Back Issue #141 by TwoMorrows Publishing

SPIES AND P.I.S ISSUE! ry 202

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1 4 1 . o N 10.95 Februa

…PLUS A HISTORY OF

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82658 00489

HYDRA!

MARK EVANIER Crossfire column • MAX ALLAN COLLINS & TERRY BEATTY Ms. Tree interview WILL EISNER’S John Law • Checkmate • Tim Trench • Mike Mauser & more

Volume 1, Number 141 February 2023 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Dave Johnson COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER David Baldy SPECIAL THANKS Terry Beatty Ian Millsted Pat Broderick Joe Norton Michael Browning Luigi Novi Rick Burchett Patrick A. Reed Dewey Cassell Ben Saunders Ed Catto Hilarie Staton Gary Chaloner Joe Staton Howard Chaykin Bryan D. Stroud D. G. Chichester Roy Thomas Max Allan Collins John Trumbull Jon B. Cooke Mike Vosburg Kim DeMulder Gregory Wright ERBzine.com Steve Erwin Mark Evanier Danny Fingeroth Stephan Friedt Tom Grindberg Bob Hall Bob Harras Heritage Comics Auctions Ben Herman Tony Isabella James Heath Lantz Ed Lute Howard Mackie David Michelinie

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IN MEMORIAM: Tim Sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FLASHBACK: Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos in the Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . 3 The final days of the future S.H.I.E.L.D. director’s battle comic BEYOND CAPES: Whatever Happened to Tim Trench? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 A casebook of capers starring Denny O’Neil’s DC Comics gumshoe BACKSTAGE PASS: Nick Fury, Agent at Large . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Marvel creators go behind the scenes of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Bronze Age missions UNKNOWN MARVEL: Nick Fury in Britain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent’s adventures in Marvel UK comics FLASHBACK: Mike Mauser, Private Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 This mousey detective graduated from an E-Man appearance to his own feature WHAT THE--?!: Encyclopedia Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Did you know that this schoolboy crime-solver had a comic strip? PRO2PRO: Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty’s Ms. Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 The hard-case heroine’s history, in an interview with her creators OFF MY CHEST: Caught (Happily) in the Crossfire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Guest columnist Mark Evanier recalls the joys of his collaborations with Dan Spiegle BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Hail Hydra! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 A villain history of the many-armed criminal cartel ONE-HIT WONDERS: Will Eisner’s John Law, Detective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Discover the Spirit-ed history of this little-known character FLASHBACK: The Secret World of Checkmate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 The explosive story of DC Comics’ super-espionage team BACK TALK: Reader Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 BACK ISSUE™ issue 141, February 2023 (ISSN 1932-6904) is published monthly (except Jan., March, May, and Nov.) by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Back Issue, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editorin-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $97 Economy US, $147 International, $39 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover artwork by Dave Johnson. Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra TM & © Marvel. All Rights Reserved. All editorial matter © 2023 TwoMorrows and Michael Eury. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING

S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 1

IN MEMORIAM

TIM SALE (1956–2022)

Photo © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

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Wah-hoo, BACK ISSUE readers! Before he headed S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury commanded the Howling Commandos in World War II. Yet, this group didn’t have the audience that DC Comics’ Sgt. Rock and the Unknown Soldier had in their titles’ later years. Did Dum-Dum Dugan jinx his comrades-in-arms, or were there other factors that didn’t allow Nick and his pals to get their adventures to the comicloving civilians? Our salute to spies and gumshoes begins with a look at Fury and his Howling Commandos’ adventures in the Bronze Age and their comic book’s transformation into a reprint title. Just read this article before Nick lights one of his cheap cigars. The ashes will burn the pages.

HOWLING BRONZE FURY

by J a

mes Heath

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had already revitalized the superhero genre of comics with titles like Fantastic Four when they introduced readers to Sgt. Fury and His Lantz Howling Commandos in 1963. Set in World War II, Sgt. Fury told the stories of Sgt. Nick Fury and his group of six soldiers fighting Nazi tyranny, storming into action with a roaring “Wah-hoo!” battle cry. One of the Howling Commandos’ members was African-American Private Gabriel “Gabe” Jones. Though the character was a comics milestone during the civil rights movement, he was mistakenly colored Caucasian in Sgt. Fury #1 (May 1963). Gabe and Cpl. Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader—“Dum-Dum” Dugan—would later serve with Nick Fury as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Stan Lee stayed on Sgt. Fury until issue #28 (Mar. 1966). Inker Dick Ayers would take over full art chores with #10 after Kirby left the series. Jack, however, would draw Sgt. Fury #13, which guest-starred Captain America and Bucky. Ayers would continue to render the Howling Commandos missions for a decade or so, with his run going through #120, excluding a few fill-ins. Lee was succeeded by Roy Thomas as writer until Gary Friedrich took over with Sgt. Fury #42 (May 1967). Friedrich would co-plot #42–44 with artist Dick Ayers before taking on full story chores on #45 and onward. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos would eventually become the signature series for the creative team gary friedrich of Friedrich, Ayers, and inker John Severin as the Bronze Age rolled around. In an interview with Matthew Price of The Oklahoman published on June 6, 2008, Friedrich talked about how he got Sgt. Fury and remained on the

Howling Bronze Fury At the dawn of the Bronze Age, one-time EC Comics artist John Severin enlivened Marvel’s Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos with his dynamic cover art and finishes to artist Dick Ayers’ interior pencils. Issue #74 (Jan. 1970) featured an unforgettable battle tale by guest writer Archie Goodwin. TM & © Marvel.

S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 3

Eye-Catching Art (top) Gary Friedrich’s thought-provoking tale “The Deserter,” in Sgt. Fury #75 (Feb. 1970), featured this shocking Severin cover. (bottom) Original art for its title splash, with Ayers pencils. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

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comic for so long. He said that new writers had to follow an order of assignment types in the Marvel Bullpen. First they had to write romance books, then Westerns, war books, etc., before graduating to superhero titles. By the time Friedrich moved on to superhero books, he wanted to stay on Sgt. Fury even after he was writing higher-profile projects like The Incredible Hulk. Friedrich had grown fond of Nick Fury, Gabe Jones, and the rest of the Howling Commandos. Thus, he said he had talked Stan Lee and Roy Thomas into allowing him to stay on Sgt. Fury. Thomas, however, remembers things differently. “I don’t recall any such conversation about letting Gary stay on Sgt. Fury,” Thomas tells BACK ISSUE. “I don’t even recall Stan or me ever trying to move him off that book, since he was doing it well. But maybe Stan once thought about moving him on from Sgt. Fury just as he had had me turn Fury over to Gary.” Lou Mougin stated in his Amazing Heroes #22 article titled “The Very Happy War of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos” that Friedrich used his father’s war experiences as inspiration for his run on Sgt. Fury, helping the Friedrich/Ayers/Severin run become morality tales that ask the readers if war is John severin just and necessary. Sure, Nick Fury and his group of ragtag soldiers are fighting Axis totalitarianism, but the cost of that fight can weigh greatly on one’s soul. Friedrich discussed this aspect of his Sgt. Fury work in The Oklahoman, saying that he would use Sgt. Fury to discuss his anti-war stance because he felt as if he was doing something to get his message out to people. In addition to showing readers that war is truly hell, Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers, and John Severin made each character much more than a two-dimensional hero or villain. The art incredibly shows the internal emotions of everyone involved in the stories that look within the blood and thunder of combat. “Each Man Alone!” from Sgt. Fury #74 (Jan. 1970) is just one example of this. Each Howling Commando has his own mission as a component of Operation Jigsaw. Dino Manelli, an entertainer-turnedsoldier (inspired by Dean Martin), must steal important documents, using his acting skills to woo an officer’s daughter, Frieda, to accomplish this. Ayers and Severin’s use of facial expressions, combined stupendously with guest scribe Archie Goodwin’s writing, convey Dino’s feelings of guilt for using the girl in such a way. The situation gets more complicated after some heated fisticuffs with Frieda’s father. We later learn that her father is among the German soldiers that realize dick ayers Hitler is a genocidal madman; he wants Dino © Marvel. to take Frieda out of the country to give her a better life. The creative team once again shows intense feelings with an excellent combination of sequential art and words. The next issue’s brilliant “The Deserter” is a superb example of the Sgt. Fury creative team of Friedrich, Ayers, and Severin telling a story of the human condition within the horrors of war. Private Duane Wilson is the new recruit replacing Eric Koenig. At first, Wilson seems gung-ho to take on the Nazis. Yet, in the heat of battle, he runs away. Fury and the Commandos recall the events that led to Wilson facing a firing squad. From a visual and narrative standpoint, “The Deserter” delves into the psyches of the characters, particularly Wilson, to tell a compelling story to entertain readers while making them ponder the harsh realities of war. “Tell me, Sarge,” Wilson, with an expression of fearful panic, says to Nick Fury. “Who’s any man to judge another human being?” Those words alone don’t just describe Wilson’s feelings. They also ask the reader if this is what war truly is.

FURY REVISITED

With issue #80 (Sept. 1970), Sgt. Fury began alternating between new and previously published stories. According to Stan Lee in a 2011 interview published in Alter Ego #104, fans wanted more Sgt. Fury, but he and other creators were too busy with other projects at Marvel to produce new material each issue. Lou Mougin reported in his Amazing Heroes article that both Gary Friedrich and John Severin had taken leaves of absence for unrevealed reasons. Reprints were implemented to lighten workloads. But Roy Thomas tells BACK ISSUE another reason for mixing older Sgt. Fury stories with all-new ones. “Sales had gotten a bit soft, and the publisher (probably still Martin Goodman rather than Stan Lee) had the run changed to half-new, half-reprint for a time to see if that saved money. It turned out the reprints sold about as well as the new stories. Sales would’ve been virtually the only factor in Marvel going first with every-other-issue reprints and then full reprints. Gary and others may have done the books well, but in the long run, it died the same death as X-Men, Doctor Strange, S.H.I.E.L.D., and for that matter, Silver Surfer.” During this period, a new logo was implemented with issue #93 (Nov. 1971). After an all-new three-issue run written by Gerry Conway in issues #117–119, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #120 (July 1974), written by Larry Lieber, featured the last original story in the series. An era had come to an end for Nick Fury and his Axis-fighting cohorts. Yet, the Howling Commandos’ battles would continue on the spinner racks, but exclusively in retold classics. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos permanently became a bimonthly reprint title with issue #121 (Sept. 1974), reprinting the cover and story from issue #19 (June 1965). For the time being, Sgt. Fury continued its chronological reprinting, with #122 reprinting issue #20, and so on… although there were a few variations along the way. Issue #133 (May 1975) introduced a logo change, with the header “Blazing Battle Action with…” leading into a revised Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos logo. Issue #145 (Mar. 1978), which reprinted Sgt. Fury #50 (Jan. 1968), featured a new cover by Dave Cockrum and Frank Giacoia. Otherwise, the reprint series also reprinted the original covers, albeit recolored. Two issues, #154 (Oct. 1979) and 160 (Oct. 1980), kept their Sgt. Fury logos, but supplanted the Howling Commandos’ classics with issues of Marvel’s Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Savages, issues #6 (Sept. 1968) and 11 (Feb. 1969), respectively. Both had new covers by Herb Trimpe and Al Milgrom. Otherwise, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos marched along as a reprint series until its final issue, #167 (Dec. 1981)—which reprinted the hard-to-find Sgt. Fury #1!

A Title in Transition (left) Sgt. Fury #92 (Oct. 1971) featured one new story and one reprint, published during Marvel’s month-long flirtation with a double-sized format also used at the time by competitor DC Comics. Cover by Herb Trimpe. (right) With issue #93 (Nov. 1971), the book premiered a new logo and settled in to Marvel’s return to a 32page format (and a cover price five cents lower than its Distinguished Competition’s books!). Cover by Ayers. TM & © Marvel.

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Nowadays, monthly or bimonthly reprint titles have given way to collected editions in hardcover, paperback, or digital forms found in comic shops and bookstores. While having started as early as the late 1960s, comic specialty shops were uncommon in the time of Sgt. Fury’s run. Back-issue bins were hard to find before the direct market boom of the late 1980s and 1990s. Copies of a book like Sgt. Fury #1 would also have been too expensive for readers who could only pay cover prices for comics. Plus, if one missed an issue of their favorite title in much of the Bronze Age, books showcasing tales from the past were the easiest, most affordable means of getting one’s hands on some classic comics. So for Marvelites wanting to read Sgt. Fury classics without having to pay big bucks for back issues, the Bronze Age reprint era of the series was appreciated.

AN UNMATCHABLE CREATIVE TEAM

The Other Fury Reprint Book (above) Special Marvel Edition (SME), which launched in 1971 as a Thor reprint title, shifted to Sgt. Fury reprints from issue #5 (July 1972) through this one, #14 (Nov. 1973). SME is most famous—and collectible—for its all-new Master of Kung Fu feature, which launched in the next issue, #15. (right) The final issue of Sgt. Fury. TM & © Marvel.

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Gary Friedrich left the comics field in 1978 before returning in 1993 to work with Roy Thomas and Sgt. Fury collaborators Dick Ayers and John Severin on Topps Comics’ version of Jack Kirby’s Bombast. Ayers and Severin worked off and on throughout their lives after their much-praised Sgt. Fury run. While Friedrich loved comics, ownership of some characters he had created, most notably Ghost Rider, may have been a bone of contention for him. “I couldn’t have even said exactly when Gary did leave comics, or when they left him, since it happened in some ways gradually,” Roy Thomas surmises for BACK ISSUE. “In another sense, it happened several times. But I do suspect that, once [Marvel production manager] John Verpoorten died at the end of 1977, subsequent editors had little interest in hiring him since they felt his work had deteriorated due to his distance from New York City and his drinking. I’m not blaming [editor-in-chief] Jim Shooter for any of this, but as he took over from Archie Goodwin at the turn of that year, I can’t imagine he was going to seek Gary out for work since John was gone.” The Friedrich, Ayers, and Severin Sgt. Fury run was a hard act to follow. Like their DC counterparts the Losers and Sgt. Rock and Easy Company, the Howling Commandos had their following. Yet, perhaps because many fans held the Friedrich/ Ayers/Severin Sgt. Fury stories in such high regard, sales lagged after Friedrich left as writer and Severin’s polished inks no longer graced Ayers’ pencils. Maybe Marvel switched the book to reprints because nobody was willing to fill this creative team’s huge shoes. After all, Friedrich told war stories that could be considered on par with the likes of Robert Kanigher at DC Comics. Yet, even reprintings of Friedrich and other creators’ Sgt. Fury runs weren’t enough to save the comic from being cancelled with issue #167. Sadly, Gary Friedrich passed away in 2018. Despite his ups and downs with the comics industry, his Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos remains fondly remembered to this day. Friedrich’s thought-provoking sagas will make any fan or casual reader shout “Wah-hoo!” all the way to their local comics shop and back. Dedicated to my beautiful and incredible wife Laura, whose love makes my heart scream Wah-hoo; Jadis, Pupino, Odino, and our four-legged feline and canine Howling Commandos, feared by all Nazis; my nephew Kento, who defeated Baron Strucker; and the late Gary Friedrich and all the creators past, present, and future responsible for making the Howling Commandos’ battle cry heard. May Nick Fury always watch over you. JAMES HEATH LANTZ is a freelance writer whose stories, essays, and reviews can be found online and in print at Sequart.org, Superman Homepage, his blog, and such publications as his self-published Trilogy of Tales and PS Artbooks’ Roy Thomas Presents Sheena vol. 3. James currently lives in Italy with his wife Laura and their family of cats, dogs, and humans from Italy, Japan, and the United States.

DC Comics’ Wonder Woman title had been floundering and a decision was made to make big changes. With issue #178 (Sept.–Oct. 1968), a new creative team was put in place with Jack Miller as editor, Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano providing art, and Denny O’Neil scripting. This new Wonder Woman was now simply Diana Prince without her former Amazon abilities [see BI #17 for our coverage on this era of The “New” Wonder Woman—ed.]. With the following issue, new cast members were introduced, beginning with the blind and aged martial-arts master I Ching, who would become Diana’s mentor and trainer. by B r y a n

D. Stroud

IN THE TRENCHES WITH DIANA PRINCE

Also introduced in Wonder Woman #179, in an unidentified cameo appearance in the final panel, is a mysterious man in a suit and fedora, observing Diana and Ching, who thinks, “A good-looking dame and a blind Chinese… those are the people I’m after, all right!” Wonder Woman #180 (Jan.–Feb. 1969) continues right where things left off, with the unknown figure advancing on Diana and Ching. His motives are unclear, but the sharp-eared Ching alerts his companion that they are being followed. Suspecting the possibility that he is connected with Doctor Cyber, their recent nemesis, Diana and Ching prepare for the worst when a gunshot rings out. Diana strikes, using karate to take down the stranger, who protests that he wasn’t shooting at her, but trying to save her from Doctor Cyber’s minions, who burst onto the scene in a weird vehicle with guns blazing. They take cover behind some trashcans and the man brings into play his pistol, dubbed Lulu. The foes depart and Diana and the unidentified man, toting an unconscious Ching, head up into her apartment where introductions are made at last. “Name’s Tim Trench! I’m a private eye outta St, Louis!” Trench explains that he learned from a stoolie that she’s looking for Doctor Cyber. So is he, due to the fact that his friend Archy Miles had been killed by Cyber’s gang. Here we see Denny O’Neil having some fun with his new character, by basing Tim Trench in Denny’s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, and putting in a subtle reference with Archy Miles to Miles Archer, the murdered partner of another detective, Sam Spade of Maltese Falcon fame.

Not-so-famous Shamus You’re forgiven if you don’t remember this obscure DC gumshoe—but we’ll bring you up to speed with this article. Here’s the first page of the two “Tim Trench” solo stories penned by O’Neil for the back pages of Detective Comics. From issue #460 (June 1976). In the front of the comic, Batman battled Captain Stingaree. TM & © DC Comics.

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With a common goal, Trench joins forces with Diana Prince and Ching to take on Doctor Cyber. Plans are laid to watch for rare gems to surface that Cyber had stolen previously from Ching’s monastery. The waiting game is cut short when Diana receives a call about her boyfriend Steve Trevor taking a bad turn at the hospital. She quickly hails a cab, but discovers it’s a ruse by Cyber and that she’s been captured by a female member of Cyber’s gang. Just when things couldn’t look much worse, the cab plunges off the edge of a nearby pier into the river. Meanwhile, Ching and Tim Trench have decided to check on Diana Prince and arrive at the pier, but another threat faces them when several members of Doctor Cyber’s gang meet them. The gangsters turn out to be women and after subduing Ching and Trench, they note that Diana has been underwater for over ten minutes and is doubtless dead, so they depart. Fortunately, Diana had escaped the taxi and was waiting below the pier before reuniting with her comrades. Later, Diana receives another telephone call, directing her to the Fass mansion, where she’ll receive information about Cyber. The trio make the trek to the outskirts of town and witness Steve Trevor being gunned down. As Diana attends to the dying Trevor, Tim Trench (and Lulu) are off to find the perpetrators. Diana soon follows, but in the confusion the gang flees with Tim as hostage while one female member of the gang is left behind. Trench ultimately finds himself in the clutches of Doctor Cyber, who is revealed to be a woman. The next installment in Wonder Woman #181 (Mar.–Apr. 1969) proceeds with Diana and Ching attempting to get information from the female gang member. As Ching begins using hypnosis, Diana

Shady Business Our spotlighted P.I. was first spied… well, in the trenches, (top) trailing Diana Prince and I Ching in Wonder Woman #179 and (bottom) making a splashy introduction in issue #180. TM & © DC Comics.

Prince heads for a particular door and uses a coded knock to summon Raphael, an old Irishman involved in the development and sale of certain specialty items. Much like Q, James Bond’s equipment supplier, Raphael is soon demonstrating some dual-use jewelry containing such “accessories” as a grappling hook concealed in a bracelet and explosives within an earring. When she meets back up with Ching, he has succeeded in learning where the lair of Doctor Cyber is located. Before long, a cab ride has taken them to a submarine pen. Their captive operates a miniature sub and leads them directly to Cyber’s headquarters. Within that undersea base, Tim Trench is being given the grand tour, with Cyber explaining that her ultimate goal is profit and conquest and that she is very close to being able to topple entire governments with her wealth and power. She will not stop until dominating the entire world. In the midst of her celebration, however, a monitor reveals the presence of intruders in airlock three and the arrival of Diana and Ching. Doctor Cyber leaves Tim Trench under armed guard, but the crafty detective uses the ruse of a nearby mouse to distract her long enough to knock her unconscious and relieve her of the machine gun. Trench is then on the move and soon locates his companions. He lays down cover fire, but they end up in a trap behind a steel bulkhead. Diana then brings her new equipment into play, using the explosive earring to destroy the bulkhead. Since the complex is booby-trapped to explode, it’s a good thing that Ching left the captured gang member with a post-hypnotic suggestion to await their return in the mini-sub. Back in the city, Tim Trench works the phones, but cannot get a lead on the whereabouts of Doctor Cyber. However, when he spots a poster for the country of Bjorland, the private eye remembers Cyber mentioning the place. Soon, Trench, Diana and Ching are on a flight to Europe and Bjorland. Upon arrival, they check into separate rooms in a ski lodge. Diana tosses and turns as she notes that she’s becoming very fond of Tim Trench. The following day, the trio go out into the community to get a feel for things and abruptly realize there don’t seem to be any children in Bjorland. As Trench uses his hard-boiled methods to interrogate a local with an impending right cross, he learns that the entire town is under the control of Doctor Cyber. As Diana and Ching go on the offensive with the townspeople, it is apparent they’re badly outnumbered, so they make a quick retreat. Taking to the rooftops, Diana uses more of her incendiary devices to block off the mob’s advance. Soon a helicopter lands bearing Doctor Cyber herself. Tim Trench trains Lulu on her, but Cyber tells the detective that while Diana and Ching are her enemies, he is not. She then displays a small chest of gemstones as an incentive to recruit Trench to her side. Then she insists that to prove his loyalty, he must kill Diana and Ching. In the final dramatic panel, Tim Trench fires two rounds from Lulu, leaving the readers with a cliffhanger ending. Issue #182 (May–June 1969) takes up where the previous edition leaves off, and we learn that Tim Trench has decided to help himself to the jewels. He’d simply fired two warning shots. As he crawls into the pilot seat of the helicopter, he bids the assembly his own version of farewell: “Ya may not believe this Di and Ching… but I wish ya the best of luck! As for you, Cyber… remember—as I relieve you of the burden of your ill-gotten gains—‘Crime does not pay!’” He then flies out of their lives forever.

TRENCH IN ‘DETECTIVE COMICS’

Denny O’Neil had the opportunity to dust off his private detective character a handful of years later in the pages of, appropriately enough, Detective Comics, when Tim Trench was a backup feature in issues #460 (June 1976) and 461 (July 1976). Art for both stories was by penciler Pablo Marcos and inker Al Milgrom. Under a new Tim Trench logo that was somewhat derivative of 007’s, Lulu was gone, being replaced by a pair of .357 Magnum revolvers. While they weren’t .44 caliber, Trench seemed to have adopted a persona reminiscent of Dirty Harry, sending the lead flying and asking questions afterward. His technique is on full display in the first six-page story when, at his home base of “St. Louie,” he 8 • BAC K I S S U E • S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e

Cornering Doctor Cyber Tough-as-nails Tim Trench assists Diana and Ching in Wonder Woman #181 (Mar.–Apr. 1969), by Denny O’Neil, Mike Sekowsky, and Dick Giordano. Original art courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 9

The Long Goodbye After this short story in Detective #461 (July 1976), Trench mostly faded into obscurity. Art for both ’Tec backups by Pablo Marcos and Al Milgrom. TM & © DC Comics.

In the final panels, Tim returns to his office to witnesses a jewelry store robbery and fires a round at the perpetrators. The next day as he’s visiting his office, find Velma on hand, asking for the return of the gem. Trench responds that she’s had the real a gunman is at the top of the staircase and takes ruby all along and hatched an elaborate a shot at Trench, who returns fire with both scheme to make it appear that he’d pistols, taking the thug down. When the found it after being gunned down by police arrive, Trench doesn’t know who her boyfriend, the assailant at the top was shooting at him, other than the of the stairs. Since Trench got off the fact that he worked for Lippy Louie. kill shot, she had to adapt, killing When Tim gets to his office, he Lippy so he wouldn’t catch onto the finds Velma Grayle waiting with a job switch. Case closed. for him. She’d like him to hold a ruby The next issue had a similar for her over the weekend. Trench theme, with Trench heading up to his agrees, and soon we find him at office in the rain and finding someone Lippy Louie’s mansion to confront him in his chair, this time “Manooch,” about his boys pulling the jewelry hired help for Big Willy Cline. heist. He also wants to know if the After Tim manhandles Manooch, inventory of jewels was missing anydenny o’neil the visitor reveals that his boss thing. Before Lippy can answer, a wants to hire Trench, so they go shot is fired and Lippy is gone. Tim © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. dashes outside, but missed the getaway car. On the to his office across the street. It seems Cline has double-crossed the wrong way back to his office, he stops by a jeweler who people and must leave town. He offers Trench $500 reveals the ruby is a fake. to escort him to the airport. A deal is struck when Cline assures the detective that the money isn’t dirty. As they recross the street to Trench’s car, Manooch dives between a pair of parked cars prior to a vehicle screaming toward the pair. Tim dives for cover, while a startled Cline is gunned down. Trench returns fire with his Magnums and the car smashes into a pole. When Manooch emerges, the detective lays it out. “…we were set up by you—Manooch—‘cause you dived for cover before the shooting started. The way I figure it, you signaled the gunner from the front of Cline’s building as your boss was making his offer!” Another caper wrapped up by Tim Trench, but it would be his last in the pages of Detective Comics. In some lettercol commentary, Bob Rozakis commented that “Tim Trench was an experiment. Unfortunately, much of the reader reaction was unfavorable, so it is unlikely we’ll see Mr. Trench again.”

CLOSING THE TIM TRENCH CASEBOOK

Tim Trench made only two more appearances. One was a bizarre turn in Swamp Thing #162 (Jan. 1996), when he responded to a call to the Hero Hotline. Decked out much like the Spirit, he is shown in just a few panels where he was stuck in traffic and missed his appointment. The other instance was in DC’s 52 #18 (Nov. 2006), when Ralph Dibny and Detective Chimp find Trench wearing the helmet of Doctor Fate. When his body was touched it liquefied, leaving the reader to presume that Tim Trench is no more. So, after a circuitous route with a handful of stops over nearly four decades, Tim Trench’s detective career has come to a close. Tim, we hardly knew ye. Special thanks to John Trumbull. BRYAN STROUD is a longtime fan of DC Comics, particularly the Silver and Bronze Ages, and has been contributing to the website of his lifelong best friend, Ron Daudt, for over a decade, doing reviews of those classics. Beginning in 2007, Bryan seized an opportunity to begin interviewing the creators of the comics he’s loved and has been fortunate enough to conduct over 70 to date at www.thesilverlantern.com.

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by P a t r i c k

A. Reed

PRELUDE: FROM ‘STRANGE TALES’ TO SOLO STARDOM

In the late ’60s, Marvel Comics was in the process of going from upstart publisher to media sensation, building a devoted block of readers on college campuses, garnering a mix of mainstream and underground press attention, licensing their characters for TV and other media, and constantly rewriting the rule book of what comics could and couldn’t do. And for a brief time, the most revolutionary and groundbreaking of all Marvel’s publications was something of an outlier: a series that operated within the Marvel Universe, but starred a globetrotting secret agent, as opposed to a costumed superhero. Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. started out as the supporting feature in Strange Tales, recasting the roughneck title character of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos as a modern-day super-spy. Secret agents were all the rage in the wake of James Bond’s meteoric rise, and it was only natural for Marvel to look for a way to capitalize on the new craze—they already had a character who could be adapted to fit the bill, all they needed was an organization for him to answer to. And so was born the Supreme Headquarters International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division—S.H.I.E.L.D., for short. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby produced the series premiere in Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965), which told how Fury was recruited to head up this new agency, and introduced a number of foundational elements: an array of Bond-esque gadgets; the helicarrier (S.H.I.E.L.D.’s massive airborne headquarters); and the sinister threat of the international terrorist group Hydra. But for the first year and a half of its existence, this new strip seemed relatively directionless, hamstrung by a succession of interchangeable device-driven stories, and a rotating cast of writers and artists working alongside Lee and Kirby.

Spies Like Us Note the plural “Agents” in the title of this short-lived Bronze Age reprint series. Nick Fury and His Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (Feb. 1973). Cover by Steranko. TM & © Marvel.

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The Man from M.A.R.V.E.L. Marvel’s erstwhile WWII combat star-turnedsuperspy! (left) Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965), premiering the “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” feature and the farreaching terror of the criminal cartel Hydra. Cover by Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia. (right) Artist Jim Steranko began to shake things up with issue #155 (Apr. 1967), and would soon help the feature spin off into its own title. TM & © Marvel.

Then Jim Steranko entered the picture. The musician-turned-magician-turned-graphic-designer barely had any comic-book experience when he stepped into the Marvel offices in the summer of 1966, but he quickly picked up a regular assignment: penciling and inking Nick Fury over Kirby’s layout pencils. Just a few months later, in Strange Tales #155 (Apr. 1967), he took full creative control—singlehandedly writing/ illustrating/coloring each issue’s S.H.I.E.L.D. story, reinventing the floundering feature with extended story arcs, innovative visuals, and an inimitable sense of cool. No longer the brawling tough guy of Lee and Kirby’s initial conception, Fury was now a stylish man of action, decked out in high-tech jumpsuits, embarking on increasingly bizarre and ambitious adventures. Steranko expanded the vocabulary of comics with each new issue, incorporating pop-art elements and using his knowledge of printing processes to create previously unseen effects. He also introduced many new faces to bolster the series’ supporting cast, which reinforced the sense that S.H.I.E.L.D. had agents scattered throughout the entire Marvel Universe— lurking in the shadows, working behind the scenes, or operating undercover in plain view. Through this time, S.H.I.E.L.D. became a key thread tying together Marvel’s continuity. Fury and his fellow agents made cameos in numerous other series, helping build the sense that these characters all existed in a common universe, and providing a consistent backdrop to their increasingly spectacular stories. In 1968, Marvel discontinued its multi-character titles, and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. launched as a standalone series. And Steranko, freed of working within the 12-page-per-issue format, made the most of this opportunity—across four full-length stories, Fury twice battled the mysterious zodiac-themed Scorpio, faced off against a meglomaniacal scientist on a secret island filled with prehistoric creatures, and swung by the moors of Scotland to confront phantoms and Nazi saboteurs. But this golden era was short-lived. Steranko moved on to other series after the fifth issue (though he contributed covers for #6 and 7 and featured Fury in his subsequent three-issue stint on Captain America), and the series floundered despite the best efforts of incoming creative teams. Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #15 (Nov. 1969) saw the headline character felled by an assassin’s bullet, effectively ending the series on a dramatic cliffhanger. As the ’70s dawned, without a commanding officer or an ongoing series to call their own, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. scattered to the winds and infiltrated Marvel’s entire family of titles.

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Nobody Does It Better Okay, these are Silver Age covers in a magazine that covers the Bronze Age— but who’s complaining? Stunning and iconic Steranko covers for Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (June 1968), 4 (Sept. 1968), and 7 (Dec. 1968). TM & © Marvel.

THE BRONZE AGE DAWNS

jim steranko © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

Readers were only left wondering about Fury’s fate for two months, however, and the dangling plot threads were picked up by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema in Avengers #72 (Jan. 1970)—a story that brought back arch-foe Scorpio, and revealed that the true Nick Fury had gone undercover and replaced himself with one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s advanced LMD (Life Model Decoy) androids before the assasination attempt. The first sign of hope for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s continuing star status came with Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #16 (Nov. 1970), a “soft relaunch” for the series that continued numbering from the previous year, but featured no new contents (reprinting select pre-Steranko Strange Tales stories), and only lasted for an additional two issues. Marvel tried again a couple years later with Nick Fury and His Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (Feb. 1973), the first of a five-issue series reprinting more of the master spy’s early adventures. In the meantime, S.H.I.E.L.D. continued apace, their operatives taking on supporting roles in a number of different Marvel titles. Burt Lancaster–lookalike Clay Quartermain S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 1 3

Hard Makeover, Soft Relaunch (left) Marie Severin’s rejected original cover rough for Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #16 (Nov. 1970). Note the “Re-do” notation in the right margin. Courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). (right) Mirthful Marie’s Hydracrammed published cover for that issue. TM & © Marvel.

was tapped by the US Army to assist with their Hulkbuster initiatives, Fury’s former assistant Jasper Sitwell became S.H.I.E.L.D.’s liaison to Stark Industries, and other agents appeared whenever a story called for a dash of intrigue. Nick Fury, meanwhile, stayed mostly behind-the-scenes, making occasional cameos in Captain America and other series, often appearing alongside fellow agent and romantic partner Contessa Valentina de la Fontaine (commonly referred to as “Val”). Fury’s first new starring story in seven years arrived in the pages of Marvel Spotlight #31 (Dec. 1976), a tale by Jim Starlin and Howard Chaykin that offered an explanation for how Fury—who served on the frontlines in World War II—could maintain his youth and vitality three decades later. When asked by BACK ISSUE about this issue’s genesis, Chaykin recalls that it was always intended as a standalone that tied up loose ends (and not a pilot for a new ongoing series), but that he wasn’t sure who came up with the core conceit of the “Infinity Formula” that Fury used to slow his aging. “I’m pretty sure we had no intention of a follow up, [and] I have no recollection whatsoever of who brought what,” Chaykin says. “I do know we worked out the main plot points as we drove west for the San Diego Comic-Con in 1975.”

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The following few years brought a fair amount of activity on the Fury front: he co-starred alongside the Thing in Marvel Two-in-One #26 (Apr. 1977), and that same month, Defenders #46 brought back Scorpio—now known to be Nick’s younger brother, Jacob Fury—for an arc that co-starred another Nick-impostor LMD, and culminated with Jacob’s suicide in Defenders #50 (Aug. 1977). The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent’s next star turn came along with a four-issue story that ran in Marvel Team-Up #82–85 (June–Sept. 1979), though he only received cover billing on the second and fourth installments of the story. This tale, by Chris Claremont and the art team of Sal Buscema and Steve Leialoha, was a winding saga that brings Fury, Spider-Man, Black Widow, and Shang-Chi together—and oddly, picks up on some plot threads left hanging in MTU #74’s Saturday Night Live crossover. [Editor’s note: Forgive the plug, but my recently released TwoMorrows book, The Team-Up Companion, contains more information about this era of Marvel Team-Up as well as an in-depth history of MTU itself.] Initially, Fury and his agents appear to be the story’s antagonists, swooping in to take down SpiderMan and abduct an amnesiac Black Widow, but by the second chapter, deeper levels are revealed.

Claremont carefully casts a sense of foreboding over the proceedings, as Fury and company try to juggle threats both external and internal, while Buscema and Leialoha’s lush, classical artwork adds to the ominous atmosphere. “Too much has been goin’ wrong with S.H.I.E.L.D. lately, kid,” Fury tells a concerned Jasper Sitwell—a quote that not only serves as the emotional crux of the story, but also, with the benefit of hindsight, seems an ominous precursor to the next decade of S.H.I.E.L.D. stories. By the the concluding chapter of the arc, it’s revealed that the super-spy organization has been infiltrated by Viper (the former Madam Hydra), and a fierce battle ensues as our heroes attempt to simultaneously fend off hordes of hypnotized agents, contend with the Silver Samurai and Viper, and keep a stalled-out helicarrier from crashing into the White House. And while good does triumph over evil at the end of the issue, seeds of doubt have been sowed in Fury’s mind as to the essential goodness of his organization. As all this was happening with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s commander, his fellow agents were off on their own adventures. Marvel was expanding its portfolio, launching a number of new titles featuring licensed properties, incorporating characters from toy lines and movie franchises into the larger Marvel universe. And the easiest way to indicate that all these new faces were connected to their in-house heroes was, of course, to insert S.H.I.E.L.D. agents! Thus, longtime Fury associates Dum Dum Dugan and Jimmy Woo were assigned to keep eyes on everyone’s favorite atomic dinosaur in Godzilla [see BI #116], while other operatives insinuated themselves into the events of ROM: Spaceknight [see BI #16 and 32] and Micronauts [see BI #16 and 76]. Marvel’s overseas division also made extensive use of S.H.I.E.L.D. in this era. Nick Fury appeared in a walk-on role in Captain Britain #15 (Jan. 19, 1977) and then stuck around for an adventure that ran through issue #27 (Apr. 13, 1977), helping Captains Britain and America foil the Red Skull—while reprints of vintage Strange Tales material proved to be a popular attraction in various other Marvel UK series. This success paved the way for an all-new Fury feature in the pages of Hulk Comic. [Editor’s note: Fury’s UK adventures are examined elsewhere in this issue.] But back Stateside, after this flurry of activity, Fury and company receded back into the shadows, only surfacing when needed to combat a specific threat. Aside from his co-starring role in Marvel Team-Up #139 (Mar. 1984), occasional appearances in Captain America, and a few guest spots in John Byrne’s Fantastic Four run, Fury spent the bulk of the 1980s avoiding the spotlight, seemingly safe in his helicarrier HQ.

Fury One-Shots (top left) A solo tale in Marvel Spotlight #31 (Dec. 1976). Cover by Howard Chaykin. (top right) Nick vs. his future poker buddy Ben Grimm in Marvel Two-in-One #26 (Apr. 1977). Cover by Ron Wilson and Giacoia. (bottom) Fighting alongside Spidey (and Black Widow) in Marvel Team-Up #83 (June 1979). Cover by Rich Buckler and Steve Leialoha. TM & © Marvel.

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THE FALL (AND RESURRECTION) OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Will They Patch Things Up? Another stunning Steranko cover graced the first issue of the limited series, Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. TM & © Marvel.

governmental inquiries and had clearances revoked, Steve Rogers resigned as Captain America after being By 1988, Americans’ trust in their government was at called before a federal commission, the Mutant something of an all-time low. The previous decade had Registration Act was passed, and a number of superseen unprecedented societal upheaval, an energy crisis, villains received pardons and became the governmentthe Pentagon Papers exposé, the prolonged end and sanctioned “Freedom Force.” So given all the above, the assumption that an allaftermath of the Vietnam War, the Kent State massacre, Watergate, and a number of other scandals and powerful, answerable-to-nobody black ops organization social movements. The ’80s had progressed in much would operate with total magnanimity seemed to be the same fashion—despite the Reagan administration’s a little out of step with the times. The portrayal of promise of America as “a shining city on a hill,” those S.H.I.E.L.D. had stayed relatively unchanged in the two living through the decade faced a series of crises: an decades since its introduction, but that was about to economic recession, terrorist attacks, the Iran-Contra change—much to the surprise of one Col. Nicholas affair, the Philadelphia MOVE bombing, a crack Fury, who appeared briefly in West Coast Avengers #27 epidemic, and numerous other threats to their well- (Dec. 1987), seemingly unaware that his world was being and way of life. Picking up a newspaper or watching about to come crashing down around him. The concept originated in editor Mark Gruenwald’s the evening news was a recipe for depression. Marvel, in keeping with its reputation with the office. Assistant editor Greg Wright, interviewed by company whose stories reflected “the world outside BACK ISSUE in 2022, recalls it thusly: “Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. was started well before your window” (even when operating on a grandiose cosmic scale), reacted accordingly. The Avengers faced the ‘Captain America No More’ storyline—it was in the works back when Mike Carlin was Mark’s assistant. Mark brought Bob Harras in to write it, and his then-collaborator on Captain America, Paul Neary, to draw it. Mark was a deep thinker and loved exploring ideas—especially ideas he wasn’t comfortable with. He was incredibly open-minded and really did think on a visionary scale. And we all liked stories with characters standing up to the authorities.” Bob Harras also spoke to BACK ISSUE for this article, and offers his memories of how this next chapter of the S.H.I.E.L.D. saga was conceived, telling us: “This was the ’80s. We’d had Watergate years before, and then IranContra. So this was a time with a lot of disenchantment with core concepts, with the government, and a strong bob harras sense that power corrupts. We wanted © DC Comics. to apply some real-world perspective, and see what would happen if S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t quite what we thought it was, and explore that. “Much of this came out of Mark’s office, and Mark wanted to keep up with the times; nothing was off the table. And with Marvel, things were so organic, you could look at the real world and you were encouraged to reflect it—sometimes through metaphor, and sometimes more directly. “Mark really was the glue of the Marvel Universe back then, the driving force of so many things… He was definitely the driving force behind Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. He came to me with the core idea of S.H.I.E.L.D. being disbanded and convinced me to do it. “I loved Mark, and I want to stress, I was really nervous—this is S.H.I.E.L.D., it’s a huge part of the Marvel Universe! I felt more than a little overwhelmed, and I remember to this day, Mark said to me: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be there every step of the way.’ And that was just such a stress reliever because I trusted Mark implicitly.” Greg Wright adds: “When I was hired as Mark’s assistant, one of my first tasks was to go over everything we had in the drawers and familiarize myself with every project. The final drawer held a limited series that was not yet on the schedule. It was a 12-issue series called Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. Mark explained that it took place right after the events of John Byrne’s She-Hulk graphic novel. I believe about half of the series was pretty complete at this point,

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up to finished inks. I liked it so much that I expressed to Mark Gruenwald that this would be a perfect series to do in ‘Dark Knight format,’ I proposed that we could add some art to connect single issues into one story and add pages to fill in some details. I also proposed that we take the original art and extend it to make pages bleed off the edges, and do painted color. My enthusiasm paid off and Mark and I got [editorin-chief] Jim Shooter to agree to change the format. We then sat down, went through what we had, and figured out where we needed to make some changes to reformat the art.” Inker Kim DeMulder recalls the process for BACK ISSUE: “What I remember mostly is extending the art for the bleeds… I also remember having to update most of the Avengers because the series had been delayed enough that the Avengers membership had changed since we initially drew it.” For Bob Harras, the extended lead time and format change gave him space to stretch out and expand the story, but also caused additional stress: “My memory of it is that Mark wanted this series out at a specific time and back then, it was smart to bank a couple issues before it was scheduled,” Harras explains. “I remember being told they were going to do prestige format for this book and that added pressure… I wanted it to just be this little series off to the side, now they’re making it prestige format! That was another moment where Mark came and said, ‘It’s okay, it’s going to be fine.’ “And with Mark and Greg, we really did kim demulder work as a team, so I didn’t feel ‘out there.’ Twitter. If I would throw a crazy idea out, I would be amazed because Mark would say, ‘Yes, let’s go there, let’s go in that direction.’ Cliché as it is, it really took a village to create a comic-book series back then—you worked hand-in-glove with your editor, you worked closely with the artists. Janice Chiang was the letterer, and when she came into office, even seeing the lettering made everything seem more ‘real.’ We felt like a team, and Mark and Greg were there… sometimes to correct me, but even that was reassuring! “That’s also how I felt when we would get artboards in from Paul [Neary]—getting pages back and seeing this was actually becoming a comic book. I loved working with Paul and Kim and with [colorist] Bernie Jaye, and seeing scenes come to life. The big moment with the wrecked helicarrier, the intense smaller scenes where the cast was interrogated by the Deltites… It was amazing to see how Paul took my plot and ran with it, and made it his own.” Wright and Gruenwald’s faith in the series was rewarded, as upon its release, Nick Fury Vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. became both a critical and commercial success. [Editor’s note: For an in-depth look at the Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. series, see Ian Millsted’s feature in BACK ISSUE #132.] After nearly two decades, Fury was once again a bankable star. Clearly, it was wise to strike while the iron was hot, and capitalize on this popularity with a new ongoing series. But there was an obvious problem: at the conclusion of the limited series, the United Nations had dissolved what little was left of S.H.I.E.L.D., and forced Fury into premature retirement. Still this was Marvel Comics, a.k.a. “The House of Ideas.” All it would take was a clever concept and a creative team, and the company would surely have a hit on their hands. As Greg Wright recalls: “Mark [Gruenwald] was very happy with all the work I’d done to get the series produced, and how I’d worked with the artists on the book. It was decided that Marvel would launch a new Nick Fury series, and I would get to edit it.” In the meantime, Marvel released a separate Nick Fury project: an original hardcover graphic novel by Archie Goodwin and Howard Chaykin, set just prior to the events of the vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. series. Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection hit comic shops in July 1989, and featured the return of Chaykin to Marvel, after the writer/artist spent much of the ’80s working on American Flagg! and other independent projects.

What’s Gnu, Pussycat? (below) Original Original artwork for Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #3, page 22, by Paul Neary and Kim DeMulder. From the collection of Patrick A. Reed. (left) The issue’s cover, with painted art by M. D. Bright. TM & © Marvel.

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Tough-Guy Team-Up Wordsmith Archie Goodwin and illustrator Howard Chaykin joined forces for the 1989 Marvel graphic novel, Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection. Shown here are its cover and an interior page showing the stylish digs (and lonely life) of Marvel’s number one super-spy. TM & © Marvel.

The graphic novel had been in the works for some years before finally seeing release, as Chaykin recalls for BACK ISSUE: “Archie approached me... I penciled it in 1985, and he finished writing it in 1988.” The plot concerned the return of classic Fury nemesis Scorpio, but as the original Scorpio—Nick’s brother Jacob—was long since deceased, it eventually transpires that the costume and powers have been adopted by a different family member: Nick’s illegitimate son Mikel. The book’s editor Greg Wright tells BACK ISSUE that, despite the long-gestating nature of the project, it wasn’t difficult to fit into Marvel’s continuity: “Archie and Howard had worked out most everything… that plot was finished before it was handed to me, so that continuity was sealed. People were always playing fast and loose with S.H.I.E.L.D. That was an issue that we tried to get under control, but we figured there were lots of different agents and uniforms and stuff out there, so we didn’t have to worry about howard chaykin it. We did have to make sure Wolverine HowardChaykinArt.com. stayed true to character with the X-Men office, but with Archie Goodwin writing, nobody was going to complain.” Goodwin spoke on his connection to Nick Fury in Marvel Age #79 (Oct. 1989), while also laughingly acknowledging his culpability for the project’s delays: “I had to write several fill-in issues of S.H.I.E.L.D. when Steranko left [in 1968], and I always felt that I never had the chance to give it my best shot. In the back of my mind, I always wanted another chance… I think that anytime anyone does a graphic novel, a sense of it being very special sets in. For me, it set in spades. Fortunately, it reads as though it was written in three days!”

NOT SHIELDED FROM PROBLEMS

Work began on the new ongoing series in late 1988, and obstacles began to appear almost immediately. First and most obviously, the aforementioned issue that the entire concept of S.H.I.E.L.D. had just been torpedoed. As editor Greg Wright tells BI, “Though S.H.I.E.L.D. was gone, Nick Fury and some of the characters were still around. Mark Gruenwald was now the executive editor at Marvel, and his idea for the ongoing series was along the lines of Mission: Impossible: a covert team utilizing whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. tech Nick Fury had managed to hide from the agency. That was the initial plan, my goal was to have it start that way, and build back up to be more like the original S.H.I.E.L.D.” Bob Harras remembers that between himself, Wright, and Gruenwald, they established a game plan for the ongoing series: “The goal for this series was to tell a different kind of story—to put together a group that Nick could trust. In the [vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.] limited series, he’d learned that so much of what he believed in was false, and he needed to learn to trust people again… because of the challenges at hand, he begrudgingly agreed to go back and work with this small group of people.” Once the direction of the series was set, however, assembling a consistent creative team proved unexpectedly difficult. Paul Neary was unavailable, having accepted an assignment to ink Alan Davis on new X-Men spinoff series Excalibur. According to Greg Wright, “I needed to find a new artist fast. Luckily, I had been looking for something to do with Bob Hall. Bob had done a great job with the Emperor Doom graphic novel, West Coast Avengers, Squadron Supreme, and Solo Avengers. A phone call later, I had a new penciler! “But when accepting the gig, Bob told me that the only way he could take on monthly series is if he had the plots 1 8 • BAC K I S S U E • S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e

For Your Eye Only (right) Fantagraphics’ Amazing Heroes #166 (June 1989), promoting the launch of the ongoing Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. series. (inset) Marvel Age #77 (Aug. 1989), showing the original “Fury-less” logo for the revived S.H.I.E.L.D. series. Cover art for both by Keith Pollard and Kim DeMulder. Scans courtesy of Patrick A. Reed. TM & © Marvel. Amazing Heroes © Fantagraphics.

available right away every month. He had obligations with his theater company and needed to be able to schedule his work each month accordingly. Unfortunately, Bob Harras, who was also the X-Men editor, was under a lot of pressure, and when issue two ran late, [Hall] chose to leave the book.” “So now I needed to find a new penciler again. As luck would have it, [Fantastic Four editor] Ralph Macchio recommended Keith Pollard. I was thrilled to have Keith on board. He did a great job, and Kim DeMulder’s finishes made the book shine!” Bob Harras offers BI his thoughts on collaborating with different artists over the first story arc: “I worked in the Marvel method. I would write the plot out by hand in a notebook, and then I would type it up for the artist. The Marvel method was how I was trained, it was what I loved and still love… I loved when I wrote something—or when I was an editor when I saw something a writer brought in, and plots could be very detailed or very open—then you’d get the pages back and you’d see how the artist envisioned what was written on the page. I always thought there was something magical about that method because the artist was an equal creative partner. He or she was there to translate your words into pictures—and often made the story stronger, better—and when it was golden, it was such an amazing thing. “Both Bob and Keith were great artists, incredibly professional, and I was really grateful that they were willing to come in and work on the series. And I was mindful that… a great thing about working on a long-term series is that you get to work with an artist, learn what they love to draw and then write to that. And both those artists, in this short amount of time— over one six-issue arc—they were able to take up the slack and deliver what they delivered without us having an opportunity to develop that rhythm. I think it’s a huge credit to them that they could adapt and take the reins that quickly.” DeMulder managed the difficult task of maintaining a consistent look to the series while also showcasing the strengths of very different pencilers in Hall and Pollard. His fine-line detailing, delicate inkwork, and aptitude with special effects ensured the title launched with all the visual pizazz readers expected from the S.H.I.E.L.D. franchise. According to DeMulder, “Since I really liked the look of the Steranko Fury books, I tried to follow in his footsteps, putting in the psychedelic special effects—mostly color holds—that Steranko had been known for. I also loved the way Joe Kubert rendered Sgt. Rock’s five o’clock shadow, and tried to emulate that look for Nick.” And though the credit boxes alternated between billing Keith Pollard with “pencils” and “breakdowns,” DeMulder remembers working over fairly tight

illustrations: “My job was mostly adding lighting effects, making sure there was a more complete range of light and dark values, making sure facial expressions matched the dialogue balloons, and making sure the women characters looked pretty. I love inking textures, so I always like to add my two cents in that area, too!” On top of the artistic musical chairs, the title of the series underwent a last-minute change after the logo had been readied and marketing materials had been widely distributed. When asked by BI, Greg Wright recalls, “It was going to be called S.H.I.E.L.D., but there was an [Archie Comics] character called the Shield, so there was a potential legal issue. And rather than try and sort it out, we just decided to return to the classic Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. title. I believe Bill Oakley did the logo, creating the ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ portion first and then adding ‘Nick Fury’ after—I liked it better without the additional text, and I think we would have had it designed differently if that was the title from the beginning.” S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 1 9

OUT OF RETIREMENT

Despite all the behind-the-scenes chaos, the new Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (NFAOS) #1 (Sept. 1989) sold well and succeeded in establishing a new status quo for its grizzled title character. Begrudgingly coming out of retirement after his longtime associate Dum Dum Dugan is kidnapped, Fury assembled a new team who, not wanting a good acronym to go to waste, soon became known as the Supreme High Intelligence Espionage and Logistics Directorate. And despite their initial intent to stay small and self-contained, this new S.H.I.E.L.D. soon began to expand—following the series’ introductory six-issue storyline, Fury and company began to recruit additional operatives, and the agency began to grow. Which is a good thing, since, once Fury reestablished himself as a major player in the Marvel Universe, the contrast between this reborn smaller-scale S.H.I.E.L.D. and the ubiquity of its predecessor raised unexpected issues. Greg Wright explains, “Once we got the regular series going… this became a problem because we were changing everything and starting over. Creators were used to just using S.H.I.E.L.D. however they wanted, and suddenly they couldn’t. But it was hard to keep track of Fury’sappearances because people didn’t ask permission, and I spent a lot of time saying no to people who were trying to write stories that conflicted with the new continuity. And artists kept wanting to use elements that I was champing at the bit to bring back, like the helicarrier.” The easiest solution to all this was to fast-track the evolution of S.H.I.E.L.D. mk. II, and speed its transformation into a near-duplicate of the huge, globe-spanning team it had been the first time around. And so, over the course of the new series’ first few story arcs, Fury rebuilt his former empire, bringing back familiar faces and welcoming new ones into the fold—while, simultaneously, a revamped Hydra rose in opposition. The creative roster of the series remained in flux, however. Bob Harras expressed a desire to move on after writing the initial six issues, and recalls the situation thusly: “I actually made Greg’s life a little difficult at times—[when the ongoing series launched] I was editing

Reactivated Alexander Pierce, Kate Neville, Nick Fury, Alphonso “Mac” Mackenzie, and Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine—agents of the reimagined Supreme High Intelligence Espionage and Logistics Directorate. Cover to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (NFAOS) #1 (Sept. 1989) by Bob Hall and Kim DeMulder. TM & © Marvel.

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the X-books, and my workload was becoming… well, not onerous, because I loved it, but it was taking a lot more of my time. And I was at a point where I felt like, writing that first arc, things weren’t coming together as well as I would have liked. The writing schedule, coupled with my regular job schedule, was becoming more and more pressing. And I became concerned I wasn’t able to do both. So Greg and I talked, and we agreed that I’d do the first six issues and then move on.” So, Wright came up with an ambitious plan: D. G. Chichester took over to write NFAOS #7–10 alongside penciler Pollard; issue #11 featured a one-off by the team of Alan Grant and Cam Kennedy; Harras made his return with issue #12 (which featured guest pencils by Michael Bair); and the core team of Harras, Pollard, and DeMulder reunited one last time on issues #13–14. Wright explains his strategy for BI: “I asked Bob if he would write me one more arc—a big Hydra vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. story. He agreed, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get it done as quickly as I needed. So we worked out a schedule, which meant I needed to get fill-in issues ready. I had already contacted Alan and Cam about doing an issue that would take place in their native Scotland, a solo standalone Fury tale, but that was going to take a bit. So I got my pal D. G. Chichester to write a story that I would slot in. Keith and Kim were fast enough to get two issues done in a month, and I really liked what D. G. was doing, so I asked him if he could turn it into a four-part story arc, and luckily he could… Bob then came back with a great Hydra story to finish off his run.” Chichester was eager to make the most of this opportunity to work within the mainstream Marvel Universe, as his writing up to that point had primarily consisted of work for Epic Comics’ Shadowline series of titles—but this assignment presented some unique challenges, and would require a fair amount of finesse to ensure all the pieces fit together. Chichester tells BACK ISSUE, “Greg turned to me because we were old friends, and because he knew I had a huge passion for exaggerated spy stories of the S.H.I.E.L.D. variety. Neither trait made me a shoo-in, though… Greg and I have always been each other’s harshest, most honest critics, so if my ideas or work didn’t pass the test, friendship or Ian Fleming trivia wasn’t going to win me a trip to the helicarrier. “This story had to do more than a general fill-in (which often exists totally out of continuity, and lies in wait in an editor’s art file for a panicked moment)—I had to integrate certain aspects of Bob’s world and then also ease the baton pass back to his world. Fortunately, my ideas made it past ‘Checkpoint Wright,’ and I had the assignment. And though I had no sense that Bob would be leaving the book, I treated it like an audition—putting in a lot of swagger and story effort to show I was up to the task of playing with Fury, his world, and the larger Marvel U in general. “In terms of making it work as a story, I did then what I still do now: I threw myself into the background,” Chichester reveals.

“I read through all of Bob’s work and tried to get his outside of a fill-in by Will Murray and Norm Dwyer in groove and approach/intent in mind—to be attuned issue #24, handled those duties through issue #26. to the character that was in the book, versus just ‘in Chichester offers fond memories of this time, my mind.’ This, to me, was the responsible thing to and having the chance to work with such a diverse do… since the transition back to Bob-world had to team of visual stylists: “I was very lucky with all the be semi-smooth.” artists, who always delivered clear storytelling and Harras laughingly offers his take on Wright’s great character work. My impression on seeing solution: “Greg probably talked me into the pages was always, ‘Yes, that’s how the coming back and doing that story, but world looks…’—which really is a thrill as I don’t actually remember writing a creator, to have that and be able to the second arc… My schedule was collaborate in that way. increasingly busy, but Greg was very “While I would work differently in good at what he did, and could be the future and be better about ‘polling’ very convincing!” my art partners for what would work NFAOS #15 (Sept. 1990) saw best with them, I was writing NFAOS further changes to the creative roster, fast and furious—so I was working as Pollard and DeMulder made their with the editor(s) more than the artists. exits, Chichester took over as the new That said, I was always open to any regular writer, and Greg Wright—the conversation and input on better sole consistent piece of the puzzle up ways to tell the story, or to take to that point—passed his editorial D. G. chichester things in a direction of interest. baton to Mike Rockwitz, and departed “Jackson [Butch] definitely set the Funmov. to focus on his freelance career as a tone for me,” Chichester contends. writer and colorist. “He wasn’t always ‘plot accurate’ and made some This led to a new round of artistic shuffles: Bill Jaaska ‘Where’d that come from?’ choices—the barechested and Romeo Tanghal lent their talents to #15, while #16– Baron Strucker, for example!—but it always felt ‘right.’ 19 saw legendary artist (and alumnus of the original It was solid storytelling, and just so much attitude. The ’60s Nick Fury series) Herb Trimpe step into the penciler’s beats he delivered for the resurrection of Strucker still chair, with Tanghal and Fred Fredericks taking on the stick with me! And artist-wise, one of my great regrets inking duties. Issue #20 (Feb. 1991) heralded new in life is not ringing up Herb Trimpe, getting to know regular penciler Butch (nee Jackson) Guice, who, him better, and learning from him on that story!”

Old Grudges, New Challenges Original artwork for NFAOS #1, pages 18 and 25, by Hall and DeMulder. From the collection of Patrick A Reed. TM & © Marvel.

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‘ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES’

All the while, former series editor Wright did his best to coordinate with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s current creative direction. “D. G. had a nice run, and tried to resurrect a new Hydra, along with Baron von Strucker, for a modern audience. I utilized his concepts in the other books I wrote… but other editors kept using Hydra in the old costumes and the old continuity. Sigh.” Chichester then left the title after sharing the writing credit for NFAOS #30– 31 with incoming scripter Scott Lobdell. “There was no actual collaboration with Scott… I was let go from the book and Scott took over the scripting,” Chichester informs BACK ISSUE. “He may have contributed some plot changes as well, but from that point forward he was effectively ‘voicing’ the book. “In truth, I was running late—and not for the first time—so the editor removed me from the book in order to ensure he’d maintain the schedule. This wasn’t what I considered my professional character, but I let it happen anyway—and actions, as they say, have consequences! “So unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to accomplish everything I wanted, and I’ve got to own that,” Chichester admits. “I had big plans for dealing out more mania and drive to Fury as he sought to discover who was behind the new S.H.I.E.L.D.; working toward the inevitable confrontation/reunion with Strucker; and continuing to use this as a platform to chart the rise of Hydra as a renewed power. I would get to play with these threads in other titles—but it would have been so much stronger with support from NFAOS as a main story platform! “It would also have been interesting to play out more of the history connection with the character. While Captain America has a certain nostalgic callback to WWII—or used to, at least—it’s based more in the nature of Steve Rogers’ positive character. Fury’s experience and viewpoint is decidedly different. Every now and again I’d get a nod to that in, but I wasn’t a mature enough writer at the time to know how to explore that properly.” Lobdell wrote the next six issues, handed the authorial reins to Eliot Brown for NFAOS #38–39, then returned to pen the following two issues—but between an ever-changing roster of artists and the lack of a singular creative direction, Fury and his associates were left somewhat adrift in the midst of the 1990s market boom. The addition of a team of “Super Agents,” a four-issue extended flashback storyline, and guest appearances by Luke Cage and Woodgod failed to right the ship, and after issue #41 (Nov. 1992), Lobdell stepped aside, trading his cloak-and-dagger duties for the greener pastures of the X-titles. And finally, with Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #42 (Dec. 1992), things came full circle, as the title welcomed its newest writer: the one and only… Greg Wright!

WRIGHT BACK WHERE HE STARTED FROM

Greg Wright made his return to the ongoing Nick Fury book at the request of editor Mike Rockwitz, who felt that it needed both an attitude adjustment and a clearly defined plan for getting back on its feet. Wright was excited to take on writing duties, and quickly met with Rockwitz. “Mike and I talked about how I wanted to change some things, and he agreed with my ideas,” Wright says. “He then asked if there’s anyone I wanted to work with because the book needed a new artist.” Wright’s first choice for artist, Mike Manley, was not available, as he was penciling Darkhawk gregory wright and wasn’t comfortable taking on additional assignments—but Manley recommended a friend of his named John Heebink, who was eager to break in at Marvel. According to Wright, “I liked John right away; his enthusiasm and work won me over. I sent his stuff over to Mike Rockwitz to see what he thought, and Mike agreed. I then came up with a year-long story that would put S.H.I.E.L.D. back on track. My specific objectives included getting rid of the ‘Super Agents’; cleaning up the inconsistencies regarding Hydra and Baron von Strucker that

Old Pros Drop In NFAOS pencils by Bronze Age fan-favorites (top) Keith Pollard and (bottom) Herb Trimpe, on issues #10 and 17, respectively. Original art courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

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had occured in various comics; putting Nick Fury back in charge; clearing up issues relating to the Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. miniseries regarding the true villain being an unknown LMD (I was going to pin it on Strucker); and bringing back some characters that were currently assumed to be dead.” With this plan in place, work began in earnest. Wright plotted out the first few issues, looking for ways to boost sales while also setting S.H.I.E.L.D.’s house in order. As he tells BI, “The problem was that sales were really low, so we were going to have to work fast to get sales up and avoid cancellation. One easy way to increase sales is to bring in guest-stars, and while it was easy to get permission to use characters like Captain America, the Viper, Terror Inc., and G. W. Bridge, we wanted a couple other ringers who might help us out. So we got permission to use Solo. Mike [Rockwitz] kept trying to get us some X-Force characters, and we were finally able to utilize Gideon and Crule. “Everything was going nicely until around issue #45, when we were informed that the book was officially going to be cancelled within the next couple issues! I had a year-long plan, and now I had to figure out how to end the series in the best way possible in two issues. I appealed the decision, pleading to at least get a double-sized final issue, but my requests were denied.” This decree having been made by higher-ups, Wright and Heebink went to work, determined to make the most of their remaining time on the title.

“I chopped away at my outline trying to pull out the most important elements and find a satisfying way to end the story,” says Wright. “I had already gotten rid of the Super Agents, cleaned up the Hydra inconsistencies, started explaining how Strucker was the one who programmed the LMD from the vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. miniseries to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. from within, and brought back some favorite characters, so all that was left was putting Fury back in charge…? “The real problem was the planned six months worth of story that was supposed to be the struggle between Fury and Hydra, CIA and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents trying to get to the bottom of everything with no one trusting each other, and various other twists and turns. But I ended the series where I meant to— even if it did mean telling a complex story in a simple manner, and having things happen way too fast.” Thus, issue #47 (May 1993) brought Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to its conclusion, the master spy felled by market conditions.

SPECIALS, MINISERIES, ONE-SHOTS, AND BEYOND

Though Fury’s starring series was now no more, S.H.I.E.L.D. itself was firing on all thrusters, its agents popping up wherever a hint of intrigue or quasimilitary enforcement was needed. Newly introduced field commander G. W. Bridge became a fixture in New Mutants and X-Force; Clay Quartermain (thought killed in the vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. miniseries, but now

Big Trouble (left) An amazing helicarrier shot from NFAOS #20 (Feb. 1991), by artists Jackson Guice and Dan Panosian. Original art from the collection of Patrick A. Reed. (right) Nick’s old cronies roll out the un-welcome wagon on this dynamite original art page from #44 (Feb. 1993). Art by John Heebink and Don Hudson. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

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De-Hydra-ated (left) Baron Strucker rears his ugly head on the cover of NFAOS #42 (Dec. 1992). Cover by Heebink and Mike Manley. (right) …And he’s still trying to get the best of Nick in the series’ final issue, #47 (May 1993)! Cover by Heebink and Don Hudson. TM & © Marvel.

resurrected) made regular appearances in The Incredible Hulk; Sharon Carter/Agent 13 went adventuring in the pages of Captain America; and Fury himself made cameos in a number of different series, including Nomad, Daredevil, Deathlok, Iron Man, New Warriors, Silver Sable and the Wild Pack, and others. And it wasn’t in Nick Fury’s nature to be content as merely a supporting character. The very next year saw Marvel release Fury (May 1994), a 64-page oneshot by Barry Dutter and M. C. Wyman that both retold S.H.I.E.L.D.’s origin and attempted to retcon some events from the recently completed ongoing series. A pair of Howard Chaykin–penned graphic novels followed shortly thereafter: 1994’s Wolverine & Nick Fury: Scorpio Rising, which followed up on some familial plot points from the 1989 Scorpio Connection hardcover; and 1995’s Captain America/ Nick Fury: Blood Truce, a story that featured Cap and Fury teaming up to take down some rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. 1995 brought the launch of Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. This four-issue limited series by Howard Chaykin and Corky C. Lehmkuhl picked straight up from Chaykin’s two graphic novels, teaming father Fury and son Scorpio on a mission to take down some ex-Hydra agents, exploring the inner workings of S.H.I.E.L.D., and introducing a bunch of over-the-top new superspy gadgets (including a new cybernetic headset that temporarily replaced Nick’s iconic eyepatch).

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But unfortunately, before any of these new and exciting elements could be expanded on, Nick Fury was killed. A major reorganization of Marvel’s editorial division at the end of 1994 had led to the establishment of five major imprints, families of titles organized by theme and character, each run by a primary editor. And with Nick Fury having been folded into the new Marvel Edge division, he quickly became a player in the first imprint event, “Double Edge”: a story where the Punisher goes insane and, believing Fury responsible for the death of his wife and children, hunts him down and shoots him. The story began with Double Edge Alpha (Aug. 1995) and ended in Double Edge Omega (Oct. 1995), leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. directionless and Marvel with one less popular character. Thankfully, as is usual in comic books, death proved to only be a temporary inconvenience for our hardbitten hero. And so, in 1998, writer Terry Kavanagh and artist Ramon Bernardo produced Fury/Agent 13, a two-issue limited series that brought Nick Fury back to the land of the living and—without revealing his resurrection to the world—set him up to resume his duties in the fight against the enemies of freedom. And that is how Nick Fury said farewell to the 20th Century (and the era addressed by BACK ISSUE)—back in business, ready for action, and cloaked once more in a veil of secrecy.

WHAT IF…? AND WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

In addition to the canonical stories of this era, S.H.I.E.L.D. took cover billing on a trio of fan-favorite alternate-reality stories during the Bronze Age: What If? vol. 1 #28 (Aug. 1981) featured a story by Mike W. Barr and Frank Miller that posed the question, “What If Daredevil Became an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?”; What If? vol. 2 #7 (Dec. 1989), by Jim Valentino and Rob Liefeld, saw Col. Fury recruiting Wolverine; while What If? vol. 2 #57 (Jan. 1994), by Chuck Dixon and Mike Harris, featured a tale where Fury tries the same trick with the Punisher. Beyond that, there’s one great “if only” for Fury fans of this era—a long-planned but never-released original graphic novel by Greg Wright and Jim Lee. This unfinished story teamed Nick Fury up with the Punisher in what would have doubtless been an essential purchase for ’90s comic fans. Wright kindly gives BACK ISSUE the lowdown on this lost project: “It’s actually a funny story. [Editor] Don Daley was told by [Marvel editor-in-chief] Tom DeFalco that Marvel needed some Punisher special projects immediately. Don decided that the Punisher: War Journal crew—Carl Potts and Jim Lee— and I should co-plot a 48-page special, and then Jim would draw it and I’d color it. Carl felt that a three-way group of plotters was a bad idea, but Don wouldn’t let it go. At the same time, Jim and I had been talking about doing a project with Fury and Punisher based on an idea I had… So before we knew it, Jim suggested that he do one project with Carl and this other Fury project with me, and Don quickly got the okay for two Jim Lee–drawn Punisher projects. “Jim and I got together and started to plot the story, and I quickly realized that 48 pages was not enough,” Wright continues. “I then went to [editor-in-chief] Tom DeFalco, pitched the story, and asked if it would be okay to bump it up to a 64-page graphic novel. He said yes, and to do it as a hardcover with painted blue-line color. So the basic storyline was mine, but Jim and I co-plotted it, while at the same time, he and his friend Brandon Choi (who was chatting about the project with Jim) created the villain Blackheart. [Editor’s note: This was not intended to be the same Blackheart who appeared in Daredevil, although the two shared a name.] “I put it all together into a coherent plot. Jim and I then sat down, and he thumbnailed everything out with me, so we could change a few things as he visualized it. The basic story was that both the Punisher and Nick Fury were after the same bad guy—Blackheart—for different reasons, and wanted to deal with him in very different ways. They wound up having to trust each other long enough to nail Blackheart, while, of course, clashing along the way. “It was meant to be an out-of-continuity story that would fit in at any time, but as time went by so many things changed in the Marvel Universe that I had to come up with different scripting notes to keep it more current, and eventually things had changed so much that it would have needed to be be presented as a flashback story.” But fate had other ideas. “As happens with projects that are not set on the schedule, it kept slipping,” Wright continues. “Jim was living in New York City for a couple months and was offered up everything under the sun to do, and he just kept saying yes. Which was fine, until he got assigned to The X-Men, which completely monopolized his time. Still, he kept working on it until the foundation of Image Comics… which took up even more time. (He never did Carl’s project, either.) “Don still needed a quick project, so I wrote the No Escape graphic novel for Tod Smith to draw. So I did get to do an extra Punisher project, but never got to finish Punisher/Fury.”

Fury Forever (top) This 1994 Fury one-shot revealed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s origin. Cover by Lou Harrison. (bottom) To millions, Samuel L. Jackson is Nick Fury—even in deluxe action figures, like this 2012 figure from Hot Toys. Nick Fury and Avengers TM & © Marvel.

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POSTSCRIPT: NICK FURY AND S.H.I.E.L.D. IN THE 2000s

In the 21st Century, S.H.I.E.L.D. has continued to serve as a cornerstone of Marvel’s continuity, though the familiar acronym now canonically stands for “Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” The events of the “Secret Invasion” crossover event revealed that the agency had been compromised by Skrulls, which caused the US government to disband S.H.I.E.L.D. once more, then resurrect it as soon as highlevel spying turned out to be needed. A version of S.H.I.E.L.D. played a major role in Marvel’s Ultimate Comics initiative, though the Fury of that universe was a tall, shaven-headed African American who bore an uncanny resemblance to a certain actor of Pulp Fiction fame. A similarly visaged character followed in the mainstream Marvel Universe, though this one was explained away as being the original Nick’s previously unknown illegitimate son, Nick, Jr. (Not to be confused with Mikel, Nick’s previously mentioned illegitimate son, who operates as Scorpio.) In 2000, Marvel and Berkeley Books released Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.: EMPYRE, a standalone novel by Will Murray (with interior illustrations by Jim Steranko) that told of Fury and company doing battle with a mysterious monarch bent on world destruction. Then, strangest of all, the 2014 “Original Sin” event brought Nick Fury into uncharacteristically cosmic terrain, as he led a universe-wide investigation into the killing of Uatu, the Watcher—and eventually adopted the role of Watcher himself, absorbing Uatu’s remaining powers and taking his place on the moon. And more recently, in Fantastic Four #25 (Dec. 2020), a mysteriously reborn Uatu restored Fury to human form, and returned him to active duty with the proclamation, “This moment calls for soldiers, not watchers.” This century has also seen some notable retconning of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s history: Brian Michael Bendis and Johnathan Hickman’s Secret Warriors series revealed that the agency had been manipulated by Hydra from the first, and that Fury and his compatriots were inadvertently working for the bad guys all along, through all their adventures, demobilizations, and revivals. Hickman and Dustin Weaver’s S.H.I.E.L.D. (published between 2010 and 2018) then superseded the above revelation by establishing that S.H.I.E.L.D. was, in fact, only the most recent incarnation of “The Brotherhood of the S.H.I.E.L.D.”—a secret society originally founded in 200 B.C., dedicated to protecting and preserving humanity, whose membership has included such luminaries as Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo, Isaac Newton, and Howard Stark. But while the S.H.I.E.L.D.’s history, roster of agents, and acronymous specifics may be subject to change, it remains the glue of the Marvel Universe, lurking in the background, weaving through story after story, underpinning all manner of major events. And Nick Fury—WWII veteran, swinging ’60s-style secret agent, troop commander, survivor of countless downed helicarriers, father to top-level field operatives, intergalactic observer, and peerless tactician—can always be counted on to appear when the chips are down, and whenever one of Marvel’s superheroic sagas demands a dose of good old-fashioned intrigue. Special thanks to Danny Fingeroth, Howard Mackie, Michael Browning, Howard Chaykin, Kim DeMulder, Will Murray, D.G. Chichester, Greg Wright, Bob Hall, Bob Harras, and Ben Saunders for their assistance in unearthing the secret documents and classified dossiers that made this article possible.

Don’t Knock Nick (above) Original Bill Sienkiewicz painted cover art for Fury #1 (Nov. 2001), a miniseries published under Marvel’s MAX imprint. Courtesy of Heritage. (inset) The Fury novel, written by Will Murray. TM & © Marvel.

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PATRICK A. REED is a New York City–based popculture historian and journalist. He is the co-curator of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing—The Exhibition; associate curator of the Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes exhibition; chief curator of the Eight Decades of Archie exhibition; founder of the Hip-Hop and Comics: Cultures Combining panel series; and is currently developing a number of other museum and publishing projects. He can be found on social media as @djpatrickareed.

by I a n

Secret agents were big in Britain in the late 1970s. The arrival in cinemas, every second year, of a new James Bond movie was guaranteed to draw a ticket-buying crowd, while the ones from a few years back hit high ratings when shown on television. Also, on television could be found spy series such as The New Avengers (1976–1977) and, for the more cerebral types, The Sandbaggers (1978–1980) and an excellent adaptation of John LeCarre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979). The Sandbaggers was an acknowledged influence on the later comics series Queen and Country. The UK comic industry was not immune to the popularity of heroes of a covert persuasion. Each of the new breed of boys’ comics that arrived from the mid-1970s had a secret-agent character. Battle Picture Weekly included the adventures of wartime spy Mike Nelson. The controversial Action had the violent contemporary secret-agent series Dredger. Even the science-fiction anthology 2000AD included cyborg agent M.A.C.H. 1, which was basically a ripoff of The Six Million Dollar Man (who also starred in a UK-originated comic series in Look-In each week). So why not Nick Fury?

‘THAT’S WHY I’VE ASKED YOU HERE.’

In fact, the British wing of Marvel Comics had been reprinting the Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. stories from Strange Tales, starting with the Lee/Kirby run, since 1975. Initially in a weekly comic called The Titans, by 1976 the series had transferred into the new Captain Britain weekly as a backup, behind the

all-new adventures of the eponymous hero. Unlike The Titans, Captain Britain was a mostly color comic, just in time to give the Jim Steranko run a decent showing. It wasn’t too long before Fury also showed up in the main feature, and therefore in stories not previously seen in US comics. In Captain Britain #16 (Jan. 19, 1977), Nick Fury appears in four panels, in which he gives Steve Rogers/ Captain America a mission to travel to England to investigate a possibly malevolent super-computer as well as the new hero, Captain Britain. This leads into a multi-part Captain Britain/Captain America/Red Skull serial in which Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. play an active supporting part. Although published exclusively until reprints years later in the US, the pages were prepared by the New York offices of Marvel Comics. The writer was Gary Friedrich, with art by the team of Herb Trimpe and Fred Kida, with Larry Lieber editing. Nick Fury next appears in #17 (Feb. 2, 1977), where he interacts with the fictional British spy agency S.T.R.I.K.E., as well as the prime minister of the day, James Callaghan. The latter is an interesting cameo; unlike US comics (especially those written by Jack Kirby or Roy Thomas), where guest appearances by real-life presidents and leading politicians were quite common, British comics usually shied away from such practices. Some years ago, I contacted Lord McNally, who had worked with James Callaghan at the time, and he thought “Sunny Jim” Callaghan was unaware that he had appeared in quite heroic form in Captain Britain.

Millsted

Nick Goes Global A Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. poster by Howard Bender and Dan Adkins, from Super Spider-Man and the Titans #205 (Jan. 12, 1977). All scans accompanying this article are courtesy of Ian Millsted. TM & © Marvel.

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Something Sinister, with the Prime Minister (left) Fury across the pond, in Marvel UK’s Captain Britain #21 (Mar. 2, 1977). Art by Herb Trimpe and Fred Kida. (right) A rescue mission, from Hulk Comic #7 (Apr. 18, 1979). Art by Steve Dillon. TM & © Marvel.

From Captain Britain #18 (Feb. 9, 1977) to 27 (Apr. 13, 1977), Nick Fury takes an increasingly active part in the fight against the Red Skull and his organization. Frank Giacoia replaced Fred Kida on inks for #23 (Mar. 16, 1977), and in #24 (Mar. 23, 1977) the all-new art team of John Buscema and Tom Palmer took over to complete the story by #26 (Apr. 6, 1977). Meanwhile, Nick Fury had become the star feature of a new British weekly from Marvel.

The only new material in Fury was its covers. Some were generic, but many featured Nick Fury. The first was by Dave Gibbons, and all the rest were by Carlos Ezquerra, who was clearly warming up for his subsequent work on Judge Dredd. Many of the Ezquerra covers are striking, and some are as visceral as was possible at that time for comics aimed at children.

‘C’MON, NICK! THIS AIN’T NO TIME FOR DAYDREAMING!’

Nick Fury became the star of an all-new adventure in Hulk Comic #1 (Mar. 7, 1979). This was a new anthology comic targeted to UK readers that knew British comics readers of the 1960s the Hulk from the television series, and ’70s had been somewhat lukebut were otherwise fans of traditional warm towards superhero comics. UK comics. As previously explored in The really popular genres with UK BACK ISSUE #28, the comic contained boys, in particular, were war and the Hulk, the Black Knight, Nick Fury, football (soccer). The weekly war and Night Raven in new serials, plus anthologies Battle Picture Weekly steve dillon reprints of Ant-Man from Tales to and Warlord (which predated DC Astonish. The Nick Fury serial ran just Comics’ The Warlord, with which Facebook. three pages each week, but is worth it had no connection) were big sellers. British Marvel responded with Fury #1 (Mar. seeking out for the story by Steve Moore and first 16, 1977). This title mainly featured reprints of Sgt. professional art by a then-16-year-old Steve Dillon. The Fury and Captain Savage and proved unpopular with first episode starts with Fury in an action sequence with British kids that resented the lack of characters from a training program going wrong. The threat from within their own country. I guess Percy Pinkerton was not S.H.I.E.L.D. itself anticipates some ideas developed the role model that working class kids wanted. Go further in the later Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D series (see BACK ISSUE #132). Established supporting characters figure. Fury lasted just 25 weekly issues.

‘ACHTUNG! ACHTUNG! COMMANDO ATTACK!’

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Dum Dum Dugan and the Gaffer both appear, as well as a very condensed origin of Fury as S.H.I.E.L.D. boss. Both Moore and Dillon have sadly died, but in a 1990 interview with Irish comics fanzine FTL, Steve Dillon talked about that early start in the business. “My early influences were people like Neal Adams. I was started too young, really. I got a contract when I was 16; I was offered a regular strip at Marvel UK. I was at art college, and I thought, ‘To do this I’ll have to leave college,’ and the only way I’d do that was if I had a guarantee of the work. So, I got a year’s contract. Three pages a week, for Hulk comic, to do Nick Fury, and that was too much.” In Hulk Comic #2 (Mar. 14, 1979), one traitor is revealed, but the wider threat remains. The third issue (Mar. 21, 1979) opens with agents being murdered in South America and Egypt. Gabe Jones and the Countess Valentina join the cast. Dillon’s drawing of the cast takes a while to settle down. His version of Val looks great, but is very different from Steranko’s. What Dillon does well at this stage of his career is action. While Fury heads for Cairo, Gabe and Val arrive in South America. Hulk Comic #4 (Mar. 28, 1979) ups the action with a shadowy organization using giant mushrooms (yes, really) to back one side in the civil war in a fictional South American state. There is a lot packed into each episode, and Dillon was drawing ten to 12 panels a page to tell the story. Fury diverts from Cairo to join his agents. Both the story and the production of the strip were clearly moving at a fast pace. The second panel of the episode in Hulk Comic #6 (Apr. 11, 1979) has the word balloons directed to the wrong people in an exchange between Fury and Gabe Jones. In that adventure, an attempt to rescue the rightful president results in more dead agents and a classic cliffhanger. The first page of the next episode is placed in the comic on the right-hand side of the center pages, opposite a one-page advertising strip for Star Wars toys (drawn by Brian Bolland, by the look of the art). Dillon was really hitting his stride in the three pages here, which include jet fighters attacking giant mushrooms, the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier in offensive action, suicidal explosions, and Fury chewing out Dum Dum Dugan. In contrast, Hulk Comic #8 has Fury back in New York attempting a quiet date with Laura Brown. In just three pages, Moore and Dillon do a great job of telling a story complete in itself, as well as developing the ongoing arc. From panel one we see Fury being

tracked by a mystery assailant, building up to a Connery-era Bond-esque throwaway ending. Hulk Comic #9 (May 2, 1979) sees the action transfer to Egypt. Issue #10 (May 9, 1979) has a neat variation on a scene from Doctor No, as well as a beautiful belly dancer, gadgets, camels, more explosions, and scimitar attacks. The 13th episode (May 30, 1979) includes that favorite of secret-agent movies, the giant subterranean base, complete with death traps. Hulk Comic #14 (June 6, 1979) adds to the mix Fury under attack by two women wielding razor-sharp fans. In Hulk Comic #16 (June 20, 1979), the location shifts again, this time to Hong Kong, where a dying agent delivers a message hidden inside a Bible. Issue #17 (June 17, 1979) introduces a new agent, Annie Wong. The main villain is revealed in #18 (July 4, 1979), and is not a great surprise given the location. You won’t need two guesses! Hulk Comic #19 (July 11, 1979) has the final episode. The story wraps up so quickly, it suggests the serial was curtailed faster than originally intended. Possibly Steve Dillon needed a break from the weekly schedule, or maybe sales were falling and it was more profitable to replace the story with reprints of US Nick Fury stories, which is what happened. Either way, there were no more original Fury stories in Marvel UK titles. Steve Moore and Steve Dillon worked together again on supporting stories in Doctor Who Weekly when that title launched a few months later and, from 1982 on, Laser Eraser and Pressbutton in Warrior (see BACK ISSUE #63). The Nick Fury serial in Hulk Comic totals 58 pages and has, so far, not been reprinted anywhere. For modern tastes, the portrayal of the South American and Egyptian characters may be somewhat stereotypical, but the characterization of Fury, Val, Laura, and Annie Wong is remarkably well developed given the short length of each episode. The overall story works well, up to the too-abrupt ending. If Marvel starts doing Epic Collections of Nick Fury, I hope they find space for this story.

From Britain With Love A Steranko-esque poster from Super Spider-Man #181 (July 28, 1976). Art by Basile. TM & © Marvel.

IAN MILLSTED is a teacher and writer based in Bristol, UK. One day soon he’ll get around to writing that YA spy story he has in mind.

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by B

en Herman

also My name is Mauser. That’s In my the name of my pistol. the only profession, my pistol’s I take reliable friend I have. care of care of it, and it takes and this me. I’m a private eye, is my story... Writer Nicola “Nick” Cuti and artist Joe Staton, working for Derby, Connecticut–based publisher Charlton Comics, introduced a fun, dynamic take on superheroes in the pages of E-Man #1 (Oct. 1973). The entity that would become E-Man began life thousands of years ago when a packet of sentient energy erupted from the star Arcturus. For millennia, this energy wandered the universe, searching for other intelligent life. Eventually arriving on Earth, the energy got caught up in electrical power lines, which led it to the dressing room of burlesque performer Nova Kane. Taking on human form, the energy-being adopted the identity of E-Man, and Nova gave him the civilian alias Alec Tronn. With Nova as his guide, E-Man protected Earth from a variety of bizarre foes. Although Alec was the ostensible lead of his own book, right from the start E-Man was an ensemble series, with Nova an equal co-star. And with issue #3 (June 1974), another character joined the book’s cast: disheveled, abrasive private detective Mike Mauser. Its story “The Energy Crisis” is set in New York City during the oil crisis of late 1973. Nova and fellow exotic dancer Rosie Rhedd are walking home from work when Rosie is suddenly pulled through a solid brick wall by an unseen assailant! The shocked Nova goes to E-Man for aid, but he is busy helping with the numerous emergencies caused by the power shortages. Spying a flyer that advertises private detective Mike Mauser’s services, Nova reluctantly heads to his office. Although startled by Mauser’s slovenly appearance, she tells him about Rosie’s strange vanishing. Mauser agrees it’s a fantastic story, but adds, “So long as you’re paying me, I’ll believe anything.” Mauser and Nova return to the scene of the crime and discover that the wall into which Rosie was pulled belongs to an old warehouse. Mauser spots fresh tire tracks, as well as a crate labeled “Boarsville,” the home billionaire energy magnate Samuel Boar. They drive to Boarsville in Mauser’s VW Bug, but are ambushed on the outskirts of town. Both are captured, but not before Nova makes a phone call alerting E-Man. Alec zips to Boarsville and learns that Samuel Boar is using an unorthodox source of energy to power his empire: living people! Rosie, Nova, and Mauser are just three of the hundreds of innocents kidnapped and plugged into Boar’s generators. Fortunately, E-Man defeats Boar, and the authorities release all of Boar’s victims. Later, back at Mauser’s office, the P.I. offers E-Man a job, to which Nova responds, “Not a chance! He’s a big lovable guy and I want him to stay that way… not become corrupted by a cynical creep like you!” As she storms out, Mauser tells Alec, “That’s a tough little broad you’ve got there.” Mike Mauser created by Nick Cuti and Joe Staton. Art © Joe Staton.

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joe staton © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

The Big Steep That’s a lot of stairs to climb, Nova! Mike Mauser’s first appearance, from E-Man #3 (June 1974). Original art courtesy of Ben Herman. E-Man created by Nick Cuti and Joe Staton. Art © Joe Staton.

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CHARACTER INSPIRATIONS

be arrested for trying to corrupt a minor!” Despite Nova’s dislike for Mauser, in issue #9 (July Interviewed by Jon B. Cooke for Comic Book Creator #9 (Summer 2015), Joe Staton detailed how Mauser 1975) Alec is officially working with the private eye to investigate the mysterious criminal Genius One. Alec, came about: “Nick had the idea for a detective based on [actor] being made of energy, has the advantage of being able Arnold Stang. He was a little guy with a really nasal to change his shape, but the all-too-human Mauser’s voice, little glasses… And since Nick was hanging out “disguise” is hiding inside a garbage can, which he with Wally Wood and they had guns all over the place, blends into very easily! the idea of Mauser… Nick had a Mauser. Very cool gun. CALLING FOR BACKUP! The ultimate gun, visually, and it came together.” When Mauser was created in the early ’70s, Staton That same month, Mauser found a second home, as was challenged by a lack of artistic reference. “The a backup feature in the Charlton adventure series visual I wound up with Mauser—this was obviously Vengeance Squad. Stories featuring Mauser appeared in before the Internet, and it was hard to find a lot of all six issues of Vengeance Squad, cover-dated July 1975 things, so I didn’t really have any reference for Arnold to May 1976. As Cuti explained in BACK ISSUE #13, “I Stang. I knew who he was, just generally, but that eventually started loving the character so much that I was when the Dustin Hoffman/Steve McQueen movie felt he was wrong for superhero comics because he was a private eye, and I don’t really like to mix genres. So was out, Papillon. And there were all these pictures of when [writer] Joe Gill came up with Vengeance Dustin Hoffman in these really thick glasses in Squad, I asked [editor] George [Wildman] if Papillon, so I just thought, ‘Well, he’s not I could do Mike Mauser as a backup and Arnold Stang, but he’s close enough.’” do these little private-eye stories without Nick Cuti sadly passed away in any superhero attached to it at all.” In February 2020; however, he and some of these backup tales, Mauser is Staton were interviewed about E-Man hip-deep in the action, mixing it up by Michael Ambrose in BACK ISSUE with all sorts of dangerous criminals; #13 (Dec. 2005), and he shared his in others, he is an observer, delivering thoughts on Mauser’s origins: commentary on the activities of various “Mike Mauser just was supposed unsavory characters. to be a one-time character, he was just E-Man was cancelled with issue going to be in this particular story #10 (Sept. 1975). Mauser would [E-Man #3—ed.]. I’ve always liked subsequently appear in the E-Man private-eye stories, and this gave me nick cuti story by Cuti and Staton that ran an opportunity to create a private-eye in issue #4 (Mar.–Apr. 1976) of the character. I decided to insert him in here, and I was just going to use him for this one story semi-professional fanzine Charlton Bullseye. “…And Why the Sea Is Boiling Hot” has Alec and Nova working and then I was never going to use him again.” Mauser, however, did return less than a year later, with Mauser, investigating the disappearances of in the pages of E-Man #7 (Mar. 1975). The mysterious several ships and aircraft. This turns out to be the work “TV Man” has been using alien technology to cause of space pirates. Receiving a signal from Alec and Nova, E-Man to lose control of his powers. Seeking a final showdown, TV Man ambushes Mauser in his office, instructing him at gunpoint to deliver an ultimatum to E-Man. The unperturbed Mauser, staring down the barrel of TV Man’s gun, deadpans, “You know how to make a point. Do you still need me… or is a truck about to come through that tunnel?” Passing along TV Man’s message, the next day Mauser brings E-Man over to Rockefeller Plaza for a “high noon” showdown with the villain. Having served as messenger, the P.I. announces, “It’s getting close to noon so I’m going to take off. There’s no hero in my blood.” Despite his protestations, it would later become apparent that Mauser possesses more than his share of bravery and heroism. He was akin to Rick Blaine from Casablanca, who always insisted “I stick my neck out for nobody,” but who, when push came to shove, was hardpressed to turn his back on someone in need of help. Staton shares his thoughts about Mauser’s relatively quick return. “My impression is that Nick always had plans for Mauser, following his debut. He showed up as such a solid character on his own, right off the bat, that it was clear that Nick had been thinking about him for some time.” It would seem that after Mauser’s original “one-time” appearance in E-Man #3, the character made an impression upon Cuti. The following issue, E-Man #8 (May 1975), established Mauser as a regular presence in the series. Nova catches E-Man playing cards with the private eye. Concerned about the impact Mauser might have on the impressionable energy being, Nova snaps at the detective, “He doesn’t know any better, but you should

Alec Tronn, Private Eye? (top) Nova nixes Mauser’s offer in E-Man #3. Original art courtesy of Ben Herman. (bottom) Visual and personality inspirations for Mauser: Arnold Stang (from The Man with the Golden Arm), Dustin Hoffman (from Papillon), and Humphrey Bogart (from Casablanca). Excerpted from movie lobby card and posters, courtesy of Heritage. Art © Joe Staton. The Man with the Golden Arm © United Artists. Papillon © Allied Artists. Casablanca © Warner Bros.

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Mauser contacts the military to send in reinforcements. The aliens are driven off, and Earth is saved, but the morosely philosophical Mauser ponders, “Yeah, and people still dump waste in the rivers and cut down the forests. We might as well let the aliens have it.” In 1983, E-Man was revived by First Comics (see inset). Mike Mauser was once again a regular presence in the series, simultaneously an ally and a nuisance to Alec, Nova, and their adorable koala companion Teddy Q. Interestingly, Mauser now had a shorter, rounder, cartoonish appearance. “Mauser was originally based on Dustin Hoffman in Papillon” Staton explains, “so he was intended to look like a caricature of a real person. I didn’t check back with my reference as I went on after that, so my inclinations just took over and he got rounder and shorter. Remember that Teddy Q was originally a fairly naturalistic koala, but he got rounder and his nose and his feet got bigger. I can’t seem to control myself!” Mauser received a backup story by writer Mike W. Barr and artist Rick Burchett in issue #4 (July 1983). “Mauser, P.I.” is a humorous sendup of the then-popular primetime TV show Magnum, P.I. The spotlight again fell on Mauser in E-Man #18 (Sept. 1984) as the return of a former girlfriend drew the detective into a web of violence and deceit. Burchett tells BACK ISSUE how this story came about: “For some reason [Staton] asked me to write and draw a short Mauser story for the issue. I was excited and more than a little nervous. I had never written a script before, but I figured the penciler would make up for any shortcomings the story would have.” Burchett’s Mauser sequence in E-Man #18 is titled “Where Angel Fears to Tread” and is presented within the main story itself, as Mauser recounts these events to Nova Kane. The issue contains the byline “by Joe Staton and Rick Burchett,” with no specific credits for writer and artist, as presumably it was simpler than having to indicate that half the issue was written and rick burchett penciled by Staton and the other half by Burchett. Burchett explains the inspiration for his segment: “As for the story itself, at that time Linda Ronstadt had released an album of old pop-music standards accompanied by Nelson Riddle’s Orchestra. The title song was ‘What’s New,’ a Sinatra tune from the ’50s. It was a wistful

When the CHiPs Are Down… …you, too, can become a private eye. (top) So says Mike Mauser. (bottom) The Staton/Burchett credit in First’s E-Man #18 (Sept. 1984) wasn’t as simple as it seemed, as in this article Rick Burchett explains his writing of Mauser’s internal tale. © Joe Staton and Rick Burchett.

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song about two people, who had once been in a relationship, meeting again after a number of years. “The story is told from the standpoint of one of the lovers realizing that this was ‘the one that got away.’ I liked the song and it came to me, ‘What if this was Mauser’s story? What if he had a lost love?’ It opened the door to all kinds of possibilities, and I could see it hitting a bunch of different emotional notes. I always felt there was a lot of pathos in the character, and this might be an opportunity to focus on that facet of the little guy.” Mauser also co-headlined a miniseries with Ms. Tree, the hardboiled lady private detective created by writer Max Allan Collins and artist Terry Beatty [as explored elsewhere in this issue—ed.]. The P.I.’s: Michael Mauser and Ms. Tree #1–3 (Jan.–May 1985) was written by Collins and drawn by Staton and Beatty. It was an effective meeting of the two headstrong, trigger-happy private eyes, a deft blend of dark tragedy and sardonic humor. “Max Allan Collins and our editor Mike Gold were great friends, so this was arranged by the two of them,” Staton recalls. “The [artistic collaboration with Beatty] was pretty straightforward. I think we worked Marvel-style from the Collins outline. I penciled the art and broke down the panels, but when there was a spot for Ms. Tree or any of her supporting characters, I very roughly blocked in the figure. Terry inked my pencils and drew his characters in as he did it.” Due to his being employed by DC Comics at the time, Mauser’s co-creator Nicola Cuti was unable to contribute to most of First’s E-Man series. Cuti was finally reunited with Staton on issue #24 (June 1985), and the pair set out to tell the origin of Mike Mauser. “Mauser’s Story” reveals that Mauser was born in the middleclass community of Beacon Falls, Connecticut. The tragic death of Mauser’s father resulted in the family having to move to the slums of Brooklyn, New York. Being beaten up on a daily basis forced the teenage Mauser to toughen up quickly, and he joined the Black Lions street gang. When the Lions were arrested for

attempted robbery, Mauser and the rest of the gang were shipped off to fight in Vietnam. It was there that Mauser acquired his namesake handgun, courtesy of Eddie Phuong, a wheeling, dealing Vietnamese soldier. His experiences in Vietnam taught Mauser personal responsibility and loyalty, but also left him deeply traumatized. Wounded in battle, Mauser was shipped back to the States, and he helped smuggle in Eddie’s younger sisters Ruthie and Angela so they could have a better life. Back home, Mauser drifted from one job to another. Eventually, his old acquaintance, Police Captain Bill Doyle, informed him that Eddie had arrived in the States and was now a major drug smuggler. Mauser approached Ruthie to find out if she had any information on her brother, but she was murdered by one of Eddie’s thugs. Mauser managed to locate Eddie, but barely escaped with his life. The experience prompted him to go back to school and become a private investigator. In the present day in E-Man #24, Mauser is reunited with Angela, now a grown woman. He learns from her that Eddie is once again in New York. Mauser sets out to finally take down Eddie, and to protect Angela from also getting killed.

Watching the Detectives Thanks to the versatile talents involved, First Comics’ The P.I.’s: Michael Mauser and Ms. Tree seamlessly blended the two title characters’ realms. Michael Mauser © Joe Staton and Nick Cuti. Ms. Tree © Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty.

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Mauser, My Sweet (left) This 1988 First Comics house ad promoted the Mauser spotlight in E-Man #24—which also featured the return of original E-Man writer and co-creator Nick Cuti. (right) Apple Comics published this 1992 one-shot, The New Crime Files of Michael Mauser, Private Eye. © Joe Staton.

After First Comics cancelled E-Man with issue #25, Mauser and the rest of the gang went into limbo for a few years. They finally returned in an E-Man Special (Sept. 1989) and three-issue miniseries (Jan.–Mar. 1990) published by Comico. The Special had a Mauser backup story by Cuti and Staton. While investigating a kidnapping, Mauser is saddled with his young niece Kitty Katz, who he regards as an “insufferable brat.” Kitty spills his coffee and almost shoots Mauser with his own gun, but in the end she does help him solve the case. Once again demonstrating that E-Man was an ensemble title, Alec Tronn himself barely appears in the first issue of the Comico miniseries. The majority of the action is given over to Mauser, Nova, and Teddy Q, who are working to save E-Man’s sister Vamfire after her physical form is accidentally splintered into numerous twisted fragments due to a mishap in a carnival house of mirrors. Mauser returned to solo action in 1992. For the first time the character starred in his own title, the black-and-white special The New Crime Files of Michael Mauser, Private Eye, published by Apple Comics. “Snow Angels” is one of the darkest tales produced by the team of Cuti and Staton. In the midst of a cold, brutal winter in New York City, Mauser, assisted by Angela, is tracking down a serial killer known as the Spray Paint Strangler. The disturbing case causes Mauser to begin questioning his sanity. Staton’s artwork on “Snow Angels” is somber, suffused with mood. Combined with Cuti’s atmospheric script, it makes for a disquieting read. “It’s a remarkable bit of writing, very much like a novel, and proves the depth of Nick’s storytelling,” Staton comments. “Snow Angels” also demonstrates Staton’s versatility as an artist. He is well-regarded for his cartoony style, but is certainly capable of much more. Staton had always been a fan of mystery and detective fiction, and Mauser gave him the opportunity to work in that genre. Interviewed by Rocco Nigo for Comic Book Artist #12 (Mar. 2001), Staton declared, “I’d be perfectly happy to sit down and draw Mauser stories for the rest of my life.” Another solid, enjoyable Mauser story by Cuti and Staton, “The Old Farmhouse,” appeared in the anthology special The Detectives (Apr. 1993), published by Alpha Productions. The cover was illustrated by Adam Hughes and featured Mauser alongside fellow private investigators Jennifer and Gabe from The Maze Agency [see BI #2—ed.], 3 6 • BAC K I S S U E • S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e

Mike Mist, Tony Bravado, and Johnny Dynamite. There were two additional Mauser tales published in the mid-1990s by Alpha Productions in the quarterly anthology title Noir. Mauser next appeared when Digital Webbing published a trio of E-Man specials between 2006 and 2008. He had supporting roles in both E-Man: Recharged and E-Man: Dolly, and co-stars in E-Man: Curse of the Idol. In that last tale, Mauser and Alec are searching for a mysterious extra-dimensional idol that is also sought by a corrupt South American general. “Fish Story” was a Mauser tale by Cuti and Staton that was intended to run in Vengeance Squad back in 1976, but it was not published after that series was cancelled. Three decades later, Staton finished its artwork and it at last saw print in Michael Ambrose’s Charlton Spotlight #6 (Fall 2008) from Argo Press. As of this writing, Mike Mauser has most recently appeared in the first chapter of “Homecoming,” the three part E-Man and Nova serial in The Charlton Arrow vol. 2 #1–3 (Sept. 2017–Jan. 2018), published by Charlton Neo. With Cuti’s death shortly thereafter, this would end up being the final E-Man story by the character’s creators. In the opening pages of “Homecoming,” we see Mike and Angela at long last get married, in a ceremony attended by all of their friends and family including Alec, Nova, and Teddy Q. Mike Mauser demonstrated Nicola Cuti and Joe Staton’s creativity in that they devised a character equally at home as a supporting player in the fantastical adventures of E-Man and Nova as he was starring in his own hardboiled crime and mystery tales. As Staton himself stated in the Comic Book Creator #9 interview, “I think Mauser is one of the all-time great characters.” Thank you to Joe and Hilarie Staton and Rick Burchett for their invaluable assistance. This article is dedicated to the memory of Nicola Cuti. BEN HERMAN lives in Queens, NYC, just a hop, skip, and a jump from Peter Parker’s hometown of Forest Hills. He shares a one-bedroom apartment with his girlfriend, two cats, a turtle, and too many comic books. He has also been published in Alter Ego.

by D e w e y

No issue on spies and P.I.s would be complete without Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective. If you attended elementary school in the mid- to late 1960s (or several decades after), you probably remember the ten-yearold who only charged 25 cents to solve a crime. What you may not know is that for almost two years, Encyclopedia also had his own newspaper comic strip. Donald J. Sobol—the J was just an initial—created the character Leroy “Encyclopedia” Brown in 1961 and wrote the first book in just two weeks, but received two dozen rejections before it was published by Bantam Skylark in 1963. That was the beginning of a mystery series about the perpetual fifth grader that lasted 50 years. Each book usually contains ten separate stories and readers are encouraged to try to solve the mysteries. Solutions are provided in the back of the book, a format inspired by a puzzle book Sobol saw at the New York Public Library. In the stories, Encyclopedia helps his father, the police chief in the fictional seaside town of Idaville, solve crimes at the dinner table. He also has his own detective agency, which he runs out of the family garage, to help kids in the neighborhood solve cases for “25 cents per day, plus expenses—no case too small.” Cases range from pranks to not-so-petty theft. He is aided by his close friend and partner, Sally Kimball, who also acts as bodyguard for Encyclopedia when he gets picked on by local bully Bugs Meany

and the Tigers gang. Sobol referred to Encyclopedia as “America’s Sherlock Holmes in sneakers.” The Encyclopedia Brown series of books proved to be very popular, aided by the fact kids could order the books at school through Scholastic catalogs. So, it is not surprising that the idea would be adapted to other formats. Beginning December 3, 1978, Encyclopedia Brown appeared as a newspaper strip, syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate, which also carried Doonesbury, Ziggy, Cathy, and For Better or For Worse. The Encyclopedia Brown strip ran both black-and-white dailies and color Sundays, following a format similar to the books. The daily strip featured ongoing mystery stories that ran for one to three weeks, typically the latter. The Sunday strip was completely separate from the daily storyline, featuring “done-in-one” mysteries with the solution printed upside down in the last panel. Both allowed for new readers to easily pick up on the series. The approach of having separate storylines was not unusual, given that newspapers might carry either the daily strip or the Sunday, but not necessarily both. The Sunday strips followed the traditional formats, appearing in half-, third-, and quarter-page formats as well as the tabloid format, with some panels omitted depending on the format. The comic strip was credited to Sobol and artist Frank Bolle, but it was actually written by Elliot Caplin, younger brother of Al Capp, creator of the long-

Cassell

Eagle-Eyed Kid Boy detective Encyclopedia Brown solves an ecological mystery in a Sunday installment of his short-lived comic strip. Scans illustrating this article are courtesy of Dewey Cassell. Encyclopedia Brown © Penguin Random House.

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‘And I would’ve gotten away with it, too’… Move over, Scooby-Doo gang! Encyclopedia’s not even a teen and he’s busting guilty grown-ups in (top) this Sunday strip from July 1, 1979 and (bottom) this daily from July 28, 1979. Encyclopedia Brown © Penguin Random House.

running strip Li’l Abner. Caplin is better known for having co-created the strip The Heart of Juliet Jones with Stan Drake. The storylines for the strip were largely adapted from the Encyclopedia Brown books and Sobol’s other series, Two-Minute Mysteries, although a few of the strip storylines may have been original. Frank Bolle was an experienced comic book and comic strip artist by the time he was tapped to draw the Encyclopedia Brown strip. He drew comics both for DC and Atlas (pre-cursor to Marvel), as well as illustrating children’s books. He drew the newspaper strips Winnie Winkle, The Heart of Juliet Jones, and Apartment 3-G, and also contributed regularly to the Boy Scouts of America magazine Boys’ Life. Bolle’s clean line and realistic style was a good match for the Encyclopedia Brown newspaper strip, although different than Leonard Shortall, who had illustrated the books for years. The Encyclopedia Brown strip included all of the usual characters from the book series. Storylines featured in the strip included “The Case of the Wounded Eagle,” “The Case of the Double Vision,” and “The Case of the Salami Sandwich.” In some cases, Encyclopedia arrived at the solution simply because he is smart, such as “The Case of the 15 Books,” in which he noted that if you tried to arrange a row of 15 books into all of the possible combinations (15 factorial), using one minute for each combination, it would take almost 2.5 million years. In other cases, it was a matter of deductive reasoning, such as “The Case of the Buried Treasure,” which depicts a boy named Winslow asking Encyclopedia for help. Winslow found a treasure map and asked his friend Pete to help him locate the treasure. On their way to the island where the treasure was buried, their boat sprung a leak and Pete used the map to plug the hole. Suspicious that Pete made a copy of the map, Winslow and Encyclopedia borrow another boat and find

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Pete digging for treasure on the island. Encyclopedia catches Pete in a lie when he claims that he had to use the map because the rising tide would have caused water to pour into the boat through the hole, which was 18 inches above the waterline. (The boat would have floated up with the tide, so the water never would have reached the hole.) Pete confesses his duplicity, but in a touch of humor, they let him keep digging all afternoon before Encyclopedia tells him the map is a fake. One exception of sorts to the “done-in-one” rule for Sundays was the “The Battle of the Brains” storyline, which extended over consecutive Sundays, but featured a separate question (and answer) each week. Unsurprisingly, Encyclopedia ultimately proved victorious. What made the strip appealing, just like the books, was the way a ten-year-old boy outsmarted people bigger and older than he was. The format encouraged learning in a way that was fun for readers and the strip brought the stories to life more fully than the chapter illustrations in the books. The Encyclopedia Brown strip seemed to work especially well as a Sunday feature, but perhaps was not as well suited for an ongoing daily strip. By definition, the stories were intended to be a quick read—typically five to seven pages each in the books—not drawn out over several weeks. Plus, there is always a lot of competition for space in the funny pages and the circulation numbers may not have been what was expected. Whatever the reason, the strip ended on September 20, 1980. While it was the end of the newspaper strip, it was not the end of Encyclopedia Brown. The Encyclopedia Brown series was popular with educators, who saw them as an opportunity to encourage reading and promote analytical thinking. In 1986, the Society for Visual Education, Inc., published an Encyclopedia Brown filmstrip series in which the boy detective demonstrates the skills required to write reports.

‘The Case of the Different Formats’

Encyclopedia appeared in other media as well. A live-action Encyclopedia Brown television series ran on HBO, starting in 1989. By all accounts, the show was well received. The books published during this time period featured photo covers depicting the actors. However, the show ended after eight episodes. Several of the episodes were later released on VHS. Repeated efforts to produce a feature film have been aborted or stalled. The Mystery Writers of America honored Sobol and his Encyclopedia Brown series with a special Edgar Award in 1976. Sobol wrote a total of 29 Encyclopedia Brown books, the final one published posthumously in 2012. Approximately 50 million copies of the books have been sold, and they have been translated into 12 languages. They are still in print today. Selected strips were collected into two paperbacks, Encyclopedia Brown’s Book of Comic Strips #1 and 2, both published by Bantam Skylark in 1985. Published

Sunday strips are fairly readily available on the secondary market, but dailies are somewhat harder to find, as is the original artwork from the series. Sobol once said, “Readers constantly ask me if Encyclopedia is a real boy. He is, perhaps, the boy I wanted to be—doing the things I wanted to read about but could not find in any book when I was 10.” The one mystery that Encyclopedia Brown couldn’t solve was how to stay in the newspaper.

Encyclopedia Brown, like other Sunday strips, might appear in different formats (sometimes with panels edited out) to meet a newspaper’s layout needs for its Sunday funnies section. Encyclopedia Brown © Penguin Random House.

DEWEY CASSELL is the twiceEisner-Award–nominated author/ co-author of four books and over 50 magazine articles, and a lifelong fan of Encyclopedia Brown.

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Strong female leads: Honey West, Modesty Blaise, April Dancer… they’ve got nothing on Michael Tree. Ms. Tree to her fans. What if... Mike Hammer finally married his secretary, Velda, herself a tough P.I., and on their honeymoon he was murdered!? That’s how Max Allan Collins explains the thoughts behind the creation of Ms. Tree, co-created by artist Terry Beatty. Michael Tree becomes the widowed owner of her husband’s firm, Tree Investigations, Inc. Her staff of Effie, her secretary and business manager, and two operatives, Roger Fremont, a former district attorney, and beginner Dan Green, would assist her to tackle the tough cases. The Muerta Crime Family, responsible for her husband’s death, was top on her list. She also tackled cases that could have been pulled from today’s headlines—that explored themes that Max couldn’t explore in the family-friendly Dick Tracy strip—homicidal lesbians, serial killers, crooked cops, child molesters, pro-life killers, and more. And Ms. Tree pushes on… usually violently… which results in her arrest, a subsequent imprisonment, a stay in a mental hospital, and of being medicated against her will. She deals with an unwanted pregnancy, as well as her late husband’s stepson, who is in love with a Muerta Family girl, which results in the unexpected involvement of the Muerta Family in her and her family’s wellbeing. Max Allan Collins (b. March 3, 1948) is probably best known as a mystery writer. But that just scratches the surface of his impressive catalog of accomplishments. A frequent Mystery Writers of America “Edgar” nominee in both fiction and non-fiction categories, he max allan collins has earned an unprecedented 18 Private Eye Writers of America “Shamus” nominations, winning for his Nathan Heller novels, True Detective (1983) and Stolen Away (1991), receiving the PWA life achievement award, the “Eye,” in 2007. Max has been prolific producing mystery novels, screenplays, movie novelizations, graphic novels, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, historical fiction, and non-fiction historical compilations, His novels, Road to Perdition, Road to Purgatory, and Road to Paradise were the basis for his trio of graphic novels known together as On the Road to Perdition, which in turn was the basis of the 2002 film Road to Perdition, which starred Tom Hanks, Paul Newman (in his last live-action theatrical film acting role), Jude Law, and Daniel Craig. Max scripted the comic book Batman in 1986–1987 and several maxiseries. He also created a new origin for Jason (Robin) Todd. That same year, Max and Terry created the character Wild Dog for DC and not only was it a miniseries, and a feature in Action Comics Weekly [see BI #98 and 102— ed.], it went on to be a prominent character in the CW TV show Arrow, based on DC’s Green Arrow. Max took over the writing of the Dick Tracy newspaper strip in 1977. Tracy creator Chester Gould had retired that same year and his last strip was printed on December 25, 1977. Max

One Tough Broad Her intentions are quite clear here, don’t you think? Cover detail from Ms. Tree #21 (Sept. 1985) by Terry Beatty. Ms. Tree TM & © Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty.

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by S

tephan Friedt

would debut the next day. He would continue to write the strip (with art by Gould’s former art assistants) until 1992, when the syndicate reorganized their comic-strip holdings and replaced Max with a staff writer at half the cost. Max was a long-time fan of mystery writer Mickey Spillane. That would develop into a friendship, and the two collaborated on a comic-book series in the 1990s called Mike Danger. When Spillane died in 2006, Max was entrusted to finish several uncompleted works by Spillane including Dead Street, The Goliath Bone, and The Big Bang. With Lee Goldberg, he co-founded the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, an association developed to assist writers of TV and movie tie-in novelizations and expansion novels. Max has written expansion novels for the TV series Dark Angel, CSI (books and comics), and Bones. As an independent filmmaker in the Midwest, he has written and directed five features and two documentaries, including the Lifetime movie Mommy (1996) and a 1997 sequel, Mommy’s Day; and has written and performed music with his rock band, Crusin’. Terry Beatty (b. January 11, 1958) has worked as a penciler and inker in the comic industry for decades. I first saw his work in The Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom in the 1980s, after I was affiliated with that comic fandom staple (1975–1976). He wrote columns,

comic strips, and did dozens of covers in the 1980s. He co-created Ms. Tree in 1981 and has been with that character in all its incarnations. In the late 1980s, Terry worked on a variety of things for DC, including Wild Dog. The 1990s saw Ms. Tree at DC. In the 2000s, Terry started a decade-long run as the primary inker for DC’s animated TV tie-in comic series, including a four-year-straight run inking Batman Strikes. In the early 2000s, Terry spent time as a “Visiting Artist” at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MDAD), participating in public lectures and discussions, and providing additional educational programming for students. From 2012–2017, Terry took over as the artist for the Sunday episodes of the King Features comic strip, The Phantom. In 2013, he added the art chores for the King Features comic strip, Rex Morgan, M.D. And in 2016, Terry was handed the full reins for Rex Morgan, M.D., being responsible for the writing and art duties on the strip seven days a week, where you can still find him to this day. Terry regularly provides cover paintings for Scary Monsters magazine, as well as its spinoff Monster Memories Annual. He is also an accomplished sculptor and does fantastic jobs on plastic and resin model kits. I talked to Max and Terry about the beginnings of their love for comics and those early days of Ms. Tree… – Stephan Friedt

He’s Got Some Spillane-ing to Do (left) Max Allan Collins has kept the spirit of crime novelist—and mentor and friend— Mickey Spillane alive in several novels. (right) Original Terry Beatty art to The Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom #402 (July 31, 1981), featuring Doctor Strange. Courtesy of Heritage Comic Auctions (www.ha.com). Dr. Strange TM & © Marvel.

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Early Ms. Tree (left) This cover appearance on Eclipse, the Magazine #6 (July 1982) was painted by Paul Gulacy. (right) Watch out, Muerta Family, she’s got her sights trained on you! Ms. Tree’s Thrilling Detective Adventures #1 (Feb. 1983). Ms. Tree TM & © Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty.

STEPHAN FRIEDT: How did you two become acquainted? TERRY BEATTY: Max and I both lived in the same small Iowa town. My father had been his junior high school English teacher. When Max’s first crime novels were published, I became an instant fan, and one night, as a high school kid, working my first (lousy) job in a local pizza joint, I introduced myself to Max and his wife. The rest is history, as they say. MAX ALLAN COLLINS: I was impressed by Terry’s cartooning abilities—he was doing underground-type stuff and circulating it to his high school friends. He began going to movies with my wife Barb and me, and sometimes just me, if the movie was something Barb wasn’t interested in. We began exploring possibilities to work together. FRIEDT: When did you decide you first wanted to create your own comics? COLLINS: Before I could read! Or for that matter, write. I was maybe five when I did a comic about two zombie Supermen (they were twins) with the dialogue balloons filled with gibberish. My childhood dream of being a cartoonist, which translated into homemade comic books that I passed around school, transitioned into prose storytelling when I started reading private-eye fiction. There was a fad for private eyes on TV in the late ’50s/ early ’60s that led me to the work of Dashiell Hammett,

Raymond Chandler, and Mickey Spillane. I began writing and sending out novels to publishers by high school. BEATTY: I wanted to make comics from the first moment I saw comics. I was writing and drawing my own handmade comic books when I was in grade school. Of course, I was using crayons and typing paper, but they were still comics. Never wanted to do much of anything else. Ms. Tree would go on to become the longest-running detective crime series in comic-book history, with over 50 issues in its original run through multiple companies and ten more issues at DC Comics, plus specials and off-shoots. And yet, the general comics reader probably isn’t familiar with it… what a shame! Capturing the essence of both film noir and hard-case crime novels—with a healthy dose of pulp-inspired themes and story arcs— Ms. Tree is by far one of the most enjoyable character runs created… if you’re into something other than superheroes in tights. The story arc and chapter titles alone are a treat for hard-boiled crime fans. Dean Mullaney and his brother Jan established Eclipse Enterprises in 1977. Dean had been impressed with Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty’s Mike Mist Minute Mist-ery syndicated feature that was running in the Chicago Reader newspaper. Dean, also a fan of Max’s Dick Tracy, approached Max and Terry and asked them to be a part of his new black-and-white anthology publication, Eclipse, the Magazine. They joined the ranks of Trina Robbins, Steve Ditko, Marshall Rogers, Don McGregor, Howard Cruse, Steve Englehart, Gene Colan, P. Craig Russell, Jim Starlin, Steve Leialoha, and others. Max and Terry’s Ms. Tree would be a regular feature in the first six issues of Eclipse, the Magazine’s short-lived, eight-issue run. FRIEDT: Dean Mullaney, in his creator bios and editorial in the first issue of Eclipse, the Magazine, states that you had been working together on

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the Mike Mist strip for the previous FRIEDT: Terry, what were your influences year (which they gathered and in designing and drawing Michael, published), and that he called Max Ms. Tree? asking for a detective strip for the BEATTY: Bettie Page was the original new magazine. Does that cover it? visual inspiration, but we nixed that BEATTY: Yeah—Max made up Ms. as too obvious. Silly us. Her face Tree on the phone while in conversation was based on Lana Turner early on. with Dean—then called me and sugModesty Blaise was certainly an gested I get to designing her. influence. COLLINS: Really, it was pretty much that simple. As I’ve said [in FRIEDT: What was the process like in other interviews], we initially were the beginning of creating Ms. Tree? terry beatty going to make Ms. Tree look like BEATTY: Max would give me a Cartem Comics. Bettie Page, but decided that was hand-written script, broken down by too on-the-nose. Then our pal Dave Stevens, with panel—and I’d draw the thing. Pretty simple process. no knowledge of that, hit the ball out of the park COLLINS: I should add that Terry and I always using a Bettie clone in The Rocketeer. discussed the story. He definitely had input. FRIEDT: Max, you’ve mentioned in interviews that Michael Tree was patterned or inspired by Velda, Mike Hammer’s secretary/love interest. Were there other characters/people that you feel were an influence for her creation? COLLINS: Mostly, the idea flowed from the what-ifMike-Hammer-married-Velda-and-was-killed-on-theirhoneymoon premise. In a more minor way, it was to do an American take—a private-eye take—on Modesty Blaise as a female British spy.

FRIEDT: What was the impetus for expanding from a serial format to the responsibilities of a bimonthly comic book? BEATTY: Earning a living! COLLINS: We’d been trying to get a gig together for some time. It was an opportunity we’d sought and worked for.

Next Time, Take the Elevator (left) Cover to Ms. Tree #8 (May 1984). (right) Mike Mist drops in on the cover to #9, the final Eclipsepublished issue. Original art to both, courtesy of Heritage. Ms. Tree TM & © Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty.

From the first story, we learn that Michael Friday (often rumored, but never confirmed that her father was a certain S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 4 3

She’s Got the Look Even with Ms. Tree’s face partially shadowed on the cover art to Ms. Tree #24 (Dec. 1985), it’s apparent that Beatty’s earlier interpretation of the lady P.I. was inspired by (inset) sultry Hollywood star Lana Turner. Ms. Tree TM & © Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty. Turner publicity photo © MGM.

police detective, Joe Friday), a raven-haired bombshell, has a lot in common with Mike Tree, private eye. They share the same first name; they both fought the Vietnam War—he as a soldier in the jungles of Southeast Asia and she as a war protestor; they both worked on the police force—he as a cop and she as a meter maid working towards a spot in a patrol car; and they both had tried to go to law school but couldn’t afford to finish. They meet when she gives him a parking ticket, and sparks fly from the first contact. He convinces her to quit her job and come to work for him at his new private investigation office—not as a secretary, but as a partner (P.I. license, gun, and all)… though she starts out handling the business end of the company because someone has to. A breakthrough case makes the agency famous, and the staff increases by a secretary and a couple of additional investigators… and Michael agrees to marry Mike. The night of their honeymoon, Mike is gunned down, and it’s up to Michael to solve the case. It’s left for Ms. Tree to discover that Mike’s assassination is the result of work he did against the Muerta organized crime family.

FRIEDT: What was it like working with Eclipse Comics? COLLINS: The only hitch I recall was that we’d been promised a Ms. Tree comic book and then what appeared was called Thrilling Detective Adventures. We put up a fuss and Ms. Tree’s name was added to the title, and soon the “Thrilling Detective Adventures” (or whatever it was) got dropped. BEATTY: [It was] equally thrilling and frustrating. It was great to finally have my work in a full-color comic book, in a line that included comics by Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby—but there were business/financial issues that sometimes made things, shall we say… complicated. Ms. Tree’s Thrilling Detective Adventures ran for three issues, #1–3 (Feb.–July 1983). Ms. Tree would run under the Eclipse logo from #4–9 (Oct. 1983–June 1984). Ms. Tree then jumped to publisher Dave Sim’s Aardvark-Vanaheim with issues #10–15 (Aug. 1984– Jan. 1985). Three issues, #16–18 (Feb. 1985–May 1985), were released under a joint Aardvark-Vanaheim/ Renegade Press imprint. The next 32 issues, from #19–50 (June 1985–July 1989), were under the Renegade Press imprint. Ms. Tree was published on a regular schedule through #48 (Nov. 1988), but #49 would not be released until May 1989, and #50 two months later, in July 1989. Issue #50 included guest artists and a flexi-disc recording. FRIEDT: Deni Loubert and Dave Sim founded AardvarkVanaheim Publishing. When they divorced in the mid1980s, Deni founded Renegade Press in 1984. Why the switch to Renegade Press in 1984 with issue #10? BEATTY: Deni got custody of us in the divorce. COLLINS: Yep. FRIEDT: What was it like working at Renegade? BEATTY: Challenging and risky. We were too early to benefit from the “black and white boom,” but were blindsided by the following bust. No page rate—but splitting profits instead. Which was great—until the bust. Ouch. COLLINS: We had complete artistic freedom. Bliss. FRIEDT: Renegade stopped publishing series in 1988. Ms. Tree #49 and 50 came out in 1989 with the Renegade logo the year the company dissolved. How did that come about? BEATTY: We had an “angel” that helped get that last Renegade issue into print. That’s all I can say—or know—about that. COLLINS: No memory of that. FRIEDT: The flexi-disc in issue #50… Tell me about that. BEATTY: That’s Max’s territory. COLLINS: It was, frankly, just a gimmick. My band Cruisin, a ’60s cover band mostly that dated to ’73 or ’74, was doing some recording. With my late musical partner Paul Thomas, we wrote an instrumental, “The Theme from Ms. Tree.” In 1984, Aardvark-Vanaheim published the first of what would be three trade paperbacks, The Files of Ms. Tree. Issue #1 reprinted “I, For an Eye” (Eclipse, the Magazine #1–6) and “Death Do Us Part” (Ms. Tree’s Thrilling Detective Adventures #1–3), plus a new story, “Red Light.” Renegade would publish #2 in the fall of 1985, reprinting “The Cold Dish” from Ms. Tree #4–8 and a new illustrated short story, “The Little Woman.” The Files of Ms. Tree #3 was released by Renegade Press in the winter of 1986, reprinting Mike Mist stories.

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Ms. Tree: The Indie Years A gallery of beautiful Beatty covers for 1980s Ms. Tree issues published by Eclipse, Aardvark-Vanaheim, and Renegade Press. Ms. Tree TM & © Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty.

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1985 found Ms. Tree teaming with Joe Staton’s Mike Mauser for a three-issue crossover, The P.I.’s: Michael Mauser and Ms. Tree, published by First Comics. Max wrote the script, Joe Staton provided the art, and Terry provided the inks. Also that year, Ms. Tree visited Munden’s Bar in a backup story in First Comics’ Grimjack #11 (June 1985). Max provided the story and Terry provided the art. In 1986, Renegade Press released Ms. Tree Rock and Roll Summer Special #1, another one-shot, with a Ms. Tree/Mike Mist

A Nose for Crime-Solving Original art from Ms. Tree #21, spoofing the comic strip once penned by Max Allan Collins, Dick Tracy. According to Heritage Auctions, the source of this image, “On a deadline crunch in lieu of a scheduled Ms. Tree backup story, author Max Collins filled in by presenting one of Ms. Tree artist Beatty’s ‘Phony Pages’ comic-strip spoofs, which had originated in The Comic Buyer’s Guide.” © Terry Beatty and Max Allan Collins.

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team-up and stories about singer Bobby Darin and the group, the Daybreakers. In 1987, Renegade Press released Ms. Tree’s 1950’s Three-Dimensional Crime #1, its last one-shot with Ms. Tree, featuring reprinted stories from the 1950s of Johnny Dynamite and Secret Agent. 1987 would also see Ms. Tree in a benefit comic called Word Warriors, for the Literacy Volunteers of Chicago. She was joined by Jon Sable and Street Wolf, and the interior was provided by a stellar cast of comic professionals.

FRIEDT: How did the Word Warriors benefit comic come about? BEATTY: That had to do with the literacy benefit group that ran the art auction at the old Chicago Cons, I think. George Hagenauer was behind that… maybe. Ancient history—so my memory’s shaky on some of this. COLLINS: Yes, that was George Hagenauer, the chief research assistant on my Nate Heller historical mysteries. In 1988, a paperback edition of Ms. Tree stories showed up on the bookstore racks… Ms. Tree: The first totally illustrated murder mystery. It reprinted the story arc “The Runway.” FRIEDT: What’s the story behind the solo paperback from Paperjacks, back in 1988? BEATTY: Can’t really recall. There was supposed to be a second one. I painted the cover, which I turned in and have never seen again. COLLINS: The married couple behind the Bogie’s Restaurant in NYC briefly had a line of paperback mystery novels and asked us to form a graphic novel out of one of our continuities. It would have gone on for more had the line not abruptly… well, failed. In the summer of 1990, Ms. Tree became a DC comic book. The first eight issues were titled Ms. Tree Quarterly. Issues #9 (1992) and 10 (1993) were titled Ms. Tree Special. Max provided the scripts and Terry provided the interior art, with covers and interior pinups illustrated by such talents as Mike Grell, Denys Cowan, Graham Nolan, and brothers Scott and Bo Hampton, among others. FRIEDT: The DC years: How did that come about? BEATTY: Mike Gold (our editor) was a friend and wanted to bring the feature to DC. COLLINS: Mike Gold was the champion of the Collins/ Beatty team. We did Wild Dog for him, too. FRIEDT: What was it like working with DC? BEATTY: Slick production and consistent paychecks. All good. COLLINS: Again, the artistic freedom of the indies followed us into the big-time. Mike Gold should get all the credit for that. FRIEDT: You had some fantastic fellow comic-book people provide pinups and covers. Any stories to go with some of the contributions? BEATTY: No stories to speak of, but it sure was a treat to have their work in our comic. I inked the Jack Kirby Captain Victory drawing in #50—that was a treat. Joe Rubinstein’s oil portrait of Ms. Tree [back cover of #50] still hangs on my studio wall. COLLINS: It was a thrill to be endorsed by the like of Will Eisner. Terry made that happen.

Detective Comics DC Comics temporarily published the gal gumshoe’s adventures in the early 1990s in the title Ms. Tree Quarterly, featuring covers by guest artists. Here are three examples: #1 (Summer 1990) by Mike Grell, 2 (Autumn 1990) by Denys Cowan, and 5 (Winter 1991) by Bo Hampton. Ms. Tree TM & © Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty.

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No Damsel in Distress Ms. Tree’s got… well, cojones in this Terry Beatty-signed original art page from Ms. Tree Quarterly #1. Courtesy of Heritage. Ms. Tree TM & © Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty.

In 2007, a Ms. Tree novel appeared in Titan Books’ Hard Case Crime series. Deadly Beloved was written by Max, with a painted cover of Ms. Tree by Terry. In 2017, a series of trade volumes began reprinting the library of Ms. Tree comic stories. Volume #1 started with the DC run. From Max’s intro to the volume: “We wound up doing ten issues, each of which was a graphic novella. To me, this represents our best work—although I remain proud of what we did previously. The Gift of Death, the first of the graphic novellas, was designed in part to bring new readers up to speed. Throughout our ten issues over a four-year period, we did five novellas that together comprised one, big graphic novel…” Volume 2 reprinted the standalone stories from the DC run. Volume 3 began reprinting of the original Eclipse run. Volume 4 will continue the archive. FRIEDT: Tell me about your relationship with Titan Books and how the new archive volumes came to exist. BEATTY: Again, Max can tell that better than I can.

COLLINS: Titan’s publisher Nick Landau had been after us for years, wanting to take advantage of Road to Perdition. We were angled for a relaunch, and a lot of discussion about a new graphic novel went on. I had a storyline ready, though not scripted. But both Terry and I were too busy to find the time to work it in. Finally, we decided to say yes to an archival-type series of volumes. Nick and everybody at Titan have been terrific. The books are lovely. FRIEDT: In the long run of the series, is there a particular story or story arc that you feel came out near perfect or exactly as you wanted it to be? Do you have a favorite? COLLINS: I do like “One Mean Mother,” which is the first Titan volume. It’s from the DC run and shows us at our best, I think. Frankly the 50-issue run is mostly a blur. Doing a monthly comic book makes a shark out of you—swim, eat, don’t sleep, swim, eat, don’t sleep. BEATTY: I think my best drawing was in issues #49 and 50—and the early issues of the DC Quarterly run. Though I don’t think there’s any such thing as perfect with my artwork—I’m too critical of it to claim even near perfection. As for best story? I like ’em all. No particular favorite. FRIEDT: Who has had the biggest influence on you outside of the comics industry, and how did they affect your life? And who has had the biggest influence on your comics career, and how has that person changed your work? COLLINS: Outside… My instructor at the University of Iowa Writers Workshop—the great mainstream novelist Richard Yates—took me under his wing after initially recoiling at my dedication to writing mystery fiction. He worked one-on-one with me even after he was no longer my instructor—the Workshop insisted that you move around among the instructors during your stay— and got me my first agent. I sold my first two novels while still at the Workshop. Inside… Chester Gould. When I took over the writing of Dick Tracy upon his retirement, he warned me I needed to do some comics of my own. He wisely said I would always be in his shadow on Dick Tracy. BEATTY: That must be Max. If circumstances hadn’t thrown us together, my comics career would have been considerably different. I may have ended up doing a humor strip, rather than the adventure/drama style work that has dominated my career. FRIEDT: What do you do to recharge your creative batteries? COLLINS: Two things—I don’t just write one kind of thing. I shift from one series character to another, work in various storytelling disciplines—novels, short stories, film scripts, non-fiction, and of course comics—and take a week or two off between projects. BEATTY: Lately I’ve been retreating to my “nerd cave” and building model kits—a childhood hobby I returned to as an adult. But I also read, listen to music, watch movies. FRIEDT: Describe your typical work routine. COLLINS: Nothing really typical. I do tend to deal with business and promotional stuff in the morning and write all afternoon, coming back later at night—say, ten o’clock—if I’m really caught up in something or just feel I didn’t get enough accomplished yet for the day. When I was younger I wrote only at night, from midnight to well after dawn. BEATTY: I plop myself down on the couch with my laptop and my graphics tablet and work. Simple as that.

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Easy to Be Hard The Hard Case Crime series repurposes cover art from DC’s Ms. Tree run. Ms. Tree TM & © Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty.

FRIEDT: What writing, drawing, or other tools do you use? COLLINS: To facilitate my historical novel True Detective, with all its research that kept making the story shift, requiring retyping, I became one of the first fiction writers to switch from a typewriter to a computer and word processing. That was 1981. I keep a library cart next to me for whatever research materials are needed for a given project. I always correct and revise from hard copy, when I have a near-to-final draft of a novel or any kind of manuscript. BEATTY: All digital these days.

heard given to a promising new creator? COLLINS: Probably not to seek a career in arts at all. Now, that sounds mean or counterintuitive, but it’s a rough road. Anybody who can be discouraged probably should be. If you don’t have drive, you’re done. Doesn’t matter how much talent you have. My advice would be, don’t get a day job that uses the same creative energies needed in your discipline. Being a teacher or editor or journalist will use it all up. Better to work in a shoe store. BEATTY: Never turn down a free meal!

FRIEDT: What element of your work gives you the most personal satisfaction? COLLINS: Holding a finished, published book in my hands is immensely satisfying. Being named a Grand Master by both the Mystery Writers of America and the Private Eye Writers of America were highlights. Good reviews are satisfying in the sense that sales aren’t being depressed and promotional opportunities arise. BEATTY: Seeing it in print. Holding the recent Ms. Tree trade paperbacks in my hands, or seeing Rex Morgan in a Sunday comic section, is a real treat.

FRIEDT: Time to get philosophical: What’s the most important “big idea” that you’ve learned in life—in or out of comics—and why is it important? COLLINS: This will seem to contradict my last response. If it’s at all possible to make your living doing something you enjoy—and even better, doing something you love—do so. I often say I found a way to make my hobby my livelihood. I haven’t had a real job since the 1970s. I sacked groceries and bussed tables as a kid, and at the start of my career taught half-time at a community college for a while. Since then, I have told stories for money. BEATTY: There’s no advantage in being an a-hole.

FRIEDT: What has been the most rewarding project in your professional career—in or out of comics— and why? COLLINS: Road to Perdition was important because, creatively, it was the apex of my comics work… the best I could do at the time. And having a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman—and so many others, even future James Bond Daniel Craig— finally gave me something of my own that most people had heard of. Prior to that, my claim to fame was that I was the second guy to do Dick Tracy. Being the second guy is always eclipsed by the first guy. Same is true of Mike Hammer. Creatively, however, the Nathan Heller novels are my proudest accomplishment. BEATTY: Hard to say—Ms. Tree was exciting because that was ours. Batman was a thrill because it was Batman. Being in the newspapers with Rex Morgan and Phantom is exciting—and seeing Phantom in print all over the world is especially cool. FRIEDT: We’ve all met very talented newcomers who are trying to get their first professional projects. What’s the best advice you’ve ever

Ms. Tree is probably one of the most enjoyable runs I’ve read, and if you are into detective fiction, or a fan of either of the creators, you’ll enjoy it as well. For additional information about Max Allan Collins, visit maxallancollins.com/blog/. For additional information about Terry Beatty, visit www.terrybeatty.com or www.scaryterrysworld.com. Still haunting the wilds of Oregon and now semiretired so he can devote even more time to uncovering the gems of comic-book history and empty-nesting with his wife, STEPHAN FRIEDT helps with entries at the Grand Comic Book Database at comics.org, deals with database entries at comicspriceguide. com, and provides editorial consultation and an occasional writing assist for the new Defective Comix Studio at defectivecomix.com.

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by M a r k

Evanier

Your “takeaway” from this article should be that Mark Evanier (that’s me) had a very wonderful experience working with some fine artists (that’s Will Meugniot, Dan Spiegle, and a few others) on a couple of comic books for a small publisher (that’s Eclipse) between 1983 and 1988. If I had space here, I’d talk more about the “few others” who included Rick Hoberg, Erik Larsen, Chuck Patton, Will Blyberg, Al Gordon, Steve Rude, Mike Sekowsky, Richard Howell, Jerry Ordway, Brent Anderson, Dave Stevens, Mike Royer, Mitch Schauer, and a few other “others.” And it may take the rest of those 2,000 words to adequately tell you about working with Mr. Spiegle on Crossfire, which is what I’ve been asked to write about. I don’t have an absolute favorite of all the comics I’ve worked on, but if you forced me to pick the Top Three, that would certainly be among them. Crossfire was, as you may know, a spinoff from The DNAgents, a comic I co-created with my friend Will Meugniot. Several places on the Internet, I get listed as sole creator, and that’s just plain wrong. The DNAgents comic was created by Evanier and Meugniot. Crossfire was created by Evanier, Meugniot, and Spiegle. If you come across someone saying otherwise, please help me out here and let them (or me) know. At the time Will and I came up with our little team, I was also writing Blackhawk for DC Comics, illustrated by Dan. That book might also make my Top Three, largely because of the joy of seeing what Dan did with my scripts. He had long been one of my favorite comic-book artists, dating back to when I was a reader (only) and I expected to remain one. I certainly hadn’t the slightest inkling I would ever work in the field, let alone collaborate with the guy who drew Maverick and Korak and Space Family Robinson and all those Disney comics and so many others for Western Publishing’s Dell Comics line and (later) Gold Key. Dan and I were first thrown together on Gold Key’s Scooby-Doo comic, and we just clicked—a happy pairing. I would write a story and Dan would do such a fine mark evanier job of illustrating it that I’d think, Photo by Gage Skidmore. “Wow. I’ve got to work harder to make my scripts worthy of this artwork.” We teamed here and there on many projects, including a line of Korak, Son of Tarzan comics published overseas and the Scooby-Doo comic (again) when it was briefly published by Marvel.

Everyone Falls for Crossfire Guest columnist Mark Evanier recalls the fun he had co-producing Eclipse Comics’ Crossfire series in the 1980s. Crossfire #3 (July 1984) cover by Dan Spiegle. Crossfire © Mark Evanier, Will Meugniot, and Dan Spiegle.

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I also got to know Dan, his wife Marie, and his daughter Carrie— all lovely people. Carrie often did the lettering on what her father drew, including on Crossfire. The book more or less came about because Dan and I were not happy with what was happening with Blackhawk at DC. Long story short: It was selling better than DC expected, but the numbers went down as the cover price went up. I was bickering with the firm’s publicity folks about a lack of promotion and support in the marketplace… and we also had the problem that it was a war comic set in the second of our World Wars. At the time, a big source of revenue for DC was a firm in Germany that paid hefty fees for reprint rights, and they were somehow not interested in a comic that was mostly about killing Germans. Dick Giordano was the guy then in charge at DC, and one day, he called to inform me that they were thinking of cutting the book from monthly to bimonthly. After checking with Dan, I told Dick that if that was the case, Dan and I would rather leave the series. And Dick actually said to me, “I don’t blame you. We haven’t treated you or that comic very well.” So now I had the time to do another comic each month and I had a wonderful artist I wanted to work with. We also had this character named Crossfire that Will and I had introduced in DNAgents—an industrial spy named Jeff Baker who operated with enough gimmicks to qualify as a costumed supervillain. In one issue, Baker was killed and a good guy named Jay Endicott took over his identity, getting hired by bad guys and subverting their badness from within. Some of the Crossfire sequences had been drawn by Dan Spiegle, not because we were configuring a spinoff, but because Will was being offered a lot of better-paying animation work. Having Dan draw some pages enabled Will to take some of those animation jobs… …though maybe—I dunno—we were subconsciously thinking about a separate Crossfire comic book which Dan and I could do together. I just remember that after we quit Blackhawk, I was trying to think what that new Evanier/Spiegle project might be, and I suddenly realized we had one all set and ready to go. I called Will and he said, “Sure.” Then I called Dean Mullaney, the publisher at Eclipse, and told him what we wanted to do. Immediately after hanging up that call, I began writing the first issue. Before I try to explain the sheer joy of working on this book with Dan, let me tell you the one negative in working with Dan: He was ridiculously reliable. Ask anyone who has ever been in the position of editing comic books and they will overwhelm you with horror stories of freelancers being late with work; of trying to phone the guy to ask, “Where is it?” and he either doesn’t answer his phone or does and dan spiegle insists “It’s almost done” when he hasn’t even started on it. Dan never did that in his entire career—not to me, not to anyone. And any editor will also tell you of work that did come in and was replete with mistakes and poor drawing and panels that had to be redone. Dan never did that to anyone either. You may wonder how reliability could be a problem. Well, it sometimes is if you’re the one who has to keep feeding the reliable guy scripts. When an artist has nothing to draw, he isn’t earning money—a rotten thing to do to your partner. Every so often, Dan would need something to draw tomorrow, and I’d have to shove everything else in my life to one side and work on that next script. Dan lived in Carpinteria, California—a lovely seaside city in southeastern Santa Barbara County. I lived, as I do now, in Los Angeles, about 82 miles southeast of Carpinteria. At the time, we didn’t have Early Crossfire email or fax machines. We did have Federal Express, but it didn’t (top left) Costumed spy Crossfire, in the form of then offer overnight service to Santa Barbara… and even if it had, the cut-off time to send something was 6:00 PM, and I’m at my most Jeff Baker, was first seen in DNAgents #4 (July 1983). prolific after dark. (top right) The Crossfire mantel is passed from So I’d work until 1:15 AM, when I would stop writing and start printing. As you surely know, when you’re in a hurry, your printer Baker to Jay Endicott in issue #9 (Feb. 1984). senses that and it jams, just to enjoy the sight of you in a mad panic. (bottom) Crossfire #1 (May 1984). Finally, I’d get the pages printed, jam them into an Express Mail envelope, leap into my car, and head for the 24-Hour Post Office near DNAgents © Mark Evanier and Will Meugniot. Los Angeles International Airport. Crossfire © Mark Evanier, Will Meugniot, and Dan Spiegle. 5 2 • BAC K I S S U E • S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e

I doubt you can do this now, but in those days, if I got my package to them by 2:00 AM, they would—and I have no idea how they did this— have it to the post office that served Dan’s area by 7:00 AM. We’re talking five-hour service here, people. No matter when I left my house or how little traffic there was at that hour, I’d get there at 1:55 and the same nice lady each time would accept my envelope and caution me not to cut it so close next time. I’d stagger off and then, since I probably hadn’t stopped working to eat anything, I’d stop off at a 24-hour Fatburger on the way back and get me one of them 24-hour Fatburgers. That’s the amount of time it takes to even partially digest one of ’em. By 3 AM, I’d be home in bed. Around 7 AM, Dan would get a phone call. They knew him at the post office there and they’d tell him he had a package, so he’d hop in his car and drive over to get it. By 8 AM, he’d be back in his studio, halfway through the first page. And by 10 AM when I was semi-awake, I’d find a message from him on my voicemail: “Hey, this is going great. Could I have more pages tomorrow morning?” He wasn’t always that fast. It just seemed that way at times. But the work never looked rushed. He put in everything I called for and many things I didn’t. When the finished pages—penciled and inked by Dan, lettered by Carrie—got to me, I would sometimes decide that he’d told the story so well that some of the captions or dialogue I’d

written were superfluous. He might draw a facial expression that perfectly “said” what I’d had the character say, so I’d retouch to take a line out. Or re-letter so the character said something else. And a couple of times, Dan would finish a page, look at it, decide he could have done it better and redraw the entire page. He really did that. I just loved working with that man. Crossfire didn’t pay me all that well, but if you’re a writer, you probably take a few jobs that underpay, but you want to do them anyway. I got to combine my fascination with Hollywood and Show Biz with my love for that kind of comic book… one filled with human beings. Dan may not have been the ideal artist for the kind of superheroics one sees in Marvel and DC comics, but he drew people better than just about anybody. So did Will Meugniot and many of the “others” named above. I tend to judge artists by whether the people they draw seem like people to me. I do not have a favorite issue of Crossfire and I kind of agree with the folks over the years who followed the series and told me they didn’t have a favorite issue. If they liked it, they liked it as a body of work. And another delight was how many professional artists began praising Dan’s work. Gil Kane told me he thought Dan did even better work on Crossfire than he did on Blackhawk, and he thought Blackhawk was one of the best-drawn comics DC has ever published. Joe Kubert said much the same thing.

Previously on DNAgents Mark Evanier and Dan Spiegle quickly brought readers up to speed in the first two pages of Crossfire #1. Crossfire © Mark Evanier, Will Meugniot, and Dan Spiegle.

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Mark and Dan Go to War (left) Meanwhile, over at DC Comics, Evanier and Spiegle’s superlative work on Blackhawk won a small but loyal audience. Cover to issue #272 (Sept. 1984) by Dan Spiegle. (right) Original art to Spiegle’s cover for Crossfire #24 (Aug. 1987). Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions. Blackhawk TM & © DC Comics. Crossfire © Mark Evanier, Will Meugniot, and Dan Spiegle.

Alex Toth was unabashedly jealous of Dan’s work. At the time, I had an office at Hanna-Barbera, and now that Bill and Joe are gone, I can admit that, like everyone else in their building, I shamelessly used their Xerox machines for my own needs. When I went to and from H-B, I almost always had Spiegle artwork with me… and when I went to and from H-B, I passed Toth’s house and, at his invite, would often drop in. He’d scold me if I had Spiegle pages in the car and didn’t bring them in. Alex and Dan had both done a lot of work for Western Publishing on their Dell comics, and they had much in common with regard to artistic goals. For years, comic book price guides would identify uncredited Toth art as Spiegle and vice-versa. They’d since diversified… Alex moving in different directions and working mainly with markers, whereas Dan inked with a wide array of technical pens, flexible-nib pens, and brushes. (I should say he drew with them, because he was one of those artists who did very little penciling and then did most of the actual artwork in ink. That was one of the reasons he was so fast.) Alex would let me browse his portfolios while he laid Dan’s pages out on his own drawing board and studied them like a detective searching for fingerprints. Toth was, of course, a fabulous

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artist, but artists who actively look to improve are always very conscious of what others can do that they can’t. Dan looked at Alex’s work much the same way. Toth was amazed at the placement of blacks and the use of bold brush strokes—the latter a tool he had more or less abandoned with his move to markers. And like Kane and Kubert (and others), he admired Dan’s skill at placing his “camera,” and how the people in a story he drew related to each other visually. I think I came to appreciate Dan’s work even more when Toth would call me over, point to a panel, and exclaim, “Look what he did there! That’s perfect! How did he come up with that?” I rarely re-read my old stories because I find myself wanting to rewrite and then rewrite the rewrites. But I often browse through some of the original art Dan gave me, and it always looks better to me than it did back when we were producing the comic. And I thought what he did back then was perfect. If you can’t tell, this was one of the happiest times I ever had in comics. Former Jack Kirby associate and biographer MARK EVANIER is a writer of comic books, television, and television animation. He also helps Groo the Wanderer creator Sergio Aragonés produce each issue, along with other stuff.

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Marvel Comics arguably has the best villains in comics, from Galactus to Dr. Octopus. While Dr. Doom is primarily a Fantastic Four foe, he sporadically battles other heroes like the X-Men. The same goes for X-Men adversary Magneto, who has fought the Avengers on occasion. However, there is one villainous organization that has faced off against most of the Marvel Universe at one time or another and continues to terrorize them to this day: Hydra. The name “Hydra” sends a chill down the spines of the heroes of the Marvel Universe, from S.H.I.E.L.D. to Spider-Woman and even to Team America. This mostly faceless criminal operation may

d Lute and Joe Norton

not have many colorful villains who stand out and are recognized without their hooded attire, but that’s part of what makes them so terrifying. You don’t know who the members are underneath their green garb, or just how many people make up their ranks. Anyone could be a member. They could turn up anywhere. And they never quit. They just keep coming and coming and coming. So, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. BACK ISSUE proclaims, “Hail Hydra!” as we review the origins of the organization during the Silver Age before moving onto an examination of some of the most important terrorist acts that they committed all over the Marvel Universe during the Bronze Age.

The Hordes of Hydra It’s raining men—or is it hailing Hydra agents? Detail from page 15 of the Steranko classic, Captain America #113 (May 1969). TM & © Marvel.

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HYDRA VS. THE SILVER AGE

The Arms of Hydra (top) From their first appearance in Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965), Hydra’s mission was clear. By Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers. (bottom) Hydra’s WWII roots began to unfold in Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #2 (Mar. 1968). Cover by Ayers and Syd Shores. TM & © Marvel.

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Spies were all the rage in the 1960s after the success of the novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre, and motion pictures such as Dr. No and Goldfinger, starring Sean Connery as superspy James Bond. Never one to pass up on a popular trend, in Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965) Marvel gave Nicholas J. Fury, former leader of the Howling Commandos, a new position as the head of the top-secret spy organization the Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.). Much like Bond faced off against the terrorist criminal organization Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion (SPECTRE), Fury was given his own terrorist organization to fight against. Hydra, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, made its debut in the same issue, even appearing menacingly on the cover. Some villains’ goals are to rob banks or jewelry stories. Not so with Hydra. Their goal is nothing short of total world domination. Their mantra is as ominous as they are: “Hail Hydra! Immortal Hail Hydra! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place. We serve none but the master as the world shall soon serve us! Hail Hydra!” When one falls, there are more to take his place and continue with Hydra’s devious plans. Hydra’s initial storyline ran until issue #141 (Feb. 1966), but the multi-headed beast continued to return to face Fury and his cohorts in stories such as those in Strange Tales #151–157 (Feb.– Nov. 1966). Roy Thomas took over the writing duties from Lee with issue #153, before writer/artist Jim Steranko took over authorship of the title with #155. Thomas, who co-wrote #154 with Steranko, tells BACK ISSUE, “It was Jim Steranko’s intention with the story. I merely dialogued that story, at Stan’s request.” The “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D” strip in Strange Tales was given its own title in 1968, and of course Hydra was there. Creators such as Thomas, Steve Parkhouse, Gary Friedrich, Frank Springer, Barry Windsor-Smith (then credited roy thomas as Barry Smith), and Herb Trimpe continued to show the villainy of © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. the terrorist organization. “I just liked, from the outset, the concept of Hydra—its motto, etc.,” Thomas recalls. “The only thing I regretted was when Hydra took over S.H.I.E.L.D. That torpedoed interest in both for me. There needs to be an organization that duplicates S.H.I.E.L.D., but is evil—and Hydra naturally fits that bill. Great name, great concept.” And Roy shares this Hydra trivia with BI’s readers: “As shown in Alter Ego #176, there was a Hydra organization first in a Shadow story in Shadow Comics back in the late 1940s.” Although Marvel’s Hydra was first seen in the Silver Age’s then-contemporary 1960s, the organization had been plaguing the world for far longer. In Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #2–4 (Mar.–July 1968) by Friedrich, Dick Ayers, and Syd Shores, Hydra was shown to be operating during World War II. The storyline revealed that the organization was formed by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker after he was ousted from the Nazi party by Adolf Hitler in Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #29 (Apr. 1966). This origin would be retconned later in the post-BI era. With the dawn of the Bronze Age, Hydra would take on more heroes in the Marvel Universe and show its true threat.

HYDRA VS. CAPTAIN AMERICA

Captain America has been battling Hydra almost as long as Nick Fury. Writer/artist Jim Steranko and inker Joe Sinnott first brought Hydra into the pages of Captain America in a two-parter in issues #111 (Mar. 1969) and 113 (June 1969). Cap and Hydra continued to face each other during the Bronze Age and beyond. Captain America #144–148 (Dec. 1971–Apr. 1972) detailed the wild twists and turns involving the identity of the Supreme

Hydra, the leader of the organization. Steve (Captain America) Rogers, Sharon Carter, and the Femme Force, a squad of female S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, started out by foiling the Supreme Hydra’s assassination attempt on Cap’s life. Readers observed a shadowy figure that even the Supreme Hydra was afraid to report his failure to—Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime. Savvy Marvel readers were left wondering why Spider-Man’s nemesis the Kingpin, the ruler of the underworld of New York City, would be masterminding the world-spanning evil of Hydra. If one twist wasn’t enough, it turned out the reason the Supreme Hydra was so afraid of the Kingpin’s wrath was that he was in fact Richard Fisk, the Kingpin’s son. Richard, who had been recently revealed to be the Schemer in the Amazing Spider-Man #85 (June 1970), left the Kingpin in a catatonic state. He was organizing this charade to get back into his father’s good graces and help Kingpin take over Hydra to redeem himself in his father’s eyes. The Kingpin revelation was rendered in the beloved Marvel house style with classic Captain America artist Sal Buscema doing a fantastic John Romita imitation that would have felt at home in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man. If these twists weren’t enough, readers also discovered that the Red Skull was behind Hydra all along. In what feels obvious to modern readers and perhaps Bronze Age readers as well, Red Skull bombastically announced that “Nazism” is the real strength behind

Hydra. The Kingpin abandoned his Hydra plans, calling up his underworld cronies to form an army against the Red Skull and Hydra. A great final issue had the Kingpin and the Falcon teaming up and squaring off against the Red Skull, and Cap fighting the Skull’s final sleeper robot. This five-issue arc was Marvel’s Bronze Age at its finest: dynamic art, a sharp use of continuity, and above all, great characters squaring off against each other in unexpected ways—an excellent example of why Hydra proved so valuable an adversary in the Marvel Universe. Hydra continued to menace the Star-Spangled Avenger, including a memorable tale during the next decade. Many Americans were fearful of the threat of nuclear attacks during the Cold War. Writer David Anthony Kraft and artists Mike Zeck and John Beatty took advantage of that fear in Captain America #273– 274 (Sept. 1982–Oct. 1982). These rip-roaring issues saw Hydra steal nuclear weapons to force the world to accede to their demands for world domination, leaving readers gasping for breath as they quickly turned the pages. Of course, Captain America and guest-stars Fury and the Howling Commandos stopped Hydra, but Captain Samuel Sawyer, a longtime supporting character in Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, died so that red-blooded Americans everywhere could sleep easy at night. Hydra was truly a force to be reckoned with, and these issues were a testament to that.

Defending the Fallen (left) Ol’ Greenskin stands up for his pal Jim Wilson on the Herb Trimpe/ John Severin–drawn cover of Incredible Hulk #132 (Oct. 1970)—while (right) the Star-Spangled Sentinel does the same for Sharon Carter on this John Romita–drawn cover of Captain America #145 (Jan. 1972). TM & © Marvel.

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Who Is the Supreme Hydra? This Gil Kane/Joe Sinnott cover for Captain America #147 (Mar. 1972) teased readers with the unmasking of Hydra’s head honcho. Original art courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

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Hydra Hang-Ups (top left) Tigra the Were-Woman (formerly the Cat) and the Werewolf by Night vs. Hydra in Giant-Size Creatures #1 (July 1974). (top right) Hydra unleashed the super-robot Dreadnought in Daredevil #121 (May 1975). Cover by Kane and Sinnott. (bottom) Writer Tony Isabella revealed, in Daredevil #121, that some of Marvel’s costumed criminals were working as Hydra agents. Art by Bob Brown and Vince Colletta. Original art courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

HYDRA VS. THE INCREDIBLE HULK

While Hydra had battled S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Star-Spangled Avenger many times, it wasn’t until Incredible Hulk #132 (Oct. 1970) that they started to branch out into other corners of the MU. The issue, written by Thomas with art by Trimpe and John Severin, saw the terrorist organization trick the Hulk’s pal Jim Wilson to turn the Hulk over to them, so that they could brainwash Hulk to help them in their quest for world domination. What better weapon to have on your side than Jade Jaws himself? The Army couldn’t stop him, and at this still-early juncture in Marvel Comics, the Hulk was shown to be a force unto himself. However, this pairing of ol’ Greenskin and the men in green wasn’t to be, and the Hulk broke free, foiling their plans. Did Roy Thomas feel it was strange to use Hydra in this story because they were mostly known for facing off against other heroes? “No, I guess I just thought that Hydra would make a good foe for the Hulk in that instance,” Thomas recalls. “After all, if it’s a world-wide criminal organization, it would be a suitable enemy to every Marvel hero at one time or another.” When African-American Jim Wilson first encountered Hydra, he remarked, “Looks like a meetin’ of the Klan, the day after a sale on green sheets.” Does Thomas view them as akin to the KKK? “It’s primarily a secret organization interested in power and monetary gain, in that order. Any racial trimming was simply one of its ways of achieving this. It was not a KKK-type organization in and of itself.”

HYDRA VS. DAREDEVIL

Hydra continued their attacks around the Marvel Universe in a multipart storyline in Daredevil #120–123 (Apr.– July 1975), showing that even street-level heroes were fair game for their villainous machinations. Writer Tony Isabella and artists Bob Brown and Vince tony isabella Colletta treated readers to more than Grand Rapids ComicCon. just the faceless hordes of Hydra in this storyline, as several supervillains joined the Hydra ranks. However, this wasn’t the first or even last time that costumed villains had united with Hydra, as we shall see. S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 5 9

Retrofit (left) “The People’s Government” in Journey into Mystery #81 (June 1962) was (right) altered to “Hydra” when this oldie was reprinted in Where Monsters Dwell #25 (Nov. 1973). TM & © Marvel.

El Jaguar, Blackwing, Man-Killer, Mentallo, and Jackhammer were featured among the ranks of Hydra during Isabella’s run. These were not the faceless hordes hiding behind green masks, but supervillains that you might see in the pages of different Marvel titles. Isabella reveals, “Hydra was not thought highly of during the time I wrote Tigra’s origin [discussed below] and those issues of Daredevil. I wanted to change that and decided to have supervillains as department heads. Since part of Hydra’s origin had Strucker working with criminal organizations to form Hydra, I thought it would be keeping with that to have supervillains in the organization. I feel it worked well, but it wasn’t popular with some other Marvel writers.” The storyline had Hydra try to kidnap New York City mayoral candidate Foggy Nelson. Isabella tells BI, “It started with my desire to make Foggy Nelson less of a clown. He is as good a lawyer as Matt Murdock and much more responsible. Having him asked to become part of the group overseeing Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. showed that folks in high places had considerable regard for him. Once I started thinking S.H.I.E.L.D., I wanted to give Hydra a chance to shine as well.” The story is also notable for introducing a new person into the constantly revolving door that is the position of Supreme Hydra. However, this wasn’t a new character, but one that Marvelites had seen before. Silvermane was a Maggia crime boss that first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #73 (June 1969).“It was my idea to install Silvermane as the Supreme Hydra,” Isabella reveals. “Given Hydra’s history with criminals, I felt he had the qualifications to run the organization as he had the Maggia. As for Blackwing, there was something I never got a chance to reveal because I was taken off Daredevil. Blackwing was Silvermane’s daughter, disguised as a man to improve her chances of moving up in the Maggia and/or Hydra.”

HYDRA VS. THE CREATURES

The hordes of Hydra weren’t picky about what they did or who they faced off against in their quest for world domination. Case in point: their encounter with Tigra the Were-Woman (Greer Nelson) and Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night, in Giant-Size Creatures #1 (July 1974). Here, Hydra attempted to find out the secrets of the cat-people so that they could exploit them for the organization’s benefit. Hydra really would try anything to take over the world! The story, written by Isabella with art by Don Perlin and Colletta, saw Hydra inadvertently turn Greer from costumed crimefighter called the Cat into the furry and bestial Tigra. Isabella states, “I loved Hydra in the ’60s and ’70s, so it was natural for me to think of ways to use them in my stories. They worked well in the Tigra story because I was determined to do right by the organization. “From the moment Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced Hydra, I thought the organization was a great idea,” Isabella continues. “They weren’t based on any real-life organization, at least until Baron Strucker entered the picture and they became associated with Nazis. But when that is kept in the distant background, as it should be, Hydra is fair game for any kind of storyline. I loved when it was portrayed as a corporation 6 0 • BAC K I S S U E • S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e

with benefits for henchmen and the like. We live in a fractured country and world, where evil is ascribed to many diverse groups. Hydra can and should be outside that. Hydra is evil because it’s Hydra.” Isabella winks to BI’s readers, “As an aside, I’ll be thrilled to identify the real evil organizations and people in our world for anyone who asks me.”

HYDRA VS. REPRINT BOOKS

During the 1970s, one of Marvel’s strategies to take over the spot as the number one comics publisher was to flood the racks with books. To accomplish this, they issued many reprint titles. Some reprinted stories featuring Hydra, but there were some that even changed the original villains into Hydra agents. Where Monsters Dwell #25 (Nov. 1973) offered a reprint tale in which the Russians were changed into Hydra agents to bring the story more in line with the Marvel Universe. The original story, written by Lee and his brother Larry Lieber with artwork by Kirby, ran in Journey into Mystery #81 (June 1962). Appearing in Monsters on the Prowl #24 (Aug. 1973) was a reprint that was altered to fit into then-current Marvel continuity. The story originally appeared in Strange Tales #84 (May 1961) by the same creative team of Lee, Lieber, and Kirby.

HYDRA VS. SPIDER-WOMAN (AND FRIENDS)

While Hydra is most closely associated with Nick Fury and Captain America, there is another hero that has close ties to the terrorist organization: Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew). Her origin as a superpowered weapon of Hydra seems long forgotten today, but Spider-Woman was originally introduced as Archane in Marvel Spotlight #32 (Feb. 1977), by Archie Goodwin, Sal Buscema, and Jim Mooney. In the story, Drew was a Hydra assassin targeting none other than S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury. She was manipulated by Hydra into thinking that Fury had killed the man she loved. When that plan failed, Hydra told her that she was one of the High Evolutionary’s New Men, mutated from a spider. Eventually this origin would be revealed to be false, but that doesn’t take away from this action-packed story in which Spider-Woman, as a pawn of Hydra, stalks Fury and almost succeeds! In a classic five-issue arc of the beloved Marvel Two-in-One, issues #29–33 (July–Nov. 1977), readers saw the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing vacationing in Great Britain and teaming up with Shang-Chi, Spider-Woman, and the Invisible Woman against the forces of Hydra. In archetypal Hydra fashion, we see them trying to create an army of Spider-Women, which resulted in the Thing’s paramour, the lovely Alicia Masters, transformed into a mutated spider! Ultimately, Spider-Woman rebelled against Hydra’s brainwashing and teamed up with the Thing to defeat Hydra and rescue Alicia. In typical Bronze Age throw-it-all-against-the-wall style, Spider-Woman redeemed herself and shook off the shackles of Hydra once and for all. It’s just another great example of the Thing’s ability to be a driver of a good story and Hydra’s influence in Marvel’s Bronze Age seeping into all areas of the Marvel Universe.

HYDRA VS. THE MICRONAUTS

Even Marvel’s licensed comic books weren’t immune to the vile villainy of Hydra. The microscopic Micronauts, based on a toy line from Mego, squared off against Hydra in a four-issue story arc in Micronauts #25–28 (Jan.–Apr. 1981) written by Bill Mantlo and penciled by Pat Broderick. While Tony Isabella used costumed villains as Hydra agents in his Daredevil stories, this wasn’t the first time that they had been part of Hydra. In Strange Tales #141’s (Feb. 1966) Nick Fury adventure, Lee and Kirby introduced Mentallo and the Fixer to Hydra’s ranks. The criminal duo was brought back to help Hydra, along with Baron Karza—now the Supreme Hydra—against S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Micronauts. Broderick tells BI, “Since Marvel wanted a James Bond–style series to appeal to those demographics, creating a super-high-tech authoritarian organization was a shoe-in, and what better tagline than a surviving Third Reich foundation. I’d say it’s quite contemporary by today’s standards.” Reflecting on his Micronauts partnership with writer Mantlo, Broderick says, “Bill’s writing on the series was always an excellent surprise with each script. And quite frankly, considering all the irons he kept in the fire during that time period, it showed he was on fire! Did I feel like my job ahead of me was becoming more complicated? You bet I did. From issue #19 on, I felt driven to make every issue count because I had been a huge fan of the series from the start. And here I was being given an opportunity to make my mark on the series. I wasn’t going to drop the ball.” Broderick has of course gone on to make his mark on many series, since drawing Micronauts relatively early in his career, and reflects, “I did enjoy drawing Hydra. I have enjoyed drawing many villains in my time. Hydra as a villainous organization was the same for me. I imagine I would enjoy it again.” Once again, the evil society shows that they are willing to take on anyone or go anywhere (including the Microverse) to meet their goals. Not every villain in Marvel’s pantheon could be used effectively alongside licensed characters, but the omnipresence of Hydra worked very well here. These Micronauts issues also demonstrated just how nicely the Marvel Universe could be integrated into licensed books.

HYDRA VS. TEAM AMERICA

Hydra’s do-whatever-it-takes attitude to world domination was on full display with Team America (later known as the Thunderiders), a group of stunt-motorcycle-riding heroes first seen in Captain America #269 (May 1982). The Team America title, which was based on an Ideal toy line and ran for 12 issues, revealed that Hydra had conducted experiments on expectant mothers in a program called Project: New Genesis. The initiative would hopefully create a group of mutant superhumans that Hydra could use in their diabolical quest. It was deemed a failure because none of the children displayed any extraordinary abilities— until three of the men (Honcho, Wolf, and R.U. Reddy) came together in a motorcycle competition and found that when they are near each other they have latent abilities that allow them to link together to become the Marauder. Other new members Cowboy and Wrench would join the team and were revealed to be offspring from the same experiment. While Marvel’s Team America comic starred stunt-riders, Hydra once again fit nicely into the narrative as the villain. The fanatic organization was specifically added to the book to keep it connected to the Marvel Universe. In BI #41, Jim Shooter, who co-wrote five issues of the title including the first and last, revealed, “Yes because we, Marvel, owned at least our contributions to Team America, we were able to tie in the series more than most.” Team America artist Vosburg tells BACK ISSUE. “To be honest, Hydra was fun to draw. As I only worked on a rough plot concept, I never followed or read most of the books.”

HYDRA VS. THE UNCANNY X-MEN

Do you ever wonder where organizations such as Hydra get their seemingly unlimited funding? Well, look no further than a flashback tale in Uncanny X-Men #161 (Sept. 1982), by writer Chris Claremont and artists Dave Cockrum and Bob Wiacek. The one-off tale, set between the end of World War II and the formation of the X-Men, showed the first meeting of Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto. Hydra kidnapped Xavier’s lover Gaby Haller because she knew the location of a hidden cadre of Nazi gold. Baron Strucker wanted the gold to help finance his operations. Xavier and Magneto were able to save Gaby, with Magneto taking the gold for himself to save mutantkind. Although Strucker didn’t get to keep the gold, the issue shed a light on just how organizations such as Hydra are able to pay for all their wonderful toys.

HYDRA VS. IRON MAN

While Iron Man has mostly faced off against Hydra’s former technological division Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.), he also fought against the main Hydra forces. During the 1980s, the drug abuse had become a huge problem in the United States. First Lady Nancy Reagan even got involved with her “Just Say No” campaign. In Iron Man Annual #10 (Aug. 1989), by writer David Michelinie and penciler Paul Smith, Hydra formulated a plan to take over the country not by force but by using a drug to zombify the populace, making it easier to conquer. Namor the Sub-Mariner was even along for the ride to help the Armored Avenger stop Hydra.

Kill Nick (top) Jessica Drew—Spider-Woman— was a Hydra assassin targeting S.H.I.E.L.D.’s top agent when she was introduced in Marvel Spotlight #32 (Feb. 1977). Cover by Kane. (bottom) Bashful Benji Grimm and Shang-Chi swatted off a Hydra infestation in Marvel Two-in-One #29 (July 1977). Cover by Rich Buckler and Frank Giacoia. TM & © Marvel.

S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 6 1

Big Trouble No corner of the Marvel Universe— even the licensed title, The Micronauts—could escape Hydra’s evil reach. Cover to Micronauts #26 (Feb. 1981) by Pat Broderick. Nick Fury and Hydra TM & © Marvel. The Micronauts TM & © Takara LTD/A.G.E., Inc.

I can’t address that topic,” answers the writer. “But it seems to me that any organization that wants to flourish would see the need to grow, to ‘go with the times,’ so to speak. In fact, that was one of the things Bob and I did with the ultimate outcome of our Maggia subplot.” The storyline continued in Iron Man #246–247 (Sept.–Oct. 1989), written by Michelinie and Layton with pencils by Layton. “The Annual story was pretty much a standalone as far as Iron Man continuity was concerned,” Michelinie recalls. “And I don’t think Hydra was involved at all in Iron Man #246. The use of Hydra in #247 was pretty much a visit to that old adage, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ That is, Hydra and A.I.M. together had a better chance to crush their mutual enemy, the Maggia, than either group alone. I imagine Bob was the one who suggested bringing A.I.M. into the picture, since he was fond of a lot of ‘classic’ Marvel stuff.” Michelinie adds, “Way back at the beginning of our plot collaborations, Bob and I wanted to depict the Invincible Iron Man as just that: invincible. We wanted to show him as pat broderick being strong and determined to the Thomso200. point where bad guys would think twice before taking him on. And one way to define a strong hero is to pit him against strong adversaries. The combination of those requirements results in a powerful Iron Man, and at the same time a powerful Hydra.” As to why Hydra worked so well against so many Marvel heroes, Michelinie states, “I think any villain can be a foe for any hero if the story’s done right. Heck, Ant-Man could probably defeat Thanos if you put enough thought into it and made it believable under the right circumstances.”

Michelinie recounts, “Iron Man Annual #10 was just one chapter in ‘Atlantis Attacks,’ a multi-title arc that ran through every Marvel Annual that summer. So rather than the usual flexibility I had when plotting the monthly book, I was pretty much stuck with an already-determined overall storyline and the task of using Iron Man to progress it. Or, more accurately, and fittingly for the subject matter,” Michelinie jokes, “to basically tread water for 25 pages. “Hydra was already in play, but my regular co-plotter, Bob Layton, and I had been exploring a Maggia storyline in the monthly [Iron Man] book. So I put those two elements together (Bob wasn’t involved with this story, art- or plot-wise) and filled the requirements of the assignment.” How involved was Michelinie in crafting Hydra’s machinations? “I didn’t have anything to do with Hydra’s methods or motivations, so

HYDRA VS. NICK FURY

We end this article with a rematch from the Silver Age as Hydra and Fury go toe-to-toe again. As explored earlier in this edition of BACK ISSUE, Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Hydra returned to the forefront with 1988’s Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. six-issue miniseries written by Bob Harras, with artwork by Paul Neary and Kim DeMulder. The miniseries led to the ongoing Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (NFAOS) book; it was originally written by Harras, but other writers soon came on board, including D. G. Chichester and Gregory Wright. Chichester reveals, “As a big fan of the ’60s spy and espionage entertainment, I especially enjoyed big ‘good guy’ organizations having equivalent opponents. Bond’s MI-6 vs. SPECTRE, the Man from U.N.C.L.E. vs. THRUSH, even Get Smart’s CONTROL vs. KAOS. So, Hydra fits that bill perfectly for S.H.I.E.L.D. at the time it was created—and, with some retooling, for what I was doing with it while I was working my stories.” Chichester’s time on the book saw big changes for the terrorist organization, including the return of Baron Strucker. Chichester states, “Strucker is far and away the soul (such as it is) of Hydra. He and [the Red] Skull were contemporaries from their old days in the Nazi Scumbag Society, so that made for some good repartee among evil sorts. But Strucker’s evolution of Hydra’s ideology—advancing it to a more ‘survival of the fittest’ terrorist organization, and ‘rescuing’ it from its disorganization and shabby ways was all about him. “I felt it important that Strucker/Hydra have a mission, more than ‘bad guys.’ No good villain thinks he or she is evil,” contends Chichester. “To them, this is the natural order of things, and what they’re doing is all 6 2 • BAC K I S S U E • S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e

Then Came Hydra Penciler Mike Vosburg tells BI he had a blast drawing Hydra in Team America #2 (July 1982). Inks by Vince Colletta. TM & © Marvel.

very fine. There was a natural advancement to the ‘master race’ idea of the Nazis that bore Strucker, which would allow me to move him from that, to the ‘survival of the fittest.’ A ‘master race’ in this new (almost 21st Century) Hydra would not be based on genetics, but on survival. By creating incidents of terrorism and chaos, Hydra could gauge who handled themselves, who rose from the ashes, and recruit them into its fold, for furthering its self-stated mission, and a necessary—even ‘noble’—leadership of the rest of humanity. Strucker was more than a bit of an aristocrat, and I wrote him with a bit of that noblesse oblige—the sense that the aristocracy has not just entitlement, but a responsibility to certain social conditions and situations. Obviously more than a little twisted in the Baron’s way of approaching things!” Chichester continues, “With the idea that Strucker was rebuilding Hydra from the basement up, they had to keep achieving—both for themselves (to recapture their pride), and to remind the world that there was much to fear from Hydra (as in their announcement with the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D. Central). This was the primary driver of the storylines, in my mind. In fact, thinking about it now, I might have had an even better time of it if I went full-in with the idea that this was Strucker’s book, and it was the story of the rebuilding of Hydra! Maybe not so much as putting that on the cover (although that would have been a fun one-off logo change!). But certainly in that mindset of ‘the villain is never the villain in the villain’s mind.’ Rebuilding Hydra would always have them reaching for a next level, that would always keep S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury on alert, that would always keep conflict inherent in the stories—both plot-wise, and also in terms of character motivation (on both the S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra side).” Strucker wasn’t the only faceless Hydra member to appear in NFAOS. Just like Isabella and other writers did, Chichester included several Hydra members that were more than just one of the masses. These included Cassandra Romulus, Kalee Batrei, Lt. Garotte, Lt. Guillotine, and Lt. Erik Saltz. According to Chichester, “It was very important that Hydra not be faceless. By being ‘just a bunch of guys in smocks’ they had become toothless cannon fodder: an easy, meaning- #326–332, Mar.–Sept. 1994] which I think was a great build on their less threat to bring in when a lazy creative team had no one else to motivation—and oddly prescient in many things regarding tech, blame. By giving them identities, it created more layers, both in terms privacy, and even the city’s response to terrorism. “That said, while we had a small faction of likeminded creators— of the organization’s control, but also to explore the motivations of the organization through these individuals. They could spar or ally with each Greg Wright chief among them—who continued to play out Hydra in this ‘new’ way… most just went off and called in the smocked other and even Strucker to play out the intentions of the orgaguys to fumble about or be generic threats for stories. Withnization, and ultimately create a more interesting villainous out a firm editorial hand reminding other offices ‘This is presence for the book—and I hoped for Marvel overall.” what Hydra represents…’ and policing that, things kind While Hydra is known for their singular green of fell back to standard fare, at least during that time.” uniforms, Stucker’s new Hydra was given a sartorial Although he was off the book, Chichester had makeover. Chichester reveals, “Going back to that more plans for Strucker and Hydra. “Most specifically ‘Hydra are just faceless guys in smocks’ (and therefore would have been to reveal Strucker’s role behind the kind of toothless), I definitely wanted an updated destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D. Central, and how his reslook for them and would have indicated as much in urrection would have messed with Fury’s head. No the plots. I usually described things in a lot of detail, specifics, but that would have been the main thrust. and if I had visual reference, I would supply that to my You can see Fury’s rage and confusion in the Antarctic art partners as what I hoped would be inspiration.” adventure, and once Strucker stepped out that Of Jackson “Butch” Guice, who illustrated Hydra’s would have been a place to take Nick down makeover for NFAOS, Chichester says, “As much as I mike vosburg another step—to then build him back up for a loved Butch’s artwork, I wasn’t 100% thrilled with the satisfying confrontation. But I don’t think it would new look. It felt like more could have gone into it, to Colorado Springs ComicCon. have been a neatly wrapped package, probably give the Hydra soldiers more of a distinct uniform. It was 100% his take to make Strucker a shirtless beast in some of those more on the order of a chance to conflict their opposing world views early scenes, though, and that I was into. That was a great surprise and set up a sense that Hydra had its tendrils in many places thanks that seemed totally in character for the character—especially when you to Strucker’s work, and Fury would have his work cut out for him in confronting the many modern and sinister ways Hydra would have combine his physical deformities up against that physical prowess! “I was very pleased with my run, and what I was able to do developed to achieve its new mission.” After a few fill-in writers, Wright took over the writing chores on with Strucker and company in the pages of S.H.I.E.L.D.—and also how I would continue to play them out in other titles. They have a the title. He discloses, “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. had become one major role in the Daredevil ‘Tree of Knowledge’ storyline [Daredevil of those books that had lost its direction after D. G Chichester was S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 6 3

Strange Bedfellows (top) A mutant alliance in a flashback issue involving Strucker and Hydra. X-Men #161 (Sept. 1982) cover by Dave Cockrum and Bob Wiacek. (bottom) The Armored Avenger has zero tolerance for Hydra—or A.I.M.— in David Michelinie and Bob Layton’s Iron Man #247 (Oct. 1989). TM & © Marvel.

taken off the book. Scott Lobdell had taken the book and seemingly used it to showcase a whole bunch of minorleague villains like Mad Dog and Angar the Screamer. He was temporarily replaced by Eliot Brown, who was doing ‘The Cold War of Nick Fury,’ only to be replaced again by Lobdell. The book’s focus was all over the place, and the editor decided it was time to put the book back on track. “Nick Fury has always been my favorite character,” Wright states. “I also served as one of the editors on Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. and was the original editor of this title [NFAOS]. So, when the book became available, editor Mike Rockwitz called me up and asked if I would be willing to put the book back on track. When I was given the title, we had no idea the series was going to be cancelled. I had given a year-long synopsis for my plan to put the book on a better path. After about four issues, in which the sales had begun to rise, we were told that the book would be cancelled within a couple issues. I had to re-think my yearlong storyline.” Hydra played a major role in Wright’s short but eventful run. Of restoring order to the title, Wright tells BI, “For me, that meant to firmly establish Hydra as the baddest, most dangerous organization on the planet. I needed Hydra to accomplish some truly terrifying things. Unfortunately, with the book being cancelled so early, I was only able to destroy the United Nations. And even that was met with resistance from editorial. I was told that something like that would have an impact on all of the books, which was the point! In my original yearlong outline, I made a list of what I wanted to accomplish. First, of course, was to re-establish Hydra as the number one organization of evil, building on what D. G. Chichester had started. Part of that, for me, included bringing back some characters that had witnessed the horrors of Hydra firsthand over the years. Second was to get S.H.I.E.L.D. as a book to be about S.H.I.E.L.D., the organization and its agents, led by Nick Fury. That meant for me, to reintroduce lost concepts like LMDs and ESPERS, all that super-cool technology that Kirby and Steranko continually introduced, and bring back classic characters that would be given more specific function within the organization. And finally, to really make the relationship between Strucker and Fury much more personal. I wanted S.H.I.E.L.D. to feel for the reader what it felt like to me when I was reading it when Steranko was writing and drawing it, but with a modern sensibility.” Regarding Hydra’s visual makeover, Wright reveals, “D. G. Chichester was the one who resurrected Baron von Strucker in issue #21 (Mar. 1991). He also was the one rethinking Hydra. It was his idea to redo the uniforms as well. The idea was to rebrand Hydra and make them once more a force to be reckoned with and not just used as generic cannon fodder as they had been utilized in the past by others at Marvel. 6 4 • BAC K I S S U E • S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e

“When I took over, I felt that the previous writers had dropped the ball regarding what D. G. was doing, and that other writers had been utilizing Hydra incorrectly according to the new Hydra continuity. I decided that I needed to make it very clear what Strucker and Hydra were about, and to find a way to connect what had happened in other comics to make it feel like it was part of the overall story. So I chose to have Strucker kill any Hydra agents who were not part of his new Hydra.” Strucker became as obsessed with killing Fury as Captain Ahab was with the great white whale in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. “I wasn’t really aiming for that to be so apparent,” Wright explains. “I felt that Strucker could have easily just taken Fury out without a lot of fuss if he really wanted to. But his obsession would allow him to just have him killed. He needed to do it himself. Man to man, to prove his superiority.” Wright’s storyline also revealed that several high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had been brainwashed into working for the terrorist organization. “I really hated the entire super-agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. idea,” Wright says. “One of the first things I wanted to do was get rid of them, and it worked out really well to have them be Hydra double agents. It also allowed me to utilize G. W. Bridge. Ultimately, I had wanted to make him a more permanent member of S.H.I.E.L.D. within the title.” Wright’s run saw some outstanding artwork by John Heebink, including alternating scenes that showed Fury sparring with Captain America as Strucker tested himself against some of the top Hydra agents in issue #44 (Feb. 1993). Wright divulges, “I wrote every issue full script, so I plotted the sequence as drawn. I described the page layouts and what was happening in each panel. John brought a level of excitement to the world of S.H.I.E.L.D. that I felt had been missing for a while. He was very eager to draw all the technology and crazy angles. I asked for a lot in my scripts, and John always delivered. He was as big a fan of Steranko, as I was.” It’s too bad that the series ended when it did (NFAOS #47, May 1993) because Wright’s plans for Hydra would have really taken the organization to the next level. “Originally, when I didn’t have to wrap everything up in two issues, Hydra was going to do some significant damage around the world and to some other Marvel characters, with Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. unable to stop everything,” Wright discloses to BACK ISSUE. “S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to once again be headed for having its charter revoked, and Fury removed from command. More of Strucker’s motivation would have been revealed, and we would have seen people actually becoming pro-Hydra, as we have seen in the MCU. This storyline was really meant to establish a new status quo that would then lead to see the true depth that Hydra had infiltrated the world. “Mostly, D. G. and I kind of created our own little mini-Marvel Universe in our respective titles, and utilized Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra within those titles to help further the story that D. G. had begun in S.H.I.E.L.D. during his run. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed to find other writers incorrectly using Hydra, with the old costumes and with old continuity, that undermined everything we were trying to do. I utilized them mainly in Silver Sable and Deathlok, along with the Hydra splinter group the Genesis Coalition I created. “I wish editors and writers had paid more attention to what we were doing in S.H.I.E.L.D. with Hydra,” Wright laments. “My goal, and D. G. Chichester’s goal, was to make Hydra have much more profound significance than it had at the time. It’s a big, scary

organization… but I’m not sure anyone’s really done anything great with it.” Hydra continues to menace Marvel’s superhero community to this day, even going beyond the comic page as they have appeared in film, television, and video games. Keep calm and Hail Hydra, because they are everywhere and could be anyone. So why resist? Hydra would like to thank Pat Broderick, D. G. Chichester, Tony Isabella, David Michelinie, Roy Thomas, Mike Vosburg, and Greg Wright for their invaluable assistance with this article and for chronicling their glorious deeds.

Hubba-Hubba, Hydra! Strucker and Hydra got a ’90s makeover in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #22 (Apr. 1991). Cover by Jackson Guice. TM & © Marvel.

Freelance writer, comic-book historian, and educator ED LUTE denies the accusation that he’s a Hydra agent. Just let the worthless bums in S.H.I.E.L.D try to make him talk. JOE NORTON spent his high school career fighting the hordes of Hydra but was forced into hiding when he failed to prevent his alma matter’s complete takeover by the Supreme Hydra. He only recently came out of hiding to share his experiences with BACK ISSUE.

S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 6 5

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by E d

Catto

Right away, I knew this comic was special. That tiny font of indicia, at the bottom of the inside front cover, normally commonplace and usually boring boilerplate, used wording that had never appeared before and probably will never appear again. It read: “JOHN LAW, DETECTIVE, Vol. 1 No. 1, April 1983. Published after 34 years in hibernation...” Hibernation? 34 years? How could this be? In the early ’80s, Eclipse Comics was publishing myriad fascinating and groundbreaking comics. Kitchen Sink was also publishing great comics, many with a focus on classic creators like Milton Caniff (Steve Canyon) and Will Eisner (The Spirit). So, it was a little surprising that Eclipse would publish a lost classic of Will Eisner’s featuring police detective John Law. This 1983 comic, Will Eisner’s John Law, Detective #1, started off with a bang. The cover had Will Eisner’s inks over an unfinished penciled cover from decades before. The moody waterfront scene showed the hero interrupting a trio of seedy thugs, while a leggy femme fatale is about to surprise him—with a .45! With its gaudy colors by Klaus Janson, this comic certainly stood out on retailer shelves. will eisner The text piece within the comic pulled back the curtain on the proceedings. Editor catherine Patty Mooney / Wikimedia Commons. yronwode explained that while researching Will Eisner’s files, she came across the stat pages for a comic called John Law, Detective. When she questioned Eisner about it, she explained in the text piece, he first replied, “Never heard of it.” But slowly he remembered the entrepreneurial efforts behind the creation of it. Then yronwode continued relating her conversation with Eisner. Finally, he had an epiphany and recalled, “Oh, now I know! It was supposed to be the third of my self-published ventures, right after Baseball Comics and Kewpies. But they were a bomb, so I just put it away for a while.”

CROWDED PUBLISHING ENVIRONMENT

But these titles were not bombs, as Eisner put it, due to “poor quality.” Denis Kitchen is a cartoonist, publisher, entrepreneur, and an agent for the Eisner estate, and he explains to BACK ISSUE how, back in the late ’40s, “newsstands were clogged with comics from other publishers. Even if Lev Gleason’s Crime Does Not Pay did not really publish at the levels they said, there were still a lot of comics out there. 1949 was cluttered: Crime Does Not Pay, Superman, Captain Marvel [Adventures]—too many titles. “Will couldn’t have picked a worse time to launch a new comic series.” In retrospect, Denis makes an interesting point. He wonders if it was a misstep (on Will Eisner’s part) to lead the 1949 effort with Kewpies and Baseball Comics and not John Law, Detective and the fourth title that Eisner had planned, Pirates. “He went for the young market (instead of crime and pirate comics), and that may have been a mistake. I’m not sure why he rolled the dice with those two,” ponders Kitchen.

CLASSIC NOIR

The cover of Will Eisner’s John Law, Detective #1 shows criminals pawing through an overstuffed treasure chest. This might have been a metaphor for the actual comic. In addition to yronwode’s text piece, this comic presents three short stories. One of which, many would claim, is one of the greatest Spirit stories from one of the greatest comic creators. S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 6 7

Kitchen maintains that Eisner’s work on John Law, Detective is John Law’s first adventure co-stars a classic Eisner femme fatale: Sand Saref. She’s a sexy opportunist, and a long-lost love that is first rate. “I base that on the conversion of the first story to a classic Spirit tale. Based on the first story—the artwork is also first rate— unforgettable to both the hero and to the fans. In this tale, Eisner was able to employ all the classic film noir this is Will at his best. “If he had not recycled it (as the famous Sand Saref Spirit story), themes—passion and lost love, flashbacks, gunfights, moody cityscapes, the seedy waterfront, personal sacrifice, and redemption— it might have lost forever.” John Law’s lost love, Sand Saref, lives on in other incarnations. into just 11 pages. It’s engaging noir, full of drama and every scene that Eisner Frank Miller’s Elektra, the femme fatale in Marvel’s Daredevil series, is a direct cultural descendent of Sand. Eva Mendez was a master at rendering. The hero, John Law, and the brought Sand to cinematic life in 2008’s The Spirit, a “fallen woman,” Sand Saref, share a long past and movie also directed by Frank Miller. an unresolved love. In classic film noir style, it all The Spirit version of this Sand Saref story has been gets worked out—more or less—over gunfire and reprinted many times, even as a Pop-Up book, tragedy. designed by Bruce Foster and published in 2008. Most fans don’t think of this memorable adventure as a John Law story, but as one of their favorite Spirit stories. Eisner, as he often did, LESS THAN A+, BUT STILL… rehashed and reused this story for a January 8, “Now... the two backup stories,” explains Kitchen, 1950 Spirit adventure. And the story become “If not classics, are still C+, B-.” legendary. John Law, Detective also includes: “A true irony,” observes Denis Kitchen, “that one of the greatest Spirit stories was not designed • “Nubbin the Shoeshine Boy and the Case of as a Spirit story. The insights into the childhood of the Half-Dead Mr. Lox”: John Law’s diminutive denis kitchen Denny Colt were originally insights into another sidekick, Nubbin, takes center stage in a spooky character’s background. adventure, full of pluck and misunderstandings. Alex Lozupone / Wikimedia Commons. When Will Eisner later reused this one for a Spirit adventure, several changes were made. “Nubbin was THE SANDS OF TIME replaced by a new member of the Spirit’s supporting cast, “Sand Saref, for those who don’t follow typography,” chuckles Willum Waif,” wrote yronwode. This change weakened the story, Kitchen, “this name is a sly wink to the letter form that doesn’t have as Nubbin’s occupation as a shoeshine boy (a job that Willum any serifs” (the word “sans” meaning a font without those graphic Waif did not share) was important to the final story twist. extensions at the ends of letter. • “Ratt Gutt”: This eight-page John Law story focuses on gangster Roger Gutt. Eisner also recycled this one into a seven-page Spirit story called “Ratt Trapp.” The comic also compares covers and splash pages, as Eisner originally intended them and as they were recycled and reused in Spirit adventures. It’s fascinating to see the working thought process of a creative impressario like Eisner.

“A CASUALTY OF A BUSY ENTREPRENEUR”

Kitchen explains to BACK ISSUE how Eisner continued to noodle the idea of John Law. “He didn’t completely give up on John Law,” Kitchen reveals. “[Eisner] had contemplated a daily strip with Nubbin. Only one strip survives. It’s been reprinted in a few Spirit volumes. “And then Eisner worked on Tab—a tabloid—a supplement to newspapers. [It was a] Sunday supplement for small and mid-sized newspapers, if they couldn’t afford to use syndicated comic strips. It was a pre-packed collection of comic strips. Only three examples are known to exist today. “So, to that extent, John Law did continue,” says Kitchen. “Once Eisner plunged back into The Spirit, PS, and commercial work, John Law became a casualty of a busy entrepreneur.”

THE TORCH PASSES

Sydney native Gary Chaloner is a comics writer, artist, and publisher, best known for works like The Jackaroo, Flash Domingo, and his mainstream work for domestic companies including DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Dark Horse Comics. And Chaloner is also the one creator who carried the John Law torch.

A Spirited Introduction Eisner employed some familiar—yet nonetheless brilliant—tricks on this title page from John Law, Detective #1. © Will Eisner Studios, Inc.

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Following the Master (left) Gary Chaloner continued Eisner’s John Law saga in a 2004 IDW miniseries. Issue #1 cover by Chaloner. (right) If this Spirit costume set for Captain Action had actually been produced, it would have included additional John Law, Detective accessories. Photo courtesy of Ed Catto. The Spirit © Will Eisner Studios, Inc. Captain Action © Captain Action Enterprises.

Recently as of this writing, Captain Action Enterprises was “I’ve been a fan of Eisner’s and for many years,” Chaloner explains. “Comic-book pals of mine that I have worked with exploring other properties for partnerships and licensing. A Captain in Cyclone Comics (which was my Australian publishing house) Action-as-the-Spirit outfit was proposed. The interesting part turned me on to it in the ’80s Eclipse comic title, so the whole was that a John Law, Detective facemask and police badge were backstory of John Law has been sitting in the back of my mind. envisioned to be part of the toy. Essentially, of course, John Law is the Spirit, but with an eyepatch and badge instead of a mask. Then came an opportunity when Denis was publishing The The conversations stalled, but this would have been New Adventures [of the Spirit]. I got in touch with Kitchen the first John Law collectible, a mere 70 years after the Sink and dealt with the editor that was in charge of character was originally “supposed to be” published. the title. She gave me a chance to do either a John Law or a Spirit story, so I went ahead and drew up a what turned out to be a ten-page John Law IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE… BEYOND THE story. ONE-SHOT “Will wanted a modern version of John Law,” Denis Kitchen reveals that while there was interest recalls Chaloner. “The fan in me wanted to do a in John Law, Detective from the outside world, they cop story. A noir-style story. He [Will Eisner] was were all “occasional queries that didn’t go anywhere. won over.” “One nice thing is that John Law is an ‘unencumUnfortunately, the series was cancelled before bered property’… no complications,” explains Kitchen. they published Gary’s story. It “was going to be “John Law is out there waiting for the right party.” in issue #9 of The New Adventures, but Kitchen In fact, they recently had an inquiry from a Sink was going through their final stages and respectable producer. gary chaloner The New Adventures wound up [cancelled] with I asked Kitchen to describe the difference Gary Chaloner / Wikimedia Commons. issue #8.” between the Spirit and John Law. Chaloner didn’t give up. He reached out to Denis Kitchen with “The Spirit is an undercover masked crimefighter. But John Law the idea of finding a way to publish his John Law story. “Denis said, isn’t a masked character. He’s an open and above-board policeman. In ‘Well, you know, that sounds like a great idea. I’ll pitch it to Will, the version that Gary is working on—he’s a psychic detective.’ and I’ll get back to you.’ Even so, the pedigree of John Law, and the introduction of “I think it was a matter of a week later he got back in touch Sand Saref, is an enduring legacy for a comic that hibernated and said, ‘Will’s pretty excited by the idea. He’s green-lighted for 34 years. the concept.’” “Whether that continues or not,” says IDW published John Law, Detective, Dead Men Walking in 2004. Kitchen, “we’ll see.” It was an 80-page softcover that was 100% inspired by the 1983 ED CATTO is a marketing and startup strategist, single issue of Will Eisner’s John Law, Detective.

THE ‘LOST’ JOHN LAW TOY?

Captain Action, the world’s first superhero action figure, was created in the ’60s, and later revived. Fans and collectors can buy the toy figure and then imagine he assumes the persona of other characters. Thus, kids could take their Captain Action figure, put him into a Superman or Spider-Man uniform set, and “change” the character into those (or other) heroes.

with a specialty in pop culture. As founder of Agendae, Ed is dedicated to helping brands and companies innovate and grow. As part of the faculty at Ithaca College’s School of Business, Ed teaches entrepreneurial courses and one unique class focusing on comic conventions and Geek Culture. Ed’s also an illustrator, having won the 2019 and 2021 Pulp Factory Awards, and a retropreneur, rejuvenating brands like Captain Action.

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Not content with exposing the secret British missions of S.H.I.E.L.D. in this issue, the shadowy figure that is Ian Millsted investigates the agency known as Checkmate. It’s all very hush-hush, give or take the odd explosion. The series, Checkmate!, (the exclamation mark was part of the name of the comic series but I’ll dispense with it when talking about the agency) had its roots in two other titles released shortly before Checkmate! #1 (Apr. 1988) hit the stores. Firstly, several of the characters had been supporting cast members in the series Vigilante, which ended with its 50th issue (Feb. 1988), as well as the structure of a government agency using those with “special skills” to take direct action against terrorist, and similar threats. The main character in Vigilante was Adrian Chase, who had first appeared in The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. The 50 issues of the series were full of tough action and themes, acquiring a “mature readers” label during its run [see BI #102—ed.]. Chase sometimes worked for Harry Stein, a government agency chief, and his deputy, former Gotham City detective, Harvey Bullock. The former Charlton Comics character the Peacemaker (now familiar to modern film audiences of The Suicide Squad and subsequent Peacemaker television series on HBO Max) also worked for Stein. Chase’s story ended in tragedy and controversy, but the background world in which the stories had been played out would continue in Checkmate! However, not before an appearance in Action Comics. At this time Action Comics had become a Superman team-up title and #598 (Mar. 1988) featured the first named appearance of Checkmate. Paul Kupperberg and John Byrne co-plotted, with Kupperberg scripting and Byrne drawing, alongside Superman fighting against villainous terrorists, the Jackal and the Angels of Allah. As well as Stein and Bullock we have our first sighting of the uniformed Checkmate agents, in this case Knight Two. As the name suggests, the agents are based on chess pieces, and also fully masked with their real identities only shown as and when it suits the needs of the story. The first issue of the regular series followed a month later. Checkmate! #1 opens like a big-budget action movie of the era (think Die Hard or similar). The first three pages, depicting a real-world Chicago downtown, are finely detailed and show three separate acts of bravery and a big explosion—the first of many. The scene shifts to New York, where Harvey Bullock and two unnamed agents capture former Vigilante ally Black Thorn. Next it’s off to Virginia, where Amanda Waller (from Suicide Squad) is in talks with Harry Stein. This scene serves as dramatic exposition to explain some of the structure of the Checkmate organization. Harry Stein is the King, running Checkmate, while Waller is Queen, operating above Stein as governance, but not involved, at this stage, in the day-to-day operations.

Hop on Here! Kerry Gammill and Karl Kesel’s highoctane cover to DC Comics’ super-spy series, Checkmate! #1 (Apr. 1988), featuring Knight Gary Washington. TM & © DC Comics.

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by I a n

Millsted

THE FIRST ‘CHECKMATE’ COMIC BOOK Here’s some BACK ISSUE trivia you didn’t know you need to know! Western Publishing, under its Gold Key Comics imprint, published two issues of Checkmate in 1962. The comic was an adaptation of a stylish television drama about a San Francisco– based private-investigation agency named Checkmate, Inc. Anthony George, Doug McClure, and Sebastian Cabot starred. Checkmate ran on CBS for two seasons © Jamco Productions. (1960–1962). Both issues of Gold Key’s Checkmate featured photo covers and interior artwork by Jack Sparling. – Michael Eury

An Explosive Premiere (top) Checkmate’s logo lacked its exclamation point on this John Byrne cover to the group’s series-launching team-up with Superman in Action Comics #598 (Mar. 1988). (This issue is also known for its cover’s unfortunate typo of “Metropolis.”) (bottom) Checkmate! house ad, with a subscription form. TM & © DC Comics.

Bishops, including Harvey Bullock, are the chiefs, operating under the King. Knights are field agents. Rooks are field directors. Pawns are support personnel. Finally, we see an extended, and well executed, action sequence in which a Knight rescues a hostage from the white supremacist group responsible for the explosion on page three. Two other events of interest are another explosion, bookending the issue, and the reveal of the skin color of the Knight tackling the white supremacists. Paul Kupperberg, John Byrne, and Steve Erwin are given a collective creator credit. Along with Kupperberg (writer) and Erwin (pencils), Al Vey does fine work on the interior inks, and the cover is by the team of Kerry Gammill and Karl Kesel. Also worth noting is that, while the title does not carry a “mature readers” tag as Vigilante had done, it does not have the Comics Code seal and therefore operates, as several DC titles did at the time, in the gray area between. Artist Steve Erwin shares with BACK ISSUE how his involvement in the series came about. “That’s a chain of events. It started with my being hired by DC [group] editor Mike Gold to steve erwin be the new pencil artist on Vigilante, one of his stable of titles. I was not aware at the time that Facebook. I would be drawing the final three issues of that title, as it was slated for cancellation. Mike and Paul (who was writing Vigilante) met me at Chicago Comic-Con, and we had a (I swear this is true) clandestine meeting where I was sworn to secrecy. We discussed a) Vigilante’s cancellation, b) Adrian Chase’s demise in the final issue, and c) Checkmate! being the replacement title on the publishing schedule. I couldn’t tell anybody about how Vigilante was going to end—it was the ultimate secret at the time. I was asked to not even divulge anything about it to my wife. (It was okay to mention Vig was being cancelled and that I would be drawing the replacement title, but beyond that… nope.) “Paul had done all the heavy lifting on Checkmate! by this point: the general concept, the main cast members, that sort of thing. My job was to bring the book to visual life, so I got S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 7 1

Fast and Furious From its title page detonation to its flashy action sequences, Checkmate! #1 wasted no time in grabbing readers. By Paul Kupperberg, Steve Erwin, and Al Vey. TM & © DC Comics.

“I found out about it when Jonathan called me to design the new characters, the base of operations, that sort of thing. (To be transparent here, John Byrne at home to introduce himself. We chatted for a few designed the Knights’ outfit. As I recall, Paul and John minutes, friendly banter and such, and then he asked were friends, and Paul ran his Checkmate idea past how the Checkmate! pages were coming along. I said I was still waiting for the plot to arrive from DC, Byrne for his opinion of it over lunch. John’s sole but I hadn’t received anything yet. contribution to the concept was the Knights “I actually heard Jonathan turn pale outfit that he doodled out right there at over the phone. the lunch table.) “A few seconds later, he said he’ll “I had been reading Paul’s work for call me right back and hung up. a long time, and had been a regular “So, a little while later Jonathan reader of Vigilante, so the opportunity called me back and explained the to work with him on that title was a ‘oops.’ He asked me to stay near my big deal to me. It was also my very phone. Paul was supposed to call me first DC Comics work; I had been within a couple of hours and go over doing work for First Comics at the the plot for issue #1 with me. I was to time, where Mike Gold was the first take notes for the first few pages so editor I worked for there.” that I could get started right away. However, the series launch was Paul would fax the plot to Jonathan not without a few glitches. “Between paul kupperberg who would then overnight the plot the time that Mike Gold talked with © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. to me. We were way behind on our me and Paul about Checkmate!, he was promoted to a senior editor level or something, schedule, and I never did find out exactly how far. and Checkmate! was no longer on his list of titles to Obviously, we were well into the penciling phase on edit directly,” Erwin explains. “Jonathan Peterson was the schedule, but beyond that, I had no idea. We tried a new editor hire and Checkmate! was handed over to to pick up the pace, but there is only so much I could him. Things fell between the cracks: Paul was never do. I was still very new to drawing comics pages given the go-ahead to start writing the plot by Gold. professionally, so getting past a page a day was not (As I said, he had other titles to stay on top of.) Peterson really something I was able to yet do.” Checkmate! #2 (May 1988) sports a dynamic action had assumed that Gold had gotten the ball rolling, Gold (I assume) thought Peterson would do that, so cover by Gil Kane, while the regular team continue on the inside pages. The story starts off, again, in Chicago. as a result, the book stalled out before it even started.

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This time, the Chicago Art Institute is the setting for a break in by another chapter of the white supremacists to be challenged by the same Checkmate Knight (Gary Washington). Elsewhere, there are insights into the domestic lives of Harry Stein and Black Thorn, respectively, as well as more characterization for Gary Washington. But don’t worry, the second issue finishes with another explosion. Erwin explains how the tone of the series was established: “Paul and I worked plot-style, often referred to as the Marvel method of creating comics. He sent me a plot (I describe it as a kind of blend of a short story and personal letter), where I broke down the plot into a visual translation of the story. He would then write the dialogue and narrative to go with the penciled pages. That’s how we worked on Vigilante, so we just continued the practice on Checkmate! It was a lot of fun to do that way, and it saved Paul some work time since he was writing several titles at the time. At times, I would call him on the phone to clarify something or ask if I could change an action. I didn’t want to just do it without asking, or at least asking the editor. My job was to draw the story the writer gave me, and I always wanted to do the best interpretation that I could. “My editor (Jonathan Peterson) pretty much let me run with what I wanted to do. He was complimentary about the detail I put in each panel, the page design, and some of the visual tricks I liked to play with. He tried to persuade me to use fewer panels, overall, and draw bigger. I tended to use a lot of panels because

Paul wrote very full plots with lots of descriptions and things, and I was trying to put all that in the visuals. At least as much as I could.” Rotating cover artists continued with Checkmate! #3 (June 1988), where Rob Liefeld drew a high-impact, high-rise gunfight. This was an early, and effective, job for Liefeld just prior to the publication of the Hawk and Dove miniseries he drew [see BI #97—ed.]. This issue also saw the conclusion of the white supremacist storyline as well as the first appearances, in action, of other Knights, specifically Knight Leader and Knights 4, 7, and 9 joining the already revealed Knight 2. There are 30 Knights in the organization altogether. The series had launched successfully, and, so far, no superpowered characters had appeared. “Checkmate! originally was to have a ‘real world’ feel to it,” Erwin shares, “kind of ignoring the DC world of superpowered humans and such. I just felt more comfortable, in those conditions, to add lots of detail. Unlike a typical superhero book, Checkmate! wasn’t laden with action sequences. I equated the book to being like a TV detective drama show in feel, so that’s how I paced it.” The main villain in the first three issues, Kevin Maxwell, shared his name with a businessman better known in the UK at the time than in the US, being the son of the infamous Robert Maxwell. Now he is best known as the brother of Ghislaine Maxwell. I presume the name choice was coincidence. Oh, and there are two more explosions in that issue.

Killer Cover Artists The legendary Gil Kane illustrated several of Checkmate!’s covers, including (left) issue #2’s. (right) Rising star Rob Liefeld, inked by Al Vey, illustrated the cover for #3 (June 1988). Both, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

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Oh, Yes, It’s Ladies’ Knight (left) Knight Beth Zahar, under fire in Qurac, in Checkmate! #7 (Oct. 1988). (right) Amanda Waller has had enough of Black Thorn in issue #8. Both covers by Kane. TM & © DC Comics.

Gil Kane returned to draw the cover of Checkmate! #4 (July 1988). There are two separate stories in this issue, probably to give Steve Erwin a chance to catch up. The first 16 pages, by the usual team, contain a briskly paced action story set in Venice, complete in itself but clearly also setting up a new ongoing story arc involving arms smugglers. The second story featured Don Heck on pencils. Heck always seemed more comfortable drawing civilians than costumed characters, and this story played to those strengths. It’s an eight-page chase scene with a neat twist at the end. An explosion-free issue. The explosions are back in Checkmate! #5 (Aug. 1988), behind a great cover by Jerry Bingham. This issue again has a main story, by the regular team, and a backup. That format may have been forced on the editors, but given the nature of a title with operatives in action around the world, simultaneously, it also makes dramatic sense. The main story moves from Venice to Texas. The backup is drawn by Art Thibert and fills in some background on one of the semi-regular characters. By now it was clear to the readers that this was a series with an increasingly large ensemble cast, with Harry Stein as the main spine running through events. Steve Erwin places credit where it is due: “Paul came up with the majority of the new characters. He and Mike Gold had worked out how to transition the Vigilante cast carryovers into Checkmate!, and Paul (for the most part) dreamed up the rest of the supporting cast. “The character that I created entirely was Harry Stein’s assistant, BJ,” Erwin adds. “I reasoned that he’d have a personal assistant of some kind, a secretary/gofer/office manager. She would also give Harry someone to voice plot points to for the reader’s benefit. I styled her after my wife and incorporated her initials as her name.” The Middle Eastern desert is the setting for the opening story in Checkmate! #6 (Sept. 1988). The action transitions between flashbacks in Israel and current action in Qurac, a fictional country. The latter slightly dilutes the real-world background of the series, but it is an understandable choice to make. The arms-smuggling story evolves, logically, into one of terrorism. The guest artist on the backup story is James Fry and it all blends in quite successfully. Explosion count: two. One for each story. 74 • BAC K I S S U E • S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e

There is a return to full-length stories with Checkmate! #7 (Oct. 1988), as well as the introduction of the first female Checkmate Knight (Beth) shown in the series. The regular creative team keeps Qurac as the setting of the story, well-crafted action from start to finish with no less than seven explosions, and much else beside. Checkmate! #8 (Nov. 1988) puts a focus back on Black Thorn. Amanda Waller views her as a security risk that needs to be terminated (yes, in that sense), while Harry Stein clearly has an affection and respect for her. Waller seems to win the battle within Checkmate, but Black Thorn wins the battle to continue as a free agent. No explosions, unless you count Amanda Waller tearing into Stein.

EXCHANGE

John Statema comes in as the guest penciler for Checkmate! #9 (Dec. 1988) and maintains the detail and storytelling that had been a quality of the series so far. The story is the start of an investigation into counterfeiting currency. One explosion. The conclusion follows in Checkmate! #10 (Winter 1988). Statema guested for a second issue. Four explosions and a great fist-fight. With regard to the guest and fill-in artists, Steve Erwin observes, “I had no input on who other artists might be. I didn’t know anyone to recommend, for one thing. But Jonathan had a good stable of guys on standby; some were new guys looking to get work in the field, others were looking for a part-time, fill-in gig. I just left it up to him. I was always pretty happy with the fill-in guys.” Erwin returned in time for the series’ first involvement in crossover territory. Both Checkmate! #11 (listed as “Holiday,” but in effect the issue that would otherwise have been cover-dated Jan. 1989) and 12 (Feb. 1989) tie into the company-wide “Invasion!” story in which an alliance of alien forces tries to conquer the Earth. Gil Kane had been doing quite a few covers for the series, but that for #11 was a little below his usual standard. The story itself starts with a scene in the British Parliament. Erwin’s use of reference material here adds to the fun. The leader of a rebel group forcing their way into Parliament looks somewhat like the actor Gareth Thomas, who played the leader of the rebel heroes in the UK sck-fi series Blake’s 7 (1978–1981). One of the members of Parliament

is clearly based on Australian actor Leo McKern, best known for starring in the long-running television series Rumpole of the Bailey. Further pop-culture references follow with other likenesses including Peter Davison (Doctor Who) and Paul Darrow (Blake’s 7). There is a scene at a Cavendish Foods factory run by DeVere Industries, which is a reference to the sitcom To the Manor Born, which is situated in Totter’s Lane, the location of much of the first episode of Doctor Who from all the way back in 1963. There is even a passing visit to Fawlty Towers. The British Knight shown in action has more than a whiff of John Steed about him, and the whole thing is highly entertaining. What this “Invasion!” crossover doesn’t have is any aliens. The Checkmate! creators became early exponents of how to co-operate with a company crossover without actually derailing their own series. Sadly, no explosions. Well, this is England. To make up for it, there is an explosion on page one of Checkmate! #13. Checkmate conducts its own participation in the “Invasion!” adventure in a story based in Cape Canaveral (and space). The story ends in a cliffhanger that is resolved partly in Invasion! #3 and partly in Checkmate! #13 (Mar. 1989). Rick Hoberg joins Steve Erwin on pencils, as the setting shifts from icy Chicago to sunny Caribbean. Harry Stein goes on vacation with his children. Trouble follows in more ways than one. Checkmate! #14 (Apr. 1989) is split into three distinct stories, each with a different guest penciler. Tod Smith draws the first, which is essentially a Black Thorn solo piece. The second is a street-level yarn for Checkmate drawn by Paris Cullins. The third combines Black Thorn with Checkmate and is both penciled and inked by Eduardo Barreto. The issue closes with a house ad for the forthcoming crossover story, “The Janus Directive,” running through the titles Suicide Squad, Firestorm, Manhunter, Captain Atom, and, of course, Checkmate! The 11-part “Janus Directive” kicked off in Checkmate! #15 (May 1989). Part 1 mainly focuses on Checkmate investigating mob activity and encountering heavily armored muscle in the form of the Bishop. However, there seems to be more going on than is immediately obvious. The final page leads into Part 2, in Suicide Squad #27, where Peacemaker also joins in the fun. Explosion count: two. Checkmate! #16 (May 1989) has Part 3. Rick Hoberg subs, successfully, for Steve Erwin. A conspiracy thriller plays out in the background while some obligatory fights between various key players from Checkmate and Suicide Squad take place. Two explosions, but one is in a recap, so decide for yourself if that counts. Part 4 is in Suicide Squad #28, with Checkmate HQ suffering extensive damage before Part 5 continues in Checkmate! #17 (June 1989). Steve Erwin returned to pencils as Checkmate is under pressure all around the globe. Black Thorn and Peacemaker both get page space and the readers are getting a sense of what is behind the conspiracy. Three explosions. The next three parts are in Manhunter #14, Firestorm #86, and Suicide Squad #29, respectively, before Part 9 takes place in Checkmate! #18 (June 1989). The surviving members of Checkmate rally and join with allies to take the fight back to Kobra. There is a Lois Lane cameo and just the one explosion. The story concludes in Suicide Squad. One of the lasting consequences is that Sarge Steel replaced Amanda Waller as the senior boss of Checkmate. Also, they relocate their headquarters to Colorado. Overall, “The Janus Directive” is an exciting and involving action thriller that coheres remarkably well

given the disparate series across which it plays out. “The editors of the involved titles worked very closely together to keep the continuity straight,” says Steve Erwin. “I occasionally got phone calls from Jonathan and faxed updates of the plot as we were going along, and photocopies of pertinent pages from other books as they came in. (Let’s hear it for Federal Express!) The crossover series was recently collected in trade paperback (vol. 4 of Suicide Squad). I read it over a weekend when my copies arrived; it’s the first time I read the entire crossover. I gotta say, with all those creative teams involved, it came out pretty good.” The globetrotting nature of the series extends to Russia in Checkmate! #19 (July 1989), with Rick Hoberg joining Erwin on pencils and Pablo Marcos helping out with some inking. Several new storylines are initiated, and there are two explosions. The regular creative team is in sole charge of Checkmate! #20 (Sept. 1989). Some familiar characters return, and the expected levels of action and intrigue continue. One explosion. One of the noticeable

Prickly Protagonist One-time Vigilante supporting character Black Thorn was featured in Checkmate! #14 (Apr. 1989), in a trio of stories each drawn by a different artist. Cover by Art Thibert. TM & © DC Comics.

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Keeping the Peace (top) Future movie and television star the Peacemaker saw action in Checkmate!, including issue #20 (Sept. 1989). Cover by Erwin and Dick Giordano. (bottom) The Bishop was a main adversary in the series, battling on #21’s cover Knight Conrad Mackay. Cover by Erwin and Keith Wilson. TM & © DC Comics.

features of this mid-section of the series is the growing presence of the Peacemaker. This was a period when gung-ho characters like the Punisher were particularly popular in comics and, presumably, reader reaction had been positive. The antagonist Bishop returns in Checkmate! #21 (Oct. 1989). One explosion, but plenty of other action. The Bishop story continues in Checkmate! #22 (Nov. 1989), with plot twists aplenty and one explosion. Peacemaker takes center stage in Checkmate! #23 (Dec. 1989) and 24 (Jan. 1990), although there are numerous featured subplots with other Checkmate personnel. One explosion per issue. Events have been building to a Bishop vs. Peacemaker confrontation, which happens in Checkmate! #25 (Feb. 1990). However, this being a series that had avoided becoming a straight superhero title, that fight turns out to be a warm-up act for a more significant revelation, within the context of the series.

ENDGAME

Steve Erwin contributes a striking cover for Checkmate! #26 (Mar. 1990), but is replaced by Bill Jaaska for the interior pencils. The story takes a more downto-earth approach after recent high-octane events. Tom Grindberg steps in to pencil Checkmate! #27 (May 1990) through 29 (July 1990). “More or less another gig that got chalked up as putting food on the table,” Grindberg explains to BACK ISSUE. Despite his diffidence, Grindberg’s style fits the series well. John Statema guests on inks for the middle issue. Erwin returned for what would be his final issue of the series, Checkmate! #30 (Aug. 1990), with Mike Bair on inks. As the series evolved, Erwin developed slightly mixed feelings about the direction. “Later in the series, Jonathan wanted to punch up the action and the visuals,” Erwin relates. “That’s where we started playing with unique outfits for the Knights instead of the one, black and gold design. I was okay with punching up the action, but I really wasn’t enthused about the unique Knight outfits. I would have preferred to pare down the cast to a smaller group rather than the larger organization. The TV series from a few years back, Person of Interest, was almost exactly what I was hoping Checkmate! would morph into.”

MATE

The final three issues of Checkmate!, #31 (Oct. 1990) through 33 (Dec. 1990), form a three-part story set mainly in fictional Austanburg. Gabriel Morrisette penciled all three issues, with Statema remaining on inks. Most of the regular cast appear, as do Bishop and Peacemaker. Oh, and there are a few explosions as well. There remained a sense of slightly unfinished business. The series could have gone in any number of directions had it continued. Steve Erwin explains further: “Jonathan had the idea of expanding Checkmate—as an organization—into something akin to Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D. I went along with the idea because it wasn’t my job to argue with the editor about a title’s direction. In my mind, if DC needed a S.H.I.E.L.D. counterpart, create one. But I can see Jonathan’s side, too; we had the sapling, so why not grow it into the full-grown tree? “At the time, I would have preferred to scale it down into a few Knight/ Pawn teams and take it back to basics, essentially being an undocumented law enforcement agency operating outside the restraints of traditional law enforcement, as originally inspired by Adrian Chase’s Vigilante. In later incarnations, Checkmate seems to have been transitioned into something S.H.I.E.L.D.-like, focused on keeping DC’s superpowered humans in check.” Checkmate has reappeared in various forms in comics and other media since the initial series, often varying considerably from the template laid in the series examined here. Paul Kupperberg and Steve Erwin deserve particular credit for creating stories that were plausible and engaging. Look out for any collections that appear, and the original issues are still quite affordable as back issues. So long, Checkmate, and thanks for all the explosions. With thanks to Steve Erwin and Tom Grindberg.

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tom grindberg ERBzine.com.

Jailhouse Rock All hell breaks loose on this spectacular cover by Tom Grindberg as Bishop orchestrates a prison bust-out in Checkmate! #28 (June 1990). Note the vertical border placement of the logo. Original art courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

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‘THE SECOND NEW BATMAN BOOK SINCE 1940!’

A few thoughts on BI #134: The “Leaf’s DC Secret Origin Comic” of Green Lantern (page 43) was written by me. I recall accepting the assignment, after making sure I wasn’t taking work away from the regular GL writer. Robert V. Conte’s article on variant covers brought to mind a 1987 DC editorial meeting in which Ed Shukin, then head of DC newsstand sales, explained—in somewhat condescending terms—the concept of variant covers and how this would somehow allow the company to track sales more accurately. Len Wein then engaged Shukin in a debate from the floor, claiming that such “data” would be valueless, since the owners of the shops all spoke to each other regularly, and the variants would only become collectors’ items. Shukin was not amused, but I was. And Len was proven correct. Regarding the Legends of the Dark Knight variant covers, I was visiting the New York DC offices (having moved to California) and saw the original copy: “The First New Batman Book Since 1940!” I liked some of the staffers, so I reminded them of 1983’s Batman and the Outsiders. They quickly added the qualifier “‘Solo’” to LOTDK’s copy. – Mike W. Barr As always, your behind-the-scenes stories are greatly appreciated, Mike.

HI-YO, BRONZE AGE!

Firstly, I cannot tell you how much I’m anticipating the upcoming September issue “Classic Heroes of the Bronze Age” (BI #138). For years, I’ve been pestering you about doing a feature on the Lone Ranger and Zorro of the Bronze Age, as well as DC’s Flash Gordon maxiseries. I’m guessing that the last few issues of Dell’s Lone Ranger or the Bates and Heath Ranger strip will not be covered. But who’s complaining? I’m also glad to see that Evanier and Spiegle’s Crossfire is being covered as well. I’m glad to see that DC’s miniseries are getting their turn in the spotlight [BI #137]. I’ve always preferred the DC limited series over Marvel’s, with the exception of Squadron Supreme. Somehow, I just felt that they were more special. Green Arrow, Aquaman, Sword of the Atom, Green Lantern Corps, Untold Legend of the Batman, Phantom Zone, etc.: more A-list characters as well as the B-listers. About the Starman issue [#133]: I loved it. I initially picked up the issues because of the covers. Starman and Power of Shazam! had the best covers during the early ’90s (at least in my opinion); they jumped off the shelves. Initially, I found the character a bit disturbing. Being religious as well as a rightwing conservative, I was never into the body piercings and tattoos and stuff. I thought they were horrible, and here the star of the book was full of them. The art, however, was fantastic, far better than most books at that time. I was also very much drawn into the father/son relationship that I could easily relate to. The book had depth and wasn’t as dark and depressing as a lot of books at the time. I missed the Will Payton series, or Starstruck for that matter, but I thought your coverage on both series were excellent. 7 8 • BAC K I S S U E • S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e

I always was a fan of Kaluta ever since his work on DC’s Shadow. (Any coverage on that series?) All in all, a fantastic issue, and you’ve given me a number of reasons to re-subscribe. P.S. I know BI has done coverage of Bronze Age heroes on the screen years ago, but it’s been a while. Wouldn’t it be great to have the ’50s Adventures of Superman; the ’60s Batman and Green Hornet; the ’70s Wonder Woman, Captain America, Shazam!, Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk, and Legends of the SuperHeroes; the ’80s Greatest American Hero (yes, I know he wasn’t a comic-book hero, but he’s close enough), Hulk TV movies, Return to the Batcave, Superboy TV series, and then, of course, there’s Smallville and Birds of Prey, the failed JLA pilot, and failed Wonder Woman series and ’70s pilot episode. It would make for a great issue, and [the animated] Shazam!, Spider-Man, Super Friends, Filmation superhero cartoons, and the Marvel cartoons of the ’70 and ’80s would make for a great followup issue, all under one cover. Thanks for such a quality publication! – Yaakov Gerber Yaakov, rarely do we receive mail about upcoming issues. By now you’ve read our Lone Ranger and Zorro coverage, which were indeed inspired by your spirited requests; I hope you enjoyed them, as well as Mark Evanier’s reminiscences about Crossfire this issue. The Denny O’Neil/Michael Kaluta Shadow series was covered in BI #10. Don’t hold your breath for another Hollywood issue. Some of those subjects you’ve mentioned have been covered in BI issues over the years (such as Legends of the SuperHeroes, in #25), and others in ye ed’s other magazine, RetroFan—which is a better home for such material, allowing us to focus more on the comic books themselves here in BACK ISSUE. However, occasionally we’ll revisit Tinseltown’s Titans—such as the Superboy interviews with Gerard Christopher and Stacy Haiduk in our very next issue.

IF IT AIN’T THE SAINT

It’s nice to see my name in the magazine someplace other than the letters column [in BACK ISSUE #134]. I want to thank Robert Conte for including me in the Variant Cover article. Never been referred to as “renowned” before. I won a copy of that Man of Steel “raffle edition,” but made the mistake of lending it to a friend who hadn’t read the miniseries. Never got it back. As for Superman #75, I feel bad for all those non-fans who bought a copy thinking they could put their kids through college by selling it 20 years after. Superman by Jim Aparo: I liked his version of Superman and Superboy. I think his “novel Clark to Superman” transformation was probably inspired by the Fleischer cartoons. I think Aparo’s version of Captain Marvel was more interesting, as you couldn’t get further removed from C. C. Beck than Aparo. Curt Swan and his Bat-Family: Swan drew more Batman, what with covers and World’s Finest stories, than Aparo did Superman. His Robin and Batgirl were pretty good, too. Curt didn’t need an inker to keep Batman on-model the way Wayne Boring did. Evel Knievel: Never got into him, either in real life or the toy version, though I did get some satisfaction when he sued Kanye West for using his IP in a music video without permission. I didn’t realize until the recent overpriced re-release of his stunt cycle that the figure was a “bendy,” which makes sense as that would weigh less than an actual action figure, thereby making stunts easier to accomplish. Tales from Earth-Uslan: After reading the plots to some of those stories, I’m glad they never came to fruition. I hated when Roy Thomas made Rex Tyler an addict, so the idea of that development coming earlier would’ve been just as bad. The Mr. Terrific idea was embarrassing. Having him killed by a supervillain was a better fate. The less said about the Congorilla idea, the better. Truth, Justice, and the European Way: I’m surprised that not all of those stories made their way to the US in one form or another. Talk about the perfect fill-in stories. This Island Bradman: Man, money talks, indeed! Thanks for the complimentary copy of the issue! – Delmo (The Saint) Walters, Jr.

THE TREVOR ENDEAVOR

As a big Wonder Woman fan, I wanted to clear something up that reader Mark Kohn brought up in the letters column of BI #135. He said regarding the article about the Hostess ads in comic books: “Did you notice that the LARGE actress gripping Steve Trevor is calling him ‘Steve Howard’? I was surprised no one caught that (error) from the beginning.” The reason DC didn’t notice the error was because it wasn’t an error—at that time, Steve Trevor had been resurrected from the dead in Wonder Woman’s book and was going by the name Steve Howard so no one would know. Unfortunately, his return was cut short when Steve Howard was found out, and he was murdered again… until he was brought back again, only that time he went back to using the name Steve Trevor. Just thought I’d clear that up. I’m always thrilled to be able to show off my otherwise useless knowledge of DC comic books from the 1970s! – Dan Brozak

Mark also included two relevant scans (below): The first is from Wonder Woman #225 (Aug.–Sept. 1976), revealing Steve Trevor’s “Steve Howard” identity; and the second is from issue #226. The creative team for both issues was writer Eliot S! Maggin, penciler Jose Delbo, and inker Vince Colletta.

And as long as it’s knowledge, it’s never useless—especially when it comes to this trivia-packed magazine! You were one of five (at this writing) readers who wrote me about the Steve Howard matter, including this old pal of mine…

TREVOR HOWARD’S BIGGEST FAN

As regards the letter in this month’s BI about “Steve Howard,” let me remind you that when Steve was resurrected in Wonder Woman #223, he covered up his “death” by assuming a new name! I don’t know what’s sadder about your oversight; that both of us are old enough to start forgetting stuff like this, or that I even remembered it in the first place. – Mark Waid

But with all the Howards running around in the Bronze Age—Howard the Duck, Ron “Richie Cunningham” Howard, Howard “Happy Days” Cunningham, Ken “White Shadow” Howard, Moe “3 Bionic Stooges” Howard, Howard K. “ABC News” Smith, Howard “WKRP” Hesseman, and Howard “Bob Newhart’s wacky neighbor” Borden among them—how’s a guy supposed to keep ’em all straight? Full disclosure time: My Wonder Woman reading has always been spotty—the only WW stories I followed with any interest are the Diana Prince–era ones, her Brave and Bold team-ups, and the Roy Thomas/ Gene Colan collaboration—so I don’t think I actually forgot Steve Howard, as I didn’t read those issues in the first place. (But if I read of this later, then I certainly did forget.) Superboy and Krypto TM & ® DC Comics.

Mark, as Trevor Howard said in my favorite movie…

Thanks, Mark—and to our other readers who wrote in about this matter! Next issue: Our Super Issue, featuring Superboy’s Bronze Age adventures and interviews with two stars of the Superboy live-action TV series, GERARD CHRISTOPHER and STACY HAIDUK. Plus: Super Goof, FRANK THORNE’s Far Out Green Super Cool, NICK MEGLIN and JACK DAVIS’ Superfan, Super Richie (Rich), Super-Dagwood, Super Mario Bros., and more Super stuff. Featuring a Superboy and Krypto cover by DAVE COCKRUM! Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in sixty! Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

S p i e s a n d P. I . s I s s u e • BAC K I S S U E • 7 9

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THE BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY’S

MAINLINE COMICS

by JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY Introduction by JOHN MORROW

In 1954, industry legends JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY founded MAINLINE PUBLICATIONS to publish their own comics during that turbulent era in comics history. The four titles—BULLSEYE, FOXHOLE, POLICE TRAP, and IN LOVE—looked to build off their reputation as hit makers in the Western, War, Crime, and Romance genres, but the 1950s backlash against comics killed any chance at success, and Mainline closed its doors just two years later. For the first time, TwoMorrows Publishing is compiling the best of Simon & Kirby’s Mainline comics work, including all of the stories with S&K art, as well as key tales with contributions by MORT MESKIN and others. After the company’s dissolution, their partnership ended with Simon leaving comics for advertising, and Kirby taking unused Mainline concepts to both DC and Marvel. This collection bridges the gap between Simon & Kirby’s peak with their 1950s romance comics, and the lows that led to Kirby’s resurgence with CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN and the early MARVEL UNIVERSE. With loving art restoration by CHRIS FAMA, and an historical overview by JOHN MORROW to put it all into perspective, the BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY’S MAINLINE COMICS presents some of the final, and finest, work Joe and Jack ever produced. SHIPS SUMMER 2023! (256-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $49.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-118-9

DESTROYER DUCK GRAPHITE EDITION

by JACK KIRBY & STEVE GERBER Introduction by MARK EVANIER

In the 1980s, writer STEVE GERBER was embroiled in a lawsuit against MARVEL COMICS over ownership of his creation HOWARD THE DUCK. To raise funds for legal fees, Gerber asked JACK KIRBY to contribute to a benefit comic titled DESTROYER DUCK. Without hesitation, Kirby (who was in his own dispute with Marvel at the time) donated his services for the first issue, and the duo took aim at their former employer in an outrageous five-issue run. With biting satire and guns blazing, Duke “Destroyer” Duck battled the thinly veiled Godcorp (whose infamous credo was “Grab it all! Own it all! Drain it all!”), its evil leader Ned Packer and the (literally) spineless Booster Cogburn, Medea (a parody of Daredevil’s Elektra), and more! Now, all five Gerber/Kirby issues are collected—but relettered and reproduced from JACK’S UNBRIDLED, UNINKED PENCIL ART! Also included are select examples of ALFREDO ALCALA’s unique inking style over Kirby on the original issues, Gerber’s script pages, an historical Introduction by MARK EVANIER (co-editor of the original 1980s issues), and an Afterword by BUZZ DIXON (who continued the series after Gerber)! Discover all the hidden jabs you missed when DESTROYER DUCK was first published, and experience page after page of Kirby’s raw pencil art! SHIPS SPRING 2023! (128-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $31.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-117-2

ALTER EGO COLLECTORS’ ITEM CLASSICS

By overwhelming demand, editor ROY THOMAS has compiled all the material on the founders of the Marvel Bullpen from three SOLD-OUT ALTER EGO ISSUES—plus OVER 30 NEW PAGES OF CONTENT! There’s the STEVE DITKO ISSUE (#160 with a rare ’60s Ditko interview by RICHARD HOWELL, biographical notes by NICK CAPUTO, and Ditko tributes)! The STAN LEE ISSUE (#161 with ROY THOMAS on his 50+ year relationship with Stan, art by KIRBY, DITKO, MANEELY, EVERETT, SEVERIN, ROMITA, plus tributes from pros and fans)! And the JACK KIRBY ISSUE (#170 with WILL MURRAY on Kirby’s contributions to Iron Man’s creation, Jack’s Captain Marvel/Mr. Scarlet Fawcett work, Kirby in 1960s fanzines, plus STAN LEE and ROY THOMAS on Jack)! Whether you missed these issues, or can’t live without the extensive NEW MATERIAL on DITKO, LEE, and KIRBY, it’s sure to be an AMAZING, ASTONISHING, FANTASTIC tribute to the main men who made Marvel! SHIPS SPRING 2023! (256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $35.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-116-5

CLIFFHANGER!

CINEMATIC SUPERHEROES OF THE SERIALS: 1941–1952 by CHRISTOPHER IRVING

Hold on tight as historian CHRISTOPHER IRVING explores the origins of the first on-screen superheroes and the comic creators and film-makers who brought them to life. CLIFFHANGER! touches on the early days of the film serial, to its explosion as a juvenile medium of the 1930s and ‘40s. See how the creation of characters like SUPERMAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, SPY SMASHER, and CAPTAIN MARVEL dovetailed with the early film adaptations. Along the way, you’ll meet the stuntmen, directors (SPENCER BENNETT, WILLIAM WITNEY, producer SAM KATZMAN), comic book creators (SIEGEL & SHUSTER, SIMON & KIRBY, BOB KANE, C.C. BECK, FRANK FRAZETTA, WILL EISNER), and actors (BUSTER CRABBE, GEORGE REEVES, LORNA GRAY, KANE RICHMOND, KIRK ALYN, DAVE O’BRIEN) who brought them to the silver screen—and how that resonates with today’s cinematic superhero universe. SHIPS SUMMER 2023! (160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-119-6

In RetroFan #25

(should you decide to accept it...) NEXT ISSUE! In #25, meet Mission: Impossible’s LYNDA DAY GEORGE in an exclusive interview! And celebrate RAMBO’s 50th birthday with his creator, novelist DAVID MORRELL! Plus: TV faves WKRP IN CINCINNATI and SPACE: 1999, Fleisher’s and Filmation’s SUPERMAN CARTOONS, commercial jingles, JERRY LEWIS and BOB HOPE comic books, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY. SHIPS FEBRUARY 2023!

RETROFAN #26

The saga of Saturday morning’s Super Friends, Part One! Plus: A history of MR. T, TV’s AVENGERS (Steed and Mrs. Peel), Daktari’s CHERYL MILLER, Mexican movie monsters, John and Yoko’s nation of Nutopia, ELIZABETH SHEPHERD (the actress who almost played Emma Peel), and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER, & MICHAEL EURY. SHIPS APRIL 2023! (84-page magazines) $10.95 • (Digital Editions) $4.99

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RETROFAN #23

RETROFAN #24

MAD’s maddest artist, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, is profiled! Plus: TV’s Route 66 and an interview with star GEORGE MAHARIS, MOE HOWARD’s final years, singer B. J. THOMAS in one of his final interviews, LONE RANGER cartoons, G.I. JOE, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet JULIE NEWMAR, the purr-fect Surf’s up as SIXTIES BEACH MOVIES make Catwoman! Plus: ASTRO BOY, TARZAN a RetroFan splash! Plus: He-Man and the Saturday morning cartoons, the true Masters of the Universe, ZORRO’s Saturday history of PEBBLES CEREAL, TV’s THE morning cartoon, TV’s THE WILD, WILD UNTOUCHABLES and SEARCH, the WEST, CARtoons and other drag-mags, MONKEEMOBILE, SOVIET EXPO ’77, and VALSPEAK, and more fun, fab features! more fun, fab features! Featuring columns Like, totally! Featuring columns by ANDY by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY. VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet the stars behind the Black Lagoon: RICOU BROWNING, BEN CHAPMAN, JULIE ADAMS, and LORI NELSON! Plus SHADOW CHASERS, featuring show creator KENNETH JOHNSON. Also: THE BEATLES’ YELLOW SUBMARINE, FLASH GORDON cartoons, TV’s cult classic THE PRISONER and kid’s show ZOOM, COLORFORMS, M&Ms, and more fun, fab features! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Interviews with Lost in Space’s ANGELA CARTWRIGHT and BILL MUMY, and Land of the Lost’s WESLEY EURE! Revisit Leave It to Beaver with JERRY MATHERS, TONY DOW, and KEN OSMOND! Plus: UNDERDOG, Rankin-Bass’ stop-motion classic THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY, Christmas gifts you didn’t want, the CABBAGE PATCH KIDS fad, and more! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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RETROFAN #16

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RETROFAN #19

An exclusive interview with Logan’s Run star MICHAEL YORK, plus Logan’s Run novelist WILLIAM F. NOLAN and vehicle customizer DEAN JEFFRIES. Plus: the Marvel Super Heroes cartoons of 1966, H. R. Pufnstuf, Leave It to Beaver’s SUE “Miss Landers” RANDALL, WOLFMAN JACK, drive-in theaters, My Weekly Reader, DAVID MANDEL’s super collection of comic book art, and more!

Dark Shadows’ Angelique, LARA PARKER, Our BARBARA EDEN interview will keep sinks her fangs into an exclusive interview. you forever dreaming of Jeannie! Plus: The Invaders, the BILLIE JEAN KING/BOBBY Plus: Rankin-Bass’ Mad Monster Party, RIGGS tennis battle of the sexes, HANNAAurora Monster model kits, a chat with Aurora painter JAMES BAMA, George of BARBERA’s Saturday morning super-heroes the Jungle, The Haunting, Jawsmania, Drak of the Sixties, THE MONSTER TIMES fanzine, and more fun, fab features! Featuring Pack, TV dads’ jobs, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by FARINO, ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW!, and MICHAEL EURY. and MICHAEL EURY.

Interview with Bond Girl and Hammer Films actress CAROLINE MUNRO! Plus: WACKY PACKAGES, COURAGEOUS CAT AND MINUTE MOUSE, FILMATION’S GHOSTBUSTERS vs. the REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, Bandai’s rare PRO WRESTLER ERASERS, behind the scenes of Sixties movies, WATERGATE at Fifty, Go-Go Dancing, a visit to the Red Skelton Museum, and more fun, fab features!

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BACK ISSUE #143

BACK ISSUE #144

A special tribute issue to NEAL ADAMS (1941–2022), celebrating his Bronze Age DC Comics contributions! In-depth Batman and Superman interviews, ‘Green Lantern/Green Arrow’—Fifty Years Later, Neal Adams—Under the Radar, Continuity Associates, a ‘Rough Stuff’ pencil art gallery, Power Records, and more! Re-presenting Adams’ iconic cover art to BATMAN #227. (Plus: See ALTER EGO #181!)

BRONZE AGE SAVAGE LANDS, starring Ka-Zar in the 1970s! Plus: Turok—Dinosaur Hunter, DON GLUT’s Dagar and Tragg, Annihilus and the Negative Zone, Planet of Vampires, Pat Mills’s Flesh (from 2000AD), and WALTER SIMONSON and MIKE MIGNOLA’s Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure. With CONWAY, GULACY, HAMA, NICIEZA, SEARS, THOMAS, and more! JOHN BUSCEMA cover!

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COMIC BOOK CREATOR #30

KIRBY COLLECTOR #86 KIRBY COLLECTOR #87

RETROFAN #27

BRICKJOURNAL #79

Canadian comic book artist, illustrator, and graphic novelist MICHAEL CHO in a career-spanning interview and art gallery, a 1974 look at JACK ADLER and the DC Comics production department’s process of reprinting Golden Age material, color newspaper tabloid THE FUNNY PAGES examined in depth by its editor RON BARRETT, plus CBC’s usual columns and features, including HEMBECK! Edited by JON B. COOKE.

VISUAL COMPARISONS! Analysis of LAW & ORDER! Kirby’s lawmen from unused vs. known Kirby covers and art, the Newsboy Legion’s Jim Harper and BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH on his styliza- “Terrible” Turpin, to Western gunfighters, tions in Captain America’s Bicentennial and even future policemen like OMAC Battles, Kirby’s incorporation of real-life and Captain Victory! Also: how a Marvel images in his work, WILL MURRAY’s con- cop led to the creation of Funky Flashman! versations with top pros just after Jack’s Justice Traps The Guilty and Headline passing, unused Mister Miracle cover inked Comics! Plus MARK EVANIER moderating by WALTER SIMONSON, and more! Edited 2022’s Kirby Tribute Panel (with Sin City’s by JOHN MORROW. FRANK MILLER). MACHLAN cover inks.

Interview with Captain Kangaroo BOB KEESHAN, The ROCKFORD FILES, teen monster movies, the Kung Fu and BRUCE LEE crazes, JACK KIRBY’s comedy comics, DON DRYSDALE’s TV drop-ins, outrageous toys, Challenge of the Super Friends, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Create Brick Art with builders ANDREAS LELANDER and JACK ENGLAND! Learn how to build mosaics and sculptures with DEEP SHEN and some of the best Lego builders around the world! Plus: AFOLs by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, step-by step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more!

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BACK ISSUE #142

ALTER EGO #182

SUPER ISSUE! Superboy’s Bronze Age An FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) adventures, and interviews with GERARD special, behind a breathtaking JERRY CHRISTOPHER and STACY HAIDUK of the ORDWAY cover! Features on Uncle Superboy live-action TV series. Plus: Super Marvel and the Fawcett Family by P.C. Goof, Super Richie (Rich), Super-Dagwood, HAMERLINCK, ACG artist KENNETH Super Mario Bros., Frank Thorne’s Far Out LANDAU (Commander Battle and The Atomic Sub), and writer LEE GOLDSMITH Green Super Cool, NICK MEGLIN and JACK DAVIS’ Superfan, and more! Featuring (Golden Age Green Lantern, Flash, and others). Plus Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt by a Superboy and Krypto cover by DAVE COCKRUM! Edited by MICHAEL EURY. MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more!

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ALTER EGO #181

Special NEAL ADAMS ISSUE, featuring in-depth interviews with Neal by HOWARD CHAYKIN, BRYAN STROUD, and RICHARD ARNDT. Also: a “lost” ADAMS BRAVE & THE BOLD COVER with Batman and Green Arrow, and unseen Adams art and artifacts. Plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS. (Plus: See BACK ISSUE #143!)