Back Issue! 132 Preview by TwoMorrows Publishing

This issue: 1980s MARVEL LIMITED SERIES! r 2021

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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!

Volume 1, Number 132 December 2021 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

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

FLASHBACK: Wolverine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The seminal 1982 four-issue classic by Claremont, Miller, and Rubinstein

Alex Jay Terry Kavanagh Todd Klein Christopher Larochelle Alan Light Franck Martini Al Milgrom Frank Miller Ian Millsted Paul Neary Fabian Nicieza Ann Nocenti Luigi Novi Tom Orzechowski Patrick A. Reed Josef Rubinstein Rose Rummel-Eury Louise Simonson Jerry Smith Tom Speelman Roger Stern David F. Walker Ron Wilson Doug Zawisza Mike Zeck

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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.

PROOFREADER David Baldy SPECIAL THANKS Lee Benaka Jon Bogdanove Eliot R. Brown Michael Browning Bob Budiansky Jarrod Buttery Dewey Cassell Chris Claremont Tom DeFalco J. M. DeMatteis Bill DeSimone Bobby Drake Chris Eliopolous John Figueroa Danny Fingeroth Beth Fleisher Stephan Friedt Kahlil Gearon Grand Comics Database Steven Grant Larry Hama Heritage Comics Auctions Don Hudson Chris Ivy

BACKSEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Christopher 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.

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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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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

Doug 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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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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Franck 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.

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Bill 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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To m S p e e l m a n

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.

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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.

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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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Dewey Cassell

Jerry 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.

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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

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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.

Stephan Friedt

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.

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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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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Ian Millsted

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

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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.

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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 theENJOYED series, it probably should’ve, IF YOU THIS PREVIEW, but it didn’t occur to any of us! Nobody made a big out CLICK THE LINK TO ORDERdeal THIS of these things, and you IN gotta remember, back then, a lot ISSUE PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT! 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. BACK ISSUE #132 Nico “Wheels” Wolinski; and Wolinski’s cat Nine Tails, the sole character 1980s MARVEL LIMITED SERIES! CLAREMONT/MILLER’s WolBlack Panther, Falcon, Punisher, MachineYork Man, Iceman, fed into me by living in New City. from Wilson’s original proposal sketches to make the cut. The team was WILSON: A lot of things wereverine, Magik, Fantastic Four vs. X-Men, Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D., but I would venture into Queens, brought together by the mysterious Mr. Mack, who trained them in martial Of course, I grew up in Brooklyn, Wolfpack, and more! With BOGDANOVE, COWAN, DeFALCO, HAMA,IMILGROM, NEARY, theDeMATTEIS, Bronx, GRANT, because had relatives arts and taught them of the age-old battle between the Nine (an order Long Island, Manhattan, and WINDSOR-SMITH, and more. Cover by JOE RUBINof the cultures that were developing devoted to crime and chaos) and the noble “Wolfpacks”(bands of and friends, so I became partSMITH, STEIN. Edited by MICHAEL EURY. there—and at that time, I’m especially talking about hip-hop culture. renegades who fought on the side of righteousness and order). (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

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1980s Marvel Limited Series Issue • BACK ISSUE • 63