chance to mix up ground-level superhero storytelling with a massive cosmic tale. To wed the small, personal elements with the big, philosophical

On the Rocks (top) Covers to Iceman #2–4, by Zeck and Beatty. (bottom) Iceman 4, page 11, featuring Bobby in conflict with Oblivion. Original art from the collection of Kahlil Gearon. TM & © Marvel.

elements.” In terms of continuity, the story is thought to occur between issue #131 and 132 of The Defenders. Although the first story he wrote for The Defenders mentions Oblivion in the title, it was just a coincidence, as DeMatteis explains: “Oblivion was created specifically for the Iceman series. Hindu mythology talks about the Mahapralaya… the state of the universe when it returns to, essentially, Cosmic Nothing. Almost a cosmic sleep state. I’ve always been fascinated by that concept—what it is, what it means—and Oblivion became a way to animate that concept and explore it through a character. And Mirage was an extension of Oblivion, an aspect of the Cosmic that longed to be part of humanity.” The supporting characters in the story had similar origins. DeMatteis elaborates, “Kali is loosely based on the multi-armed Hindu goddess. The classic portrayal of Kali is that she has four arms, a sword, and is carrying a severed head: a powerful visual. The Hindu Kali is a Cosmic Protector, Mother of the Universe—but I used the visual to jump off and create Oblivion’s fierce servant. I’d had the names White Light and the Idiot in my head for some time. If I’m remembering correctly—and I may not be, it’s been a while!—they became a kind of Yin/Yang… or Abbott and Costello… pair of villains. Nothing deeper than that.” But while the Iceman miniseries was the first appearance of the character Oblivion, it was not the last. Marvel incorporated Oblivion into the comic-book canon. Marvel.com states, “Oblivion, Infinity, Eternity, and Death are the cornerstones of their universe, abstract embodiments of the extremes of time and space. Oblivion embodies the absences of space, and is considered to stand opposite Infinity on the spatial axis.” The character has appeared in a number of stories since the Iceman limited series, as have Bobby’s parents. 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

BOBBY DRAKE’S WONDERFUL LIFE

There are several themes running through the four issues of Iceman. One is a theme of self-awareness. Like a lot of young people (and some older ones, too), Bobby struggles with self-doubt and longs to understand his purpose in life. On the one hand, he would love to be “normal” like the accountant his parents wish for. On the other hand, he loves the excitement and adventure of being a hero. In the end, he tells his parents, “Look—whatever the reason— my powers exist. They’re not going away and I’ve got to use them as best I can.” But he also promises to stay in school. The story of Oblivion parallels that of Bobby. While Oblivion doesn’t have any self-doubt, he does come to a greater sense of self-awareness through the experiences of his “daughter” and his encounter with Bobby. Another theme in the story is one of prejudice, a recurring idea with the X-Men. The policeman in his hometown makes no effort to conceal his hatred of mutants and welcomes the opportunity to arrest Bobby. Even his own parents are embarrassed by his powers and afraid of what other people will think. The feeling is so pervasive that Bobby himself assumes that the creatures sent by Oblivion are mutant hunters looking for him, only later coming to realize they were really looking for Marge/Mirage. But the most prevalent theme in the story is one of family. Bobby longs for the days when he was young and his relationship with his parents was simple. Going back in time to see them when they were younger leads Bobby to realize his parents were loving people who had difficulties of their own. The relationship between Mirage and Oblivion mirrors that of Bobby and his parents. Oblivion struggles to understand his daughter and she rebels against his dominant nature. Marge’s “family” appears ideal compared to Oblivion or Bobby’s parents, but they aren’t real. Bobby’s reconciliation with his parents at the end of the story seems somewhat rushed and the “We’re proud of you, son” seems forced, but it shows how Bobby’s willingness to admit his own faults made his parents more willing to open up to him. There is a life lesson in there for both parents and children. The Iceman miniseries, especially the last issue, reminds me of one of my favorite movies, It’s a Wonderful Life. In the film, George Bailey gets a chance to see what life would have been like if he had never been born, and it gives him a new appreciation for the people he has touched in his life. He learns that it is not about perfection, but rather facing the challenges in life with the support of family and friends who love us. The theme of family in the Iceman story has a similar conclusion, echoed in both the relationship between Oblivion and Mirage, as well as Bobby and his parents. Ironically, an angel plays a role in both stories. When it comes to the Iceman miniseries, fans typically either love it or hate it. For his part, DeMatteis observes, “Often, when I look back on early work of mine, I only see the warts, the flaws, the failures. And there are certainly warts in this Iceman story. But, over the years,

Merry X-Man! Iceman makes an ice Christmas tree in this 2014 Alan Kupperberg sketch. From the collection of Dewey Cassell. Iceman TM & © Marvel.

I’ve come to respect my Young Writer Self, accept those flaws, and appreciate the hard work and creativity that went into those stories. Did the miniseries succeed? That’s for the readers to decide.” One thing most people can agree on is about Alan Kupperberg’s artwork on the Iceman limited series. DeMatteis comments, “I thought Alan did an excellent job. He’d done some fill-ins on The Defenders, I’d enjoyed his work, and asked for him on the Iceman series.” Budiansky agrees. “Alan wasn’t an obvious choice to pencil a miniseries; he wasn’t a fan-favorite artist at that time, and often these miniseries would be penciled by more well-known artists,” explains Iceman’s editor. “In fact, to boost the salability of the Iceman series, I hired Mike Zeck to pencil the covers. Still, even with that reservation in mind, I think Alan produced some of his best work on that miniseries.” The 1984 miniseries wasn’t the last time that Iceman would court alan kupperberg controversy. Years later, in issue #40 of the All© Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. New X-Men, Marvel revealed the character was gay. The affection Bobby showed for his next-door neighbor in his first solo series would seem to contradict that revelation, but Marvel offered an explanation for the apparent discrepancy, suggesting Bobby had feared even more discrimination. Plus, there is a long tradition of rewriting origins in comics. The Iceman limited series has been collected into several reprint volumes over the years, including X-Men: Iceman Marvel Premiere Classic edition and Essential Defenders #7. The original issues are also readily available on the secondary market. Iceman remains a popular character, having appeared in four films in the X-Men franchise, portrayed by actor Shawn Ashmore, and numerous comics and other media. And despite its unusual storyline, the Iceman limited series elaborated on themes about his backstory that continue to be used today. Sincere thanks to J. M. DeMatteis and Bob Budiansky for their insight, as well as Kahlil Gearon and Heritage for artwork used in the article. DEWEY CASSELL is the Eisner Award-nominated author/co-author of four books and over 40 magazine articles. He likes Iceman so much he named his son Bobby.

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by J e

rry Smith

He’s a dangerous man. You would know that without the custom twin .45s and the stark white skull in the middle of his chest. He’s wide-shouldered, dark-eyed, and that icy glare would be intimidating if he were an accountant or a car salesman. He is neither. His body language says discipline. Military. Implacable and intransigent. When Frank Castle—the Punisher— pushes, get out of his way. Created as a semi-villainous anti-hero by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru for Amazing Spider-Man #129 (Feb. 1974), the creators little knew what impact the Punisher would have on Marvel Comics and pop culture in general. The Punisher was a soldier recently returned to the States after war service. On a picnic with his family in New York’s Central Park, they were caught in organized-crime crossfire and killed. Except for the Punisher. He recovered and vowed vengeance against the mob and all criminals who would hurt and kill innocents. The Punisher became more popular with each guest appearance in Amazing Spider-Man and other comics, until he graduated into his own miniseries in 1986 by writer Steven Grant and artist Mike Zeck. This story, “Circle of Blood,” captured all that was exciting about the Punisher and laid the groundwork for the immense popularity the character went on to achieve. For the first time, the Punisher was given a name—Frank Castle—and his ancestry was revealed as Italian. Grant’s Punisher was coldly sane, calculating, and lethal—but still a man longing to retain his lost humanity. “Circle of Blood” opens with Castle in prison as a result of his criminal trial in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #83 (Oct. 1983). A jailbreak leads him to a clandestine organization called the Trust that wants to fund his war against crime for its own mysterious reasons. Back in the game, the Punisher wastes no time confronting the mob and any killer reckless enough to stand in his way. Eventually Castle finds the Trust cannot be trusted and deals with them accordingly. The story is a gritty, violent rollercoaster ride of action and adventure. Series writer Steven Grant had a steven grant frank talk with BACK ISSUE about “Circle of Blood,” its origins, and how it put the Punisher on the map of comics culture. Note: Mike Zeck was contacted to contribute to this interview, but politely declined for personal reasons. That’s okay, Mike, we still love ya! – Jerry Smith

Castle Rocks Marvel’s skull-chested anti-hero steps out on his own in The Punisher #1 (Jan. 1986). Cover art by Mike Zeck, painted colors by Phil Zimelman. TM & © Marvel.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 35

The Circle is Broken (top) After years of bad-guy appearances in Spidey issues (like Spectacular SpiderMan #83, Oct. 1983), (bottom) the Punisher exploded in this hard-hitting interpretation by Steven Grant, with Zeck and Beatty art. TM & © Marvel.

JERRY SMITH: Steven, how did you originally get involved with the Punisher miniseries? Was the Punisher a character of particular interest to you? STEVEN GRANT: It’s a long, long story. Originally the Punisher was not terribly a character of interest, but back when I was merely a fan, I lived in Wisconsin, and there was a monthly one-day comic-book convention in Chicago—really a swap show. This was 1974, 1975. I’d made an acquaintance, George Breo, who was publishing semi-professional comics out of Chicago, and I had talked to him about writing. He hooked me up with a guy who had been drawing for him who lived in Canada named John Byrne. This was a of couple years before John broke in as a pro. John was in communication with the guys from CPL, which was a fanzine run by Bob Layton and Roger Stern [see BACK ISSUE #100—ed.]. I knew them and they both lived in Indiana and they’d come up to this thing. At the end of 1976, there was a convention held in the week between Christmas and New Year’s in New York City, which I decided to go to. I was still a student, perennially broke. They said, “Well, you should stay with this guy who has done work for us and now works for Marvel—Duffy Vohland,” who worked in the production department. Duffy was a great guy and lived in the far boonies of Brooklyn. You had to take the subway to the end of the line and then walk a mile to his place. SMITH: Wow. It took some dedication to find him. GRANT: I stayed with him and while I was there, he said, “You should go in and try to get work at Marvel.” This was not something that had really occurred to me or at that time, appealed to me. I was really into Underground Comix, even though they had faded by that time, but I wasn’t thinking in terms of Marvel. I wasn’t in a Marvel Comics frame of mind. But he said, “If you are going to stay with me, you’ll have to go pitch to Marvel.” I said, “Okay, sure.” He set up a meeting with Marv Wolfman, who was editor-in-chief at the time. He was in the office every day, but really had nothing to do in the week between Christmas and New Year’s when nobody was in the office. So, I sat up one afternoon and did three pitches for things and one was a Black Knight miniseries. [Duffy] said, “Pick characters that aren’t being used and make pitches for them.” I said, “All right.” I picked out the Black Knight—and a character I liked, the Punisher— who I didn’t have any personal interest in, but I thought could be used to say interesting things, and I forgot the third one. It was either Black Widow or… I forget which one, but basically, my interests went with action/ adventure and not superhero stuff. The following day, I went and met with Marv. Marv was very polite, but you could see it was, “Okay, what have you got?” Like, “I’m doing a favor for Duffy; let’s get it over with.” [chuckles] I pitched all the stuff to him. This was the end of 1976. He listened very patiently and said, “We can’t do anything with this. As for the Punisher, I think there’s someone doing something with the Punisher,” which were the black-and-white magazines they were trying to do at the time. I think Gerry Conway wrote one of them. After Gerry left, Archie Goodwin wrote one of them. I think there were two Punisher stories in the black-andwhite magazines, which were very much in the realm of the Executioner novels. They were going more for a pulp fiction men’s adventure. SMITH: I remember those black-and-white magazines well. I just re-read them in the first Punisher Omnibus. GRANT: Right. So, that put it out of contention. I took it in stride and shook it off. I thought, now I could go ahead and enjoy the convention, and didn’t think too much of it. A couple years later, Roger Stern had moved to New York and started [at Marvel] as assistant editor and then

36 • BACK ISSUE • 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue

editor, and brought me in to write some stuff. At that point, I started taking Marvel a little more seriously. They were looking for material and I thought, “Okay, I’ll pitch the Punisher.” So I did and everybody I pitched it to said, “Why do you want to do this? The Punisher sucks. He’s a fourth-rate character. Don’t pester us with this.” I kept going at it. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that something could be done with this character. There are things you can say with this character that you can’t say with other Marvel characters and were things I wanted to say. It wasn’t so much that I had any great love for the character, it was he was a great vehicle for what I was interested in saying. I spent the better part of a decade pitching the Punisher and getting it blown out. Eventually, I had done a Marvel Team-Up with Mike [Zeck]—Spider-Man with the Shroud (Marvel Team-Up #94, June 1980)—and I thought, “Boy, I’d like to work with that guy again.” I didn’t really know Mike at that point. We’d spoken once on the phone because he didn’t live in New York. We weren’t in regular correspondence. My wife at that time was an assistant editor at Marvel—Denny O’Neil’s assistant editor. Secret Wars was coming to a close and she said on a Saturday, “You know, Mike Zeck is looking for a new project and he hasn’t scheduled anything. You should call him.” I was a little reticent about just calling him out of the blue, but said okay. She had his number. I called him up Saturday afternoon, “Hi, Mike. You,

uh, may not remember me, but I was just wondering if you might be interested in doing a Punisher thing.” It turns out that he was. After doing a slew of costumed characters doing goofy superhero stuff, an action hero was really where his interests lay in comics. He wasn’t really interested in all the superhero stuff. I mean, he didn’t mind doing it, but when it came time to do it on a regular basis—day in and day out—he wanted to do something that was of more interest to him. He saw all these action films coming, making a splash in Hollywood. SMITH: I can see that. The ’80s were a golden age for action films. GRANT: It was the sort of thing he wanted to get a piece of. So, we talked about it and it turned out we had the same take on the Punisher. When I first brought it up, he was a little worried, because the way the Punisher was being handled then was not great. It was basically being handled in a way to make him completely dismissible as a character. [chuckles] SMITH: What kind of things did you want to change? GRANT: We both agreed on things like “the rubber bullets had to go,” the “War Wagon had to go”— all the accouterments that made his life harder and made him more of just a balls-to-the-wall action player. So then I heard that Carl Potts was looking for projects to expand his line because now that I had Mike attached, I could say, “Mike Zeck and I would really like to do this,” rather than me going in and saying, “I’d like to do this.” Me, a writer, with a

Jailhouse Rock (left) Page 1 of Punisher #1 intro’ed the character and his prison creds, while (right) later in the issue, he lends Jigsaw a helping hand. TM & © Marvel.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 37

Suiting Up (below) Frank Castle prepares for action, from issue #2 (Feb. 1986). (right) Covers for issues #2, 4, and 5. TM & © Marvel.

not particularly good standing at Marvel— walking in and pitching things. It’s a lot easier walking in when you have an artist attached that everyone wants to work with. After Secret Wars, Mike was at that time, Marvel’s most popular artist. He was a real prize. I don’t question in the slightest that it was Mike’s involvement that got this project off the ground. Nothing to do with me! SMITH: Nothing wrong with that! GRANT: I’d been trying for ten years with no luck and there was only one thing in that equation that had changed—and that was it. Carl took the project to Shooter, and I remember him telling me that Jim’s response was, “If you really want to, but it’s on your head.” SMITH: That’s not encouraging to hear from the editor-in-chief. GRANT: “You can do it, but it’ll go on your permanent record when it all goes down” is what it amounted to. [laughter] That’s my interpretation. The words that I remember being told were, “It’s on your head.” Then we proceeded to work on it for the next year and a half, pretty slowly, because Mike wanted to put a lot of work into it, as you can tell by the first issue. According to a probably apocryphal story, the week before the first issue came out, someone from Marvel marketing saw Carl in the hall and said, “You know what? Marvel readers are not going to be interested in the adventures of a murdering psychopath.” Carl calls me up and tells me this and I said, “Okay, we’ll find out, won’t we?” The book came out on a Friday morning and by noon, it was pretty much sold out everywhere in the country and Marvel was being harangued by dealers wanting more copies. I don’t know that the first issue—it didn’t

sell badly, but it wasn’t a phenomenal volume of sales. They didn’t have royalty statements in those days. So, it didn’t mean anything to me directly. It was good for the ego, but I didn’t get any serious notification that any copies actually sold. By Monday morning, Marvel had instituted its first-ever over-ship by issue #3, because it was too late for #2. That’s pretty much how the Punisher miniseries got done. All of a sudden, everyone thought the Punisher was a terrific character! SMITH: I remember when it came out. I was a fan, but the Punisher hadn’t appeared that much, just enough to get his personality across. I think you cemented him as the juggernaut the character became. Talking about the miniseries, it just reads like a ’70s vigilante movie—action, changing alliances, betrayals, backstabbing… GRANT: It was supposed to read like that. I was kind of surprised that Marvel went all the way with that because it was not a [traditional] Marvel comic book. SMITH: The first issue of the story takes place in a prison, it’s gritty, it’s violent, and the criminals who deserve it definitely get punished. One thing is for sure—the Punisher is in control. That helped set the tone for everything the Punisher became. GRANT: I wanted to present a sort-of psychological schism with him that was sort of… he’s completely intellectually disconnected from his emotions. It all plays out in him physically. His body is very emotional but his mind is almost completely analytical. He’s not stupid. A lot of people play him as stupid. I think he has a very precise mind and he has to do that to be able to survive. He’s something of a genius—he’s a tactical genius in a very practical way. He’s constantly analyzing the situation and that’s what plays out in the captions—he’s constantly analyzing the situations he’s in. Not reflecting emotionally, but reflecting very coldly. So, the captions are all very cold and the visuals are all very hot. I think that creates an interesting effect because you get a completely different perspective on him that way. You kind of have to put it together in your head because we’re keeping it separate. SMITH: I never thought of the Punisher as stupid, especially in the miniseries, which made him grow up from his previous incarnations. It’s true that maybe the Tony Siciliano character wasn’t that smart, and Jigsaw is as dumb as a bag of doorknobs. But some of the crime bosses—Alaric of the Trust—these were smart people. The Punisher, most of the time, was one step ahead of or at least equal with them.

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GRANT: Right. SMITH: Was it fun to give Frank Castle a name for the first time? GRANT: It wasn’t so much as fun, but it didn’t strike me that we wouldn’t know his name. He was in the military. The military system would have identified him. Once he gets arrested, his name is in the system. Prior to his getting arrested, you could perceive of him not being identified, but once he is arrested, I came up with a name for him and came up with that because it’s nice and simple, but presents as strong. Then I put in with a twist of him being Italian. SMITH: That was a creative twist. GRANT: This is what Mike and I decided to do. There was a pattern in Marvel Comics at the time. We wanted to just get to it. Like I say, there was a pattern that if someone had a backstory, you’d spend 14 pages of a 17-page story giving the backstory, which both Mike and I thought was incredibly wasteful, so I came up with a one-page summation of the Punisher in every way possible that I could. I put everything I thought you needed to know—outside of characterwise—everything that you needed to know about the Punisher’s past is on the second page of the miniseries, which really impressed Mike because he was just used to tons and tons of explanation, and back story isn’t particularly interesting unless there’s some particular reason for it. SMITH: It worked well. The pacing of that first issue is brilliant. GRANT: Just having them know his name seemed to be the best way to handle it. Giving him a name was something I mildly regret because people then started gravitating to the idea of, “This is who the Punisher is,” and the Punisher is the Punisher. As far as the Punisher was concerned, Frank Castle is some guy who died with his family. He is not Frank Castle, he is the Punisher, but that was his past. That is his name, but he does not relate to himself as being Frank Castle. SMITH: From what I recall, no one calls him Frank in the miniseries; he’s always referred to as “the Punisher,” and he always refers to himself as “the Punisher.” He is very much not that person anymore, but in a way, it helped humanize him— for good or for ill. GRANT: I intended for it to have that effect; this is a name you can apply to him. Just from a logical point of view, there is no reason you wouldn’t know his name. I think there might be one thing in the prison sequence where a prison guard or warden refers to him as “Castle.” Maybe at the end, when he’s talking to the warden. But, by and large, I never intended people to call him “Frank Castle.” I never intended for other superheroes to start buddying up to him. SMITH: Right. [laughter] Speaking of Mike Zeck’s art, he drew the Punisher unlike anyone had drawn him before, or really since. I wonder if you two discussed that beforehand. Zeck’s Punisher was just a dark-eyed monster with a tiny waist and humongous shoulders. He looked like someone who, if he had been a kind father who had never been in

the military and you ran into him at night, you’d be scared to death of him. GRANT: Yes, but on the other hand, Mike drew him as a physical human being. You could imagine somebody with that physique. SMITH: Yes, it was muscular and big. GRANT: He was very, very solid. He looked dangerous. This is the thing about Mike’s Punisher: He genuinely looked dangerous. SMITH: Definitely! GRANT: Which was perfect—it’s the way he always should have looked. I have to agree: Mike is the guy who made him look scary dangerous. SMITH: You plotted the entire five issue miniseries, but only dialogued issues #1 through 4. In issue #5, Jo Duffy did the script, Mike Vosburg did the layouts, and John Beatty did the finishes again. Why the drastic change for Mike to not be there for #5? GRANT: I’d rather not go into that. It’s water under the bridge; I’m not that interested in bringing it up again. I’ve talked about it online and you can go read about it. Basically, we had a falling out over scheduling is what it amounted to. They were not supposed

He Never Misses Mike Zeck’s 2000 recreation (courtesy of Heritage) of his (inset) cover to The Punisher #3 (Mar. 1986). TM & © Marvel.

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

Back in Print Original art by Zeck and Zimelman for the 1988 trade paperback collection of Circle of Blood. Courtesy of Heritage. (inset) A 2008 TPB edition. TM & © Marvel.

40 • BACK ISSUE • 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue

to schedule it until we had at least three issues in the can. You may notice at about seven pages into issue #2, the art changes. Seven or eight pages in. That’s because some other project fell out of schedule and they needed something to fit. It wasn’t Carl’s decision; it was basically marketing’s decision, “Let’s throw this in.” From that point, we were completely behind and never caught up. That’s the short version. I had plotted all five issues. That plot was fleshed out, but basically the same thing I had come up with to pitch to Marv. It didn’t really change; that was the story I always wanted to do. SMITH: That’s a sign of a strong story—basically the same a decade after you originally pitched it! It must have haunted your mind that whole time. GRANT: Yeah. It literally took a decade to get that into print. SMITH: The story ended up selling through the roof and was the basis for a massive Punisher franchise for decades and decades. How do you feel about your work being a springboard for something so incredibly profitable for Marvel? GRANT: I kind of laugh about it. I can’t say I didn’t expect it, because I knew something was there. I knew if it was handled right, it could be something special. That’s where Marvel keeps going wrong with the character—it can’t really be handled like a Marvel character and they keep trying to make him into a Marvel character. They veer away at times and then they veer right back. It’s almost unrecognizable now. I mean, he’s probably still selling. I don’t keep up. I do think it’s great because they keep reprinting it and I keep getting royalty checks! [chuckles] They seem to reprint it about seven or eight times a year in different formats. I have piles of different versions of reprints. In that regard, I’m very happy about it. I find it amusing because they had no faith in it all and I was the only one with that faith, so I can laugh about it, “I was right.” What can I say? [laughter] I can very smugly sit here and say, “I was right.” It’s fine. I’m glad they’ve made money and I was vindicated. SMITH: When the monthly series came along (in 1987), did you have a desire to write it? GRANT: I wasn’t invited to do it, due to the falling out, but I don’t know… I never thought he should be done as a monthly series. I would have gone to a series of miniseries. You do one for a little bit; get a little break; do another one and maybe have them overlap—doesn’t matter, but do them as serialized novels. I don’t think that format was good for the character because he’s not a standard Marvel character so you should present him in a different way. I thought the approach should be more novelistic than episodic. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it without Mike and couldn’t handle a monthly book at that point. I didn’t think it was the right approach to the character, and left to my own devices, would have done it in different formats—which they wouldn’t have done. They wouldn’t have left me to my own devices! Clearly they managed to get three or four monthly titles out of it for a while and then it collapsed. They would have had longevity if they had limited the exposure and done it in a different way to give him more exposure. But, they did it the way they wanted to. SMITH: What you’re describing was not really the mainstream comics way at that time. GRANT: It kind of is now; they’ve worked their way through it. Let’s face it—I was 20 years ahead of my time. [laughter] Many thanks to Steven Grant for a rollicking interview and Mike Zeck for his outstanding art. Special thanks to Rose Rummel-Eury for interview transcription.

Rooftop Stalking (top) Punisher on the prowl. Original art to page 1 of issue #4 (Apr. 1986), signed by artist Mike Zeck. Courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). (bottom) Splash page from issue #4. TM & © Marvel.

JERRY SMITH is a non-profit fundraiser and freelance writer from Northern Kentucky. He has been reading comics since before he could read. Thanks, Mom!

1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 41

All characters TM & © their respective owners.

THE WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

HOLLY JOLLY

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by S t e p h a n

The 1980s were the final climb in a rollercoaster of events in the field of comics. Crisis on Infinite Earths and Secret Wars, Watchmen, Dark Knight, Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, American Flagg, creator ownership, sales were through the roof, comics were “newsworthy,” comic shops were everywhere…. Independent publishers and the “Big Two” were putting out multiple series with their most popular characters and filling the market with one-shots, miniseries, maxiseries, and multititle crossovers in an effort to grab more of the collector dollars that were being spent on the glut of independent titles. It would all come crashing down in the 1990s… mostly for the independents, but also to the major publishers as it became clear there were only so many dollars to go around. But before it all came to an end, Marvel published a spate of limited series featuring its key characters and heroes. Here, we will look at a trio that highlighted the teams that brought in the bucks at the cash registers.

FANTASTIC FOUR VS. THE X-MEN #1–4 (Feb.–June 1987)

Writer: Chris Claremont Penciler: Jon Bogdanove Inker: Terry Austin Synopsis: This series takes place after “Mutant Massacre” in X-Men, and between pages 17 and 18 of Fantastic Four #305. See the Chris Claremont interview following for a story synopsis, very ably told in Chris’ own words. (My questions for Claremont were asked on my behalf by Christopher Larochelle.) CHRISTOPHER LAROCHELLE/STEPHAN FRIEDT: What was your intent to the miniseries? Were you trying to finish up plotlines or start some new ones? CHRIS CLAREMONT: No. I wanted to write an FF story.

Friedt

People, Can’t We Just Get Along? (left) Fantastic Four vs. X-Men #1 (Feb. 1987). Cover by Jon Bogdanove and Terry Austin. (center) Mephisto vs. the Fantastic Four #1 (Apr. 1987). Cover by John Bolton. (right) The X-Men vs. the Avengers #1 (Apr. 1987). Cover by Marc Silvestri and Joe Rubinstein. TM & © Marvel.

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The FF was the series that got me into comics. I have always loved the FF. When I came back to Marvel in 1998, I thought, “Okay, I am the boss now, I can ask for something. The one thing I do not want to do is write the X-Men. I will read them, but I don’t want to go near writing it. Other people have had their own stories to tell and it’s no longer my series, but boy, would I like to write FF!” So when [editor] Bobbi Chase gave me the chance, I grabbed on with both hands. The glory of the FF is, Stan [Lee] and Jack [Kirby] did it for ten years. I am not going to argue with Stan. I do not have to worry about reputations; all I have to do is have fun. It is a no-pressure situation. Let’s do stuff that hopefully will blow the socks off the readers because there are worlds and ways that Jack didn’t think of, but let’s just have fun. In this case, the story was in the perspective of the FF; it’s in the aftermath of the [Mutant] Massacre, so we have an urgent situation. Kitty is literally fading away in front of everybody’s eyes. The X-Men need somebody to save her, and Reed Richards is the one [to do so]. But before we get to that point, we have a situation where Franklin finds the diary [believed to have been written by Reed] and Sue reads it. The whole concept of the FF shatters before our eyes. Jon’s [Bogdanove] art is just [great]… The scene where Sue gathers up Franklin and zips him down through the mansion? Reed doesn’t pay attention. He’s noticing in the back of his head, but he’s focusing on his work—metaphor, metaphor, metaphor. Then Sue confronts him and the X-Men call for help, but Reed isn’t Reed now. He is a person gripped by doubt because he’s looking at this college notebook from 35 years ago and can’t

remember whether he wrote it or not, but the thoughts are like thoughts he would’ve had. Come on… He knew the [cosmic] radiation would hit the FF through the shield [of their spaceship]. He knew they would change; he was not quite sure how, and he did it anyway? He is suddenly gripped by doubt. And gripped by the consequences, meaning he’s about to lose the thing he most needs in his life: the love of his wife, the respect of his best friend… his son! He’s about to lose everything because he’s Reed, and he doesn’t know what to do. When the X-Men call to say, “We need Reed” [and discover] that Reed isn’t there, they turn to the next best thing— Dr. Doom. One step leads to another. The fact that they turned to Dr. Doom, of course, convinces Ben: “You know what everybody says about the X-Men? Well, they’re villains. They went to Dr. Doom for help.” That is the one huge paradigm shift of the early 21st Century, taking [the X-Men] public and making them like every other superhero group in the world. I think part of what made them so bondable with readers was they weren’t like everybody else. They were always the outsiders, looking over their shoulders. Everybody else was an insider—and boring! But that’s so 20th Century! The actual physical story of FFX [Fantastic Four vs. X-Men] is very simple: The X-Men need help and turn to someone for help. When that doesn’t work, they turn to someone else. Then the first people respond to that moment, and tragedy happens. Storm gets almost incinerated. There is no bad guy, per se. There is no outside antagonist. It’s just getting from point A to point Zed and it’s all character, which for me is the kind of story I love to read and love to write. The whole real conflict, as Jim Shooter would fondly say of Avengers Annual #10, the first 28 pages, the fight with Mystique and the Brotherhood—that’s all setup. The actual story is the last five pages, with the X-Men outside in the swimming pool and the Avengers coming to reunite with Carol. That’s a brutal story because they f***ed up. They are having to face the consequences. The point here in the FF/X-Men: All the punching and hitting, that’s superhero trope. The fight is Franklin desperately holding to Kitty as she is fading away and coming to terms with fading away, looking at the sun, and thinking, “It’s so beautiful; I’ll never see it again.” She is discorporating and he’s desperately holding onto the outside of the stasis vault or whatever it is. Then, at the end, when the day is saved and she is on her way back, there’s that, for me, incredibly delicious scene where Sue is just talking about the diary, and Doom is going, “Try the caviar; it’s Latverian and much better than most.” It’s all subtext, ideally, and Jon caught the visuals brilliantly. It’s coming down and saying what is my classic trope: “Be careful, Victor. Nothing is more dangerous than a lioness whose cubs are threatened. You came here for me, you don’t want me to come for you,” which I guess was me planting the seeds for Reed becoming Doom down the line. That is what it’s all about… it’s making the reader fall in love, not simply with the X-Men, but the FF, who have been around forever and then getting more on the edge of their seat as we near the end, not knowing how we’ll resolve the threat, the challenge, the dilemma. Even if they save Kitty, how do you resolve the doubt in the FF? It comes down to its head in the fourth issue when Reed is standing there and Doom screwed up the calculations. He’s just a

Strange Bedfellows An awkward alliance between Magneto and the FF’s Torch and Thing on this original art page from Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men #1, penciled by Jon Bogdanove, with inks and a signed inscription by Terry Austin. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

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Good Ol’ Unca Logan Mister Fantastic gets on Wolverine’s bad side in FF vs. X-Men #2 (Mar. 1987), by Chris Claremont, with art by Bogdanove and Austin. TM & © Marvel.

little bit off, but he knows it. Because he’s Reed. Does he trust himself? “The hell with it. I’ve got to do it. The child needs me. It’s not about me, it’s about her.” That’s where you hopefully realize, “Oh, he’s Reed.” Sue realizes that he’s doing what’s necessary because he knows what’s right. He’s willing to sit back and let Doom save her until he makes a mistake and then Reed… from her perspective, this is not the man who would willingly place his best friend, the woman he loves, and the woman-he-loves’ kid brother at risk. It’s like whatever happened on that first flight was an accident Reed hadn’t foreseen because he’s human and his knowledge was limited back then. Bear in mind, this is 1962 and he’s been atoning for that mistake ever since, or trying to, but deep down, he’s still Reed. That’s the crux of the moment—it’s not someone punching someone. It’s a math equation and a woman realizing the man she loves is the man she loves. LAROCHELLE/FRIEDT: Knowing that this is kind of linked to the aftermath of the Mutant Massacre, is this a series where you mentioned, “Hey, if there’s a chance to get FF and the X-Men together, here’s what I would do?” Was this an assignment? CLAREMONT: No, everything was, “We’ve got a great idea; here’s what we’d like to do.” It was a lot more freewheeling back then. Understand that when I came into the business, Stan’s attitude was focused: “I want good work, I want the work to come in on time, and I want you not to be a pain in my ass. If you do two out of three, you can keep your job. I’d prefer three, but two is livable. Why? Because I’m trying to keep this stupid company alive. I’ll give you a book because you’re a grown-up; you’re a professional. This is what you’re hired to do. If you do it, great; if you can’t do it, I’ll fire you and get someone else. I’m not going to stand over your shoulder and tell you how to do your work. I have more crucial, critical, and important concerns right now.” So, yes, you have knockdown/drag-out fights between Len Wein and Steve Gerber over Len’s writing The Hulk and Steve writing The Defenders—who calls the shots in terms of the Hulk? That’s where the editor gets to work things out with Marvel as it evolves, but back then, most of the time, Stan just said, “Go, go, go. Don’t bother me.” That’s why Dave [Cockrum] and I got away with so much silliness in The X-Men because no one thought it would do anything. The X-Men died because no one read it. They figured no one would read it, so they’ll give it a shot. Suddenly, it took off. That’s the joy of the “unexpected consequence.” Believe me, if Len knew what was in store, no way would he have let me in! LAROCHELLE/FRIEDT: Specific to the X-Men/FF series: What is it you liked about Jon Bogdanove’s art?

CLAREMONT: The thing with Jon is, his images of Rogue zooming through the air, ten meters across the ground in Latverian clothes—not costuming, and she’s having the time of her life, and all of a sudden things goes south. It’s throwaways like that. My question was, “Why does everyone always wear supersuits?” Everybody I know wears different clothes for different things. Who does the laundry? Who tidies the house? How can we draw connections that bond the characters to the readers in terms that the readers can readily comprehend? I know Illyana and others are studying for exams and hating it. Sue, tidying up the basement at the Baxter Building. Rogue having fun in the snow. It’s trying to draw these linkages between the fantasy world of the characters and the real world of the readers. Bear in mind, in a standard comic, you have basically 100 panels to tell a story in 20 pages, but if you can tease the reader with enough interest and information, the space between the panels becomes the realm where the reader can look and think, “What’s happening between the moments.” That’s all. Finding ways that make the concept and the world and the people enticing to the audience. Not in terms of big, muscled brutes, fighting, but in real-world terms. You build connections. You don’t build connections focusing on the stars. You make the world around the stars with people you can relate to, with people you recognize, so you can fantasize that “I’ll run into the X-Men.” It’s like living in L.A., turning the corner, and running into Tom Hanks. I’m walking down Fifth Avenue years ago and realizing, “That’s Sidney Poitier!” He’s thinking, “Oh, my God, some little punk recognizes me.” The challenge is, “What do I do? I’ll just walk on by. This is New York. You want to respect somebody and you want to be cool. How do you be cool? You just walk on by.”

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Doesn’t Shy Away Sue boldly stands up to Victor von Doom in issue #4 of FF vs. the X-Men. (And sample the caviar, won’t you?) TM & © Marvel.

That’s the thing. You never know when you’ll run into someone. This is the world. The best part of Marvel versus DC is most action [at Marvel] takes place in New York, so you can be part of it. They can be part of it. The world is right outside your door. Therefore, the people in that world might be the people in your world. The point of the FF/X-Men is Sue trying to protect Franklin, and Franklin trying to protect his two new friends—Lockheed and Kitty. It’s telling a superhero story, and forgive me for being redundant—telling a story in terms people can relate to. LAROCHELLE/FRIEDT: You have a well-respected reputation at being a master at complex storylines, often containing many characters and subplots. Is it a natural extension of your writing style? Is it a challenge? Difficult? Fun? CLAREMONT: All of the above. It’s like life on paper, except I can edit. LAROCHELLE/FRIEDT: Do you keep track of the characters and subplots in your head? Do you keep notes? CLAREMONT: All of the above. The beauty was in my arrogance: “I’ll come back to it in a year.” Not that I’m going anywhere. But that’s why my origin for Gambit turned into something different. We parted ways before we got off to a start. The subsequent writers A, didn’t know what I had planned and B, weren’t interested in it. But, that’s life.

MEPHISTO VS. THE FANTASTIC FOUR, X-FACTOR, THE X-MEN, and THE AVENGERS #1–4 (Apr.–July 1987) Writer: Al Milgrom Penciler: John Buscema Inker: Bob Wiacek Synopsis: Mephisto seeks souls! First Franklin Richards, then one from X-Factor, then one from a mutant. The East Coast and West Coast Avengers join forces to stop him.

STEPHAN FRIEDT: You have been an artist, an editor, a writer, an inker. Which one is your favorite job, and have you ever had a dream project where you did it all? ALLEN MILGROM: You know, each one of them has its rewards. I’d have to say that primarily I enjoy penciling the most. I don’t feel like my writing is exceptional. I’m not saying my penciling is exceptional, but it’s probably the thing I do which is the most creative. Inking is a lot of fun and in many ways less stressful because you don’t have to sit there and stare at a blank page and try to come up with an image, unless, of course you’re inking your own stuff. One of the main fun things about doing comic books is, for the most part it’s very collaborative. And so, over the years, I managed to ink some of my very favorite

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artists, guys I grew up idolizing and loving their work, the short shrift. I thought there was maybe a way you know, like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Carmine Infantino, I could make him more interesting. Here he was, the embodiment of evil, with all kinds of powers, Gil Kane, and in that way a lesser artist such as myself but he was very ineffectual, you know? He would never necessarily be able to collaborate couldn’t do anything unless you willingly with guys like that who were so great! signed over your soul, which is the old But because of the way comics works, conundrum about the Devil. it gave me that opportunity. I always So this was strictly, to me, a really, really enjoyed that aspect of it. commercial idea. I said, “Look!” We And working with contemporaries, had learned from previous meetings too, whose work I admired. My old that group books sold better than buddy, Jim Starlin… We went to the individual character books—with some same middle school and high school. exceptions. I mean, [Amazing] Spider[laughs] When I first met Jim, I was like, Man, of course, sold great, but after ‘Well, there’s no sense in me tryin’ to Spider-Man, all the bestselling books learn to pencil, ’cause this guy’s so were, like, X-Men, The Avengers, The much better than I am, I’ll just ink al milgrom Defenders, X-Factor, whatever group his stuff!” [laughs] But eventually I they could put together. I don’t know if decided I wanted to be able to draw TM & © Marvel. The Champions ever sold great, but the my own books, too. FRIEDT: When you were doing inking on some of the idea that a group book sold was common knowledge. old greats, did you find yourself learning anything from the way they did layouts? MILGROM: Well, sure. You take away something. Most of these guys, I’d studied anyway. As you grow up, the guys whose work you love, you emulate, you try to copy it. I got a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 [first Spider-Man appearance] off the newsstand, and as you know Marvel was just starting to do superhero books at the time. I liked the comic. I enjoyed the story, but something about the cover really fascinated me, and I don’t think I knew who Jack Kirby really was at the time. But something about that cover— which he penciled and Ditko inked—really spoke to me, and I remember getting out a sheet of tracing paper and tracing it off. So now I’ve got a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 that has grooves in it! [laughter] Who knew it would be worth a million dollars now? FRIEDT: Let’s talk about the Mephisto versus limited series… Why Mephisto? Was it your idea? Were you assigned the project? MILGROM: I don’t really remember that much about the series itself, but what I do remember clearly is how it came about, which is a little ironic. What happened was, we were having a budget meeting, so all the editors, with Jim Shooter, got together. And when we say “budget,” I thought we were gonna try to figure out what everything was gonna end up costing us for the year to produce and submit that to the owners. But it was a meeting as to how they were going to increase their budget, how they were going to make more profits this year than the previous year, because that’s always the goal of business… which always seems to me like a Ponzi scheme, because eventually, you know, it’s gotta stop somewhere! So Jim said, “We need some ideas for some series— new characters, new series, new miniseries we can do to generate more income this year than we had last year.” I don’t remember what anybody else said or what they suggested, but I said, “Hey, how about doing a miniseries based around Mephisto?” And [Shooter] said, “Oh, that’s sort of interesting, having a villain be the main guy.” That wasn’t a unique idea. [Marvel] had done Super-Villain Team-Up, or that Doctor Doom series [beginning in 1970 in Amazing Adventures]. And, of course, the Sub-Mariner started out more as an anti-hero or even a bad guy back in the ’40s, so it wasn’t like a brilliant new idea. But basically, I thought [Mephisto] was a great looking character. John Buscema designed this really demonic, evil-looking son-of-a-gun, and I always thought that [Mephisto] had gotten somehow

Hell to Pay From Mighty Avengers to Merry Mutants, the malevolent Mephisto took ‘em all on! Original John Buscema/Tom Palmer promotional art for the Mephisto vs. series, courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

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Raising Cain Big John Buscema’s bombastic covers to issues #2–4 of the Mephisto vs. limited series, featuring X-Factor, the X-Men, and the Avengers, respectively. TM & © Marvel.

So I was, like, “Why don’t we have Mephisto, and we do a miniseries, and in each one he faces a different one of our bestselling superhero groups?” Jim said, “Yeah, that’s a good idea!” Because then, you get the heroes in there. It’s not just about Mephisto. So he asked, “Who can we get to do it?” And I said, “Well, I’m willing to try to write it.” And he said… [laughs] This is more testament to how short on talent they were than to any great confidence in my ability as a writer, but he said, “Okay, sure, you write it.” [laughter] Shhhhh*t. It was like [Marvel production ace John] Verpoorten when I came into the office; “Okay, sure. You ink Captain Marvel. As long as I don’t have to think about it, I don’t care.” Jim says, “Well, what about an artist?” I said, “You’ve gotta get [John] Buscema. He created the character and draws him so great.” I don’t know whether we settled on Bob Wiacek as the inker at the time, but Bob certainly did a beautiful job on it… except for that one issue that I did, which I did a pretty good job on. I can only imagine that Bob was running later, as most of us always were at one time or another, because I certainly didn’t take it from him. My guess is they said, “Bob’s still working on issue #2. We’ve gotta find somebody to do issue #3, and I said, ‘I’ll do it! I’ve never inked Buscema!’” Or not much, anyway, and so I volunteered for that. That was really the basic thing. It was strictly a financial, greedy move, and I kind of got to write it by default. FRIEDT: So that’s why you had X-Men and X-Factor in that. MILGROM: Yeah, that’s why. They were the bestselling books, we had so we did those two and, of course, the FF and The Avengers. FRIEDT: Mephisto’s actual goal is not revealed until the fourth issue. Since the entire series is from his point of view, why not set it up like that from the beginning? MILGROM: Well, then, there wouldn’t be any surprise. It’s like saying, “The butler did it!” on the first page of a mystery novel. It’s as simple as that. You don’t do the big reveal until the end. Otherwise, people stop reading after the first issue.

FRIEDT: Each issue had a “Story Consultant” acknowledgment: Roger Stern for the FF issue, Louise Simonson on the X-Factor issue, Walt Simonson and Steve Englehart for the Avengers/West Coast Avengers issue… but Chris Claremont is not listed as a consultant on the X-Men issue. Did they actually have any input? And why was Chris left off the X-Men issue? MILGROM: I’m not sure that I actually consulted with them or not. It’s been so long I don’t remember. FRIEDT: It may have just been a thank-you for using their characters? MILGROM: Yeah, just a polite thing saying, “Hey…” And it’s possible that [Marvel] may have given the plots to the different people mentioned, just to see if we were going to violate anything that they were doing or had planned for the characters involved in the stories. Not Mephisto so much as the superheroes, obviously. You mentioned earlier Chris not being among them. That was not an intentional oversight. FRIEDT: Fans love to hear behind-the-scenes anecdotes about how comic-book issues come together, so in that respect, any memories or stories you care to share? MILGROM: I think Chris had been around long enough, and he was his own little fiefdom there on the X-Men characters and he knew people always wanted to use the X-Men ’cause it would boost sales on their books. You couldn’t get too proprietary about ’em. You had to be willing to play well with others and share the characters because they weren’t yours, they were the company’s. If the company needed them to show up in some other title then be generous with ’em and say, “Sure.” And Chris was good about that. Chris had a very healthy ego, but he was also a good team player. I loved Chris because he would come in all pompous and, “Ah, this is doin’ so great!” and then you could, like, prick him and all the air would go out of him like a balloon. You’d go, “Yeah, Chris, but in the meantime, what else have you ever done that sold besides The X-Men?” Of course, if you’re doing The X-Men, you don’t have to have anything else selling. [laughter] And he knew that. He was very good about it. In fact, he was so nice that down the line he was willing to let me draw the Kitty Pryde-Wolverine miniseries that I did.

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THE X-MEN VS. THE AVENGERS #1–4 (Apr.–July 1987)

Writers: Roger Stern (#1–3), Jim Shooter and Tom DeFalco (#4) Pencilers: Marc Silvestri (#1–3), Keith Pollard (#4) Inkers: Joe Rubinstein (#1–3); Joe Rubinstein, Bob McLeod, Al Williamson, Al Milgrom (#4) Synopsis: The Avengers are trying to bring Magneto to justice at the World Court. The Super Soldiers want to eliminate Magneto for his acts of transgression in their country. The X-Men believe he has reformed and want to save him. Everybody clashes. STEPHAN FRIEDT: What moved you to write this story? Was it your idea, or were you assigned to the task? ROGER STERN: I don’t recall if the idea originated with Marvel editorial or with the sales department or with some combination of the two. But someone at Marvel decided that they wanted to produce two miniseries—one featuring the X-Men in some sort of conflict with the Fantastic Four, and another with the Avengers dealing with the X-Men. At the time, I was writing The Avengers, and I had recently taken over writing the FF, as well. Busy as I was, there was no way I could take on two additional miniseries. I wasn’t sure that I had time to write even one of them, but I was told that if I didn’t write the Avengers/X-Men tie-in, someone else would. So I agreed to take on the project, provided that I could come up with a story that we would all be happy with. FRIEDT: What was your goal? To pit the X-Men against the Super Soldiers and/or the Avengers? Or to clarify Magneto’s place in the scheme of things? STERN: My main goal was to come up with a way to pit the Avengers against the X-Men that would be faithful to both teams. The problem was that Magneto was then part of the X-Men, and his presence really complicated things. He was the 800-pound gorilla in the room. By that point in time, the Avengers had encountered Magneto almost as often as the X-Men had—and none of those encounters had been good. As part of my preparation for the miniseries, I pored over all of Magneto’s previous appearances and made a list of all of his crimes. It ran almost three pages long, mostly single-spaced. The scope of his crimes was even greater than I’d remembered. For instance, Thor had once battled Magneto, who tried to stop the Avenger with a thermonuclear bomb—in the middle of New York harbor! Captain America had his own conflict with Magneto, during which the mutant destroyed a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility, and then abducted and tortured the mutant known as Mister One. As a group, the Avengers had been involved when Magneto took over the United Nations General Assembly. And then, there was the time that Magneto captured and enslaved Iron Man, Captain America, and the Scarlet Witch, along with the X-Men. During that encounter, Magneto threatened global mass murder. And, of course, the Avengers were well aware of the many times that Magneto had publicly attacked military bases and committed acts of international piracy. It was also clear that Magneto always believed in a Master Race— Homo superior—with himself as the leader. Always. In one of his earliest appearances, he overthrew the government of Santo Marco and set himself up as dictator. He literally had his own storm troopers, wearing what were basically Nazi uniforms, with armbands that had a stylized “M” in place of a swastika. It is worth remembering that Jack Kirby—who co-created Magneto and co-plotted the first 17 issues of The X-Men—fought actual, real-life Nazis in Europe during World War II. Look closely at those early stories, and you’ll see how Magneto versus the X-Men is an allegory for Nazi Germany versus the Allies—with Charles Xavier as FDR. Xavier is even in a wheelchair!

Lookin’ for Some Hot Stuff? Title pages to Mephisto vs. #3 (top) and 4. Flame on! TM & © Marvel.

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Avengers, Attack! Earth’s mightiest heroes fight the Soviet SuperSoldiers to protect… Magneto (!) on this dynamite doublepage spread from X-Men vs. the Avengers #2 (May 1987). Original artwork courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

Mark suggested that I consider aiming the story So, in the eyes of the Avengers, Magneto was clearly an international terrorist—someone the in that direction, which surprised me a bit. I hadn’t Avengers should hunt down, right? But he’d thought Marvel would let me do that. The only become part of the regular cast of the X-Men, and requirement I was given was that Magneto would he was still going to be one of the X-Men when have to go off with the X-Men at the end. So then, the problem became how to build the story the miniseries was over. So, what do you do? in such a way that the Avengers would I briefly toyed with a storyline— grudgingly let him do that. suggested by Peter Sanderson—that FRIEDT: Why the Super Soldiers? would have involved the Mandarin STERN: The Super Soldiers were there as a common adversary for the because Russia also wanted Magneto X-Men and the Avengers. That brought to justice. Again, Magneto storyline would have ended with had a long, brutal history as an Magneto apparently perishing international terrorist. He’d recently in an explosion. We would have sunk a Russian submarine, killing the structured things so that the entire crew. And he’d used his powers readers would know that he had of magnetism to cause a fissure in the actually gotten away; the Avengers Earth’s crust, creating a volcano that would have had their doubts. destroyed an entire Russian city. But with Magneto “dead,” they roger stern Yeah, nice guy. wouldn’t have to pursue him. Also, from the perspective of I even submitted a rough overview Alexander Fuld Frazier. story mechanics, the Russians of the Mandarin concept, but my editor Mark Gruenwald didn’t think the were there to complicate things for the Avengers. story was strong enough. And, to tell the truth, The Avengers wanted to bring Magneto to trial. The Super Soldiers’ idea of justice didn’t necessarily I wasn’t fully satisfied with it myself. The problem was this: If the Avengers knew that involve a trial. Magneto was at large, and knew where to find FRIEDT: It is impossible to discuss this series without him, they should have moved Heaven and Earth to noting the abrupt change in the fourth and final issue— the replacement of writer and artist, and a change in bring him to justice.

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the outcome. I believe it has been mentioned by you that originally Magneto was going to revert to his villain status… STERN: No, Magneto was still going to be part of the X-Men by the end of the four issues. That was part of my mandate. The story I came up with was supposed to culminate with Magneto manipulating the members of the World Court to exonerate him of his many crimes. However, the way in which he did it was going to leave a question in the minds of the Avengers—and maybe even in the minds of the X-Men—as to just how “reformed” Magneto actually was. At any rate, I submitted an outline to that effect. It was approved, and I proceeded to write the miniseries. And then things changed. FRIEDT: If so, why were you and Marc Silvestri replaced? Did they use any of your original plot in the final issue? STERN: I wasn’t actually replaced, but my plot for the fourth issue was. When I started the project, I was assured that my overview for all four issues had been approved. And those first three issues were a lot of fun to plot—and even more fun to script, thanks to Marc Silvestri. Marc gave me such great pencils. He really did a magnificent job, perfectly capturing both the Avengers and the X-Men—and the Super Soldiers—making all of the teams look impressive. And Marc’s storytelling was the best. I kept hoping that I could find us some new project after we wrapped up the miniseries, just so I could work with him some more. But after finishing the script for issue #3, I was told there were problems with the plot for the fourth issue, and that it was being “fixed” in-house. When I saw the revised plot, there was very little of my story left. The Avengers—and the X-Men, for that matter—were relegated to little more than bystanders in the issue. It had become much more of a Magneto story, and not at all the one that I’d agreed to write. Long story short, I chose not to script the issue. In fact, it wasn’t until I was doing research for Marvels: Eye of the Camera, almost 20 years later, that I really read that final issue. I was surprised to discover that the altered story ran four pages longer than what I’d been allowed for my own plot. Oh, and for some reason, the World Court had once again been moved from the city of the Hague in the Netherlands—where it actually meets—to Paris, where it meets only in X-Men comics. Go figure. And you would have to check with Marc, but I believe that he didn’t draw the final issue because he was lured away to draw The X-Men, which then needed a regular artist. FRIEDT: From there you went onto a great run at DC. Was the transition difficult? STERN: Oh, the X-Men/Avengers was not why I went to DC. That happened some months later, after I was fired from The Avengers for questioning an editorial directive. And since the other Marvel editors I tried contacting weren’t returning my calls, I checked in with Mike Carlin at DC to see if he had any work for me. It turned out that he did, and I wound up writing Superman for the better part of a decade. So it worked out pretty well. It was a blast working with Chris Claremont, Allen Milgrom, and Roger Stern on this article. Heartfelt thanks to them, to Christopher Larochelle for conducting the Claremont interview, and to interview transcribers Rose Rummel-Eury and Steven Thompson for their invaluable help in bringing it all together! If you want some great reading, check out the bins at your local comic shop for these fun limited series! STEPHAN FRIEDT has been around comics for a long, long time. A former columnist for The Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom, he has contributed to Alter Ego and the Grand Comics Database and is the senior database administrator for www.comicspriceguide.com. And he still finds time to hold real jobs and be at the beck and call of a wife and two daughters in his secret identity as a resident of the Pacific Northwest.

Magnetic Personalities X-Men vs. the Avengers #2–4. Cover pencils by Marc Silvestri (#2–3) and Keith Pollard (#4), cover inks by Joe Rubinstein. TM & © Marvel.

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Some stories can only be told at a certain time. That short window between the arrival in comic shops of DC Comics’ Watchmen and the end of the Cold War in the real world was just the time for Marvel’s Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. Primed by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ serialized Watchmen graphic novel to ask ourselves Juvenal’s old question Quis custodiet ipsos custodies? (Who watches the watchers/watchmen?), readers were ready to wonder if the protective secret service of the Marvel Universe might be as benevolent as it had always seemed. Creators Bob Harras (writer) and Paul Neary (penciler) would be our guides through the murky world of secrets and spies.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. IS ALL LIES, VAL… ALL LIES”

Nick Fury was the first of Marvel’s 1960s characters to lead two regular monthly features, with Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos showcasing World War II adventures and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (originally in Strange Tales and subsequently an eponymous regular comic) being the then-contemporary espionage adventures reflecting the fictional spy boom of the time. However, after the likes of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Jim Steranko had told their spy stories, the Nick Fury feature first became a reprint title and then disappeared altogether. In the 1970s, Agent Fury starred in just a single issue of Marvel Spotlight (#31, Dec. 1976), and for readers based in the UK, in a serial by Steve Moore and Steve Dillon spread over the first 21 issues of the weekly Hulk Comic, starting in March 1979. However, that doesn’t tell the whole story. Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. were, as guest or supporting characters, all over the Marvel Universe. Whether it was turning up on the doorstep of Richard Ryder, clearly knowing his Nova identity, or playing poker with the Avengers, Nick Fury was always around. Even the Godzilla series that Marvel published became something of a regular S.H.I.E.L.D. story. If you read Marvel comics back then, you couldn’t help but be aware of Fury. It was a gift for writers. If you needed a way to involve or match a protagonist against a new enemy—S.H.I.E.L.D. can call them in. Needed a gadget to do the impossible? S.H.I.E.L.D. had just invented one, or paid Tony Stark to do it for them. If anything, it was all a bit too predictable. It was time to challenge some preconceptions. Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D., a six-issue limited series, was released in the perfect-bound, bookshelf format with 46 pages of story in each issue. With issue #1 (June 1988), the ambition of the project was demonstrated by the successful commissioning of a painted cover from Jim Steranko, whose run on Nick Fury in the ’60s remained a high-water mark for the character. Joining Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. writer Bob Harras and inker Kim DeMulder was British pencil artist Paul Neary, who kindly shares his memories with BACK

Nobody Does It Better Jim Steranko returned to Marvel’s Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. for the cinematic cover of Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (June 1988). TM & © Marvel.

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by I a

n Millsted

ISSUE. “The first I knew about it was a call from Mark Gruenwald, who was editor of Marvel’s Captain America book, which I was the regular penciler on. He showed me [the] Steranko cover and described the new project in glowing terms and mentioned it being a limited edition run in the (then-new) format of graphic novel before asking me if I would like to draw it. I had to remind him that I was committed to drawing 21 pages a month for the Cap book, and that left me with only enough free time for covers, pinups, and small extras such as that. We calculated that I could manage the increased workload if I gave up my weekends, which I had mostly managed to keep free until that point. I could see that even then I would need to turn out three pages a day for a period of months in order to meet my combined Cap/Fury deadlines, and that would be perhaps a step too far. “In the final bargaining, Mark conceded that I might have to alter some of the locations to larger windswept vistas from the intensive urban squalor that some of the script was demanding,” Neary continues. “It was during this stage of the negotiations that the start date of March 1988 was revealed to be immovable due to us needing to match the release date of a competitor’s publication.” The first issue starts with Fury and other agents on a mission to locate and secure the nuclear core from the crashed S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. Fury leads by example, taking the most dangerous part of the operation himself, while supported by the Gaffer and

Clay Quartermain, both characters introduced by Jim Steranko in his run on the title. All does not go well. Hydra attacks, catching the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents by surprise. They seize the core and Quartermain is critically wounded. Before Fury has a chance to investigate their failure, he is contacted by Agent Rollins, a sleeper agent Fury has placed inside Roxxon Oil, the favored corporate villains of the Marvel Universe. Therein, Fury and Rollins find that a sub-division of Roxxon has acquired top-secret files from S.H.I.E.L.D. On arriving at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Fury is informed that Quartermain has died. So far, the reader has only seen what Fury has seen, but as the issue draws to a close Jack Rollins is shown to be shot by long-term S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jimmy Woo. Fury is summoned to a meeting by the shadowy board of directors of the agency before being accused of treason by Rollins, who we presumed to be dead. The writing is clever in letting the reader get one or two steps ahead of Fury, but not yet the true conspiracy behind the various linked events. I would be surprised if many readers finished the first issue without wanting to read more. In the way that Fury is rapidly placed in a situation where he doesn’t know who to trust, the series evokes conspiracy thrillers of the previous decade, especially the Robert Redford-starring Three Days of the Condor (1975). With Paul Neary fully committed to the interior art, one of the delights of the series were the guest artists providing covers. After the rare comic-book appearance

For Pity’s Sake From soldier to sinner, Nick Fury was put through the wringer by writer Bob Harras, penciler Paul Neary, and inker Kim DeMulder. Splash pages to (left) issue #1 and (right) issue #6. TM & © Marvel.

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paul neary

The Fury of Fury Nick’s fellow agents are perplexed by their boss’ behavior. Original Neary/DeMulder art from issue #1, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

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Poster-Worthy Covers (top left) Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 (July 1988). Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz. (top middle) Issue #3 (Aug. 1988). Cover by M. D. Bright. (top middle) Issue #4 (Sept. 1988). Cover by Joe Jusko. (top right) Issue #5 (Oct. 1988). Cover by Kevin Nowlan. (bottom) Original art to page 32 of issue #3. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

of Steranko for the first issue, the cover for issue #2 (July 1988) was provided by Bill Sienkiewicz. Part Two was very much a man-on-the-run episode. Fury, knowing he can’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore, seeks to go “off the grid,” as we would now say. While the reader is privy to the thoughts of agents Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, and Valentina DeFontaine, which reveal they are still loyal to Fury, Fury himself has no way of knowing that. The issue switches between scenes at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ and the underground tunnels where Fury fights another agent out to kill him. The fight scene is particularly well done by Neary. This episode also reminds us that we are part of the Marvel Universe with cameo appearances by both iterations of the Avengers (East and West Coast versions), as well as the Fantastic Four.

“SOMEONE IS PLAYING GAMES”

By the end of the second issue, Fury knows that agents Jimmy Woo, Jack Rollins, and Jasper Sitwell have turned against him. A real kicker is when his lover, Val, appears to betray him. A further twist is the return of someone we thought we would not see again, and at this point the penny starts to drop for the reader, and perhaps Fury as well. Issue #3 (Aug. 1988) features a Mark Bright cover and introduces us to two new characters in the series, Tony Stark and Madame Hydra. Also joining the growing cast are CIA agent MacKenzie and low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Alex Pierce. This is the point at which Fury starts fighting back (after all, the series’ title does use the term “vs.”). The decision to use Tony Stark as just Tony Stark instead of Iron Man is also significant 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 55

in maintaining a human element, foreshadowing the philosophical questions that will be posed by the series’ end. Meanwhile, Harras and Neary appeared to be having fun with the Madame Hydra character, with peppy dialogue and her catsuit-garbed physique. Issue #4’s (Sept. 1988) cover artist, Joe Jusko, also placed Madame Hydra prominently in the image, indicating the international route the story was about to take—specifically Hong Kong, which provides the backdrop for Fury and the new group he has started putting together to start to turn the tables, even forming an unlikely alliance with Madame Hydra. By issue #5 (Oct. 1988), the action has moved to the Himalayas. Both Paul Neary and cover artist Kevin Nowlan make the most of the spectacular scenery. There were also strategic reasons for the location, as Neary tells BACK ISSUE: “I suppose I ended up altering the way I drew, and even what (the annihilator-cloud) I drew, in order to meet deadlines. I enjoyed the freedom to alter the settings to environments I thought fit better with the large-scale scope of the story we should be telling… after all, a single heroic figure set in lonely snowy vistas surrounding a massive high-tech base not only looked better than flophouses inhabited by society’s losers. It was quicker to dry.” Where do you go from the highest points on Earth? Into outer space, of course. Issue #6 (Nov. 1988), behind a cover from Tom Palmer, opens with Fury now aboard a satellite orbiting the Earth. Not only that, it also features the somewhat odd image, pre-Borat, of Nick Fury in a mankini, seemingly being crucified, albeit in a high-tech manner. Events move rapidly towards a conclusion that ultimately makes sense, plays fair with what has been shown up to this point, and poses interesting questions about what exactly it is to be human. Along the way, a surprising romance emerges between Pierce and Madame Hydra. And plenty of action. I recommend the various collected editions of Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. for those who want to find out how the series plays out, and I hope I’ve avoided giving away too many spoilers here. (Let’s just say we’re working on a need-to-know basis.)

“SOMEBODY HIT THE LIGHTS”

Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. is part of the grim-and-gritty trend that was dominant in the late 1980s, but not fatally so. There is warmth and humor along the way. The characterizations of the large cast of agents ring true to their long heritage, and even those who are corrupted evolve in a way that makes sense and is distinctive of that character. Fury isn’t the only messianic reference at the end of the story. Harras and Neary pull off another variation on that that works better than it might have done. There are a large number of character

From Marvel with Love This Tom Palmer cover kicked off the space-spanning climax of Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #6 (Nov. 1988). TM & © Marvel.

deaths, although most have since been reversed as has become the norm for comics. Special mention should also go to the excellent lettering of Janice Chiang, whose recognizable style works well for the genre and comparatively large amount of exposition. Credit also to the late Mark Gruenwald for editing this sizeable project on schedule. Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. has left a significant footprint on the Marvel Universe. It was successful enough to generate an ongoing regular series, which had many highpoints (and will doubtless get the BACK ISSUE treatment at some point in the future). Of course, for the wider audience, Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. was also a key building block for the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and related episodes of television’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fortunately for the limited series’ creators, this was recognized. “I was sent a royalty payment for ‘designing’ the character who ended up in the Winter Soldier movie… and a pair of tickets to the London Premiere,” says Paul Neary. We return to that question: Who watches the watchmen? Do we want to believe in an organization powerful enough, and yet benevolent enough, to stop us from coming to harm? Do we want to allow anyone to have that kind of power and authority? I’ll just leave that there… Many years ago, as I completed my degree in politics, I looked into the various careers with which I could put such knowledge to use. One option was the secret services, and I did indeed make an application to join MI5. The polite letter I received saying they would keep my records on file for six months contained no written indication of the organization it was from. I found that level of secrecy amusing. I never heard anymore. The world is probably a better place for that. And I doubt that MI5 would have been as much fun as S.H.I.E.L.D. has looked over the years. With thanks to Paul Neary and Tom DeFalco. IAN MILLSTED is a writer and teacher living in Bristol. The rest is classified.

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by D a v i d

F. W a l k e r

The 1980s weren’t particularly kind to King T’Challa of Wakanda, better known as Black Panther. After debuting in 1966’s Fantastic Four #52, Marvel’s first Black superhero had a decent run of guest appearances in various titles, as well as starring in Jungle Action and then his own solo series, both of which carried him through much of the 1970s. But something went wrong in the ’80s, and with only two notable stories, in 1988 and ’89, T’Challa drifted into relative obscurity for the better part of the decade. The second of these stories was 1989’s “Panther’s Quest” by writer Don McGregor and artist Gene Colan. Told in 25 eight-page chapters in the anthology series Marvel Comics Presents, “Panther’s Quest” had the benefit of being written by McGregor, whose work on the character in the 1970s set the tone for Black Panther. Several months before the debut peter b. gillis of “Panther’s Quest,” came Black Panther vol. 2, a four-issue limited Thomscan200. series by writer Peter B. Gillis and artist Denys Cowan that, more than 30 years later, has yet to be examined for what it was, as well as for what it could have been. [Editor’s note: Black Panther vol. 1 ran 15 issues, starting with #1 (Jan. 1977). Jack Kirby produced the first 12 issues, followed by writer Ed Hannigan and artists Jerry Bingham and Gene Day.] Black Panther vol. 2 #1 was first announced in 1984 at a time when Marvel was cranking out miniseries after miniseries, hoping that some might prove to be popular enough to launch as ongoing series. The solo Black Panther series was abruptly cancelled in 1979, and the story was concluded in a three-issue run of Marvel Premiere, issues #51– 53. Other than the three issues of Marvel Premiere and a handful of guest appearances in other titles, Black Panther was noticeably absent from comics in the early ’80s. In a preview of the upcoming Black Panther limited series that appeared in Marvel Age #20, Gillis wrote, “Too long, I felt, had the Black Panther been relegated to a supporting role, and to present him center-stage was my chance to add a chapter to a unique and glorious legend.” For what would essentially be Black Panther’s return to the spotlight for the first time in many years, Gillis and Cowan’s new limited series promised to tackle as part of its story the heady subject of apartheid in the fictional African nation of Azania. This was at a time when the real-life country of South Africa was coming under increased scrutiny and global criticism for its oppressive apartheid government in which the nation was ruled by a

Troubled Times for T’Challa Black Panther vol. 2 #1 (July 1988). Cover by Denys Cowan and Sam DeLarosa. TM & © Marvel.

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white minority. For anyone paying attention to global politics in 1984, it is clear that Azania is supposed to be South Africa. Given that T’Challa had already gone toe-to-toe with the Ku Klux Klan in the United States—not once, but twice [see BACK ISSUE #27— ed.]—it made perfect sense to have him face racist forces on his home continent. In an interview with The Comics Journal, Cowan recalled, “Because of my state of mind at the time, I said, if we’re going to do a story about a Black African king, we need to deal with what’s going on in Africa—like Apartheid.” As the story kicks off with issue #1 (July 1988), T’Challa realizes that the Panther Spirit from which he derives his Black Panther powers has abandoned him. It seems the Panther Spirit is disappointed with T’Challa for not taking a more forceful stance against the violent, white colonizers that are exploiting Africa, and for this reason the supernatural force decides to find a more suitable body to posses. Across the border from Wakanda, in the nation of Azania, sadistic, white police officers brutally torture an old black man who calls out to the Panther Spirit for help. Entering the body of the old man, the Panther Spirit transforms him into the superpowered Man-Cat, and proceeds to go on a murderous rampage against the police and government officials, which in turns leads to a violent uprising against the racist government of Azania. The government of Azania believes that Black Panther is responsible for the murders committed by Man-Cat, and that Wakanda is backing the uprising that threatens to overthrow their government. In an effort to stop Black Panther, the Azanians dispatch a team of superheroes called the Supremacists (yes, that’s correct—a team of white supremacist superheroes from a white supremacist nation, and they’re called the Supremacists). The six-man team includes Voortrekker, Hungyr, Barricade, Captain Blaze, Harrier, and White Avenger, all of whom, in addition to being racist, have superpowers. And still, even without the Panther Spirit giving him strength, Black Panther manages to defeat this team of lamebrain supervillains by the end of issue #2, leaving us to wonder what the government of Azania will do next. With the Supremacists defeated and Man-Cat still on the rampage (though Black Panther is still taking the blame), the Azanian government decides to drop a nuclear bomb on Wakanda. At this point, Black Panther still lacks the powers of the Panther Spirit (and apparently the help of the Avengers as well, even though he’s a member), meaning he must rely on his wits and determination to cling to the side of a nuclear warhead that’s in flight, divert its path, and then fall a ridiculous distance to the ground without dying at the end of issue #3. Having faced a variety of deadly challenges without the help of the Panther Spirit, T’Challa manages to save Wakanda from an invasion by the Supremacists and a nuclear attack, only to find his life threatened once more. This time, the King of Wakanda must fight Man-Cat, who now possesses the power of the Panther Spirit. Using his technological savvy, T’Challa defeats Man-Cat, only to face the Panther Spirit in a

Taking a Stand Against Apartheid Anti-apartheid revolts and campus demonstrations swept the globe in the 1980s, inspiring the 1984 Black Panther limited series… that wasn’t published until 1988. 58 • BACK ISSUE • 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue

new physical form… which leads one to question why the Panther Spirit even bothers to enter the body of anyone in the first place, when it can take physical form on its own. It’s also a bit confusing that throughout the series T’Challa has cat-like eyes, which seems like it should be an indication of the Panther Spirit being in his body, but in actuality he just has cat-like eyes all the time. Although it was slated to be published in 1984, Black Panther vol. 2 wouldn’t see the light of day until 1988. According to Cowan, three of the four issues were completed when editor-in-chief Jim Shooter pulled the plug. “I busted my ass on this and then Jim Shooter called me into his office and said they weren’t going to publish it,” Cowan told The Comics Journal. “I said, why not? He said, because this deals with Apartheid and racism in South Africa, and we sell a lot of comic books in South Africa.” Four years after the Black Panther limited series was initially scheduled to be published, then-editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco approached Cowan about drawing the final issue of the limited series. Cowan was reunited with inker Sam DeLarosa for the final issue, but original colorist Bob Sharen was replaced by Christie “Max” Scheele. By this time, Cowan’s style had changed since having worked at DC on The Question, DeLarosa’s inks are cleaner and more subdued, and Scheele’s colors complement the line work of the art by simplifying the palette, resulting in a fourth issue of Black Panther that is visually inconsistent with the first three issues. Cowan came to Black Panther vol. 2 after a considerable run on Power Man and Iron Fist that saw him working with great writers like Mary Jo Duffy, and a series of accomplished inkers and colorists. Power Man and Iron Fist established Cowan as a rising star in the early 1980s, capable of dynamic visual storytelling. And while much of Cowan’s energetic visuals are evident in Black Panther, clarity in the story gets difficult. Mid-page scene and location changes make the story hard to follow at times, leading to a need for expository dialogue to explain what’s happening (more on that later). Unfortunately, noticeable differences in the look of the series and confusing visual transitions are the least of the problems faced by the Black Panther limited series. The comic industry went through sweeping changes in the 1980s, both in how comic books were distributed as well as how stories were told. This was the decade that saw the end of newsstand sales and the rise of the direct market, while at the same time it was the decade where the Bronze Age of Comics gave way to the Modern Age, and the medium began taking steps toward redefining itself as being “not just for kids anymore.” In the early-to-mid 1980s, titles such as Matt Wagner’s Mage, Mike Grell’s Jon Sable, Freelance, and Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! were all part of an indie comics renaissance that delivered more mature stories to the growing direct market. Meanwhile, DC had published Batman: The Dark Knight by Frank Miller, who had already revolutionized Daredevil a few years earlier at Marvel. Miller’s work with both Daredevil and Batman brought a new maturity to mainstream superhero comics, while Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons brought a literary gravitas to the genre. And as if all of this wasn’t enough, the first collected edition of Art Speigleman’s Maus appeared at this time, taking the entire medium of comics to a new level of mainstream acceptance and

The Bad Guys (top) From a remastered reprint of Black Panther #2, the Supremacists “Stand To.” (bottom) Their salute, also from issue #2. By Gillis, Cowan, and DeLarosa. TM & © Marvel.

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denys cowan © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

To Capture a King A drugged T’Challa faces entrapment— and indignities—on this extraordinary Cowan/DeLarosa original art page from Black Panther #3 (Sept. 1988). Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

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critical analysis. Any comic book published after 1986 was destined to be measured by an all-new standard that included an ever-growing list of titles breathing new life into a decades-old medium that seldom took chances in the past. Had Black Panther vol. 2 been published in 1984 as originally planned, it very well may have stood out as being more groundbreaking. For one thing, the world of pop entertainment was just beginning to take a stand against apartheid in South Africa, but by 1988 it felt like Marvel was following the lead of other industries that had already spoken out, most notably Steven Van Sandt’s 1985 Artists United Against Apartheid project, which dominated MTV in 1985 with the song “Sun City.” But the timing of the series’ release—at least as it relates to making a political statement—is only part of the problem in Black Panther #1–4. The heavy-handed dialogue indicative of comics in the late 1970s and early ’80s may have been less glaring in 1984, but the expectations of readers had increased drastically by 1988, and even though the series was only four years old when it was finally published, it reads like it was much older. Weighed down with tons of expository narration, dialogue, and thought balloons, every issue feels overwritten in a way that is clunky and unnatural—at least for the time in which it was published. There is, however, a bigger problem with Black Panther that has less to do with the timing of the series’ release, or even the writing by Gillis, and more to do with failing to live up to the legacy of T’Challa that had been established in the 1970s. Before seminal runs by writers like Christopher Priest in the 1990s and Reginald Hudlin in the early 2000s, the quintessential Black Panther stories were penned by Don McGregor. Starting with 1973’s Jungle Action #6, McGregor wrote the epic “Panther’s Rage” storyline, spanning an unheard-of-at-the-time three years. Unlike other comic-book stories of the time that would be selfcontained adventures seldom lasting more than two issues, “Panther’s Rage” was told over the course of 13 issues that expanded on the mythology of T’Challa and Wakanda. It was, in many ways, the 1970s equivalent to a modern graphic novel, only broken up into 13 chapters. McGregor followed up “Panther’s Rage” with “The Panther vs. the Klan,” tackling the subject of racism in a way that few superhero comics had ever done before. With two stories starring Black Panther, McGregor pioneered the long-form story in mainstream comics, and helped change the way superhero stories could be told by adding maturity and socio-political relevance. It’s also worth noting that McGregor would continue to push the boundaries of the comics medium with indie titles like Sabre and Detectives, Inc. Much of the growth and maturity of the modern superhero comic book began in the pages of Jungle Action with “Panther’s Rage,” and this new approach to storytelling in comics appealed to readers in a variety of ways, not the least of which was an appreciation for complex stories with deeper emotional resonance. Hand-in-hand with the growing appreciation for more sophisticated storytelling there was also an appreciation

for more sophisticated superheroes in more nuanced and “mature” narratives. And while the Black Panther limited series tries to be more sophisticated and mature in its story, it falls into too many of the tropes and conventions of an era that was quickly fading away. Black Panther vol. 2 is, at best, a serviceable story that is about as good as it is flawed, leaving it in an unfortunate position firmly located in the middle of the road. The writing and the overall storytelling could be stronger, and the supporting characters could be more memorable… but none of that is the case. And when all of that is factored in with everything else from the rich legacy of Black Panther dating back ten years earlier, to the rapidly evolving craft of comics, and the taste of readers, you’re left with a series that never lives up to its true potential.

Delayed Arrival Its original 1984 production and release postponed, by the time Denys Cowan circled back to complete the fourth issue of Black Panther for its 1988 publication, his art style had changed. Page 1 of issue #4. TM & © Marvel.

DAVID F. WALKER is an awardwinning comic-book writer, author, filmmaker, journalist, and educator. Among his many works is his co-creation Naomi, now a live-action television series on the CW. davidfwalker.com

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Of all the strange, offbeat projects Marvel launched in the ’80s, Wolfpack stands out: a series featuring a wildly disparate cast of characters, set aside from the Marvel Universe, brought to life by a diverse group of creators, incorporating elements of hip-hop and street culture in a way no mainstream comic had at that point in time. And though the characters were later incorporated into the larger Marvel Universe, Wolfpack was always intended as a different sort of comic. Despite some mystical elements, there were no superpowers on display, nor any overt signs that the team occupied the same New York as other Marvel heroes—these kids didn’t read the Daily Bugle, hire Nelson & Murdock for their legal defense, or bump into Avengers at the local bodega. Longtime Marvel artist Ron Wilson came up with the name and core concept for the team in the early 1980s, while working in the Marvel offices doing design sketches, spot assignments, and art corrections, in addition to penciling titles such as Marvel Two-in-One and ron wilson The Thing. © Luigi Novi /

RON WILSON: John Romita, Sr., Marie Wikimedia Commons. Severin, Herb Trimpe, and myself… we all worked in the office together. It was great to have Romita as a mentor, and that was all right at the beginning when I started coming up with the [Wolfpack] idea. Wilson recalls that he devised the team’s name and core concept, then created some initial drawings and pitched the idea to Marvel at around the same time he was working on the Super Boxers graphic novel (1984’s Marvel Graphic Novel #8). Wilson’s earliest “Wolf-Pack” sketches depict a quartet of street toughs decked out in spikes and leather—not unlike the eponymous gang from cult classic film The Warriors. WILSON: Those images were part of the pitch, that art was used to sell Wolfpack, to get Marvel interested… and they featured the first cast, who did not make it into the series because the whole concept evolved once [writer] Larry Hama got involved. I took one piece in to Ann Nocenti, and she loved the idea of street kids, she loved the edginess—I guess she was seeing the vision. ANN NOCENTI: Oh, my gosh, I remember that drawing! That was ’80s NYC, right from the streets. Mike Carlin was originally assigned to write the series, but left Marvel before beginning any scripts, and the project was handed off to Larry Hama.

Takin’ It to the Streets Wolfpack #1 (Aug. 1988), beginning the limited series. Cover by Kyle Baker. TM & © Marvel.

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Patrick A. Reed

Conceptual Artwork Ron Wilson’s 1986 development art for Wolfpack. Unless otherwise noted, all original artwork accompanying this article is from the collection of Patrick A. Reed. (inset) Ann Nocenti at her Marvel desk, circa 1980s. Courtesy of Jason Shayer. Wolfpack TM & © Marvel. Art © 1986 Ron Wilson.

WILSON: Somehow, Larry Hama saw it; I’m not sure if Ann Nocenti brought it to him, but editors do talk and have meetings… I think I walked in to show other material in Larry’s and Jim Owsley’s office, and Larry wanted to get involved and write it. And I knew that Larry was a brilliant man, a brilliant writer and creator, so I just said, “Okay!” So they gave Wolfpack the green light! LARRY HAMA: [Ron] came in and he talked through the whole thing, and I gave him some feedback. I said, “Y’know, these characters should be a little bit more diverse…” Who knew how ahead of the game that was? NOCENTI: Ron and Larry pitched it as a graffiti/urban/ hip-hop style street comic... I loved it! The graphic novels were kind of a new thing at that time, and projects were pitched to individual editors, so it was fairly ad-hoc. WILSON: Looking back on the powers-that-be that operated at Marvel, they were looking to expand their comic-book line, and Wolfpack were not superheroes, though they had extraordinary ninja abilities, and through mind, body, and spirit they were able to defeat opponents who were bigger and stronger than them. They were up against a whole lot, but they were able to overcome.

And as production began on the series, the creative team that came together proved, by total happenstance, to be as diverse as the cast of the comic itself: an Asian-American writer, an African-American penciler, and African-American and Filipino-American inkers (in the persons of Kyle Baker and Whilce Portacio), all overseen by Ann Nocenti as editor. WILSON: Now that you brought it up, I’m looking back and realizing, “That’s great,” but I didn’t see it at all at the time. HAMA: We just never thought of it in those terms… Considering we were trying to do a diverse cast in the series, it probably should’ve, but it didn’t occur to any of us! Nobody made a big deal out of these things, and you gotta remember, back then, a lot of this stuff was invisible to us. WILSON: I grew up in the Brooklyn housing projects in Canarsie, and we were predominantly Black, Hispanic, and Jewish. And that helped me get along, associate, and socialize with other people of color. That was already in me, so when I came to Marvel, I didn’t think of my skin color, I just thought of my love for comics and my love for Marvel’s characters.

Wolfpack also is notable for being the first majorpublisher title to be centered in hip-hop culture. The larry hama team was based in the South Bronx, the birthplace The newly revised team lineup was a multicultural of hip-hop, and elements of street fashion, graffiti, quintet made up of Puerto Rican hothead Rafael Vega; Alex Lozupone. breakdancing, and rap music provide the setting and Vietnamese-American honor student and track star Sharon; African-American athlete and aesthete “Slag” Slagley; Jewish backdrop for the stories: an urban environment immediately identifiable master of misdirection “Slippery Sam” Weltschmerz; disabled wizkid as the real-world New York of the 1980s. Nico “Wheels” Wolinski; and Wolinski’s cat Nine Tails, the sole character from Wilson’s original proposal sketches to make the cut. The team was WILSON: A lot of things were fed into me by living in New York City. brought together by the mysterious Mr. Mack, who trained them in martial Of course, I grew up in Brooklyn, but I would venture into Queens, arts and taught them of the age-old battle between the Nine (an order Long Island, Manhattan, and the Bronx, because I had relatives devoted to crime and chaos) and the noble “Wolfpacks”(bands of and friends, so I became part of the cultures that were developing there—and at that time, I’m especially talking about hip-hop culture. renegades who fought on the side of righteousness and order). 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 63

Hip-hop, as we know, was born in the Bronx, where they had the DJs and the parties, and they would take electricity from the light poles and use them to run their turntables and speakers in the parks. All that was in me, and I guess it just came out in Wolfpack. It was there in the first sketches, the punk and hip-hop in those kids, and when Larry looked at the project and wanted to be involved… he kept that all, and took it from there. I guess there was something about Wolfpack that Ann and Larry saw. They said, “Hey, this is a concept that has appeal, it’s coming at the right time, so let’s do this.” And I just saw it as fitting that the team would be coming out of the South Bronx. I wasn’t trying to make a hip-hop comic book, really, I was just living in the moment. HAMA: I have to admit that what little I know about hip-hop and the whole graffiti culture, I learned from [hip-hop photographer/filmmaker] Charlie Ahearn, who I knew way back then. I remember going to a bunch of strange events with Charlie, back in the day—those sort of cultures, they cut across all the culture wars, and you can project from any viewpoint as long as you’ve had your foot in it, y’know? And sometimes you don’t realize until decades later that you’ve been at the crux of some seminal event… I remember being at some hip-hop event at Danceteria, and some kid used this phrase that’s become so common, but Charlie and I had never heard of it before—he said, “Yeah, that’s FRESHHHHHH,” and we were both sort of gobsmacked. [laughs] Who knew that it would enter the common lexicon? Things like that, you’re not aware of while they’re going on.

American Grafitti (top) One of Alex Jay’s preliminary Wolfpack logo drafts, courtesy of the artist. (bottom)

The book’s hip-hop influence was immediately apparent from the cover logo, a bold, graffiti-style design that incorporated serifs and arrows in a way that set it apart from other titles on the stands. ALEX JAY: I think Wolfpack was out of the ordinary for a mainstream comics publisher. One might think this kind of logo would have appeared first on an alternative-press publication! I was fortunate to witness the blossoming of graffiti in New York City—it was a welcome sight in the dreary train stations and on dilapidated trains! I guess the graphic novel was close to completion when I was called in [as the designer]. No visual reference was provided by Ann, but I did have my own collection of graffiti samples—I submitted two designs and she picked one. Martial arts also played a large role in the concept, which was only fitting—kung-fu films and iconography were a constant presence in the street culture of the time, and had been a major element in the development of hip-hop culture. Wilson gives Hama credit for the inclusion of these elements, as well as coming up with the concept of the series’ central antagonists, a secret society known as “The Nine.” WILSON: Larry’s writing had a lot to do with shaping the direction and the story arc. As a kid, I felt that Bruce Lee was the coolest man walking the planet, I couldn’t miss an episode of The Green Hornet, and through that, we’d all been introduced to Chinese and Asian culture, so that was in us—it definitely was in me. It was almost like these cultures were cousins: hip-hop culture, martialarts culture… I joined the karate club at the time, so to me it was all interwoven in my upbringing, it was a natural way to go, and that’s where Larry took it.

Letterer Gaspar Saladino attended his first comic-con on October 10, 2014, at the New York Comic-Con, and was greeted by this cheerful group of letterers. (left to right) Clem Robins Gaspar Saladino, Todd Klein, Chris Eliopoulos, Tom Orzechowski, comics artist David Marshall (behind Tom), and Alex Jay. Photo by Erik Larsen and courtesy of Alex Jay. Wolfpack TM & © Marvel.

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Now that the creative team was in place, work began in earnest to create the team’s origin story and develop the concept. WILSON: You have that embryo[nic] stage where everything’s rough, working on sketches, and I was

happy that we kept the genre, the edgy feel, the hip-hop, the martial arts, the culture. Larry gave it legs so it could run 12 issues. He had a lot of leeway, and I knew that it’s important to let a specialist come in. Like, “Hey, Larry, here’s the football, take us to the goal line!” NOCENTI: Larry was such a master scriptwriter, he never needed much editing. With some comics I was very key to the process, but not Larry’s—he was such a strong talent, and had been making comics for at least a decade before I arrived at Marvel. I learned so much from Larry about storyboards, for instance, that I imagine he was the one that worked with Ron on his story layouts—usually the editor does that, but Larry was a master, so he most likely did that for Ron. I remember working closely with Ron on his pitches since he was a new writer, but once he and Larry teamed up, I just got out of their way. HAMA: Part of the origin was some tales that [longtime Marvel inker] Jack Abel told of being on a Navy gunboat in the China Sea during World War II… I remember that as a Jack Abel influence. He was quite a character. And the other thing that I knew about the US Navy in China was… I had a dentist in the early ’70s. He was this older guy who had been a dentist in the Navy, on the Yellow River in China, prior to World War II. He convinced me to have my wisdom teeth taken out without tools, a method using only his thumbs that he had learned in China before the war. And I let him do it! He said, “I’m not using metal tools, and this is an 800-year-old practice—there will be a lot less swelling and bleeding, and you’ll recover like twice as fast.” And he was right. What can I tell you? He had great stories. So anyway, you can see how the origin is cobbled out of various influences… I just was throwing everything in but the kitchen sink at that point! WILSON: There was a story arc to it—their origin, why they were created to go up against that secret order— it was really like a war for the salvation of the South Bronx. I know Larry had a plan; he took my sketches from the beginning and said, “This is great, we want to keep this edgy feel to it, we’ll have them fight gangs and thugs and ninjas, and show how the Nine used every evil entity in the South Bronx as puppets to suppress the downtrodden.” It was good against evil. Wolfpack was fighting for the ordinary people, and the Nine were trying to divide the ordinary people to maintain supremacy. HAMA: I never had a story bible, nor did I have a longterm plan. I’ve never written an outline for a story in my life, I literally wrote those stories page-by-page— in fact, I did not know what was going to be on page three until I got to page two. And that’s always been the case, y’know? I’m up to issue #284 of G.I. Joe, and I’ve written every single issue that way: I start out on page one, and then I do it page-by-page until I get to the end! It was the same thing with Wolfpack—I was always flying in the dark.

After some initial uncertainty, the decision was made to launch Wolfpack as a Marvel Graphic Novel, presenting the team’s entire origin story in one standalone volume—and then to continue their adventures in a 12-issue limited series (accompanied by some tie-in stories in anthology title Marvel Comics Presents). But while this plan was being finalized, personnel changes were underway: first, Ann Nocenti left her staff position and Terry Kavanagh took over as editor after issue #1 of the limited series; then Hama exited as writer once completing #3 and John Figueroa stepped in as his replacement, scripting over Ron Wilson’s plots for issues #4, 5, and 6, and receiving full writing credit for the remainder of the series. WILSON: I think they were thinking at first about a six-issue limited series, and then we ended up getting a graphic novel and 12 issues out of it. I guess Larry thought we needed a longer format to explain the origin of the Nine and the origin of Wolfpack, but the format didn’t matter to me—I was eager to do it! Getting to run 12 issues after a graphic novel, that was icing on the cake, to have that commitment upfront was great. The upside was that I got work, and I didn’t think about keeping any rights at the time. I said, “Here, take it, we’re going to do the book,” y’know? NOCENTI: I had worked with Ron on the Super Boxers graphic novel, and I was assistant to Louise Simonson when there were a couple out of the X-Men office—we

Hip-Hop Heroes Original art for the cover of the Wolfpack graphic novel, published in 1987 as Marvel Graphic Novel #31, and (inset) the published version. Cover art by Ron Wilson and Kyle Baker and courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

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were testing the waters to see if concepts would sell, most likely. That might have been the logic behind it. HAMA: I have no idea why they did that. It wasn’t my decision! [laughs] It seems a little backwards, doesn’t it? JOHN FIGUEROA: Louise Simonson and her husband Walt were [my] friends—I had met them through their daughter. Louise heard that Ann Nocenti was looking for a writer to continue where Larry Hama left off, and I came to mind. Louise knew my background—I was born in New York City and grew up in a housing project— and recommended me. Ann sent me the completed material and asked me to read through it and to submit a plot for consideration… I thought the work was interesting, was impressed that they were dedicated to not giving the team superpowers, and was also really happy with the setting of the book, because I had spent a lot of time in the South Bronx as a kid. (My grandmother managed a second-run movie house there and I spent most weekends hanging out in the theater and watching movies—in fact, that theater ended up making an appearance in issue #7!) So, I had the idea that perhaps one of the team members had a relative connected to the Nine and maybe their interest in them wasn’t purely professional, but on some level personal. This was the premise of the first plot I wrote, and Ann liked it. I got the gig. WILSON: Larry was juggling this and G.I. Joe, which was his baby… We all had other things going on,

other books and projects, and when you’re working on one, you’re already having to think about the next one. TERRY KAVANAGH: I was Ann Nocenti’s assistant at the time she left staff, so I had been working on Wolfpack since its inception, and already had working relationships with the creative team. Since I was promoted to full editor when Ann left staff, it made sense for the title to stay with me. FIGUEROA: When I was hired, my recollection is that no decision had been made as to how the issues were going to be released. Larry Hama had plotted and scripted a bunch of issues. Ron Wilson had plots for issues and completed art that needed scripting. So, I started by completing the scripts for Ron’s issues and then writing plots and scripts that I created on my own. I had nothing to do with any of Hama’s work, that was locked down long before I joined. At some point as I remember it, we had all of this work and Ann showed it to [then editor-in-chief] Jim Shooter. He was really positive about it, and that’s when the release plan emerged. The first batch of issues would be a graphic novel, and the remainder would be a limited series. My only regret is that had I known it was going to be a limited series, I would have approached the last few issues differently… My plan was to set the Nine aside for a bit and introduce other elements into the mix. Alas, it was not meant to be.

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The graphic novel was released in August of 1987, and the following summer, Wolfpack #1 (Aug. 1988) hit the stands. In the meantime, Marvel’s editor-in-chief Jim Shooter (who originally greenlit the series) had been replaced by Tom DeFalco, and inker Kyle Baker had moved on after completing the fourth issue of the limited series. Dave Hunt stepped in to ink part of the next issue, which was completed by Bullpen staffer Chris Ivy—who then stayed on as the series’ regular inker.

KAVANAGH: In general, my style was to hire people I trusted, whose work I admired, and get out of their way. My philosophy is that the editor shepherds the characters and serves as butler to the creators— facilitating their abilities to make the best possible stories. Although there certainly were (and are) editors who preferred to have a more active role in telling their creators what to write and draw, that was not me. In the case of Wolfpack, I hadn’t even hired the creators, but I had full confidence in their skills.

CHRIS IVY: I started my time at As the new creative team took over, the Marvel as one of John Romita’s series evolved in different directions. “Raiders.” The Raider program While the Nine and its ninja army was essentially a 12-month-long terry kavanagh remained in the background as the internship for young comic artists big threat, issues #4, 5, and 6 found interested in working for Marvel— Facebook. the team wrestling with down-to-earth we worked in the Bullpen, were paid as staff employees, five days a week, making any issues like drug addiction, domestic violence, and other last-minute art corrections that an editor needed inner-city realities. At the same time, the hip-hop influence on their books before they went to the printer. became even more apparent: the team attended a house While John took care of cover corrections, party soundtracked by Run-DMC records and populated as he always had, we were responsible for interiors. by flamboyant DJs and dancers. On slower days, we usually took advantage of the free time to build up portfolio pieces to show the editors. As we developed relationships with various editors, we landed our first freelance jobs, which usually happened to be on titles we were fixing or prepping for the printer. I think I ended up inking Wolfpack based on my relationship with Terry Kavanagh— he gave me plenty of correction work on Marvel Comics Presents, and he knew I was dependable. As I understood it, Kyle Baker was moving on to bigger, better jobs and couldn’t do Wolfpack anymore, so they were in search of a replacement inker and I guess Terry figured I was worth taking a chance on.

Catching a Train (left) Wilson/Baker cover to Wolfpack #2 (Sept. 1988). (right) Original art to page 18 of issue #2, also by Ron and Kyle. TM & © Marvel.

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FIGUEROA: Hip-hop had a massive impact on me. In New York City, and across many communities, breakdancing, graffiti/tagging, rapping, and DJ culture were in full force. For a brief time, I used to break[dance], and I was horrible at it. Really! IVY: Being a young buck, I’d been following the hip-hop scene as far back as the Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa, et al., and I embraced it while attending Parsons [School of Design] before working at Marvel. FIGUEROA: New York City in the ’80s had tremendous social problems, but there was also a lot of creative energy. Marginalized people worked around a system that was ignoring them. If there was no dance class at school, then you threw some cardboard down in front of your building and created moves. No art supplies? School erasers, deodorant sticks, and ink will do. Your body and the city was your canvas. Now, with Wolfpack, I tried to guide it more in that direction. KAVANAGH: I had no experience with hip-hop culture at all, but I was proud to be part of its introduction into the literature of comics. FIGUEROA: I was trying to honor the fine work that was done, but introduce new elements. For example: By the time the book was released, there were still gangs, but they now called john figueroa themselves “crews.” Also, torn jean vests and bandanas gave way to mock necks, creased pants, and so on. I explored some of this in issue #10, where an old-school gang member has contempt for the changes the culture is undergoing—this was definitely a direction I wanted to move in, had we continued. There was also quite a bit of Wolfpack material that never saw print: almost three full issues, judging by featured characters, plot points, and page numbers on the pages that have surfaced (as well as notable variations in inking and lettering styles from page to page), as well as a “Slippery Sam” solo tale intended for Marvel Comics Presents. To the best of anyone’s recollection, these “lost” stories were produced simultaneously with those that saw print as issues #3, 4, and 5, and got set aside for one reason or another. HAMA: All the editors were required to commission inventory stories, because if somebody got run over by a truck, you had to have something to throw in the hopper. Also, we were doing an awful lot of this sort of blue sky developmental weirdness, Jim Shooter was expending money left and right, and I did a ton of it— I designed environments and vehicles for the Secret Wars toys; I did drawings of all the Marvel characters as kids for another project; I did one with Marvel characters as funny animals, and that’s what Peter Porker came from! [laughs] So, y’know, at that time, there was a lot of this in-house development stuff, promo pitches, showand-tell stuff for potential clients—it could also have been something like that. KAVANAGH: It’s possible that some of those were for an inventory issue to use instead of a reprint if we ran up against the “Dreaded Deadline Doom.” Or it’s possible that the pages were from a story that we had begun with Larry, but then got sidelined when Larry moved on from the book. FIGUEROA: I vaguely recall there was some stray art and plots from Ron that weren’t completed. He had plotted additional stories that needed scripting, some of which had half-finished artwork. I have a vague recollection of scripting at least some of the babysitting story… IVY: I don’t think I worked on any of those pages myself, but when I started on Wolfpack, I started on an issue that was already partially inked [by Dave Hunt], and one page looks similar to his style. I can also recognize that a couple most

Get a Grip (top) Courtesy of Heritage, original cover art to Wolfpack #6 (Jan. 1989). Pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Chris Ivy. (bottom) Rafael faces the streets’ crack epidemic head-on on this original art page from Wolfpack #9 (Apr. 1989). Story by John Figueroa, art by Ron Wilson and Chris Ivy. TM & © Marvel.

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Packin’ It Up (top) Wilson/Ivy covers to Wolfpack #11 and 12 (June and July 1989). (bottom) Page from the unpublished “Slippery Sam” story intended for Marvel Comics Presents. TM & © Marvel.

likely were inked by my old workmate Don Hudson. DON HUDSON: Yes, that’s my inking—the “Hudson Lane” street sign on page 5 is proof. I was doing my brush style that I was trying to get right. Chris, Rod Ramos, and I were “Romita Raiders” back in the day. We got a lot of low-priority jobs, so we’d done some [uncredited] work on the series… My special contribution was a splash page [in issue #3] where the gangs were fighting, and I drew a street sign that said “NO FIGHTING.” When we saw that in print, we died laughing! Over the second half of the limited series, the Wolfpack continued to evolve, dealing with the death of one of their founding members, inducting a new teammate, and finally battling the Nine face-to-face in the climactic issue #12. And then—except for a profile page in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe ’89—Wolfpack was no more. FIGUEROA: I wrote an outline for an arc that continued where the limited series left off, but the idea was we would wait and take a look at the sales… Ron and I made several attempts to revive it during Tom DeFalco’s stint as editorin-chief, and while he was supportive, this was during a time where there was a lot of upheaval at Marvel. As it goes with these things, it faded away. In more recent years, some elements from Wolfpack have been incorporated into the larger tapestry of the Marvel Universe: an alternate-reality version of the team made a brief appearance in 2008’s House of M: Avengers series, “Wheels” Wolinski gueststarred in a handful of Occupy: Avengers issues in 2017, and Marvel collected the original series in a 2018 trade paperback. But the team themselves have remained underground, hidden in the shadows of the South Bronx—presumably waiting for the right moment (and creative team) to reemerge, and once again defend their home turf from the forces of darkness. IVY: I’ll always have fond memories of my first regular freelance job at Marvel… over one of my art heroes, no less. I only wish that I could’ve returned to the series with the skill and experience I’d gained since then, though I have gotten a handful of chances to work with Ron again, through the custom commission circuit. FIGUEROA: Wolfpack was an attempt by a major comic-book publisher to do an action-adventure series about marginalized kids who were not superheroes. The core creative team was multiracial, it was edited by a very brilliant woman… It was a truly ambitious attempt to do something different! Funky fresh thanks to Todd Klein, Fabian Nicieza, Eliot R. Brown, Tom Orzechowski, Danny Fingeroth, Chris Eliopoulos, Lee Benaka, Michael Browning, and all the interviewees. PATRICK A. REED is a pop-culture historian and journalist based in New York City. He is the associate curator of the Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes exhibition, founder of the Hip-Hop and Comics: Cultures Combining panel series, and is currently developing a number of other exhibition and book projects. He can be found on social media as @djpatrickareed.

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Jarrod Buttery

As the 1980s begat company-wide crossovers such as Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) and Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), individual franchises embraced the x-emplar. And none more so than Marvel’s X-office: “Mutant Massacre” (1986) was followed by “Fall of the Mutants” (1987) and “Inferno” (1988). As established in the 1983 Magik miniseries, Illyana Rasputin—six-year-old sister of the X-Man Colossus—was kidnapped by the evil sorcerer Belasco. Illyana spent seven years in the mystical dimension of Limbo (although no time passed on Earth), where her mutant teleportation powers emerged as she simultaneously studied sorcery. Illyana used some of her own life-force energy to create a mystical Soulsword, enabling her to defeat and escape Belasco. louise simonson Returning to Earth, she quickly joined the New Mutants. WomeninComics.Wiki. By 1988, Illyana had become more adept in both sorcery and in using her teleportation discs. Ominously, the more she used her Soulsword, the more it seemed to have a corrupting influence on her… Meanwhile, in the pages of Uncanny X-Men, the titular mutants were scattered and presumed dead to the outside world (following “Fall of the Mutants”). At this time, their paths had not yet crossed with the original X-Men—including a long-thought-dead-but-returned Jean Grey—who were now operating as X-Factor. The two teams had been dancing around each other, neither fully aware of the other’s existence, but this situation couldn’t last forever…

THE MORE, THE MERRIER

“Inferno” originated as a storyline where the demons of Limbo invaded Earth, but x-panded into all of the X-books and much of the Marvel Universe. When Marvel Age #70 (Jan. 1989) asked, “Why do we do put out the tremendous effort it takes to coordinate a mega-story across several magazines?”, Louise Simonson, scripter of New Mutants and X-Factor, replied, “We do it from sheer stupidity!” Clarifying the “Inferno” crossover, Simonson explained, “Originally, all I wanted to do was deal with Illyana—her confrontation with what I guess you could call her destiny. That was really all I had in mind, just a story about Illyana and what she can become. When I talked to Chris Claremont (scripter of Uncanny X-Men) it turned out that he had some stuff in mind for the X-Men and X-Factor that sort of tied together with what I wanted to do, so we decided to do it in tandem.” In the same article, Claremont added, “All I wanted to do was clear up the redhead problem. Our real mistake was telling editor Bob Harras about it—and telling him it was okay for other books to join in.”

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New Kids on the Block Courtesy of artist Jon Bogdanove, a layout and finished illo of Taki, Leech, and Artie, plus (below) the totally rad twosome of Rictor and Boom Boom. X-Terminators TM & © Marvel.

At this point, X-Factor—starring the original X-Men—had amassed a supporting cast of young mutants, including Rusty, Skids, Artie, Leech, Rictor, and Boom-Boom. However, as events spiraled towards the much-hyped “Inferno”—and the long-awaited meeting between X-Men and X-Factor—the supporting cast was squeezed for space. They were given their chance to shine in the four-issue limited series X-Terminators—which served as a prelude to “Inferno.” In X-Terminators #1 (Oct. 1988), most of the young supporting cast are transferred to preppy boarding schools. However, our new-new mutants soon need to re-team when they discover that goblins are kidnapping babies—under the instruction of the demon N’astirh, who needs 13 infants to facilitate a spell that will open a permanent portal from Limbo to Earth. Shenanigans ensue. Jon Bogdanove penciled all four issues and admits he has a soft spot for the miniseries: “I think X-Terminators happened in the midst of my run on Power Pack. Louise had moved on to X-Factor, and I had taken on the writing on Power Pack in addition to drawing it. Whatever made me think I could draw X-Terminators at the same time, I don’t know—but Weezie requested me for X-Terminators! What else could I do? As many of us in the industry can attest, what Weezie wants, Weezie gets. She is an irresistible force! “Anyway, that would explain the numerous guest writers and artists on Power Pack that year. Carl Potts was an unbelievably wise, kind, and indulgent editor. He knew I couldn’t possibly keep up with two books at once, even if I didn’t. He socked a whole string of fill-ins and inventory stories into Power Pack’s schedule— plus he managed to stagger them so that some of my issues would be interspersed with the fill-ins. The happy result was to keep my presence felt on Power Pack even while I was off doing X-Terminators. It’s hard to imagine any editor today being given the leeway to be so accommodating. 72 • BACK ISSUE • 1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue

“I loved writing Power Pack, but I missed working with Weezie. Her writing is such a shrewd mix of sophisticated character-driven drama mixed with loveable human interest and a huge dollop of whimsy. Furthermore, her attitude about the work, as she’s often stated, is just that she likes to play with her friends. Working with her is pure fun. She’s also a genius at catering to her artists’ strengths. “My family and I lived in Maine. Most of X-Terminators takes place in and around New England, in towns where dear friends of ours lived in real life. I was able to choreograph most of the action into real settings you could actually go visit in our universe. Weezie knew I liked to scout real locations and use them in our stories. This made both Power Pack and X-Terminators feel extra personal and sentimental to me. I loved schlepping around the region, shooting local flavor reference to give X-Terminators the verisimilitude that many fans of the series love it for.”

FANS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

Indeed, part of the fun of X-Terminators is the contrast of real-world settings interspersed with the supernatural. At its opening, the demon S’ym tasks N’astirh with traveling to Earth to open a portal to Limbo. N’astirh and his cronies materialize in a cemetery in Queens and quickly commandeer a familiar-looking caretaker… “Inferno” was certainly a serious threat—a demonic invasion of Earth—but immediately, X-Terminators balanced this with a certain amount of fun. “Hey, comics are supposed to be fun!—for creators and readers alike,” enthuses Bogdanove. “All the greatest IPs in comics history that have gone on to make billions of dollars for Hollywood only exist because the artists and writers who invented them were left alone to play and have fun. I can’t think of any great character or franchise that was created by a committee of executives, can you? “In a very real sense, fun is a requirement of the job. Comics writers and artists are traditionally underpaid ‘work-for-hire’ labor—the entertainment industry equivalent of those guys that hang around outside Home Depot, clamoring for a scrap of paid work. We are at the absolute bottom of the monolith, the foundation on which the fortunes of the industry are built. We are the engines of their revenue, but most of us subsist at the level of minimum-wage workers. “Being a comics artist or writer has to be a labor of love, because it’s a dreadfully imprudent career choice, financially. Fun and Love comprise, then as now, the bulk of our compensation. But, aside from all that, Love and Fun are absolutely vital to the process itself. They are what drive all our best work. I can draw anything. I can grind through any thankless assignment—but I can only be great, or truly inventive, when I am free to explore and have fun.” Bogdanove explains to BACK ISSUE that Marvel’s environment in those days was looser than today’s model. “Marvel, in those days, was still fun,” he says. “It wouldn’t be long before the Marvel Age came to its unfortunate end and began its decades-long slide into corporate culture—but we didn’t know that yet. The Marvel Method was still Marvel’s modus operandi. That involved more than just the plot-first, scriptedfrom-the-pencils, workflow process Jack Kirby and Stan Lee devised. The Marvel Method hinged on the joyous rumpus of the Bullpen—the vibe Stan so often described in his letters columns, Bullpen Bulletins page, and Stan’s Soapbox. Marvel had a family of editors whose job was to foster talent in an atmosphere of freedom and fun.

“On top of that was Weezie’s credo of just wanting to play with her friends. It’s sort of been a guiding principle for both Simonsons—and by extension, their whole extended tribe. I am blessed to have come to Marvel while the Marvel Age was still happening, but I am more than blessed to have been befriended and fostered by the Simonsons. I am one of many in this business who learned both the practice and the philosophy of my craft from Walter and Louise Simonson. “As I mentioned, Weezie has a gift for writing to her artists’ strengths. She also encouraged and indulged playfulness—like letting me throw in my little homage to Bill Gaines and EC Comics, or letting me use the real Phillips Exeter for the preppy private school. We have friends who are alumni, another who worked there, and a third whose family founded the academies. Louise often gave me more rope than she should probably have done. Cringing, I can think of times when I overstepped my bounds—but generally our partnership worked really well, because at the core of it, we are both motivated by the same thing. So, yeah, I was having fun with the art!”

Growing Pains From X-Terminators #1: (top) The kids arrive at snooty Phillips Academy. (bottom) Taki discovers his abilities. By Louise Simonson, Jon Bogdanove, and Al Milgrom. Scans courtesy of Jarrod Buttery. TM & © Marvel.

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jon bogdanove Facebook.

Love and Fun… …and it’s clear Jon Bogdanove had gobs of both when penciling X-Terminators! Page 16 from issue #1, courtesy of Heritage. Inks by Al Williamson and Al Milgrom. TM & © Marvel.

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THE N’ASTIRH FACTOR

That fun extended to character design. Although not seen as often as other X-villains, N’astirh debuted here and has resurfaced over the years. Technically, N’astirh’s first chronological appearance was a cameo in X-Factor #32 (Sept. 1988), but that was a vagary of the publishing process. Bogdanove explains: “I believe I designed N’astirh for X-Terminators, but because X-Terminators and X-Factor were on different schedules, his cameo in X-Factor actually came out first. My main concern was to design him to look substantially different from his rival demon S’ym, who was already established. I wanted N’astirh to be scarier and more imposing than S’ym, because I knew he was not just the big bad in X-Terminators, but that Weezie and Chris Claremont wanted to play with him in other books too. “In addition to X-Terminators and X-Factor, N’astirh also appeared in my ‘Revenge of the Bogeyman’ story arc in Power Pack [starting with Power Pack #41, Dec. 1988], and throughout the whole ‘Inferno’ storyline. Weezie always gave me free reign in the visual design of any new character—but her characterization of who that character was and what they were like was always so well thought-out that the character’s visual appearance almost created itself. Weezie would write a new character, and then chat with me on the phone about them. Somewhere in those conversations, the character would just appear in my imagination as clearly as any real person I knew.” On the side of the protagonists, our other new character is a young wheelchair-bound mutant named Takeshi Matsuya, or “Taki” for short. Taki is a computer expert and technopath, using his mental abilities to reconfigure technology. After Artie and Leech are kidnapped by N’astirh’s minions (who are looking for infants to power N’astirh’s portal spell), “WizKid” converts his wheelchair into a helicopter and flies to Phillips Academy, Exeter, seeking help from Skids, Rictor, and Boom-Boom. “Again, Taki just appeared like magic in my brain—conjured by Weezie’s thorough description of his powers and personality,” volunteers Bogdanove. “She never needed to describe a character’s physical appearance. It always sprang organically from the way she had of making you think of them as real people!” Over 35 years, Taki has made barely a dozen appearances, but he recently reappeared in S.W.O.R.D. #1 (Feb. 2021), written by Al Ewing. As of this writing, Taki is an integral part of the S.W.O.R.D. space station. Of Taki, Commander Abigail Brand states, “Wiz-Kid is one of the Six. The Control. He runs the machine.” Taki joins forces with the older kids as they name themselves X-Terminators. “’Cause we’re gonna severely x-terminate some evil mutant-goblin-demon tail!” But Taki is himself kidnapped by the demons and forced to use his computer expertise to facilitate the incantations needed to open the dimensional portal. As they fight their way (assisted by Hostess Fruit Pies) through an increasingly demonically corrupted New York, the X-Terminators find N’astirh’s base—too late! Thanks to Taki’s (under duress) computer assistance, the portal to Limbo opens and Earth’s demonic invasion

Boom and Doom From X-Terminators #3: (top) Boom Boom digs her wheels. Says Jon Bogdanove: “Harleys are cool. And very New Englandy. Plus, my sister had one.)” (bottom) A nasty reveal of N’Astirh. Scans courtesy of Jarrod Buttery. TM & © Marvel.

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It’s Party Time! (top) A 2004 specialty illustration of the X-Terminators, by and courtesy of Jon Bogdanove. (bottom) Bogdanove/Milgrom covers to X-Terminators #2 and 4 (Nov. 1988, Jan. 1989). X-Terminators TM & © Marvel.

begins! (X-emplified by a gorgeous Bogdanove double-splash-page in X-Terminators #4, Jan. 1989.) Even with a last-minute assist from guest-stars the New Mutants, can our heroes prevail? Can Taki find the heroism within himself to interrupt the computer sequence which is holding the portal open? Will he survive the experience? (Spoiler alert: Taki is now a main character in S.W.O.R.D., so…) Final words must go to the x-traordinarily generous Jon Bogdanove: “I love X-Terminators! Usually, a big part of my job is stewardship. On Superman, or even Power Pack, I’m assiduously mindful of my responsibility to the original creators, and their fans, to honor their vision and edify their legacy. Because superheroes are not really literature so much as they are mythology, I take the responsibility of stewardship very seriously. Usually, I bear that burden with pride. “On X-Terminators, the burden of stewardship was less. One of the main things I love about X-Terminators was the freedom and fun of doing our own thing. Every other gig I’d had up until then, including Power Pack, had me following in the footsteps of an original creator. X-Terminators was my first opportunity to start fresh, from issue #1. Even though I already knew many of the characters from other books, this was my first chance to start a new group—to help set the tone, feel, and direction of a new title and a new team.” The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to Jon Bogdanove for his invaluable help. Thanks also to Louise Simonson who responded to contact but was unable to contribute. JARROD BUTTERY lives in Western Australia. As a child, he learned the word “exterminate” from watching Doctor Who and so has a soft spot for a bunch of kids calling themselves X-Terminators.

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

Find BACK ISSUE on

Friday Foster, writer Jim Lawrence and artist Jorge Longarón’s groundbreaking 1970–1974 American comic strip starring a female African-American photojournalist that also inspired a Dell comic book and 1975 motion picture starring Pam Grier, is back in print! Norma Editorial has restored the Friday Foster Sunday strips in a new compilation that can be ordered at: https://www.normaeditorial.com/ficha/comic-europeo/ friday-foster. Friday Foster is also one of the series to be explored in next year’s BACK ISSUE #136, a spotlight on Bronze Age comic strips including Spider-Man, World’s Greatest SuperHeroes, Star Hawks, Star Trek, and Mike Grell’s Tarzan.

BACK-TO-BACK GOODNESS

Long time reader (since issue #1, and subscriber for the past year), but first-time writer to Back Talk! Wanted to compliment ye olde ed, all the BACK ISSUE writers, and the mag’s crew for two outstanding back-to-back issues. I’m a huge Matt Wagner fan, and absolutely loved the articles on Grendel and Mage in #125. Thanks for contributing vintage photos, and kudos to the writers for interviewing not only Matt, but also Diana Schutz and the various artists who worked on Grendel back in the day. Matt addressing his son Brendan’s talents and artistic contribution to the last chapter of the Mage trilogy was awesome. Additionally, really enjoyed the spotlight on Stan Sakai’s career, especially Usagi Yojimbo, a series of which I need to begin finding collections. Still need to read the article on Colleen Doran, but am looking forward to it. From a focus on creator-owned comics of the ’80s in #125 to super-cool legacies (Wally West, the Romitas, the Osborns, and Brandon Routh’s take on both Superman and the Atom) in #126—wow! The issue arrived in the mail today and can’t wait

THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY

to dive in! The Flash on the CW is my favorite series on network TV, Routh’s comedic work on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has been the highlight of that series in recent seasons, and I’m currently enjoying JR JR’s run in Marvel Masterworks Amazing Spider-Man #22, so I’m ready to get started reading those articles! Last year, I left Evanston, Illinois, where I lived for 27 years, for a job opportunity in Dallas, and donated two dozen boxes of comics to Aw Yeah! Comics in Skokie, Illinois, but I kept a dozen long boxes and magazine boxes, including the entire print run of BACK ISSUE and several issues of Alter Ego, too. BACK ISSUE’s amazing decade-plus run brings back memories of going to stores in my hometown of St. Louis, the City of Chicago, and its northern suburbs to pick up my weekly titles, but also I greatly enjoy how your magazine continues to cover the post-Silver Age in a fun yet informative way. Much respect and gratitude to you, TwoMorrows, and the entire BACK ISSUE gang for years of thought-provoking articles and dedication to covering the art form we all cherish. Keep up the great work, and be well! – Tim Angell On behalf of everyone who brings you each BI, Tim, thanks for the praise. And being no stranger to moving—and knowing just how heavy a collection of BIs can be—I’m honored that our mag made the cut during your relocation!

BRANDON ROUTH, A SUPER SUPERMAN

Received my contributor copies yesterday, thanks for having them sent! I dived right into your interview with Brandon Routh and enjoyed it thoroughly. He seems like such a nice guy. It still angers me that he was treated so shabbily by WB re: Superman—I thought he was very good in the role and deserved a second shot. And I stopped watching Legends of Tomorrow the moment he left—he was actually the only reason I was sticking around at that point. I was really hoping that the new Superman and Lois TV series was going to feature him in the title role. He blew Tyler Hoechlin off the screen during the CW’s attempt at Crisis on Infinite Earths.

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Looking forward to reading the rest of the issue—and revisiting my Green Goblin article. – Glenn Greenberg And what a groovy Green Goblin article it was, Glenn!

A LEGACY IN CRISIS

John Schwirian’s article on Infinity, Inc. (BI #126) was fascinating. What a great idea this was for a team—JSA, the Next Generation, for want of a better phrase. I collected the title at the time, although I dropped it in the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths, after which it made a lot less sense. I think of all the DC titles on the newsstands in 1985, Infinity, Inc. was the one that was the most seriously affected by Crisis. I’ve subsequently completed the run, and Roy Thomas’ frustration at what the abandonment of the multiple earths has done to the characters and the magazine is very apparent in his letters columns. From being a legacy team, with each member tied to an existing character, Infinity, Inc. suddenly became just another superhero team, although without any obvious reason or purpose, other than being “heroes for hire.” Roy and Dann Thomas were obliged to expend an enormous amount of energy that should have been spent on story and character development reverseengineering the continuity. This sort of thing has mixed results, often because the existing readership is reluctant to buy into it, especially when they suspect it wasn’t the writer’s original intention. I have to say I was never convinced by the whole Lyta Trevor/ Sandman Dreaming stuff, and I’d wager most of the II readership wasn’t, either. Heaven knows what a casual reader of a postCrisis issue of II would have made of it. In hindsight, it seems remarkable that Infinity, Inc. carried on for three years post-Crisis, and that actually they had a longer non-legacy career than a legacy one. It’s impossible to imagine such a thing happening in the comics world today. – Simon Bullivant P.S.: According to Roy Thomas, DC hated the rhyming speech of Helix’s Mr. Bones. Roy—they weren’t the only ones.

HAVE A HEART, WALLY

BACK ISSUE #126 was another stellar issue! As usual with BACK ISSUE, I get excited to read particular articles about certain books or characters and yet inevitably end up being equally excited when I read an article I initially had no interest in. Such was the case with “Growing Up Fast” about Wally West. Although I enjoyed Wally as a member of the Teen (and New Teen) Titans, I was disappointed when I picked up the first two issues of his new series after Legends—this Wally West was not the same conservative, adorably sincere but whiny guy I had grown up with. And charging money to deliver a heart to a hospital? Sad to say, I gave up on the title quickly, but after reading this encompassing article by John Wells, I’m thinking of picking up the trade paperbacks. I really appreciated that John started with Marv Wolfman, as opposed to Mike Baron—that really helped to tie Wally’s stories together.

Likewise, Michael, the transcript of your interview with Brandon Routh was much appreciated. The graciousness and humbleness with which he imbued the roles of Clark and Superman shined through, both in his portrayal and in your discussion. I was so glad he had a chance to revisit the role on the CW Crisis crossovers. Lastly, I really loved look back at Infinity, Inc., by John Schwirian. Infinity is actually my all-time favorite comic book, so personally I can never read enough about it. The art alone is remarkable— how many books have been blessed by the likes of Jerry Ordway, Don Newton, Michael Bair, Vince Argondezzi, and Todd McFarlane?!? That is an incredible lineup for one book. I felt like there were many interesting stories left for Roy Thomas to tell, but it sounds like he really lost interest once the JSA was scooted off to Limbo, which was unfortunate. I just wanted to clarify a few things that were probably just oversights, but Nuklon was not the Atom’s adopted son (page 57 last paragraph)—rather, Al was the Atom’s godson. Also, Lyta Trevor was never shown to be Iron Munro’s daughter (page 57, paragraph 5), although it’s a possibility. If there was anything I could have wished for, it would have been that the original black-and-white character designs created by Mike Machlan and Jerry Ordway that had been printed in Alter Ego #1 could have been reprinted here in color. Besides Jade, Fury, Nuklon, and Northwind, there were also designs for other possible characters, such as Kronos, possibly the ward of Hourman, Blue Dolphin (possibly the daughter of Neptune Perkins and Tsunami), a new Sandman reminiscent of the 1970s Kirby creation, and a new male Harlequin. Seeing those designs in color just would have been icing on the cake. – Daniel Brozak Daniel, we had hoped to run those early II illos, but they weren’t available to us at presstime.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

It’s been ages since I wrote a letter to the editor, but wanted to applaud you for the history of Infinity, Inc. in issue #126. Great article by John Schwirian, and he answered, or provided the most plausible theory on Lyta Trevor-Hall’s parentage, post-Crisis. I don’t think DC or Roy Thomas ever confirmed if Lyta was the product of Iron Munro and the Young All Stars’ Fury. Although the way Roy wrote them in YAS, all arrows pointed in that direction. Back in year two of Geoff Johns run on JSA, I messaged him on a JSA usenet site, asking him to confirm Iron Munro as her father. Johns included Munro in the JSA: Worlds at War Special, so I felt it was an opportune time to ask. His response: “It’s complicated and I will tell the story one day.” His run on JSA lasted about a decade and he never told that story. Keep up the great work on BACK ISSUE. As I get older, and buy less and less of the new books that aren’t targeted to my demographics, the one constant that’s been on my pull list for over a decade, is BACK ISSUE. – Ken Loo

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Next issue: Those of you who enjoyed #126’s “Legacy” theme are gonna love BACK ISSUE #133, the “Starmen” issue, headlined by JAMES ROBINSON and TONY HARRIS’ Jack Knight Starman! Plus: The Star-Spangled Kid, Starjammers, the 1980s Starman, and Starstruck! Featuring DAVE COCKRUM, GERRY CONWAY, ROBERT GREENBERGER, DAVE HOOVER, MICHAEL Wm. KALUTA, PAUL KUPPERBERG, ELAINE LEE, TOM LYLE, ROGER STERN, ROY THOMAS, and more, plus an extraordinary Jack Knight Starman cover by Tony Harris. Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in sixty! Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

IN MEMORIAM

david anthony kraft (1952–2021)

Writer and comics historian David Anthony Kraft, 68, a great friend of BACK ISSUE, died on May 19, 2021 of respiratory pneumonia related to a COVID-19 illness. Dave is best remembered for his 1970s Marvel and DC work including The Defenders, Man-Wolf, and Savage She-Hulk, and for his 1980s magazine featuring his conversations with industry pros, David Anthony Kraft’s Comics Interview. He was slated for an interview about his Marvel custom comics work in the forthcoming BACK ISSUE #134; that feature will instead be a tribute to his custom comics. BACK ISSUE extends its deepest sympathies to his widow, Jennifer Bush-Kraft, to his family, and to his legion of fans.

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RETROFAN #13

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!

HALLOWEEN ISSUE! Interviews with DARK SHADOWS’ 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!

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!

Exclusive interviews with Lost in Space’s MARK GODDARD and MARTA KRISTEN, Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, Hogan’s Heroes’ BOB CRANE, a history of WhamO’s Frisbee, Twilight Zone and other TV sci-fi anthologies, Who Created Archie Andrews?, oddities from the San Diego Zoo, lava lamps, and more with FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY!

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

FROM TWOMORROWS & JON B. COOKE

JOHN SEVERIN: TWO-FISTED COMIC BOOK ARTIST A spirited biography of the EC COMICS mainstay (working with HARVEY KURTZMAN on MAD and TWO-FISTED TALES) and co-creator of Western strip AMERICAN EAGLE. Covers his 40+ year association with CRACKED magazine, his pivotal Marvel Comics work inking HERB TRIMPE on THE HULK and teaming with sister MARIE SEVERIN on KING KULL, and more! With commentary by NEAL ADAMS, RICHARD CORBEN, JOHN BYRNE, RUSS HEATH, WALTER SIMONSON, and many others. By GREG BIGA and JON B. COOKE. NOW SHIPPING! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-106-6

OLD GODS & NEW SOFTCOVER

AND LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #80 is a double-size

book titled “Old Gods & New”, documenting the genesis of Kirby’s FOURTH WORLD series, his use of gods in THOR and other strips prior to the Fourth World, how those influenced his DC epic, and affected later series like THE ETERNALS and CAPTAIN VICTORY. To commemorate this landmark publication, TwoMorrows is offering both a SOFTCOVER EDITION, and a LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION (just 400 copies), only available directly from the publisher! By JOHN MORROW, with contributions by JON B. COOKE. (160-page full-color LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION) $35.95 • (Std. trade paperback) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99 • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4 • NOW SHIPPING!

CBA BULLPEN: The Magic Is Back! COLLECTING THE UNKNOWN ISSUES OF COMIC BOOK ARTIST! COMIC BOOK ARTIST BULLPEN collects all seven issues of the little-seen labor of love fanzine published in the early 2000s by JON B. COOKE (editor of today’s COMIC BOOK CREATOR magazine), just after the original CBA ended its TwoMorrows run. Featured are in-depth interviews with some of comics’ major league players, including GEORGE TUSKA, FRED HEMBECK, TERRY BEATTY, and FRANK BOLLE—and an amazing all-star tribute to Silver Age great JACK ABEL by the Marvel Comics Bullpen and others. That previously unpublished all-comics Abel appreciation (assembled by RICK PARKER) includes strips by JOE KUBERT, WALTER SIMONSON, KYLE BAKER, MARIE SEVERIN, GRAY MORROW, ALAN WEISS, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, MORT TODD, DICK AYERS, and many more! Includes the never-released CBA BULLPEN #7, a new bonus feature on JACK KIRBY’s unknown 1960 baseball card art, and a 16-page full-color section, all behind a KIRBY COVER! (176-page TRADE PAPERBACK with COLOR) $24.95 • (Digital Edition) $8.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-105-9 • NOW SHIPPING!

New Comics Magazines!

ALTER EGO #175

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #26

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #27

Spotlighting the artists of ROY THOMAS’ 1980s DC series ALL-STAR SQUADRON! Interviews with artists ARVELL JONES, RICHARD HOWELL, and JERRY ORDWAY, conducted by RICHARD ARNDT! Plus, the Squadron’s FINAL SECRETS, including previously unpublished art, & covers for issues that never existed! With FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and a wraparound cover by ARVELL JONES!

Career-spanning interview with TERRY DODSON, and Terry’s wife (and go-to inker) RACHEL DODSON! Plus 1970s/’80s portfolio producer SAL QUARTUCCIO talks about his achievements with Phase and Hot Stuf’, R. CRUMB and DENIS KITCHEN discuss the history of underground comix character Pro Junior, WILL EISNER’s Valentines to his wife, HEMBECK, and more!

Extensive PAUL GULACY retrospective by GREG BIGA that includes Paul himself, VAL MAYERIK, P. CRAIG RUSSELL, TIM TRUMAN, ROY THOMAS, and others. Plus a JOE SINNOTT MEMORIAL; BUD PLANT discusses his career as underground comix retailer, distributor, fledgling publisher of JACK KATZ’s FIRST KINGDOM, and mail-order bookseller; our regular columnists, and the latest from HEMBECK!

(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 Feb. 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships April 2022

(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 Winter 2022

KIRBY COLLECTOR #81

KIRBY COLLECTOR #82

KIRBY COLLECTOR #83

BACK ISSUE #134

BACK ISSUE #135

“THE MANY WORLDS OF JACK KIRBY!” From Sub-Atomica to outer space, visit Kirby’s work from World War II, the Fourth World, and hidden worlds of Subterranea, Wakanda, Olympia, Lemuria, Atlantis, the Microverse, and others! Plus, a 2021 Kirby panel, featuring JONATHAN ROSS, NEIL GAIMAN, & MARK EVANIER, a Kirby pencil art gallery from MACHINE MAN, 2001, DEVIL DINOSAUR, & more!

“Famous Firsts!” How JACK KIRBY was a pioneer in comics: Romance Comics genre, Kid Gangs, double-page spreads, Black heroes, new formats, super-hero satire, and others! With MARK EVANIER and our regular columnists, plus a gallery of Jack’s pencil art from CAPTAIN AMERICA, JIMMY OLSEN, CAPTAIN VICTORY, DESTROYER DUCK, BLACK PANTHER, unseen ANIMATION CONCEPTS, & more!

BRONZE AGE RARITIES & ODDITIES, spotlighting rare ‘80s European Superman comics! Plus: CURT SWAN’s Batman, JIM APARO’s Superman, DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT’s Marvel custom comics, MICHAEL USLAN’s unseen Earth-Two stories, Leaf’s DC Secret Origins, Marvel’s Evel Knievel, cover variants, and more! With EDUARDO BARRETO, PAUL KUPPERBERG, ALEX SAVIUK, and more. Cover by JOE KUBERT.

SILVER ISSUE, starring the Silver Surfer in the Bronze Age! Plus: JACK KIRBY’s Silver Star, SCOTT HAMPTON’s Silverheels, Silver Sable, Silver Banshee, DC’s Silver Age Classics, and more! Featuring BUSIEK, BUTLER, BYRNE, ENGLEHART, STAN LEE, LIM, MARZ, MOEBIUS, POLLARD, MARSHALL ROGERS, ALEX ROSS, JIM STARLIN, and more. Cover by RON FRENZ and JOE SINNOTT.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Winter 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Spring 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships March 2022

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships May 2022

2021

“KIRBY: BETA!” Jack’s experimental ideas, characters, and series (Fighting American, Jimmy Olsen, Kamandi, and others), Kirby interview, inspirations for his many “secret societies” (The Project, Habitat, Wakanda), non-superhero genres he explored, 2019 Heroes Con panel (with MARK EVANIER, MIKE ROYER, JIM AMASH, and RAND HOPPE), a pencil art gallery, UNUSED JIMMY OLSEN #141 COVER, and more!

SUBSCRIPTION RATES Alter Ego (Six issues) Back Issue (Eight issues) BrickJournal (Six issues) Comic Book Creator (Four issues) Jack Kirby Collector (Four issues) RetroFan (Six issues)

ECONOMY US $68 $90 $68 $46 $49 $68

EXPEDITED US $80 $103 $80 $56 $59 $80

PREMIUM US $87 $113 $87 $60 $63 $87

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History. TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

INTERNATIONAL $103 $137 $103 $69 $72 $103

DIGITAL ONLY $27 $36 $27 $18 $18 $27

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ALTER EGO #174

FCA [FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA] issue—spearheaded by feisty and informative articles by Captain Marvel co-creator C.C. BECK—plus a fabulous feature on vintage cards created in Spain and starring The Marvel Family! In addition: DR. WILLIAM FOSTER III interview (conclusion)—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on the lost art of comicbook greats—the haunting of JOHN BROOME—and more! BECK cover!

PRINTED IN CHINA

ALTER EGO #173

BLACK HEROES IN U.S. COMICS! Awesome overview by BARRY PEARL, from Voodah to Black Panther and beyond! Interview with DR. WILLIAM FOSTER III (author of Looking for a Face Like Mine!), art/artifacts by BAKER, GRAHAM, McDUFFIE, COWAN, GREENE, HERRIMAN, JONES, ORMES, STELFREEZE, BARREAUX, STONER—plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS.