Back Issue #144 by TwoMorrows Publishing

COMICS’ BRONZE AGE AND BEYOND! BEYOND ! 023

4 4 1 . o N July 2

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in the 1970ss

Turok, Dinosaur Hunter • Annihilus & the Negative Zone • DON GLUT’s Dagar & Tragg • Planet of Vampires • SIMONSON & MIGNOLA’s Wolverine & more

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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.

The BRITISH INVASION of the Sixties, interview with Bond Girl TRINA PARKS, The Mighty Hercules, Horror Hostess MOONA LISA, World’s Greatest Super Friends, TV Guide Fall Previews, the Frito Bandito, a Popeye Super Collector, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The story behind BOB CLAMPETT’s Beany & Cecil, western queen DALE EVANS, an interview with Mr. Ed’s ALAN YOUNG, Miami Vice, The Sixties’ Wackiest Robots, Muscle-Maker CHARLES ATLAS, Super Powers Team—Galactic Guardians, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The Brady Bunch’s FLORENCE HENDERSON, the UNKNOWN COMIC revealed, Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat, a Barbie history, RANKIN/BASS’ Frosty the Snowman, Dell Comics’ Monster SuperHeroes, Slushy Drinks, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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Meet JULIE NEWMAR, the purr-fect Catwoman! Plus: ASTRO BOY, TARZAN Saturday morning cartoons, the true history of PEBBLES CEREAL, TV’s THE UNTOUCHABLES and SEARCH, the MONKEEMOBILE, SOVIET EXPO ’77, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Surf’s up as SIXTIES BEACH MOVIES make a RetroFan splash! Plus: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, ZORRO’s Saturday morning cartoon, TV’s THE WILD, WILD WEST, CARtoons and other drag-mags, VALSPEAK, and more fun, fab features! Like, totally! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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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.

Meet Mission: Impossible’s LYNDA DAY GEORGE in an exclusive interview! 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! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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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, sinks her fangs into an exclusive interview. Plus: Rankin-Bass’ Mad Monster Party, Aurora Monster model kits, a chat with Aurora painter JAMES BAMA, George of the Jungle, The Haunting, Jawsmania, Drak Pack, TV dads’ jobs, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY.

Our BARBARA EDEN interview will keep you forever dreaming of Jeannie! Plus: The Invaders, the BILLIE JEAN KING/BOBBY RIGGS tennis battle of the sexes, HANNABARBERA’s Saturday morning super-heroes of the Sixties, THE MONSTER TIMES fanzine, and more fun, fab features! Featuring ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW!, 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!

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.

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Volume 1, Number 144 July 2023 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST John Buscema (Originally produced as the cover for Ka-Zar #1, Jan. 1974. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions.) COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER David Baldy SPECIAL THANKS Mike Mignola Mike Baron Pat Mills Pat Broderick Doug Moench Paul Burns Rags Morales Jarrod Buttery Fabian Nicieza Gerry Conway Luigi Novi Tom DeFalco Jeremy Radisich Bill DeSimone Random House Ron Frenz Jason Shayer Mike Friedrich Walter Simonson Donald F. Glut Howard Simpson Mike Grell Bryan D. Stroud Larry Hama Heritage Auctions Roy Thomas Douglas R. Kelly Timothy Truman Dave Lemieux Ed Lute Marvel Comics Val Mayerik David Michelinie

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BACKSEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FLASHBACK: Ka-Zar in the 1970s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Lord of the Hidden Jungle swings from guest-star to solo status BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Annihilus and the Negative Zone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The story of “He Who Annihilates” and his hellish realm BEYOND CAPES: Gold Key Comics’ Dagar and Tragg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Dare you enter the savage worlds of writer Don Glut? ROUGH STUFF: Pencil Art Gallery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 FLASHBACK: Planet of Vampires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Earth is overrun with bloodsuckers in this short-lived mid-1970s Atlas Comics series BEYOND CAPES: 2000AD’s Flesh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Cowboys vs. dinosaurs in Pat Mills’ grisly sci-fi comic serial ONE-HIT WONDERS: Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Walter Simonson and Mike Mignola’s 1989 one-shot sends Logan to the Savage Land BACKSTAGE PASS: The Return of Turok, Dinosaur Hunter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Creators discuss the 1993 Valiant revival of the classic Gold Key comic BACK TALK: Reader Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 BACK ISSUE™ issue 144, July 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, Editor-in-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 John Buscema. Ka-Zar and Zabu TM & © Marvel. All Rights Reserved. All editorial matter © 2023 TwoMorrows and Michael Eury. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

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1976 Ka-Zar illo by Ernie Chan. Courtesy of Heritage. Ka-Zar TM & © Marvel.

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This issue’s “Savage Worlds” theme is an offshoot of a recent issue’s theme, “Dinosaurs” (BACK ISSUE #140). When ye ed first considered content for BI #140, dino-fighters Ka-Zar and Turok made the initial list. After surveying just how many other dinosaur comics were published during the Bronze Age, I pulled the Lord of the Hidden Jungle and the Dinosaur Hunter from #140’s overcrowded roster for a future issue… which you now hold in your hands (or are reading on your device). It was the “Return to the Savage Land!” lettered blurb on John Buscema’s original art to Marvel’s Ka-Zar #1—which we’ve repurposed as this issue’s BI cover— that inspired the contents’ “Savage Worlds” designation. Then the other material fell right into place! Finally, the perfect theme had availed itself for three Bronze Age series we had yet to cover: Atlas/ Seaboard’s Planet of Vampires (not to be confused with the cheesy horror flick Planet of the Vampires) and writer Don Glut’s Gold Key Comics sword-and-sorcery titles, Dagar the Invincible and Tragg and the Sky Gods. Paul Burns, a first-time BI writer this issue, emailed me to pitch his article about 2000AD’s Flesh for the aforementioned Dinosaurs issue after it had been announced; space wouldn’t allow its inclusion there, but the feature was instead held for this issue. Writer Bill DeSimone pitched his Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure article after this issue’s theme had been announced to our pool of contributing writers. And our article about the most unpleasant of savage lands, the Negative Zone? That came to mind after I recently read a couple of volumes of the Fantastic Four Omnibus. Jason Shayer, who hasn’t contributed to our mag in a while, ably navigated that negative terrain for an informative history of its chief troublemaker, Annihilus. Who says this isn’t the BI Age of Editorial True Confessions??

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Mighty Marvel Monarchs The Lord of the Hidden Jungle and the Lord of Latveria each headlined solo adventures in the split book Astonishing Tales #1 (Aug. 1970). Cover art by Marie Severin and Bill Everett. TM & © Marvel.

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Before examining Ka-Zar in the 1970s, it’s polite to acknowledge earlier years.

KA-ZAR THE GREAT (1930s)

Ka-Zar the Great (left) First issue of the short-lived Ka-Zar pulp magazine from 1936. Cover painting by J. W. Scott. (right) Marvel adapted the pulp hero to comic books in Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939). Adaptation by Ben Thompson. TM & © Marvel.

It’s well known that the Human Torch and the SubMariner burst onto the scene in Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), but that 64-page issue also contained stories featuring the Angel, the Masked Raider, and Ka-Zar the Great. This Ka-Zar is not the same character that appears in modern Marvel comics. “Ka-Zar the Great” is said to have been created by Bob Byrd in 1936 and originally appeared in three issues of an eponymous pulp magazine. Interestingly, in his introduction to the Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus vol. 1 (2009), comics historian and Squirrel Girl co-creator Will Murray wrote of Ka-Zar the Great: “The jungle hero was the first star in the future Marvel firmament, and his adventures were avidly read by a teenager named Stanley Martin Lieber—later to call himself Stan Lee. No one knows who the nominal author of Ka-Zar really was. The only other Red Circle story bylined Bob Byrd was the work of Thomson Burtis. Launched with an October cover date to coincide with the release of MGM’s Tarzan Escapes, the title lasted only three issues. But Ka-Zar would live again.” These “Ka-Zar the Great” prose tales were adapted by Ben Thompson into comic form for Marvel Comics #1. Young David Rand (three years old) is flying with his parents over the Belgian Congo when their plane crashes. Unafraid of the jungle or its inhabitants, David grows of age—cautiously watched by the lion,

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Zar. David saves Zar from quicksand and “a strange pact of truce was made.” After his mother dies of a fever and his father is shot by emerald poachers, David—now a young man—is “adopted” by the lion as Ka-Zar: brother of Zar the Mighty! Ka-Zar the Great appeared in almost every subsequent issue, up until Marvel Mystery Comics #27 (Jan. 1942).

THE COMING OF KA-ZAR (1960s)

Never before in the history of comic books had a character name been recycled. Nope, never, not once. But Ka-Zar (“pronounced Kay-Sar,” as the splash page tells us) erupted into the Marvel Universe in Uncanny X-Men #10 (Mar. 1965). It’s important to note that while he is not formally addressed as “the Great,” this Ka-Zar is still pretty awesome. There are many factors involved in a character’s awesomeness, but it can be argued that our new Ka-Zar benefited from two particular ingredients and two definite creators. Uncanny X-Men #10 was produced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. ’Nuff said. The cover boasted: “Ka-Zar! Unquestionably the most spectacular new character of the year!” Within, the X-Men travel to Antarctica and discover a hidden tunnel beneath the ice. Descending, they stumble upon “a warm, tropical land, buried far beneath the frozen wastes of Antarctica.” This hidden world is populated by prehistoric flora and fauna: dinosaurs roam alongside early birds, mammals, and primitive warriors. The X-Men are summarily attacked by the Swamp Men—who then

The (Vine-) Swinging ’60s (top) After being rebooted for the Marvel Age in X-Men #10 (Mar. 1965), Ka-Zar leapt into these and other Marvel issues. TM & © Marvel.

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Target: Ka-Zar The Hunter has found his prey. Title page to the Ka-Zar story in Astonishing Tales #1, by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Sam Grainger. TM & © Marvel.

flee in terror upon the arrival of Ka-Zar and his constant companion Zabu, the saber-tooth (also spelled “sabretooth”) tiger. After a subsequent brief skirmish with Maa-Gor, last of the Man-Ape tribe, Ka-Zar and Zabu assist the X-Men in rescuing one of their kidnapped number (no prizes for guessing who) from the Swamp Men. Like his 1930s namesake, Ka-Zar is an example of the noble savage—an outsider uncorrupted by civilization. In this first appearance, he is little more than a savage himself. On the final page, as the X-Men attempt to thank Ka-Zar for his help, he interrupts with, “No talk! Your world… above! My world… jungle! Only Ka-Zar is lord of jungle! You go! No return!” Nevertheless, the combination of a savage land filled with prehistoric creatures, and one of the greatest supporting characters in comics—Zabu— ensures future appearances. It didn’t take long. Daredevil #12 (Jan. 1966) finds the titular hero “Sightless, in a Savage Land!” Daredevil’s blind alter ego—Matt Murdock—decides he needs to take an ocean cruise. The ocean liner is subsequently attacked by a modern-day pirate: the Plunderer! Matt changes to Daredevil and attempts to repel the pirates, but surrenders when the crew is threatened. Daredevil is captured by the Plunderer, whose ship

converts into a submarine and navigates beneath Antarctica to emerge in a familiar jungle… Daredevil #13 (Feb. 1966) reveals “The Secret of KaZar’s Origin!” Upon encountering Ka-Zar, the Plunderer holds up one half of a silvery medallion. Ka-Zar reaches into his loincloth pouch and retrieves the matching half of the medallion. The two men are brothers! Caught by surprise, Ka-Zar is captured by the Plunderer, who sails to his family castle on the English coast. The villain explains to Daredevil that he is Parnival Plunder, and that his father—the first Lord Plunder, and a world-renowned explorer—discovered a wondrous ore whose vibrations cause all metals to crumble. He hid the ore in a stone vault that could only be opened by a medallion forged from the ore. Splitting the medallion in two, he gave half each to his young sons: Parnival and Kevin. Separating his sons, the father took Kevin and flew back to the hidden jungle where he had first found the ore. Daredevil addresses Ka-Zar as “Kevin” and the Jungle Lord recognizes his real name. Parnival uses the re-joined medallion to open the vault and retrieve what he calls the Plunder-Stone. He uses it to build a Vibra-Ray gun that dissolves all other weapons, but his plans are foiled by Daredevil. It’s subsequently revealed in Daredevil #24 (Jan. 1967) that, after Parnival’s arrest, Kevin (Ka-Zar) inherits the family castle and the title of Lord Plunder. Amazing Spider-Man #57 (Feb. 1968) is also titled “The Coming of Ka-Zar!” In what must surely be a first in comic-book history, the two heroes tussle due to a misunderstanding. And although Lord Kevin Plunder may be in peak human condition, he doesn’t have the proportionate strength of a spider. No, it’s Zabu that defeats the amazing Spidey, and the cliff-hanger ending is resolved in the next issue. Ka-Zar and Zabu certainly inspire impressive covers— few moreso than Incredible Hulk #109 (Nov. 1968) by Herb Trimpe and John Severin—as the Green Goliath visits the Hidden Jungle. Next, Marvel Super-Heroes played host to “My Father, My Enemy!” in issue #19 (Mar. 1969). Therein, the paroled Plunderer seeks to retrace his father’s steps and find the source of the Plunder-Stone—here, for the first time, referred to as Anti-Metal. This obscure story also first describes Ka-Zar’s Hidden Jungle as the Savage Land. Courtesy of Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, the X-Men find themselves “Strangers… in a Savage Land” in Uncanny X-Men #62 (Nov. 1969). Here, and in the following issue, the name “Savage Land” is used repeatedly. Which brings us to…

THE POWER OF KA-ZAR (1970s)

Astonishing Tales #1 (Aug. 1970) was a split book featuring a ten-page Ka-Zar story (by Stan and Jack) and a ten-page Doctor Doom story. This format continued for the next seven bimonthly issues. In Ka-Zar’s allocated ten pages, Kraven the Hunter travels to the Hidden Jungle to hunt the greatest prize of all: the last saber-tooth! An aside: Also cover-dated August 1970, Marvel published Ka-Zar #1, a 51-page, semi-reprint comic. Clearly Marvel wanted to draw attention to our hero by reprinting his earliest appearances. This first issue reprints Uncanny X-Men #10 and Daredevil #24 (as well as publishing a new Hercules story). Ka-Zar #2 (Dec. 1970) reprints Daredevil #12–13 (as well as a new Angel story—written by Jerry Siegel). The third and final issue (Mar. 1971) reprints Daredevil #14 and Amazing Spider-Man #57 (and continues Jerry Siegel’s Angel story). Both the Spidey and Angel stories are concluded one month later in Marvel Tales #30 (Apr. 1971). 6 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

Ka-Zar Conflicts (left) The man-god Damon (presumably no relation to actor Matt Damon) blasts poor Zabu on the John Buscema/Frank Giacoia cover to Astonishing Tales #6 (June 1971). (right) Zabu vs. Ka-Zar on the Gil Kane/Giacoia cover to #9 (Dec. 1971), the issue where Ka-Zar took over the magazine. TM & © Marvel.

Back to Astonishing Tales, and the following issue—where Ka-Zar himself washed up in the Savage Land. Delirious, he came across a tracks Kraven to New York and rescues Zabu—was one of Jack’s last temple in the jungle, and drank from a cup at the altar of Garokk, the assignments before leaving Marvel for DC. In Alter Ego #50 (July 2005), Sun God. Discovered and pursued by the worshippers of Garokk, the Thomas stated that this was the second and last time he dialogued one unnamed sailor somehow found his way back to England—only to of Jack’s stories, and that—in retrospect—he wished he’d suggested discover that the mystery liquid had made him immortal and slowly changed his body to living stone. He has sought Ka-Zar for his help, to Stan that Jack receive a plotting credit. and the two (plus Zabu) return to the Savage Land. A follow-up interview with Thomas in Alter Ego #70 (July 2007) This issue introduces Zaladane, Queen Priestess of the discussed the opportunity for anthology books to give lessSun God, as she rallies his followers to war. Conway er-known characters a chance in the spotlight. However, also introduces Ka-Zar’s friend, Tongah, of the Fall Thomas stated, “Maybe the time of the ‘split book’ was People. Over the next two issues, as Ka-Zar and Tongah dead by then and we shouldn’t have tried to revive it. move to prevent further fighting, the Petrified Man Maybe it would’ve been better to have had a whole finds himself drawn back to the altar of the Sun God. ‘Doctor Doom’ book and a whole ‘Ka-Zar’ book. Touching the stone idol, he inherits the power of the The two-character book was worth another try, but Sun God and succumbs to madness. He becomes the nothing much came of it. ‘The Inhumans’ didn’t last, embodiment of Garokk. Ka-Zar and Zaladane join nor did ‘The Black Widow’” [in Amazing Adventures]. forces to oppose Garokk, who is now able to produce Thomas confirms to BACK ISSUE, “Everything at devastating energy blasts from his eyes. Zaladane Marvel in those days moved a series toward getting explains that the molten river beneath the temple its own book. In spite of Stan launching Astonishing can remove Garokk’s powers. It does so, and Tales and Amazing Adventures as anthology Garokk turns to ash. As Ka-Zar muses that the comics, those days were past as far as Marvel was roy thomas once-immortal man may have been the legendary concerned.” IMDb.com Lazarus, Zaladane is lost to a cave-in. Astonishing Tales #2 (Oct. 1970) introduces “When I came on to Ka-Zar, my primary reference points for jungle the Petrified Man, who—despite coming face-to-face with Zabu— is not actually terrified but is, in fact, made of living stone. Gerry stories were Edgar Rice Burroughs, and I think Ka-Zar was kind of set Conway and Barry [Windsor-] Smith produced the next four issues. up—obviously, in his original incarnation in the pulps—as a Tarzan… The cover of issue #3 (Dec. 1970) promises, “War in the Savage um… rip-off,” chuckles Conway. “And while the original pulp Land” and the splash page proclaims, “Back to the Savage Land.” material didn’t delve deeply into that surface level material, the X-Men appearances, the appearances in Daredevil, displayed some real The name had stuck. Not for the last time, Conway followed Thomas on scripts. “There interesting elements to that world that I wanted to expand on by was a small group of writers working at Marvel at the time,” remembers playing off of the ERB mythology. “So, the Petrified Man clearly is similar to elements in the later Conway, “unlike at DC where there were multiple people competing for the same jobs. And there was also this kind of weird hierarchy: Burroughs Tarzan novels where he’d have some kind of weird character Stan was the first person, Roy was the second person, I was the third that Tarzan would encounter. And Tongah was like a combination of person, people like Doug [Moench] were the fourth, y’know, and it Tarzan’s native buddies that he would occasionally have (hopefully without the racial stereotypes!). And it was also reference to one of kept on going along those lines.” Conway provided an origin for the Petrified Man: Five hundred my favorite series from Gold Key Comics—Turok, Son of Stone. And so, years ago, a British sailor survived a shipwreck off Antarctica and found Turok… Tongah… there was an element of that.” Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 7

KA-ZAR, SERIES ONE

TM & © Marvel.

The first volume of Marvel’s Ka-Zar was a three-issue giant series premiering in 1970, headlined by Ka-Zar Silver Age reprints. It provided a home for Marvel odds and ends like a solo adventure starring the flying X-Man, Angel, written by the co-creator of comics’ most famous flying man, Superman, Jerry Siegel (whose surname is misspelled on this lively original art page from issue #2, courtesy of Heritage). Issue #1’s sporty cover by Marie Severin and John Verpoorten has become infamous for the obscenity secretly etched in the grass behind Zabu. – Michael Eury

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Conway admits, “In my early days, creating names (which is saying something)—have come to the for characters I wasn’t as inventive as I hope I became, Savage Land in search of vibranium. Wakandan vibranium had previously been introso I had a lot of ‘K’-sounding names—like Garokk—and I also had a lot ‘Tah’-sounding names. I don’t know duced in Wakanda—home of the Black Panther—in Fantastic Four #53 (Aug. 1966). However, Ralph why, but I did. That was me in my very early and Carla were searching for Antarctic days of trying to create heroic characters— vibranium—to which we had previously moving from the kind of stories that I had been introduced as Anti-Metal. When been doing for DC, which were superRalph forces Ka-Zar to open Ka-Zar’s natural-based short stories, little eighthidden vault, the exposed vibranium page stories that featured average completely dissolves Ralph’s tank. human-being-type characters—to Although Anti-Metal was described more superheroic characters like the first—in Daredevil #13 (Feb. 1966), ones you see in Ka-Zar, and then followed by Wakandan vibranium—in Daredevil, which I took over shortly Fantastic Four #53 (Aug. 1966), this story after that, where I’m trying to find my in Savage Tales #1 (May 1971) introway to creating heroic or villainous duced the two substances as isomers. characters with memorable names.” Wakandan vibranium absorbs vibraIn Conway’s final issue—Astonishing gerry conway tions, whereas Antarctic vibranium Tales #6 (June 1971)—Ka-Zar and emits vibrations that dissolve metal. Tongah encounter another god-like On a final note regarding this issue: This author being named Damon, who aims to raze the Savage Land by deluge. Meanwhile, back in England, a myste- finds it mildly amusing that—in issues cover-dated rious young (brunette) woman visits Castle Plunder— April–May 1971—Ka-Zar appeared in Astonishing Tales, demanding to see Lord Kevin. Roy Thomas returned for Marvel Tales, and Savage Tales. Astonishing Tales #7 (Aug. 1971) wherein the mysterious woman vows to walk the Savage Land! Astonishing Tales #8 (Oct. 1971) was published when Marvel briefly increased the page count and price of its comics (to an exorbitant 25 cents!). This issue hosted the book’s final Doctor Doom story—which may well be his most famous solo tale: that of his annual attempt to free his mother’s soul from Hell. There was also a standalone police story—by Len Wein and George Tuska—introducing police officer Damian Link. While investigating a break-in at the Futura Research Labs, Damian discovers that one of the perpetrators is his brother, Joshua! During a scuffle, Damian and Joshua fall into a chamber and are bathed in strange experimental rays. The brothers find themselves… yes… linked, and able to call on the other’s speed, strength, and stamina— becoming twice as powerful as an ordinary man (something that will have future ramifications). But we’re focusing on Ka-Zar, and Astonishing Tales #8 opens with the mysterious young (nowblonde) woman crash-landing in the Savage Land, and getting separated from her fiancé, Paul. Her name is Barbara Morse.

Hello, Kitty Zabu’s got dinochasing on his mind on this extraordinary John Buscema splash from the black-andwhite magazine Savage Tales #1 (May 1971). Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

SAVAGE TALES

A few months prior, Marvel released Savage Tales #1 (May 1971), starring Conan, as part of its blackand-white magazine line. In comics form, Marvel had previously released Conan the Barbarian #1 (Oct. 1970), and now Conan was headlining a B&W magazine. Among other stories, Savage Tales #1 also contained the first appearance of Marvel’s Man-Thing and a Ka-Zar story by Stan Lee and John Buscema. (It would be two-and-a-half years before we saw Savage Tales #2, coverdated Oct. 1973.) “The Night of the Looter!” opens with the line, “Behold, this Savage Land… this Hidden World that john buscema time forgot!” so now Stan was also describing Ka-Zar’s jungle as the © Marvel. Savage Land. Investigating stampeding dinosaurs, Ka-Zar (and Zabu) discover an armored tank trundling through the jungle. Explorer Ralph, and his wife Carla—physically resembling a sexier Mary Jane Watson Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 9

Ravin’ for Kraven (top) Marvel’s villainous hunter reunited the Lord of the Hidden Jungle and the Wall-Crawler in Amazing Spider-Man #194 (Jan. 1972). Cover art by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia. (bottom) An interior page from Astonishing Tales #11 (Apr. 1972), revealing Ka-Zar’s origin. By Thomas, Kane, and Giacoia. TM & © Marvel.

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LORD OF THE HIDDEN JUNGLE

Back to Astonishing Tales: Starting with issue #9 (Dec. 1971), the series becomes a Ka-Zar solo book. “Astonishing Tales” remains on the cover—in greatly reduced font size—and the new logo advertises Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle. Despite the cliff-hanger ending from issue #8, this issue offers a fill-in story by Stan, with gorgeous art by John Buscema, originally planned for Savage Tales #2. Searching a deserted village, KaZar and Zabu are surprised by Iranda, Queen of the Lizard-Men! Speaking of surprises, why wouldn’t a writer promote a lesser-known character in a more famous character’s book? Such an idea might catch on! Indeed, Ka-Zar (again) gueststars in Amazing Spider-Man #103–104 (Dec. 1971–Jan. 1972), by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. This time, Peter Parker meets Ka-Zar on the Jungle Lord’s home turf—with Gwen Stacy in tow—at the behest of Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. Newspaper circulation is down because of competition from television, and Jameson hits on the idea of exclusive photos from the Savage Land—and a pretty girl in a bikini wouldn’t hurt either. Gwen is carried off by a giant, anthropomorphic, lizardlike creature named Gog—who behaves at the bidding of Kraven the Hunter! Kraven monologues about previously being unable to best Ka-Zar in combat. Kraven flew to the Savage Land for a rematch, but found a crashed spaceship. Exploring within, he found a small (clothed) lizard-like alien. Kraven rescued the alien, who quickly grew to gigantic proportions. Now, all Kraven requires for his kingdom is a bride… Luckily no one sees Peter change into his Spider-Man costume, and team up with Ka-Zar to rescue Gwen. The two-parter is affectionately dedicated to the memory of Carl Denham, entrepreneur. [BI generously spares you a Google-search by explaining that Carl Denham is the fictional filmmaker who travelled to Skull Island (with a pretty girl) to obtain footage of King Kong.] Astonishing Tales #10 (Feb. 1972) returns to previously scheduled programming. Ka-Zar briefly meets Barbara as she is reunited with Paul. The group encounter leftover British (New Britania) and German (New Deutschland) soldiers who are still fighting World War II. Within this storyline, writer Roy Thomas specifically tells us that the Savage Land “…lies so near the South Pole… warmed by a ring of volcanoes, and hidden by ice-white clouds from prying eyes. Because it lies below sea level… because some have reached it through tunnels… they believed it lies beneath the earth—but it does not.” Thomas presents “The Savage Origin of Ka-Zar and Zabu” in Astonishing Tales #11 (Apr. 1972), lushly illustrated by Gil Kane. Expanding upon the brief details revealed in Daredevil #13, we see the first Lord Plunder as he blunders into the Savage Land, discovers a mysterious ore, and returns to civilization. He gives half a medallion to each of his sons—Kevin and Parnival—but is soon threatened by enemy agents (with Russian-sounding names). Lord Plunder takes Kevin to the Savage Land and reveals the location of the Anti-Metal—immediately before the elder Plunder is killed by Maa-Gor and the Man-Apes. Maa-Gor is about to kill Kevin, but is interrupted by Zabu: “No child of the civilized world had ever before seen the creature known as sabretooth… yet some flash of instinct seemed to flare within Kevin’s young breast. On an impulse, he leaped onto the beast’s broad back—and in that fleeting instant—a legend was born. The legend of Ka-Zar, he whose name means… Son of the Tiger. No man can truly say just how the mystic bond was forged that day ’twixt boy and beast. Yet,

in time, Kevin would learn the Man-Apes had stalked and slain all the valley’s long tooths—save only one. And tigers, too, may know the thirst for vengeance!” Zabu takes Kevin to the Place of Mists—where no Man-Ape dared follow. As Ka-Zar grows to manhood, Zabu never aged: “For the murky mists gave life and vigor to lad and longtooth alike.” Years later, the adult Ka-Zar attempts peace with the Man-Apes, but Maa-Gor wants only blood. There is a fight, and a rockslide, and Maa-Gor finds himself the last of the Man-Apes. Still, Maa-Gor fights on, but Ka-Zar defeats him in handto-hand combat—and spares his life. Thomas tells BI: “I always felt Ka-Zar shouldn’t have been an English lord à la Tarzan. There are so many other origins he could’ve had… including being an American.”

TERROR STALKS THE EVERGLADES

As mentioned above, Marvel’s muck-monster—ManThing—debuted in Savage Tales #1. A rather good Mockingbird (Bobbi Morse) article in BACK ISSUE #56 (May 2012) describes how an unpublished Man-Thing follow-up story eventually saw print in Astonishing Tales #12 (June 1972). Thomas cannily found a way to integrate this unused Len Wein/Neal Adams Man-Thing tale into Ka-Zar’s narrative: Barbara and Paul had flown to the Savage Land to enlist Ka-Zar’s help in finding missing scientist Ted Sallis. (Unbeknownst to them, Sallis had been transformed into the Man-Thing.) Doctors Barbara Morse, Paul Allen, Ted Sallis, and Wilma Calvin had

been working on Project Gladiator for S.H.I.E.L.D. in an attempt to recreate the Super-Soldier serum that had turned Steve Rogers into Captain America. Quoted in BI #56, Thomas said, “I know that I wanted to find a way to integrate that second Man-Thing story into Ka-Zar, but I don’t remember any specific details.” The seven-page story is presented as a flashback in Astonishing Tales #12, as Man-Thing struggles to remember its background. In this, and the following issue, we see how A.I.M. is trying to steal the SuperSoldier serum. Doctor Calvin is wounded and kidnapped, but Ka-Zar and Barbara rescue her—assisted by ManThing, who retains vague memories of its colleague and friend. As it turns out, Paul is working for A.I.M. (and is killed by Man-Thing), whereupon Barbara reveals that their “engagement” was all a sham—S.H.I.E.L.D. had assigned her to shadow him. With the A.I.M. base destroyed, and Doctor Calvin rescued, Barbara states that she will return to being just a scientist. Ka-Zar replies, “It is I who am sorry now… that I did not get to know you better. Perhaps Ka-Zar will go back to civilization with you… after all!” Astonishing Tales #14 (Oct. 1972) presents an edited reprint of “Night of the Looter” from Savage Tales #1. Excised is a scene where Carla throws herself at Ka-Zar, as is all of the semi-nudity. Apparently even the silhouette of a nipple was too much for the Comics Code Authority of the time. Filling the pages is a reprint of “Jungle Fever” starring Jann of the Jungle, from Jungle Tales #2 (Nov. 1954).

They A.I.M. to Please (left) Astonishing Tales #12’s (June 1972) lead Ka-Zar tale (by Thomas, Buscema, and Dan Adkins) advanced the storyline of future Mockingbird Bobbi Morse, plus (right) offered a home to an inventoried Man-Thing adventure drawn by Neal Adams. TM & © Marvel.

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Uptown Boy (left) The streets of the city are no safer than the wilds of the Savage Land for our loinclothed hero. Original cover art to Astonishing Tales #15 (Dec. 1972), penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Bill Everett. (right) Ka-Zar and Zabu leap at the reader on the Jim Starlin/ Giacoia original cover art to issue #16. Both, courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

THE CONCRETE JUNGLE

Meanwhile, A.I.M. scientist Victor Conrad discovers New scribe Mike Friedrich takes Ka-Zar (and Zabu) a sample of the original Super-Soldier serum and back to New York, in Astonishing Tales #15 (Dec. becomes Victorius—in name and deed. He teams 1972). Ka-Zar is partly seeking medical attention for with Gemini and the Plunderer, kidnaps Bobbi, and the still-injured Doctor Calvin, and partly following initially defeats Ka-Zar. An escaped Bobbi teams with Zabu to rescue Ka-Zar—who rallies to defeat S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Barbara Morse—who now Victorius. The Plunderer is captured but insists that Ka-Zar calls her Bobbi. In this Gemini escapes. Doctor Calvin recovers issue and the next, we discover that and tells Nick Fury where he can stick Doctor Calvin’s son is mixed up with his Super-Soldier research. a local drug-lord—whom Ka-Zar On the final page of Astonishing dispatches thoroughly. Tales #20 (Oct. 1973), Ka-Zar (with Friedrich builds continuity over Zabu) makes his way to the airport. He the following four issues as Joshua broods that—although he finds Bobbi Link (from issue #8) returns in fair—he has stayed too long in this Astonishing Tales #17 (Apr. 1973) concrete jungle. Bobbi mulls that— as the supervillain, Gemini! Working although she’s wrapped up in this guy— for A.I.M., Gemini steals a prototype she can’t see herself in his awful jungle. Super-Soldier serum from the They kiss, and Ka-Zar flies home. S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. In hot pursuit, mike friedrich Ka-Zar encounters Gemini’s partners: RETURN TO THE the Plunderer and Gog! In the Courtesy of Alan Light. SAVAGE LAND following issue, Nick Fury addresses Bobbi as Agent 19 and tells her to get after Ka-Zar. Our story continues in Ka-Zar #1 (Jan. 1973), with In the ensuing scuffle, Gog continues to grow and Mike Friedrich continuing as writer, and opening with suddenly displays teleportation powers. Straddling Ka-Zar and Zabu parachuting back into the Savage the World Trade Center, Gog slams his fists together Land. (Technically, this is Ka-Zar vol. 2, since the three-issue reprint series was Ka-Zar vol. 1.) and teleports away from the skirmish. We are introduced to Malgato, the Red Wizard, Gog debuted as a King Kong homage. Respectfully, in standing astride the Twin Towers, Gog presages the who relates “The Tale of the Savage Land!” Malgato describes how the Great Cataclysm—which sank 1976 King Kong remake.

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Atlantis—also caused this land to drop hundreds of feet below sea level. “Only the ring of volcanic mountains protected it from Atlantis’ not-so-fortunate fate.” A convenient priest invoked Garokk, the Sun God, and cast a spell that kept the Antarctic ice at bay. This contradicts earlier explanations that attribute the unnatural warmth of the Savage Land to volcanoes, but—then again— wizards can hardly be relied upon for truthfulness. Malgato has set up shop in Iranda’s old castle (from Astonishing Tales #9) and has enlisted the assistance of Maa-Gor—strengthening the Man-Ape to the point where he can finally best Ka-Zar. The wizard reminds Ka-Zar that the spell that brings warmth to the Savage Land must be renewed every thousand years—via the willing blood sacrifice of a heroic man and woman to Garokk. On the cliffhanger final page, the captured Ka-Zar finds himself alongside a similarly seized Shanna the She-Devil! A rather good Shanna article in BACK ISSUE #43 (Sep. 2010) describes how Manhattan veterinarian and environmentalist Shanna O’Hara returns to Africa (where she grew up) and becomes a protector of the jungle. Shanna the She-Devil ran for five issues (Dec. 1972 to Aug. 1973). Ka-Zar #2 (Mar. 1974) depicts how—immediately after her final issue—Shanna was abducted by Malgato. Ka-Zar and Shanna escape from the castle and travel to Tongah’s village. Oddly, Tongah and his people are displeased that Ka-Zar and Shanna have refused the honor of being a sacrifice. Odder still is a triceratops that suddenly stampedes into the village and devours a horse! Tongah blames Ka-Zar, and the prior pals begin to fight. Zabu even suffers a spear to his shoulder! Fortunately, sensible Shanna, a) knocks out Ka-Zar and carries him off—thus ending the fight, b) is a vet and thus patches up Zabu, and c) works out what’s going on. Shanna convinces Ka-Zar to return to Malgato’s castle and pretend to be sacrificed. Shrewd Shanna has determined that Malgato employs electronics, not wizardry. His servant animals are robots— because a true (plant-eating) triceratops would never eat a horse! Malgato escapes, and our heroes find a discarded robe and mask. They wonder if they’ll ever know his true intentions. Tongah believes the proof of the “false wizard” and magnanimously decides that the sacrifices will go on, but they will no longer be human. Sexy Shanna flirts with Ka-Zar: “You’re my type, Ka-Zar—free and wild—be seeing you, Blondie!” before leaving. SPOILER ALERT: Ka-Zar and Shanna eventually marry, but this was where they first met. Mike Friedrich was asked about his time with Ka-Zar, and was reminded of these stories. He generously replied but admits to BACK ISSUE, “My memory is no better, sorry.” Of these issues, Roy Thomas volunteers, “I’ve still no idea who suggested the team-up, but it was natural… our Tarzan wannabe and our Sheena wannabe.” Marvel was really trying its best to promote Ka-Zar. In this same month, Spider-Man revisited the Savage Land in Marvel Team-Up #19 (Mar. 1974). Writer Len Wein and artist Gil Kane treat us to “The VillainEvent of the Year” with “The Coming of… Stegron the Dinosaur Man!”

MAN-APE TO MAN-GOD

But what happened to Maa-Gor? In Ka-Zar #3 (May 1974), with Malgato no longer augmenting his abilities, Maa-Gor shambles into the Mystic Mists. We are reminded that “These are the mists that keep Zabu young, and make Ka-Zar the strong-muscled

titan he is.” The mists now transform the Man-Ape into Man-God, with staggering physical and mental abilities. He mentally summons the X-Men villain El Tigre to the Savage Land, and gives El Tigre the power to mentally control Zabu. Man-God then physically defeats Ka-Zar in combat. Ka-Zar is revived by a returned Bobbi Morse, who had been trailing El Tigre for S.H.I.E.L.D. However, in issue #4 (July 1974), Man-God defeats Ka-Zar again, and decides that Bobbi will make a convenient mate. Fortunately for Bobbi (and the Comics Code Authority) Man-God monologues, “But the mating can wait, for I must concentrate—summon all of my mental energy—and talk to the world!” He then mentally projects his image and voice onto every television and radio throughout the world, listing his demands for domination. Ka-Zar overpowers El Tigre and confronts Man-God—only for Man-God to resurrect his old Man-Ape tribe! continued on page 16

Valley of the Dinosaurs Original artwork by Big John Buscema for the cover of Ka-Zar #1 (Jan. 1974)—which doubles as the cover art for this edition of BACK ISSUE! Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

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PLANNING A TRIP TO

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THE HIDDEN JUNGLE? Then you’ll find these pages, drawn by Marvelous Mike Royer, to be quite handy! The Savage Land Map appeared in Ka-Zar #3 (May 1974), while Ka-Zar’s Lair appeared in Ka-Zar #4 (July 1974). TM & © Marvel.

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15

continued from page 13

Ka-Zar #5 (Sept. 1974) sees Ka-Zar, Zabu, and Bobbi spend most of the issue fighting the resurrected Man-Apes. Man-God re-enters the Mystic Mists and pushes his way towards the core, where he discovers an alien machine pulsating with energy. As he touches the machine, Man-God is split into two beings—one of logic and one of emotion. They immediately clash, and the logical half is killed by the enemy within. The machine senses the imbalance, merges the two halves, and devolves Man-God back into Maa-Gor. The Man-Ape tribe fades away, Bobbi leaves the Savage Land, and El Tigre falls off a cliff. The letters page—“Comments to Ka-Zar (and Zabu)”—notes that Friedrich is moving on to Iron Man and Strange Tales. Ka-Zar returned to Savage Tales with issue #5 (July 1974), finally publishing in black and white “The Legend of the Lizard Men,” which had been slotted into the color comic Astonishing Tales #8. The magazine also contained an editorial from Roy Thomas, stating: “For several years now, Ka-Zar has been an increasingly popular but ofttimes underrated star in the Marvel firmament. He’s battled both in his own Savage Land and in the filth-bestrewn streets of Fun City—not to mention the Florida Everglades, the British countryside, and maybe another place or two. And always at his side has been his faithful sabretooth Zabu. “Fact is, we’d always been trying to decide whether Ka-Zar and friend belonged in the Antarctic’s Hidden Jungle or in the concrete canyons of Mammon. The first few issues of his own color comic book, though, convinced us that it was in the Savage Land that Kaz should do most of his cleaving and cavorting. And, beginning next issue, Ka-Zar will be the cover-featured star of the magazine.” Thomas penned another editorial in Savage Tales #6 (Sept. 1974), writing that, since his modern debut in Uncanny X-Men, “Ka-Zar has been one of Marvel’s potential superstars—till finally the clamor became so great, he first became the lead feature in a color comic book—then he took over the entire title—next he gained his own book—and now he’s finally taken over the starring spot in Savage Tales (which was vacated by the star of Savage Sword of Conan).” Indeed, Savage Tales #6 contained the first half of “The Damnation Plague” by Conway, Buscema, and DeZuniga, and a reprint of “The Night of the Looter.” Issue #7 (Nov. 1974) concludes “The Damnation Plague” and contains a second Ka-Zar story where he meets and spends the night with a dancing girl named Myrain—but she is captured and sacrificed by the death-cult of Kandu Ra. Ka-Zar’s vengeance is bloodthirsty and merciless. There is also an editorial from writer—and new editor—Gerry Conway. He posits, “Why do I keep coming back to that blond-haired lord of the jungle? When Roy Thomas offered me the opportunity, why did I leap at it? What do I see in this guy anyway? “I see me. I see you. I see a man without superpowers fighting for survival in a world so alien to our own it’s almost a nightmare; and I see that man succeeding—rising above his own human abilities to a stature above mere humanity. I see an honest-to-god, bona fide hero, that’s what I see. There’s only Ka-Zar and his tiger-brother, Zabu, and together they have to stand against a world you or I would find mad. That’s what I see in Ka-Zar: man’s struggle to supremacy over his environment.” BI asked Conway about the more intense content in the magazine: “Yeah, that was intentional. There was a feeling that… well, we hoped… we were addressing a slightly older audience—whether that was the case or not, I don’t actually know—so more intensity went into those stories. It wasn’t an Edgar Rice Burroughs version of superheroics, but more like a Robert E. Howard version of superheroics.” Conway writes Ka-Zar’s lead story in Savage Tales #8 (Jan. 1975) wherein Bobbi Morse returns to the Savage Land on S.H.I.E.L.D. business, bringing Shanna O’Hara as backup. Bobbi subsequently notices the chemistry between Ka-Zar and Shanna.

Partners in Peril (top) With Ka-Zar’s new series, Shanna the She-Devil took up residence alongside the Lord of the Hidden Jungle. Ka-Zar #2 cover by Kane and Romita. (bottom) Marvel Team-Up #19 teamed Spidey and Ka-Zar and intro’ed Stegron, the Dinosaur Man (see BI #140 for Stegron’s story). TM & © Marvel.

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In BI #43, Conway stated, “I think my primary motivation in introducing Shanna into Savage Tales was to give the book a strong female lead. I also wanted to provide a potential love interest for Ka-Zar who’d rival him in effectiveness as a hero.” Savage Tales #9 (Mar. 1975) and 10 (May 1975) feature solo Ka-Zar stories by Gerry Conway, plus solo Shanna stories by Carla Conway. Conway tells BI about strong female leads: “Roy, when he was doing Conan, I think—by that point— they had introduced Red Sonja, but he had also—in the adaptation of Robert E. Howard stories—he had done the female pirate, Bêlit. And, as a reader, I just really enjoy those kind of characters—the strong, female, powerful figures. I wanted to see that in the book as a reader, and I thought our readers would also appreciate it. And, to be honest—again—we’re talking about these more ‘mature’ books, having an attractive female character—because we are talking the early ’70s—she would look great on the covers and it would hopefully increase the sales of the book. [laughs]” Savage Tales #11 (July 1975) was the last issue of the series, and—by then—Conway had moved to DC. This final issue contains a solo Ka-Zar story written by Doug Moench, with art by Steve Gan and Rico Rival. Therein, Ka-Zar and Tongah meet an elderly paleontologist, Bernard Kloss, who has traveled to the Savage Land for research. Kloss used a guide named Greig, who has now kidnapped Tongah’s wife—Seesha (sic). As Ka-Zar tracks and rescues Seesha, we learn that the two have history…

BIBLE TALES

From magazine back to comic. While Conway was writing and editing Savage Tales, he returned to Ka-Zar’s bimonthly comic series with issue #6 (Nov. 1974). Art duties also passed from Don Heck to John Buscema. In “Waters of Darkness, River of Doom,” Ka-Zar meets Bar Horkus, who is obsessed with killing a river monster that previously took his arm and an eye. They hunt the behemoth but Ahab’s—sorry, Horkus’ harpoon merely infuriates the creature that subsequently drags Horkus to his death. Ka-Zar #7 (Jan. 1975) deals with the aftermath. Moby Dick may not be a Bible tale, but the next few issues certainly qualify. In Ka-Zar #8 (Mar. 1975), Zabu is captured and taken to the city of Gondora—a more wretched hive of scum and villainy you will never find. Ka-Zar is befriended by Tul, the last good man in the city, and Zabu is rescued. A local volcano erupts, and Ka-Zar helps Tul and his family escape. However, despite warnings, Tul’s wife turns back to see the destruction of the city and is turned into a pillar of ash. Ka-Zar and Zabu find an isolated village in issue #9 (June 1975). The old chief has two sons: Tomas— who lives to hunt for trophies, and Gregor—who toils in the fields for crops. When the aging chief names Gregor as his successor, jealous Tomas kills his own brother. Too late, Ka-Zar finds Tomas the victim of one of his failed hunts. The city of Tordon-Na is the location for Ka-Zar #10–11 (Aug.–Oct. 1975). Ka-Zar befriends the high priest, but their idol god demands that the high priest sacrifice his own son. When Ka-Zar questions the practice, he is naturally branded a blasphemer and finds himself on the wrong side of dogma. A rather good Hulk article in BACK ISSUE #70 (Feb. 2014) describes how Gerry Conway liked to draw upon Greek and Christian mythology for inspiration. Conway was asked if this was the case here: “Yeah, it really was. When you’re dealing with these kinds of

mythic characters, it’s good to have myths to draw on. And I enjoyed putting these characters through kind-of familiar story beats that made it feel like a larger, mythic environment. Because you’re relating to those familiar, mythic beats—and seeing the character in them—and I think it enhances the recognition factor, the empathy factor.” Although Conway plotted issue #10, it was scripted by Doug Moench—who then concluded the story in issue #11. Moench then scripted the next nine issues. In Ka-Zar #12–13 (Nov.–Dec. 1975), he and Tongah meet the Zebra People—those with dark skin paint themselves with white stripes, and those with pale skin paint themselves with black stripes. However, the ambitious high priestess, Sheesa (sic), has formed an alliance with the Lizard Men to rule all. The first issue is illustrated by Russ Heath, and the conclusion by Larry Hama and Fred Kida. Marvel-Two-in-One #16 (Mar. 1976), by Bill Mantlo and Ron Wilson, would fit here—as Reed Richards asks Ben Grimm to investigate seismic disturbances in the Savage Land. In a nice bit of business— although they had never met—Ka-Zar instantly recognizes Ben Grimm: “I do not spend all my time in this jungle, my friend… and the fame of the Fantastic Four travels far!”

Twice the Testosterone Ka-Zar and Zabu play second fiddle to Conan on the cover of Savage Tales #5 (July 1974)—but it’s not like they’re suffering, thanks to this amazing cover art by Neal Adams! Savage Tales and Ka-Zar TM & © Marvel. Conan the Barbarian © Conan Properties International, LLC.

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 17

On the Prowl Frequent Ka-Zar artist Russ Heath illustrated this stunning Zabu/ Ka-Zar piece in the ’80s or ’90s, according to our friends at Heritage, source of this original art scan. It’s Heath’s recreation of a panel from a story he originally drew (inked by the Crusty Bunkers) for Savage Tales #10 (May 1975). TM & © Marvel.

WAR IN THE SAVAGE LAND

of all is that the title was canceled mid-storyline with Ka-Zar #14 (Feb. 1976) commences what the title had Ka-Zar #20 (Feb. 1977). A genial Doug Moench kindly spoke with BI, long since lacked: an ongoing storyline. Tongah begins acting irrationally and Bernard Kloss hypothesises saying, “Ka-Zar? Fifty years ago? I don’t remember that this may be a consequence of spending time near anything! [laughs] Actually, I remember Val Mayerik! a vibranium deposit. Ka-Zar (with Zabu) travels to And I remember my very, very, very, very good London for help and meets feisty journalist Tandy friend Russ Heath. We were pals in Chicago, and Snow. However, they are attacked by Klaw—the both went to New York roughly the same time. He murderous master of sound—and Tandy is injured. actually stayed in my apartment on Riverside Drive Klaw escapes in a skycraft piloted by a mysterious in Manhattan. So, yeah, I loved that Zebra People two-part story that he did.” alien—all in another Larry Hama–penciled tale. When Moench was reminded that Heath only Artist Val Mayerik joins Moench with Ka-Zar #15 (Apr. 1976) as Klaw and his alien partner—Shauran— illustrated the first part, he replies, “Oh, my goodness, that bum Russ! [laughs] Val’s a great guy, too. I fly to the Savage Land. Shauran is an advance remember… this is back when my wife was guard for an invading Sheenarian army doing these big, elaborate gardens because from the alternative dimension of Quarl, we’ve got five acres of land… it wasn’t a but he needs Klaw to open a large real big garden, but it had a lot of stuff— portal from our side. Ka-Zar, Zabu, corn, and tomatoes, and peppers, Tandy Snow, and her friend—Kirk and all kinds of stuff. And I remember Marston, a radiologist in the employ Val going out there and moving of Nayland Smith at Scotland Yard, through the rows, and just picking who may be able to help with vibrastuff and eating it, and he said, nium madness—return to the Savage ‘Man, this is just like being a foraging Land just in time to witness the caveman.’ [laughs] Tell him thanks from invading interdimensional armada. me again for doing some great stuff. In issue #16 (June 1976), Ka-Zar, I thought it was really good.” Zabu, Tongah, Tandy Snow, Kirk Asked how he came to write Ka-Zar, Marston, and Bernard Kloss travel russ heath Moench explains, “In those days, through the interdimensional portal © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. it was always the same thing: Roy to Quarl. Tandy is kidnapped by Quarlians and Ka-Zar commandeers a winged shark to Thomas would bop over to my desk, or call me on the rescue her. Marston betrays Tongah, Kloss, and Zabu to phone, and say, ‘Hey, could you do Ka-Zar? Could you a third race—the Kramen, who siphon the life-force of do this, could you do that?’ And for a long time I didn’t their victims to rejuvenate themselves—to save his own know how to say no, and I just kept saying okay, okay. I skin. Over the following issues, Ka-Zar rescues Tandy just couldn’t believe I was being given the opportunity, (who had been brainwashed into believing she was the it was a dream come true in every sense of the word— Quarlian Queen) and forges an uneasy alliance with working with my idols, for Pete’s sake! “I remember working with John Buscema on lots the Kramen (not knowing what they have done to his friends) to attack the Sheenarians. Most horrifying of stuff—Doc Savage, King Conan, Weirdworld—and I

18 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

used to say to him, ‘So, Conan is your favorite?’ And the earlier stories and felt, well, okay, but it’s the same he said, ‘No, no, I don’t like Conan. I like Ka-Zar!’ And thing over and over. I’ve got to do something different I said, ‘What? Why would you like Ka-Zar more than here. That’s my guess, anyway.” Conan?’ And he says, ‘Well, there’s cities in Conan, The $64,000 question is, ‘Why did the book get and in Ka-Zar you don’t need a straight edge. You just canceled?’ Moench responds, “I didn’t even remember draw freehand everything—it’s just jungle! And people that! I had a big, long story going and it never got and animals!’ So that was an indication of how finished? Wow. Oh, boy. Why’d you remind fast he was just whipping it out, y’know, he me of that? [laughs] That’s okay—I don’t didn’t have time to reach for a straight remember it at all. But it was always sales. edge to draw the side of a building. And they were canceling things even I understand why these guys would when they were still making money, like that—it’s a much more natural or but they just thought, well, y’know, primal kind of thing.” we’re wasting you and the artist on As we’ve seen, ongoing plots were this thing when you could be doing rare for Ka-Zar, but Moench launched something else that we’re pretty sure into an epic storyline. Was that intenwould make more money. I would’ve tional? “That’s probably the key, yeah. been happy, if it was a book I liked— I was probably just looking for a way as long as it’s breaking even and to make it different. The same thing making a few bucks—that’s all I happened with Shang-Chi [in Master would want. But you could see why doug moench of Kung Fu]. After my—I dunno—third the honchos upstairs would say, or fourth issue I realized it’s the same ‘Well, no, c’mon—you could do thing over and over and over: we have a pacifist who another superhero book and make more money!’ has to get into fights all the time—but how many times Whatever made the most money was safe.” do you want to repeat that? So I decided I’ve gotta Artist Val Mayerik agrees: “I have no idea at this find some way that logically explains why he’s getting point why the book was canceled. I’m sure sales was a involved in this kind of stuff all the time, y’know, and deciding factor. Also it may have been that Doug and that was the MI6, Denis Nayland Smith angle. Now, I were looking to move on to other projects. I know with Ka-Zar, it was probably the same thing. I read he was a very busy writer back then. Whatever reason

We Dug Doug’s Run (left) Doug Moench scripted Gerry Conway’s plot in Ka-Zar #10 (Aug. 1975), then took over full writing duties for the series. Gorilla cover by Gil Kane. (right) The last issue of the series, Ka-Zar #20 (Feb. 1977). Cover by Kane and Dan Adkins. TM & © Marvel.

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 19

val mayerik Comicvine.

The Jungle Has Eyes Ka-Zar stalks the extraterrestrial allies of Klaw on this beautiful original art page by Val Mayerik from Ka-Zar #16 (June 1976). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

20 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

Marvel gave, I’m sure had to be taken with a grain of salt. We did miss doing the book. I must say that once I was off the book, my efforts and attentions went elsewhere and I had no abiding interest in how the storyline ended up.” A letters-page editorial in Ka-Zar #15 had stated: “We think it’s Val’s finest work to date (which kinda figures, since Ka-Zar is his favorite character and the Valiant One has been itching to draw the book for months now) and promises only to get better!” Today Mayerik reflects, “I would say that the letters page statement is essentially true. I don’t recall that I actively campaigned for Ka-Zar, but I think I let it be known that I really wanted to a do a Tarzan/Conan–type character and would be available. “Ka-Zar was a favorite because he was just the kind of character that I wanted to draw. I got into comics, hoping to be able to do Conan or Tarzan. Of course, Barry Smith was on Conan and DC was doing Tarzan, so none of those characters were about to be available soon. I had very little interest in superheroes, so when Ka-Zar came available I jumped at it. I also loved drawing Zabu. I really like drawing animals, especially horses and big, predatory cats and wolves. “Out of all the writers I have worked with in comics, Doug was one of the easiest to get along with and to collaborate with,” Mayerik adds. “I don’t recall doing full collaborations with Doug on plots. I may have suggested things from time to time, but left most of that process to him. He never proposed anything I objected to—or that I felt I couldn’t illustrate—so I left him to it. I try to stay out of the writer’s way unless I think he is going too far off the rails. And yes, I was wowed by the garden he and Debra had cultivated and I did pick some veggies ‘right out of the dirt’ and ate them. Doug’s wife was a great cook back then—probably still is—and she always laid out a great spread for visitors.

“I loved working on that book, not just because of the character, or Doug’s writing, but because I got to ink the book myself. Up to that point, my inking skills were not refined enough and this was finally my chance to complete the drawing process beginning to end.” So, how did the story end? Fans had to wait until an explanation from Ka-Zar in Uncanny X-Men #115 (Nov. 1978), by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Kirk Marston was captured by Zaladane and—via mystic ritual—was transformed into a new personification of Garokk. Displeased by the invasion, Garokk 2.0 uses his godlike powers to restore the Savage Land to his liking. Zabu, Tongah, Tandy Snow, and Bernard Kloss were found and nursed back to health. The X-Men subsequently help Ka-Zar to re-dethrone Garokk and Zaladane—although the villains have turned up several times since in various X-books. And that marks the end of the 1970s. A new decade brought a new status quo with Ka-Zar the Savage #1 (Apr. 1981), but that series—and Ka-Zar’s marriage to Shanna—were covered in BACK ISSUE #43. Regardless, Lord and Lady Plunder, and their son Matthew, still appear frequently in today’s Marvel Universe—and yesterday’s Savage Land!

Savage Land Protectors An undated Ka-Zar/ Zabu ink-andwatercolor illo by Val Mayerik. From the Heritage archives. TM & © Marvel.

The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to Gerry Conway, Mike Friedrich, Val Mayerik, Doug Moench, and Roy Thomas for their generous help. JARROD BUTTERY lives in Western Australia and has penned over two dozen articles for BACK ISSUE. After writing the definitive histories of both Shanna O’Hara and Bobbi Morse, he is pleased to have finally completed the love triangle.

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 21

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son Shayer

Feared across the Negative Zone, the tyrannical insectoid known as Annihilus wields the power of the Cosmic Control Rod to rule supreme. Aptly named by his prey as “He Who Annihilates,” Annihilus was created in the late 1960s and has regularly been used as an extradimensional threat and mastermind villain, leveraging minions on Earth to do his bidding. What was there to this antagonist that had writers still using him after over 50 years? Let’s delve into Annihilus’ history and uncover what made him more than your run-of-the-mill bad guy.

THE LIVING DEATH THAT WALKS!

Let There Be—Annihilus! Fantastic Four Annual #6 (1968) featured the first appearance of our spotlighted supervillain… and Franklin Richards, too! Cover by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott. TM & © Marvel.

Annihilus stepped onto the stage in the pages of Fantastic Four Annual #6 (Aug. 1968). Our first glimpse of him was on the cover: a striking metallic, insect-like figure menacing the Fantastic Four. His colors were a uniform green, except for his glaring, ruby-red eyes. That dull color scheme was replaced within the issue with an imposing armor of purples and pinks and greens. His impressive figure was framed by scalloped wings, but it was the bright yellow Cosmic Control Rod on his chest that really drew your eye. Annihilus’ debut scene was one of destruction and warfare, but also hinted at something more to his motivation with his declaration: “Woe to him who comes my way! For, only by destroying life… can Annihilus be forever reborn!” This statement echoed back to Stan Lee’s clever subtitle to the issue, “The Glory of Birth, ’neath the Shadow of Death,” and highlighted the story’s two themes: Susan Richards giving birth and the Fantastic Four confronting an alien threat that symbolized death. Reed, Ben, and Johnny traveled into the Negative Zone in search of a cosmic-energy source that would save Susan and her unborn child, Franklin. This energy source turned out to be Annihilus’ prized possession, the Cosmic Control Rod. In his monologue, we get more insight into his phobia: “Only by crushing all who live, can I be certain that none will ever threaten my greatest treasure! The treasure whose cosmic power has ever granted me the priceless gift of… immortality!” Annihilus wasn’t your typical power-driven comic-book menace. He hadn’t conquered for power or greed, but rather to placate his fear of death, or, as the mental disorder is clinically referred to, thanatophobia. “For, only in the elimination of other life can Annihilus find his immortality.” This thanatophobia fed Annihilus’ paranoia, irrationally convincing him that everything that lived wanted his Cosmic Control Rod, the source of his immortality, and therefore everything alive was a threat. Annihilus underestimated his new foes and the Fantastic Four took the Cosmic Control Rod. He decried the theft: “They have stolen my most priceless possession! Without it, immortality can never be mine! Without it… I die… like any lesser being!” The theft of the Cosmic Control Rod fed his phobia and revealed the root of Annihilus’ psychological disorder. He didn’t want to be a “lesser being” again, one who could die. Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 23

FROM THE PRIMORDIAL SOUP

Annihilus continued to plague anyone who would dare cross over into his realm. Rick Jones, who was a regular visitor to the Negative Zone thanks to the Nega-Bands swapping him places with Captain Mar-vell, often faced Annihilus’ wrath. Avengers #97’s (Mar. 1972) splash page by John Buscema and Tom Palmer stands as one of the most iconic Annihilus images ever produced. Years later (or months later due to the Negative Zone time dilation), in Fantastic Four #140–141 (Nov.–Dec. 1973), by writer Gerry Conway and artist John Buscema, Annihilus sought revenge for his humiliating defeat. He stormed through the Negative Zone portal to Earth and overwhelmed his hated foes, the Fantastic Four. In the aftermath of his short-lived victory, Annihilus revealed his origin story. Scribe Conway leveraged that underlying thanatophobia to build a backstory for this troubled villain. A thousand years ago, in the early formation of a planet at the core of the Negative Zone, a meager arthropod, who we would come to know as Annihilus, emerged from the primordial soup of creation. His early experiences with predators traumatized him and seeded his deep fear of death. Seeking refuge, he discovered the wreckage of an alien ship and learned the story of his creators, a group of stranded travelers from an advanced planet called Tyanna. When these space travelers realized there was no rescue coming, as their last act they released a spore that seeded this world with life. These bio-engineered spores were the building blocks from which Annihilus was born. It’s an interesting twist that these beneficent beings inadvertently created Annihilus, who would become one of the universe’s biggest threats. Using the advanced Tyannian technology, Annihilus created the Cosmic Control Rod. He initially did this to defend against those predators, but then took it further, becoming a predator himself. With the might of these cosmic energies, Annihilus took over his home world and spread his dominion across the Negative Zone.

ANNIHILATE AND BYRNE

The Negative Zone isn’t a very hospitable place, and it wasn’t long before Annihilus encountered a being as powerful as he was, the warlord Blastaar. (For more on Blastaar, see the sidebar feature.) In Marvel Two-in-One #75 (May 1981), Blastaar allied himself with Annihilus. Of course, both villains had their own agendas. “Blastaar was a warrior who was focused on conquering his world and winning his true love,” issue #75’s writer Tom DeFalco explains. “Annihilus was determined to rule the entire Negative Zone and all its inhabitants. They viewed each other as a necessary evil need to accomplish their individual goals.” Blastaar struck first and outplayed Annihilus, which cost him his precious Cosmic Control Rod. After this stinging defeat, a desperate Annihilus turned his attention back to the Earth. While the FF breached the Negative Zone for the purposes of exploration, Annihilus tapped into that intrusion and forced his way over into their universe. Feeling the devastating effects of not having the Cosmic Control Rod, Annihilus tom defalco had gone insane. Without those energies, Annihilus created an exoskeleton that mim- Hildy DeFalco. icked his original insect form and kept him alive. His withered form and aged features solidified his fears of death and drove him mad. His warped reasoning had him believing that if he was going

Count on Him to Make a Splash From the Heritage archives, original artwork to splash pages featuring the menace of Annihilus! (top) From Avengers #97 (Mar. 1972), written by Roy Thomas and illo’ed by John Buscema and Tom Palmer. (bottom) Writer Gerry Conway resurrected the Negative Zoner in Fantastic Four #140 (Nov. 1973). Art by Big John B. and Joe Sinnott. TM & © Marvel.

24 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

Foes and Fiends (left) Annihilus drives the FF buggy in Fantastic Four #140 (Nov. 1973). Cover by Rich Buckler and Frank Giacoia. (right) All hell breaks loose in the Negative Zone in Marvel Two-in-One #75 (May 1981). Cover by Alan Kupperberg and Joe Sinnott. TM & © Marvel.

to die, he wanted to take the whole universe with him. In Fantastic Four #251–256 (Feb.–July 1983), Annihilus took over the Baxter Building and used Reed Richards’ technology to create an energy field he hoped to expand to destroy both universes in a desperate, suicidal attack. “My goal really was to shock and offend everybody,” John Byrne told Tom DeFalco in Comics Creators on the Fantastic Four (2005). “I always thought of Annihilus as a total, irredeemable son of a b*tch. He makes Dr. Doom look like Willy Lumpkin.” Byrne did not hold back in this storyline as Annihilus roughly captured both the Thing’s girlfriend Alicia and young Franklin and tortured them, displaying the rogue’s darker nature. With some help from Captain Marvel of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four returned from the Negative Zone and disrupted Annihilus’ deadly plot. The quick wrap-up of this storyline to sync up with the return of the Fantastic Four felt like it robbed Annihilus of what he had achieved up until that point. The buildup of this plot, which had been spread across a handful of issues sharing space with the Fantastic Four’s exploration of the Negative Zone, had set him up as a much more serious threat than we had previously seen. Having him dispatched so easily felt anticlimactic, including his apparent death as he was thrown back into the Negative Zone. A few years later in Fantastic Four #289–290 (Apr.–May 1986), Byrne followed up on this storyline and retconned Annihilus’ death. Annihilus’ woes continued as Blastaar still held the upper hand in their rivalry. Blastaar, who occasionally proved to be rather clever, leveraged the recent destruction of the Baxter Building in orbit around the Earth and created a portal he hoped to use to get his Baluuran fleet into this universe. As a trophy, Blastaar brought along a frail and weak Annihilus, who he enjoyed taunting. The Fantastic Four foiled Blastaar’s plot and inadvertently gave Annihilus back his precious Cosmic Control Rod.

GOD-LIKE POWER!

Annihilus next sprung up as a surprise villain in the pages of The Mighty Thor (#404–405, June–July 1989), stalking the streets of the gleaming city of Asgard that had drifted across the cosmos into the Negative Zone. He grew his power, absorbing the gods’ life forces, adding it to the power of the Cosmic Control Rod.

“Asgard was in the Negative Zone, and we couldn’t see wasting the opportunity for one great Kirby character to meet another,” Thor artist Ron Frenz explains. “We were playing off of Annihilus’ last defeat and saw him in a position of having to rebuild his strength. By having him feed on Asgardians we were able to lean into an alien mystery/horror thing that was a bit different for both characters. We endeavored to keep his motives consistent—irrational paranoia and self-preservation.” Annihilus reinforced his core motivation: “Fear is the essence of my existence! It is the force which drives my every thought and deed.” As he gained more power, Annihilus set his sights on Odin the All-Father and his god-like powers. Odin defeated him and expelled Annihilus from the Golden Realm, but not before providing a different perspective into this villain’s existence: “Truly, art thou a foul, soulless thing of evil! To preserve thine own precious existence, thou wouldst deny others theirs! Thou wouldst kill and destroy… to perpetuate thine own unending cycle of evil! Such is thy destiny! Thy sole purpose in the grand design!” Odin spared Annihilus, believing that the villain had a destiny to fulfill as an ongoing force for evil and death.

ANNIHILUSES OR ANNIHILI?

“I personally think Annihilus might be a colony creature. You can read Conway’s origin that way if you squint,” Ron Frenz tells BACK ISSUE. “I even made a visual nod toward that when Annihilus reappeared during Eric Masterson’s time as Thor.” On page 21 of Thor #435 (Aug. 1991), after Annihilus’ defeat, the last panel showed us a shattered Annihilus helmet and a small insect crawling about. The Annihilation Nova Corps Files (Aug. 2006) corroborated this vision of Annihilus: “Some accounts imply that there may be more than one clonal entity (Annihili) currently making up the organism we know as Annihilus.” Along the same lines, that theory of a collective was also seen in Captain Marvel #37 (Mar. 1975), where Rick Jones had a run-in with Annihilus and defeated him in dramatic fashion, shattering him into dozens of little Annihiluses. “Well, I knew he was an insect!” Rick explained. “It makes sense he’d be some sorta collective intelligence, like a plague’a locusts.” Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 25

Would-Be God with a Cosmic Control Rod (left) Byrne’s trippy Negative Zone cover for Fantastic Four #251 (Feb. 1983). (right) Byrne again, this time mixing up Reed Richards with Annihilus, in FF #290 (May 1986). TM & © Marvel.

ANNIHILATION!

that this invasion wasn’t about conquest, but about In 2006, Annihilus’ saga took a dramatic turn as he took annihilation: “Life threatens... Let this otherverse an offensive role and seemingly fulfilled Odin’s prophecy. be consumed! Annihilus alone survives! The otherverse Up until that point, Annihilus hadn’t exactly had an dies, so too will the Negative Zone. Let the opposing force sweep it clean. The void is of Annihilus. effective history as a villain. But that was about Alone shall Annihilus rule the void… and know to change. The world had drifted into the peace.” (Annihilation #4, Nov. 2006.) Negative Zone, encroaching on Annihilus’ Galactus was restored to power territory, and provoking a full-scale invaand lashed out, destroying Annihilus’ sion with his armada of warships called armada. In the event’s climax, “The Annihilation Wave.” Annihilus perished at the hands of In this cosmic crossover event, Nova. However, light years away, writer Keith Giffen took Annihilus’ Annihilus was seemingly reborn by one villainy to a whole new level. No of his hive queens. longer was Annihilus satisfied with being a scheming mastermind; now THE NEGATIVE ZONE he was a general leading his troops in We can’t explore Annihilus’ character an all-out attack on another universe. without taking a deeper look at the The initial invasion was a brutal and environment in which he was born john byrne impressive success, laying waste to and was nurtured in [after all, this the Nova Corps, the Xandarian Fleet © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. issue’s theme is “Savage Lands”!— and Empire, and the Skrull Empire. In a penultimate battle against Nova and Quasar, Annihilus ed.]. The Negative Zone was first discovered by destroyed Quasar and gained the Nega-Bands. He Reed Richards in Fantastic Four #51 (June 1966). Reed learned of the Power Cosmic and sought out Galactus. initially referred to this area of space as Sub-Space. It Allying himself with Thanos, Annihilus captured resurfaced in Fantastic Four #61 (Apr. 1967), labelled Galactus and siphoned the Power Cosmic from him to for the first time as the Negative Zone. However, that wasn’t the first time the term “Negative power himself and his fleet. Thanos, well acquainted with death and insanity, Zone” had been used in the pages of The Fantastic got a glimpse into Annihilus’ mind, and it revealed Four. John Byrne, on his forum byrnerobotics.com,

26 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

What’s Up with This Negative Vibe? The FF, imperiled by Annihilus, on John Byrne’s cover to Fantastic Four #256 (July 1983). Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 27

• Blastaar, “The Living Bomb Burst!”

Blastaar made his inauspicious debut in Fantastic Four #62 (Feb. 1967), bound in an Adhesion Suit and exiled into the Negative Zone’s Debris Zone after a coup by his rebellious subjects. The former king of Baluur quickly made up for this lackluster start by freeing himself and following the Fantastic Four back to Earth, where he would go on to cause problems for a lot of the Earth’s heroes. Blastaar is a ruthless warlord with the power of his concussive blasts to back up his over-the-top boasting. A biproduct of the war-ravaged home world Baluur, he’s the embodiment of their warrior lifestyle and yet at times, stands as a walking contradiction. His air of superiority always seemed a bit off, as he bragged about an advanced technology but was clearly lacking in any kind of societal norms and civility, perhaps betraying more about his arrogance and bravado that he would be willing to admit. In Marvel Two-in-One #75 (May 1981), Blastaar allied himself with Annihilus. Of course, both villains had their own motivations. “Blastaar was a warrior who was focused on conquering his world and winning his true love,” writer Tom DeFalco explains. “Annihilus was determined to rule the entire Negative Zone and all its inhabitants. They viewed each other as a necessary evil need to accomplish their individual goals.” MTIO #75 was a double-sized issue not only in size, but in scope. “Back in the day,” DeFalco tells BACK ISSUE, “we were trained to make sure that every issue of every comic was a complete unit of entertainment—that told a story with a beginning, middle, and end—and we structured our stories accordingly.” Blastaar, up until that point, had been depicted as a straightforward cosmic thug you could drop into an issue when you needed a disposable bad guy. DeFalco invested the time in fleshing out his character:

“I always thought it was a writer’s duty to add some insight, dimension, or power to every character he touched. I wanted the readers to see Blastaar as more than a big-mouthed baddie, and hope I succeeded.” Succeeded he did—not only did he deepen Blastaar’s character, but he also gave us our first look at Baluur. The story’s climax highlighted Blastaar’s true character as he remained committed to his plot despite the loss of his beloved Nyglar. Blastaar turned on Annihilus first, revealing that he had already regained his throne and had sent Annihilus’ legions into a deadly trap. This clever ruse destroyed Annihilus’ forces and allowed Blastaar to steal Annihilus’ Cosmic Control Rod, securing his domination of the Negative Zone for years to come. Blastaar continues to be used as a one-shot exotic villain, pulled from the archives every once and awhile.

TM & © Marvel.

OTHER NOTABLE VILLAINS FROM THE NEGATIVE ZONE

• Stygorr, Ruler of the Distortion Zone

Stygorr was a single-use villain who first appeared in Fantastic Four #231 (June 1981) as the self-proclaimed ruler of the Distortion Zone. His villainy was short-lived as he didn’t survive the issue, being seemingly destroyed in the story’s climax. Stygorr would be reborn in 1991 in a series of modules for Marvel’s TSR role-playing game. While not Marvel canon, Stygorr returned as an even more powerful foe that would rival Annihilus, and saw the Cosmic Control Rod as the key to expanding his rule into the Negative Zone and the Earth.

When Kirby Characters Clash The Thunder God vs. He Who Annihilates, in Thor #405 (July 1989). Original Ron Frenz/Joe Sinnott cover art courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

noted that in Fantastic Four #48 (Mar. 1966), Maximus had created a “strange, impregnable, dome-shaped barrier” which he used to isolate the Inhumans from the world. That barrier was named the Negative Zone. Byrne conjectured that Lee and Kirby had simply mixed up the terms, which is backed up by the fact that the Inhumans’ dome would later be renamed the Negative Barrier. Another nomenclature point, the name Negative Zone is a misnomer in that it isn’t a region of space or even a zone, but rather a universe that exists parallel to the primary Marvel (616) Universe. This zone’s name does, however, accurately reflect its deadly nature, as it’s made up of anti-matter that would annihilate any matter it touches. Between these two realms is a buffer area called the Distortion Zone, seen as a “transitional plane between all realities” (Fantastic Four #51). This zone converts matter to anti-matter, and vice-versa, avoiding the devastating matter/anti-matter interaction. The flow of time was also disrupted by the Distortion Zone, where minutes on Earth would pass while hours and days would pass in the Negative Zone. Kirby had a lot of fun with his depiction of the Distortion Zone in Fantastic Four Annual #6. He played with the idea that the human brain couldn’t comprehend what it was seeing and conceptualized this zone with alien, science-fiction landscapes with strange geometrical shapes in an eye-popping, two-page photo montage. 28 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

The Indefatigible Annihilus The creepy ol’ bug-man has survived as one of Mighty Marvel’s most terrifying villains. Detail from the variant cover to Annihilation – Scourge Alpha #1 (Jan. 2020). Art by Ron Lim, colors by Israel Silva. TM & © Marvel.

Beyond the Distortion Zone, there’s a volatile area of space where thousands of floating rocks and asteroids crash about while in orbit around a Negative Earth, known as the Debris Zone. The Negative Earth is an exact opposite of Earth, but made of negative particles, with its devastating gravitational forces pulling everything within its reach to destruction. The space of the Negative Zone isn’t the airless void that it is in the Marvel Universe: it’s breathable. However, while it’s habitable, that doesn’t mean it isn’t hostile with various alien threats, like the fearsome Borers who made their home in the Debris Zone or the hordes of Annihilus’ scavengers searching for threats against their master. Within this Debris Zone, the ruler of this universe, Annihilus, made his presence felt with his lavish palace afloat on a large asteroid (Marvel Two-in-One #75). Many had seen this impressive display of Annihilus’ might, but few lived to talk about it. His defeated enemies find themselves thrown into the ominous Arena of No Return where they perish at the tentacles of Sasca, a monstrous cephalopod from the Nether regions of the Negative Zone. Moving beyond this asteroid-filled area, an entire universe awaits with solar systems and planets, teeming with alien life. In Fantastic Four #251–256, John Byrne sent the team on an extended “vacation” into the Negative Zone. What could be a bigger draw than the unexplored reaches of a parallel universe? It’s through their eyes that we get to explore this strange new universe. “Those were my Dr. Who stories,” Byrne told DeFalco in Comics Creators on the Fantastic Four. “I had been watching a lot of Dr. Who, a British science-fiction television show, and I decided to do a Dr. Who–like arc. I sent the FF into the Negative Zone so that they could bump into a lot of weird stuff, things you’d maybe see in an episode of Dr. Who.” The Negative Zone is a fertile and unique environment teeming with alien life, cultures, and story hooks ready to be further explored. Its hostile nature to visitors from the Marvel Universe is reflected in Annihilus’ hostile nature towards life. It’s also interesting that Annihilus has historically made his home at the edge of the Negative Zone near the Debris Zone, quite possibly the most dangerous and perilous area of his domain.

HIS PURPOSE IN THE GRAND DESIGN

It’s easy to classify Annihilus as a megalomaniac, but his motivation goes far beyond an obsession with power. Annihilus, at his core, is a scared being, traumatized in his early existence by a near-death experience. His desire for power erupted from the fear of the moment, forever carved into his psyche, a rude awakening of his mortality that he refused to accept. His motivation was also entrenched in the inherent danger of the Negative Zone. Annihilus has been conditioned by his environment to survive in the only way he knew how: to be hostile and aggressive. In The Annihilation Nova Corps Files, the Nova Corps Worldmind added this insightful observation: “Annihilus does not wage war against men or empires, but against the universal course of life itself. Annihilus is truly the Living Death That Walks.” Every action he has taken since that moment has been to avoid being in that same position of weakness. It’s not so much as craving power, but rather ensuring that he is never powerless. That desire to never be powerless extended beyond just the lifeforms on his home world, but to everything else in the Negative Zone that could threaten him. Ultimately, being powerless before death drove him to create the Cosmic Control Rod, but that wasn’t enough, especially as he confronted more and more powerful beings. One wonders if a simple kind gesture early on in his existence might have swayed him from the destructive path he walks. But we all know there’s not a lot of good storytelling without conflict. It’s that conflict of life and death that’s at the core of great storytelling. Annihilus was created to be the embodiment of that conflict. From his first appearance, he stood as a sharp contrast to everything that our heroes were. That type of conflict, that type of bad guy, is what makes our heroes stronger and keeps us, as readers, coming back for more. JASON SHAYER’s love of comic books has raised more than a few people’s eyebrows, most often his wife’s. He can usually be found behind stacks of comics, deep in “research.”

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by E d

donald f. glut donglutdinosaurs.com.

Comics’ Other Invincible Hero Looks like Marvel’s Iron Man isn’t the only comic hero tough enough to bear the “invincible” moniker. Original cover art painting by George Wilson for Tales of Sword and Sorcery – Dagar the Invincible (henceforth Dagar) #1 (Oct. 1972). From the archives of Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com). © Random House.

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Lute

Writer Donald F. Glut (along with artists Jesse Santos and Dan Spiegle) created some of the best stories published under the Gold Key/Whitman imprints from Western Publishing. While Glut wrote for a variety of genres, this article will focus on his savage stories featuring sword-and-sorcery and prehistoric heroes. So come along, dear readers, as BACK ISSUE takes a trip into the savage worlds of Don Glut. First, we will visit the barbaric world of Dagar the Invincible. Then we will brave the prehistoric lands of Tragg, Lorn, and the Sky Gods. Along the way, we are also going to see some fun crossovers that you probably haven’t heard of.

‘TALES OF SWORD AND SORCERY – DAGAR THE INVINCIBLE’

When Marvel Comics’ Conan the Barbarian #1 (Oct. 1970) hit newsstands, it was a breath of fresh air. After a slow start, it became a hit, and many imitators quickly sprung up in the hopes of cashing in on this new sword-and-sorcery trend in comic books. Gold Key Comics was one of the companies that wanted in. Unlike some of the pale facsimiles from other publishers, Gold Key’s Tales of Sword and Sorcery – Dagar the Invincible (henceforth Dagar the Invincible or simply Dagar) by writer Don Glut and artist Jesse Santos offered readers a title that stood out from the pack. (See BACK ISSUE #121 for more on Conan the Barbarian and its laundry list of copycats.) Dagar—and his world, populated by sea serpents, demons, evil sorcerers, and vampires—was introduced in the pages of Mystery Comics Digest before moving into to his own title. Dagar is pronounced “Day-gar: according to Glut, although he initially envisioned it as being pronounced as “dagger” (one of the hero’s weapons of choice). Many times, when writers or artists create a new comic book, they are fans of the new series’ genre, as writer Roy Thomas was when he first pitched the idea

of Conan to Marvel’s Stan Lee. This wasn’t the case when Glut proposed Dagar to Gold Key. “No, [I wasn’t a fan then] and I’m still not,” Glut discloses to BACK ISSUE. “To me, almost all sword-and-sorcery stories are the same, same format, same characters though with different names, same plots, etc. But ‘sword and sorcery’ was a popular genre at the time, so I thought I’d come up with my own character. At the time, my Gold Key editors had never heard of sword and sorcery, so this ‘new’ concept appealed to them.” In Dagar the Invincible #1 (Oct. 1972), Dagar’s family and the entire population of the Tulganian people were killed under the orders of the mysterious Scorpio. Dagar’s grandfather Ando was the only other survivor of the massacre. Before dying, he taught his grandson the skills necessary to defeat Scorpio and avenge his people. Dagar vowed to kill Scorpio and become a sword-for-hire to fund his quest. Dagar encountered many obstacles during his search for Scorpio, including the sorcerer Ostellon and his skeleton army that had kidnapped the beautiful Arranna to make her his bride; Lora-Lei and her brother, Lupof the werewolf; and a visit with King Desmos in the city of vampires. These encounters were all tied to Scorpio; some of the villains were his minions, while others were people who, like Dagar, hated Scorpio for the horrors that he had caused them. Initially, Dagar traveled alone and only met one-off characters that wouldn’t reappear again during the series’ run. That changed with issue #3 (Apr. 1973), as his love interest Graylin was introduced.

Back, You Horny Devil, Back! (left) Another George Wilson stunner: the cover to Dagar #2 (Jan. 1973), with Gold Key’s resident sword-wielder rallying to the aid of lovely Lora-Lei. (right) Original Jesse Santos art to the splash page of Dagar #6 (Jan. 1974). Dagar’s lady friend du jour is Graylin. Courtesy of Heritage. © Random House.

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MEET COMICS’ OTHER DAGAR Ever heard of the Golden Age Dagar? Arabian adventurer Dagar—actually Bart Benson (on horseback on the inset cover)—fought raiders, mummies, monsters, and other menaces in the late 1940s in the Dagar, Desert Hawk series published by Fox Feature Syndicate. Shown here is the cover to Dagar #14 (Feb. 1948). Cover art by Edmond Good. – Michael Eury

Issue #4 (July 1973) saw Dagar come upon the mystical hidden city ruled by Scorpio. Dagar was thrown into an arena and forced to face off against humans that were turned into creatures for Scorpio’s amusement. Dagar learned of a way to neutralize Scorpio’s magic and ultimately defeat him by destroying the wizard’s jeweled necklace. By defeating his foe, Dagar was freed from his vow to avenge his people. He would continue to be a sword-for-hire to fund his travels. In many comic series, there is a villain who returns to vex our hero and appear sporadically throughout the run of the book. However, with Dagar the Invincible #4, the plot involving Dagar’s search for Scorpio ended, showing that this series was going to be different. According to Glut, “I was told by my editor at the outset that I needed to wind up the Scorpio plot, or, as to use the current term, ‘story arc,’ in four issues. Gold Key hated continued stories, and I was surprised they let me do those four connecting issues. I had no plans to bring Scorpio back. There was nothing special about Scorpio. He was just your standard, run-of-the-mill [sword-andsorcery] evil wizard character.” The rest of the Dagar series mainly encompassed one-off stories that didn’t contain many (if any) ongoing plotlines. Issue #6 (Jan. 1974) found Dagar and Graylin searching a forbidden city for lost treasure and unwittingly freeing the demonic Zu-Borr. In issue #8 (July 1974), Dagar rescued Graylin from “living dead” that planned to sacrifice her to the demon Garloth. Issue #11 (Apr. 1975) had Dagar saving Graylin from the Cult of Dargomma. Dagar wasn’t the only barbarian that Glut created. Duroc the barbarian adventurer was introduced in Mystery Comics Digest #7 (Sept. 1972). He made two more appearances in that anthology digest, in issues #14 (Oct. 1973) and 15 (Jan. 1974). He was given a name change to Durak and moved from those short solo stories into the pages of Dagar starting with issue #7 (Apr. 1974). He also appeared in issue #12 (July 1975), where a curse was placed on him, and he had to team up with Dagar and Graylin to face off against the ape-men to save himself. Dagar #9 (Oct. 1974) introduced readers to another recurring character, Torgus, who was black. Readers learned that he was the chief of the Zargani people. Torgus’ wife Renya became ill, and he needed the Orb of Org-Ra, held by the evil sorcerer (is there really any other kind?) Narkal, in order to save her. His quest brought him into conflict with Dagar, but as is usual with heroes in comics, they quickly realize that they are on the same side and work together to save Renya. Glut tells BACK ISSUE, “I would have liked to have written Torgus in his own book. But there was always a problem using black characters at Gold Key. The editors were honestly afraid, as one put it, that black readers would be offended no matter how we handled them in the stories and maybe ‘burn down the building.’ There were other deeperrooted problems, but I won’t go into those.” Torgus was one of the best characters to come out of the series, so for regular readers of Dagar, a Torgus series by Glut would have been a welcome treat, but instead was a missed opportunity for the publisher. Torgus continued to appear sporadically during the rest of the run, including the subsequent issue, which began with both heroes on a hunt together to provide food for the village. Issue #13 (Oct. 1975) featured Dagar teaming up with Torgus again. Durak was captured by the She-Demon Nay-Beth (who had been formed from a magical golem) to be her slave. Torgus and Renya came upon Dagar and Graylin as they were searching for Nay-Beth, who had also captured Torgus’ people. In one of the best issues of the book, the two heroes team up in an attempt to save the barbarian. Although it appeared that Durak perished at the hands of the She-Demon, he had been sent into another reality, but was brought back to his upon her death.

Sword-and-Sorcery Team-Up Torgus and Dagar try to wriggle their way out of trouble on the George Wilson–painted cover to Dagar #6 (Oct. 1974). © Random House.

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Night of the Living Dead Dagar and Karmyn tackle ghouls on this frightening painted cover by Jesse Santos, from Dagar #16 (July 1976). Courtesy of Heritage. © Random House.

Dagar was tricked into killing Graylin in issue #14 (Jan. 1976), but was given a quest that might provide him a chance to save her. This surreal mission forced him to relive the massacre of his people as well as come face-to-face with the spectral form of Scorpio and other horrors in the domain of the dead. He was able to overcome the challenges and save the love of his life. Although Gold Key wasn’t fond of continuing narratives, Glut didn’t stop using them. Issue #15 (Apr. 1976) introduced Gor-Gax and his freebooters, as well as his lover Karmyn. Gor-Gax had a

wandering eye and tried to take advantage of Graylin, but was killed when he fell upon his own blade. Although Graylin professed her love for Dagar, she became tired of the terror and death she had faced, so she left him. Karmyn (with nowhere else to go) became a traveling companion of Dagar. Dagar and Karmyn entered the Valley of the Dead in issue #16 (July 1976). It seemed as if Karmyn was being poised to be a new love interest for Dagar, but that wasn’t to be as she was killed off by the issue’s end. Issue #17 (Oct. 1976) was the final new issue of Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

Issue #1 Revisited Original Dan Spiegle cover art for Dagar #19 (Apr. 1982), which reimagined George Wilson’s original cover for Dagar #1 (see page 30). Issue #19 (inset) bore a Whitman logo and was only available in three-packs. © Random House.

the series. It found Dagar fighting the evil Warlord Magg-Deth. Issues #18 (Dec. 1976) and 19 (Apr. 1982) were both reprints of the first issue. #18 was the last Gold Key book. While the series was published under both the Gold Key and Whitman imprints, issue #19 was only issue published with a Whitman cover and found in specialty three-packs that were sold in grocery stores. Dagar made a final appearance in Gold Key Spotlight #6 (June 1977) with an all-new story. A prose story starring Torgus could also be found in the issue. Regarding Jesse Santos’ artwork on Dagar the Invincible, Glut tells BACK ISSUE, “Jesse was overburdened, and so his artwork kept getting looser. We also had a language problem. Jesse’s English could have been better. Sometimes what he drew showed that he misinterpreted what I’d described in my scripts.” Were there any plans for the title if it hadn’t been canceled? “I think I may have planned to eventually bring back Graylin. Nothing beyond that,” Glut admits. While not as successful as Marvel’s Conan comics (but then again, what was?), Dagar the Invincible was a fun sword-and-sorcery comic. However, Glut and Santos weren’t done with savage characters just yet.

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‘TRAGG AND THE SKY GODS’

Prehistoric warrior Tragg and his mate Lorn made their debut in the ten-pager “Cry of the Dire Wolf” in Mystery Comics Digest #3 (Apr. 1972). The anthology title contained the first appearances of both Dagar and Tragg. Was Mystery Comics Digest a tryout title like Marvel’s Marvel Premiere or DC’s Showcase? “Not a tryout book, and most of the stories were reprints,” Glut explains. “When I wrote those original stories, it was strictly as standalones for an anthology book. Continuing the characters and also getting them in their own titles came later.” Mystery Comics Digest mainly contained reprints of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Twilight Zone, and Boris Karloff’s Tales of Mystery from their respective Gold Key titles on a rotating basis, thus offering readers a mix of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and suspense. New stories appeared alongside of the reprints. Glut used some of his new stories from the anthology book to launch other titles or introduce supporting characters before bringing them into ongoing titles. Tragg and Lorn then moved on to starring roles in Tragg and the Sky Gods. The title was a short-lived eight-issue quarterly book about a prehistoric society that is visited by aliens. The cover to the first issue promised “cave men vs. aliens… in a savage world!,” and that’s what readers got with this book. Glut tells BACK ISSUE, “Almost since my first days at Gold Key, I had been pushing for a caveman book like Joe Kubert’s Tor. But Gold Key wouldn’t go with it because they already had Turok and didn’t believe two books with prehistoric themes would sell. Then they noticed the then-popularity of the Chariots of the Gods?/ ancient astronauts–type books coming out at the time and asked me to come up with one. I asked if it could be set in prehistoric times, and they said okay. So I worked up a premise that included Tragg and, in that way, finally got my caveman title.” The 1968 pseudo-science book Chariots of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past by Erich von Daniken postulated that ancient civilizations had been visited by aliens, regarded as gods by the primitive Earth societies. This book also influenced Jack Kirby’s work on The Eternals for Marvel Comics. Tragg and the Sky Gods #1 (June 1975) threw readers right into the action with Tragg and Lorn fighting off a pterodactyl. After killing the prehistoric beast, they witness the arrival of the Yargonians, a race of goldenskinned aliens, whom Lorn refers to as “sky gods.” The issue then flashes back to an earlier time when two Yargonian scientists visited the planet. The gentle scientists fearing that the primitives wouldn’t evolve any further used their evolo-beams to alter two females. The females eventually gave birth to Tragg and Lorn, who were physically and mentally superior to their brethren. The pair were ostracized by the rest of the tribe and eventually kicked out when the sky gods left. The superstitious tribe thought that the sky gods left because the couple was different and repulsed them. They actually left to see how Tragg and Lorn would fare on their own. However, while the previous sky gods had been altruistic, these new visitors were not. There had been a revolution on Yargon and the scientists were ousted in favor of the militaristic faction. Led by Zorek, these visitors were an advance search party exploring for a new home to inhabit. They had used the scientists’

Orb of the Gods? Aliens and dinosaurs? A combo for adventure! Covers to Gold Key’s Tragg and the Sky Gods #1 (June 1975) and 2 (Sept. 1975). Cover art by Jesse Santos. © Random House.

records to identify and locate the Earth, but would first have to either destroy or enslave the inhabitants. The aliens became stuck on the planet when their ship was damaged by a Tyrannosaurus rex. After watching the Yargonian’s actions, Tragg and Lorn quickly discover that these weren’t the peaceful sky gods from previously, but violent attackers. They also learned something startling. These aliens were not the gods that they were thought to be and that they could be killed. Tragg and Lorn vowed to defend their planet. Issue #2 (Sept. 1975) introduced another ongoing plot point to the series. Keera, the love interest of Zorek, is saved by Tragg from a Tyrannosaurus rex. She begins to despise her lover and what he and the Yargonians plan to do to the Earthlings. She also realizes that she is starting to have feelings for Tragg. Although Jesse Santos co-created the book with Glut, by the third issue artist Dan Spiegle took over on the title. Santos continued to supply the covers for the entire run though. Glut admits, “Dan’s art was not as rugged as Jesse’s, but he was easy to work with. I think I preferred Jesse’s, which wasn’t slick like Dan’s. And with Dan there were no language issues.” In issue #4 (Feb. 1976), Zorek revealed that the Yargonian scientists’ evolve-ray had been altered to become a devolo-ray. The ray was used to devolve a sabretooth tiger into sabre-fang, a cross between a sabretooth and a primitive man. Keera also professed her love for Tragg, who rebuffed her. In addition to the Yargonians, Tragg also had to contend with other menaces. The ape-men threatened him in issue #5 (May 1976), and dangers that were natural to his world, such as the dinosaurs, were a constant hazard throughout. Issue #8 (Feb. 1977) was the final new issue of the book. One last original story appeared in Gold Key Spotlight #9 (Sept. 1977). The story was supposed to be printed in Tragg and the Sky Gods #9, but the series was canceled before this could happen. A ninth issue (May 1982) was eventually published, but it was a reprint of issue #1 and was only released as a Whitman book in a polybagged three-pack. Although Gold Key didn’t care for ongoing storylines, Glut put another one into Tragg and Sky Gods. Keera’s journey from loyal Yargonian warrior to traitor was played out over the course of the series. Issue #7 even contained a “Spotlight on Keera” text piece that discussed her time prior to the beginning of the series. With the cancellation of the book, Glut wasn’t finished with Tragg’s story. He tells BI, “All I remember was that Keera would join the good guys, and Zorek would go completely mad, both ideas of which I was gradually leading up to.”

CROSSING OVER

For as good as Dagar the Invincible and Tragg and the Sky Gods were, there was one aspect that made them even better and stand out from the rest of Gold Key’s output. Glut had the characters from the series cameo or even crossover with each other, helping to build a bigger world for the characters than just the one depicted in their own titles, crossover tropes expected by readers of Marvel and DC books, but not those from Gold Key. Dagar the Invincible #5 (Oct. 1973) found our hero transported into the past via a mystical cave to search for the missing Graylin. While there, he saves Tragg’s brother Jarn from a pterodactyl. Jarn returned the favor and helped Dagar locate Graylin and save her from the witch doctor Zerg. Tragg made a cameo in Dagar the Invincible #11 (Apr. 1975), where it was revealed that Tragg was an ancestor of the barbarian. Although this connection would be mentioned again, nothing more is done with it in either of the titles, which was a shame. The final issue of Tragg saw the prehistoric hero face-off against Ostellon, who Dagar confronted in his first issue. The story also mentioned that Ostellon would also face another threat even further in the future. Don Glut was a busy man during his time at Gold Key because he worked on more than just Dagar and Tragg and the shorter tales for Mystery Comics Digest. Another one of his books was the Occult Files of Dr. Spektor. Dr. Adam Spektor was an occult investigator who was first introduced in Mystery Comics Digest #5 (July 1972) before moving on to his own 24-issue series (cover-dated May 1973–Feb. 1977). His final Bronze Age appearance was in Gold Key Spotlight #8 Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 35

The Bite of Sabre-Fang (left) Original art scan of Jesse Santos’ painted cover for Tragg #4 (Feb. 1976). (right) The issue’s splash page, illustrated by Dan Spiegle. Both, courtesy of Heritage. © Random House.

(Aug. 1977). The artwork for the book was provided by to become almost extinct. In a blink-and-you’ll-missit one-panel appearance, a primeval male and female frequent Glut collaborator Jesse Santos. First up in the crossovers with the Occult of Dr. that appear to be Tragg and Lorn are seen fighting a Spektor is the return of Ostellon, the Master of the prehistoric Leviathan. Although the crossovers and cameos fit nicely Living Bones. In issue #7 (Apr. 1974), Dr. Spektor picked up a skull in a cave that caused a cave-in that into their respective stories and helped to create a inadvertently reawakened Ostellon. The Dark Gods more engaged world for the characters, these weren’t preplanned, but grew organically. According to Glut, informed Ostellon that he needed to destroy Spektor “They just came naturally along the way.” because he was a threat to both himself and Glut continues, “Gold Key didn’t like them. However, after being captured by continuing stories and crossovers, the skeletal sorcerer, the resourceful believing nobody would buy or read Spektor was able to defeat him. For two consecutive issues or remember an those readers who hadn’t read the earlier story. And they refused to include other titles, the villain recounted his footnotes like Marvel and DC used. I prior defeats to Dr. Spektor. always had to pitch a plot before the The cover to issue #16 (Sept. editor gave me the green light to pro1975) screamed, “Dr. Spektor and a ceed on a script. So, having learned legendary barbarian vs. the horrors through experience that if I pitched a of Death-Head Island!” The occult plot that was really compelling—that investigator found a sword that fell the editor really liked—and it was a out of the sky. The sword belonged continued story or a crossover, he’d to Durak, who was transported to the dan spiegle give me the okay. But it had to be present day when Spektor held the done in a way that it guaranteed that sword aloft during a thunderstorm. The two teamed up to defeat none other than the the reader would not be confused, even if he or she Frankenstein Monster, as well as the living brain of had not read the previous issue. I had to get Spektor the evil wizard Xorkon. This was one of the better cured of his werewolf condition within three issues. crossovers and added a lot of humor to the book, Jarn, by the way, was written as Tragg in that Dagar as Durak was a fish out of water in the modern day, story. But the editor changed him to Jarn, also making having to contend with the foul taste of coffee, as well up the new name, because he thought Jesse made both Tragg (from his two Mystery Comics Digest stories) and as the frightening contraption called a car. In the Occult Files of Dr. Spektor #19 (Apr. 1976), Dagar look too similar. When Tragg finally got his own Spektor learned of the violence man had brought to book, I brought back Jarn as Tragg’s brother. I wonder the Leviathans over the centuries that caused them if my editor ever caught that—or noticed the small

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Tragg cameo in one panel of that Dagar story?!” If the writer had his way, there would have been additional crossovers featuring more of his characters as well as other Gold Key creations. He reveals, “They liked the plots when I pitched them. I made sure that they would and not be, as my editor sometimes told me, ‘Just a lot of running around.’ But I’m still amazed they okayed them. Yes, my planned epic battle with the Dark Gods would have involved a lot of crossover characters, like Simbar the lion-man, Man of the Atom, Durak the barbarian, the Owl, etc.” Even though Glut didn’t get to continue with these series or the crossovers, he left readers with some great stories that are remembered long after Gold Key comics stopped appearing on comic racks, and Whitman titles disappeared from stores. Although Dagar the Invincible only ran 19 issues, it was popular and even warranted a hardcover reprint from Dark Horse Comics in 2011. However, only issues #1–9 were reprinted before the endeavor was abandoned. Unfortunately, Tragg and the Sky Gods hasn’t been reprinted yet. “The very long, detailed and sometimes complicated backgrounds of Spektor and Dagar are in those collections reprinted some years ago by Dark Horse— if you can still find them,” Glut states. A special shoutout to Donald F. Glut for his invaluable assistance with this article. ED LUTE loves sword-and-sorcery stories, cavemen, and comicbook crossovers as well as the occasional occult investigation. He was happy to be able to revisit the savage worlds of Donald F. Glut for BACK ISSUE readers. A visit with the occult will hopefully follow soon.

It Came Out of the Sky (top right) The sword of Dagar support player Durok dropped into the pages of Don Glut and Jesse Santos’ The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor #16 (Sept. 1975), an example of Glut’s cross-pollination of characters and story elements. Courtesy of Heritage. (top left) Tragg #8 (Feb. 1977). Cover by Santos. (bottom) From 1974, a Dagar giveaway mini-comic. © Random House.

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 37

Eury

Tarzan © Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

TARZAN OF THE APES

by JOHN BUSCEMA

captions by M i c h a e l

Starting with this issue’s cover, you’ve got several opportunities to ooh and aah over Big John Buscema’s Ka-Zar art… but here’s a reminder of his superlative rendition of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Ape Man, Tarzan, in an undated specialty pencil illo. All art scans in this column are courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). 38 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

by BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH

TOMB OF DRACULA #8 COVER

TM & © Marvel.

Really, what land is more savage than a graveyard populated by the undead? While Conan illustrator Barry Windsor-Smith’s rendition of Marvel’s Lord of Vampires is undeniably striking, the House of Ideas instead opted for Gene Colan and Tom Palmer’s interpretation of this cover scene (inset) for Tomb of Dracula #8 (May 1973).

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

TM & © Marvel.

SAVAGE TALES #8 COVER

by GIL KANE

“That’s cool, Kev, but I’ve gone this!” is what Shanna the She-Devil might be saying if this Ka-Zar cover for the black-and-white mag Savage Tales #8 (Jan. 1975) had a word balloon. “Sugar” Kane’s layout went uncredited by the time Steve Fabian painted the published version of this cover (inset).

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by MICHAEL WM. KALUTA

SAVAGE TALES #9 COVER

TM & © Marvel.

As the penciled-in cover copy shows, the amazing Mr. Kaluta was obviously having fun with this Ka-Zar cover rough (“The Unwashed Pectoral”?!) for Savage Tales #9 (Mar. 1975). Such levity was forgotten by the time he reworked the layout for his painted, published version of the cover (inset).

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Conan the Barbarian © Conan Properties International, LLC.

SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #55 COVER

by EARL NOREM

We’ve gushed over Earl Norem’s unmatchable cover paintings many times in our pages, but here’s a chance to see the late illustrator’s looser work in this preliminary for his cover for The Savage Sword of Conan #55 (Aug. 1980).

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by ARTHUR ADAMS

ALL-NEW X-MEN #25 SPREAD

TM & © Marvel.

Arthur Adams has been a fan-favorite since his Longshot series of the ’80s. In this breathtaking double-page spread featuring Ka-Zar and Zabu—from the anniversary edition All-New X-Men #25 (June 2014)—it’s clear that Art has only improved with age. Wow!

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 43

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by D o u g l a s

R. Kelly

Astronauts returning home to a radically changed Earth wasn’t a new idea in 1974. Movies like World Without End and Planet of the Apes had started exploring the theme as far back as 1956. The decision makers at Atlas (Seaboard) Comics undoubtedly were familiar with this kind of film as they brainstormed ideas for their new comic-book series, and one decision maker— editor-in-chief Jeff Rovin—was interested in adapting Richard Matheson’s bestselling novel, I Am Legend, which had been published in 1954. The story had been adapted for the big screen in 1964 with the Vincent Price film The Last Man on Earth, but Rovin had his eye on a more recent version of the Matheson story. In 1971, Warner Bros. released The Omega Man, which starred Charlton Heston as Colonel Robert Neville, an army doctor who is the only survivor of a biological war between the Soviet Union and China that produced a plague that has wiped out the human race, with the exception of a small band of albino mutants. When he’s not fighting off the mutants in his fortress-like penthouse apartment, Neville works to develop a serum for the plague. The film departs from Matheson’s story in at least one key aspect: all of the people in I Am Legend, except the Neville character, have been turned into vampires, and they’re after Neville’s blood. The Omega Man has no vampires, but the albino mutants are overly sensitive to light (as vampires are sometimes said to be), and they wear hooded robes that make them look like medieval monks. Even accounting for the movie being made in a different era, it’s a clumsily handled treatment of the story, with continuity mistakes and a laughably inappropriate musical score. One of its few positives is the way it shows a devastated and deserted downtown Los Angeles, which was filmed early on a Sunday morning before the city really began to wake up. Even then, there is the occasional pedestrian and moving car visible in the backgrounds of some scenes. Still, Jeff Rovin wanted a crack at the story. In the December 2001 issue of Comic Book Artist, interviewer Jon B. Cooke asked him about the connection of the novel and the movie to what would become Planet of Vampires. Rovin replied, “We had tried to get jeff rovin the rights to I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson but we couldn’t.” Cooke asked if Planet of Vampires would have been an adaptation of The Omega Man, and Rovin said, “It probably would’ve been closer to The Omega Man. I think the main thing was who we would end up getting the rights from, whether it would’ve been

They Are Legend Action aplenty: Pat Broderick and Neal Adams’ terrific cover to Planet of Vampires #1 (Feb. 1975) gets right into it, with the Aries VII crew opening up on the bloodsuckers. Unless otherwise noted, art scans accompanying this article are courtesy of Doug Kelly. © SP Media Group.

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 45

Out for Blood (top) The crew of the Aries VII heads home at the beginning of issue #1. (bottom left) Galland and company stumble on the mechanized blood extraction lab in the dome. (right) Craig tells the Proctor just what he thinks of the Proctor’s rationale for murdering the so-called “savages” who live outside of the dome. All, from Planet of Vampires #1, by Larry Hama, Pat Broderick, and Frank McLaughlin. © SP Media Group.

Matheson or whether it would’ve been Warner [Bros.], who we were talking to. If it had been Warner, clearly The Omega Man was the better-known title at the time. So, we probably would’ve gone with that.” At the time, both DC and Marvel were putting out horror books that were selling in respectable numbers— titles like Tomb of Dracula and House of Secrets being staples on the comic racks. Having failed to obtain the rights to I Am Legend and The Omega Man, Rovin and company decided to create a science fiction/horror mashup that resulted in three highly entertaining—if somewhat bizarre—issues of a book they called Planet of Vampires.

A WORLD GONE MAD!

Planet of Vampires #1 (Feb. 1975) featured a cover penciled by Pat Broderick and inked by Neal Adams. Broderick also did the interior pencils, which were inked by Frank McLaughlin. “I was up in the Atlas offices and Jeff Rovin offered me the job, and I gratefully accepted,” says Broderick. “It was the first work I did for Atlas… I also then penciled a ‘Dark Avenger’ backup story [written by John Albano, in Phoenix #3, June 1975] and one or two war comics for them.” Being asked to draw stories about astronauts mixing it up with vampires apparently didn’t faze Broderick. “I was extremely excited about it. It was my first chance at drawing a full-length comic. It was more excitement than

pat broderick

46 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

Big Drac Attack! Issue #2’s cover depicted Elissa being menaced by… Dracula, apparently—who didn’t actually appear in any of the three issues. Original cover art signed by its illustrators, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano, and courtesy of Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com). © SP Media Group.

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 47

Weird War Tale The dome dwellers attack the savages and the Aries VII crew in full force in Planet of Vampires #2 (Apr. 1975). By John Albano, Broderick, and McLaughlin.

understanding for me because I didn’t foresee the inside a fortified dome built around the Empire State size of the workload I had taken on. That commitment Building in Manhattan; the other is the “savages,” who was an eye-opener because I was still at Continuity live outside the dome in a much harsher environment. Aries VII makes a crash landing just off Coney Island, Associates and helping Neal Adams with the commercial New York, and the crew disembarks in a raft to look accounts, so I was pretty busy.” That first story, “The Long Road Home!,” credits Larry around. Suddenly, one of them, Dr. Levitz, is killed by a spear thrown by a group of savages who saw Aries Hama with the script, but Hama doesn’t recall VII land. Just as the crew starts to defend themactually writing it. “I have no recollection selves, a hovercraft—called a floater by at all. It may have been Rovin that asked the savages—arrives and whisks the crew me to do it, it may have been Pat himself, to safety inside the domed city in ManI don’t know. Pat and I were studiohattan. There, they meet the Proctor, mates at Continuity Associates at a “corporate head of a megalithic the time.” Was Hama involved in the industrial combine” who designed and discussions about the book being built the dome two years ago during adapted from The Omega Man? “No, the war. Capt. Galland tells the Proctor I was brought in at the last minute. It how the crew of the probe lost contact may be that all I did was dialogue it. with Earth when war was declared And, in fact, it may have already been and returned to find their home drawn, finished artwork, when I planet nearly destroyed. Galland asks came onto it. Pat might actually have larry hama the Proctor why some people, the soplotted it. That may be why I don’t called savages, live outside the dome, remember anything about it.” Regardless of who plotted or wrote it, the first story and why is there a need for the dome in the first place? Instead of answering, the Proctor tells Galland that packed a lot of action into one issue. It opens with five astronauts aboard the Aries VII Mars probe returning he’ll arrange a film presentation that will answer his to Earth in 2010 following a five-year mission aimed at questions. Meantime, he tells the crew they can go get locating and cataloging any life forms they might find cleaned up and get some rest as his guests. Galland on Mars and its satellites. Captain Chris Galland, the agrees, but thinks that something isn’t right with all of commander of the vessel, is married to crew member this—something he can’t put his finger on. On the way to their quarters, the crew sees a savage Elissa, while crew member Brenda is married to (another) crew member, Craig. The fifth astronaut is being taken to what their guide calls an “indoctrination Dr. Ben Levitz, the ship’s biologist. Strangely, the cover facility,” which turns out to be a high-tech lab where blurb proclaims, “Six astronauts return to Earth…”— the domies are holding savages and are forcibly extracting their blood. The crew are appalled at what but there are just five in the story. What the crew members find upon returning to Earth they’ve stumbled onto, and Galland exclaims, “The confirms their worst fears: a planet that’s been ravaged domies are mechanized vampires!” The lab people call by war, with two main factions doing their best to security and a firefight erupts, with the Aries VII crew destroy one another. One is the “domies,” who live trying to make good their escape. Galland releases the

48 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

Heath’s Got Teeth! (top) Brenda, an African-American cast member who’s hooked up to no end of trouble, is miscolored as Caucasian on the cover to Planet of Vampires #3 (July 1975). Cover art by Russ Heath, with alterations by Larry Lieber. (bottom) From inside the issue, Craig and Galland discover that the dome dwellers have killed Brenda by draining her blood. © SP Media Group.

imprisoned savages and gives them guns, and they join the crew in the battle against the domies. Bruiser Culhane, one of the leaders of the savages, starts to lead the crew out of the dome to safety, but they run into the Proctor, who asks them to listen as he explains the situation. “During the war, certain chemical and biological weapons were employed which affected every living person on Earth in one way or the other… our interest in the crew of the Aries VII lies in the fact that you are the only people on the face of the planet left untainted by the holocaust! “The ‘savages’ that wandered in the open, unprotected, developed natural immunity to the horrid new diseases that racked the land. While we, the people of the dome, developed no immunity and were more susceptible to the plague! In time, we discovered that a serum could be extracted from the blood of the immune savages, and an ethical decision was made! After all, we of the dome are the guardians of civilization! The savages had sunk to the level of animals…” Not surprisingly, this doesn’t go over well with the Aries VII crew, as Craig tells the Proctor, “What you’re saying is jive now, and it was jive fifty years ago! That rap is bull! Whether it’s said about Blacks, Jews, Indians, Latinos or your so-called savages!” The battle resumes and the crew and Bruiser Culhane escape the dome, heading for the beach where Aries VII crash-landed earlier. But they run into a rival gang led by one Lenny Siegel, who makes it clear that he intends to punch Culhane’s ticket in a permanent way. The issue ends with Galland and Elissa wondering how they’re going to get out of this one… Along with rendering some cool spaceships, one of Broderick’s strengths in his Planet of Vampires work is how he draws faces. In particular, his supporting characters often look highly distinctive, which can bring to life not only action scenes, but also conversations between characters. The guards in the dome in issue #1 are a good example of this. “I love supporting characters, even in films,” says Broderick. “If there’s a supporting character in a scene, they’re going to be notable. I still take that approach today. At the time, though [1974–1975], I was going through a readjustment, and Neal was training me. I basically did nothing ‘out of my head’ because I wasn’t developed enough mentally to do that. I had no foundational training in high school or anything like that. So that was Neal’s focus with me. Everything I drew at that time basically came from Polaroids, and from friends… people I would use as models. At Continuity, we used a lot of people who were around the offices as models. I would set up the shots and take Polaroids… I knew exactly who was supposed to be in a scene, and we’d get people to pose for those scenes. It was the beginning of a long process of preparation—I’d do thumbnails, and I’d use those to set up the models for the photos. Then I’d use those, and the thumbnails, to draw the panels.” Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 49

Look Out! Here Come the Spiders, Man! Galland fights frantically to save Elissa from the giant spiders in these superb panels from Planet of Vampires #3. By Albano and Heath. © SP Media Group.

HIS FACE RINGS A BELL

The cover for issue #2 (Apr. 1975) was visually outstanding, with pencils by Neal Adams and inks by Dick Giordano. But it likely confused some readers as it depicted Elissa being accosted by a character that can only be Dracula—a character that never appeared in any of the three Planet of Vampires issues. Of course, comic books often sport covers showing a character or scene that doesn’t appear in the book, and the reason may simply have been that someone at Atlas told the creative team to stick the count from Transylvania on the cover to help boost sales. Broderick did the interior pencils for this issue, with inks again by Frank McLaughlin. John Albano wrote “Quest for Blood!,” which picks up where issue #1 left off, with Lenny Siegel and Bruiser Culhane engaged in a fight to the death for control of their two gangs. While Elissa and Chris Galland stand by and watch, Craig and Brenda fly overhead, pursued in a floater they managed to steal from the domies when they escaped the dome. Culhane gets the best of Siegel in their fight, but instead of finishing him off, Culhane helps him up and tells him that, instead of fighting among themselves, they should be working together to “go after those dome-dwelling vultures!” Siegel wants no part of a cooperative effort, but Culhane says he’s in charge of both gangs now, and this is the way it’s going to be. Meanwhile, overhead, ex-fighter pilot Craig puts some distance between his floater and the ones pursuing he and Brenda. Spotting activity down below, Brenda tells Craig that Galland and the gangs have set up a torch-lit makeshift landing strip. Craig manages to set the floater down in one piece, and Galland rigs the craft’s atomic powerplant to overload. As the Aries VII crew and the gangs run for the hills, the two pursuing floaters arrive and are caught in the resulting blast, killing the floater crews and destroying the floaters. 50 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

Nearby, Siegel is caught in the open by another floater. He runs for his life as they strafe him. Galland and Elissa, along with Culhane, meet up with a gang member named Spanish Eddie, who provides a machine gun mounted on a handcar that he’s pushing along the train tracks. They manage to blast the pursuing floater out of the sky, causing Siegel to realize that working together against the domies is the best course of action. Galland gathers the various street gangs and gives them a pep talk on pooling their resources and their forces against the domies. But it’s too little, too late, as the group is taken by surprise by the domies attacking in full force. The gangs battle bravely, but they’re no match for the superior training and firepower of the domies, and the surviving savages are rounded up for shipment to the dome-dwellers’ laboratories. Meanwhile, Brenda and Elissa are captured by domie forces. Galland and Craig have been overlooked by the domies rounding up the savages, and when they learn that their wives have been taken prisoner, Galland vows, “If those vampires cause any injury [to Brenda or Elissa], I’ll dedicate my life to killing every last one of them, Craig…” Pat Broderick generally provided tight pencils, rather than looser unfinished work, to his inkers, and he says that led to a problem early on. “It was the bane of the inkers who had to ink my pages. I literally pressed so hard when I did my pencils that it left an indent in the paper… I realized it was a problem, but it took me quite a while to break myself of the habit of putting so much pressure on the pencil.”

FORTRESS DOMIE

Another great cover kicks off Planet of Vampires #3 (July 1975), the last issue of the series, drawn by the legendary Russ Heath. But it wouldn’t be a Planet of Vampires cover without something being slightly off—Brenda is shown being held captive in the

domie lab, and if you didn’t know she’s African American, you’d think from the color of her skin on the cover that she’s Caucasian. A pretty basic mistake on an otherwise cool cover. Written by John Albano and drawn by Russ Heath, “The Blood Plague!” has Craig and Galland raiding an abandoned Air Force base and using a plane they find there as a bomb. After flying the plane into the base of the dome and causing a huge explosion (they eject just before impact), the two astronauts make their way into the structure. Following a brief battle with domie guards, our heroes enter a laboratory, where they discover Brenda’s body. The domies have drained her blood, causing her death, and Craig is inconsolable as he tells Galland, “What’s left to fight for? You do what the hell you want… Me, I’m out of it!” Galland presses on and finds the Proctor, who attempts to kill Galland, leaving Galland no choice but to shoot him. Craig then walks in with Elissa, whom he’s found in another lab. She’s weak due to some of her blood being drained, but she’s able to function and get around. The three of them make it to an unguarded floater, where Craig tells Galland and Elissa to get in and get going, that he’s staying behind. Galland says, “No way, Craig! We’re partners, remember?” Strangely though, Craig says he has to remain there so that his dead wife’s ghost can find him. Galland and Elissa reluctantly agree to go, and then proceed to fly across the US, looking for signs of other human life. They find none, finally setting down in an empty Los Angeles, which is slowly becoming overgrown with vegetation. As they walk through a park, they’re suddenly attacked by giant spiders, which sink their teeth into Elissa, sucking her blood. Galland kills the monstrosities, using a knife to cut off their legs. Elissa, however, is badly hurt, and Galland carries her as he looks for someplace safe to rest, thinking to himself, “Somehow those chemical and biological bombs have affected the genes of living things, transforming men, animals, and insects into new and deadly vampiric strains.” The last page shows him stopping a bit later to rest, at which point he’s shocked to find that his wife has died from her wounds. As he holds her body, he cries out, “This planet is damned—it’s hell! Everything that’s beautiful dies!” Despite a last-page blurb that says, “Next Issue: The Secret Project!,” this was the end of the road for Planet of Vampires. It was one of many titles that went down the drain when Atlas Comics closed up shop in 1975. A pity because there were talented artists and writers working on this series, and the central concept of a planet divided into warring camps promised more entertaining stories to come. “I have a lot of fond memories of working on Planet of Vampires,” says Pat Broderick. “They’re ‘birthing’ memories, really. The company seemed to be in the beginning of a three- or four-month meltdown, and then was out of business. If it had continued, it would’ve been an opportunity to work on a lot of interesting titles.” DOUGLAS R. KELLY is editor of Marine Technology magazine. In addition to BACK ISSUE, his byline has appeared in Antiques Roadshow Insider, Model Collector, Collecting Toys, Diecast Collector, RetroFan, and Buildings magazines. He loves vintage stuff and would live in one of his display cabinets if he thought someone would bring him his meals.

Much At Stake (top) The concluding panels of issue #3. (bottom) Courtesy of Heritage, artist Pablo Marcos’ original cover art to the unpublished fourth issue of Planet of Vampires. © SP Media Group.

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“Why did the dinosaurs become extinct? Find out in… Flesh.” This was the opening line of creator Pat Mills’ new comic strip, Flesh, serialized in the British science-fiction weekly, 2000AD [a.k.a. 2000 AD and 2000 A.D.—ed.]. Mills, often cited as “the godfather of British comics,” was behind the creation of several seminal children’s adventure comics of the 1970s, including the war title Battle Picture Weekly, and Action. Action continued Battle’s uncompromising violence, adding in a large dose of anti-authoritarianism, and featured among its strips the saga of a bloodthirsty shark: Hook Jaw, who had a giant harpoon stuck through its jaw. This began Mills’ trope of beasts disfigured by humans, seeking revenge. The graphic gore of the strip contributed to Action being pulled from newsagents’ shelves in 1976. Hook Jaw combined environmental issues with the savagery of nature, themes Mills carried over into Flesh. Despite Action’s cancellation, Mills was determined the controversial violence abhorred by the establishment would continue unabated to thrill readers in his new title. Mills took inspiration from the 1969 film The Valley of Gwangi in creating Flesh. The American fantasy-Western, produced by Charles Sheer and Ray Harryhausen, had the tagline: “Cowboys battle monsters in the lost world of forbidden valley.” As Mills wrote in the introduction to The Dino Files, the Flesh collected edition: “Flesh—on one level at least—is a cowboy story with dinosaurs taking the role of the Indians.” Asked why he chose futuristic cowboys as the human characters in Flesh, Mills tells BACK ISSUE: “They had to have a visual theme, and cowboys fit well. In fact, I can’t think— even now—of an alternative.” The cowboy uniforms and the technology depicted in Flesh drew heavily from the 1973 film Westworld, written and directed by Michael Crichton, that starred Yul Brynner as an android in a futuristic Westernthemed amusement park. The 1993 film Jurassic Park, based on Crichton’s 1989 novel, depicted dinosaurs on the loose, with the humans, on the whole, surviving, a trait not shared pat mills in Mills’ story, as he stated in The Lisa Mills. Dino Files: “We admire raw nature, but it’s made absolutely clear that man will always triumph over it. But not in Flesh—here the dinosaurs ultimately win.”

Cowboy Cuisine From Flesh’s premiere in 2000AD Prog 1 (#1), released February 26, 1977. Story by Pat Mills, art by Joan Boix and Rubén Pellejero. All scans accompanying this article are courtesy of Paul Burns. © 2023 Rebellion.

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by P a u l

Burns

What’s for Lunch, Toothy? (top) Flesh makes a cover appearance in 2000AD Prog 3 (#3), released March 12, 1977. Cover art by Ramon Solá. (bottom) A big spider problem on the Flesh cover for 2000AD Prog 14 (May 28, 1977). Cover art by Barrie Mitchell. © 2023 Rebellion.

Spanish artist Joan Boix co-created Flesh, and provided early visuals for the strip. “We had very little interaction,” Pat Mills tells BACK ISSUE, “but Boix did a very good professional job.” Another unsung and often uncredited name in the creation of Flesh was art editor Doug Church. “Doug, my art supremo, was a huge visual influence on Flesh, laying out the early pages of the episodes,” cites Mills. Church provided layouts for the first eight chapters, with art finished by Boix and, later, Ramon Solá. “He made monsters come alive!” says Mills of Solá. “Decades later, I tried to bring him back without great success (2000AD #1526, 2007). Primarily because super creative artists like Ramon need time spent on them, something that the comic machine does not really allow for.” Published in February 1977, Book 1 of Flesh ran from issues— or “progs,” as editor “Tharg the Mighty” [Kelvin Gosnell] called them—#1 to 19 of 2000AD, with Mills writing the first and concluding chapters. In between, several writers contributed to the strip, including Ken Armstrong, Studio Giolitti, and Kelvin Gosnell. Meat is scarce in the 23rd Century, so the Trans-Time Corporation sends rangers back to the age of dinosaurs to herd them into robotic machines called Fleshdozers, then transport their meat to the future. The head of the rangers, Earl Reagan, is introduced in 2000AD Prog 1. Artists Boix and Solá drew heavily from pop culture for the visuals of the human characters in Flesh. Reagan was somewhere between John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, while the villainous Claw Carver, introduced in 2000AD Prog 3, was based on Lee Marvin. Carver was the owner of a trading post called Carver City, and was named Claw because he had his hand bitten off by a dinosaur (as revealed fully in 2000AD #1526, 2007). He became the archenemy of Reagan. Mills remembers working with writer and co-founder of 2000AD, Kelvin Gosnell. “Kelvin came up with Claw Carver, and the Carver City sequence was a fusion of Kelvin and probably [illustrator] Kevin O’Neill and I jamming in the office.” Mills refused to tone down the blood and gore for Flesh. “I knew it had to be done. There was some reaction against the cruelty of the Fleshdozer by the IPC board of directors. But I could always-— rightly—plead it was science fiction.” The human chomping carnage was brought into focus in 2000AD Prog 2 with the debut of 120-year-old “MHag Tyrannosaur,” Old One Eye. The creature gained her name after Reagan stabbed the beast in the eye, thus setting up the enmity between the two that would last until the end of the first book. Along the way, Reagan and Carver faced several species of dinosaur, along with giant spiders and even furry Tyrannosaurs. Mills was influenced by Bob Bakker, an American paleontologist who was at the forefront of the 1960s’ “dinosaur renaissance” [“Bakker was a proponent of the theory that dinosaurs were warm-blooded, smart, and adaptable”]. As Mills states: “Towards the end of Flesh I may have become aware of the work of Bakker—hence hairy dinosaurs.” The climax of Book 1 of Flesh has a dinosaur army, led by Old One Eye, attacking Trans-Time base 3. This was dinosaur finally triumphing over man and exacting revenge: “‘Old One Eye’ preferred humans. It was like Christmas Day... like a child with too many Christmas presents—she didn’t know which human to start on first.” The surviving humans escape into time shuttles, transported back to the 23rd Century. A genetic code blending in the time stream resulted in a short-lived dinosaur with three human heads emerging at the future time-port. Carver was lost in time, whilst Reagan was arrested for his part in the Trans-Time catastrophe. Meanwhile, in the past, after she led the dinosaur massacre of the humans’ base, Old One Eye succumbed to old age and died of heart failure. As Mills explained in the Dino Files: Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 53

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“When it’s their leader’s time to die, it will not be like King Kong defeated by superior man and dashed to the sidewalk. No, their leader chooses her own time, her own path.” Old One Eye’s bones are discovered in 1983, and displayed by a scientist, Professor Gizzard, who meets his end when her jaws accidentally close on him. “Even after death, Old One Eye was triumphant!” Flesh would continue in supplementary stories published in 1977’s 2000AD Summer Special and Annual (dated 1978). The strip was hugely popular with bloodthirsty ’70s kids, and the comic printed a 32-piece “cut out and keep” card game during its initial run: “YOU can be Old One Eye and your mate Earl Reagan— battling it out in a FIGHT to the FINISH!” Mills was not finished with the world of Flesh. Old One Eye’s son, Satanus, was killed by his mother, and his DNA was discovered in his bones in the year 2099. He was cloned to be the star attraction of a dinosaur petting zoo. A massacre later, the beast escaped into Sauron Valley, where he encountered Judge Dredd during the character’s “Cursed Earth” saga, which ran through Progs 61–85 of 2000AD (1978). Golgotha, the son of Satanus, would appear in Mills’ strip ABC Warriors, published in 2000AD #119–139 (1979).

Flesh Book 2 ran in 2000AD #86–99 (1978–1979), but without Mills’ involvement. “I don’t think anyone asked me,” he tells BACK ISSUE. Whilst Book 1 featured dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period, Book 2 had the Trans-Time Corporation travelling back to the Triassic period to hunt for dinosaur fish. Mills was not a fan: “Although the art is great, fishy monsters don’t have the same appeal, despite Hook Jaw,” he says. “I think it was an attempt to break away from the original and establish a new identity for the creative team (Geoffrey Miller and Massimo Belardinelli). That rarely works because the audience wants more of what they originally signed up for. Even so, it had its moments and its fans.” Claw Carver returned in Book 2, killing the brood of a Nothosaur dubbed Big Hungry, who lives up to his name by eating Carver. Big Hungry is pulled into the Time stream and it is intimated he materializes in present-day Loch Ness. The Legend of Shamana Book 1 (2000AD #800–808, 1992) and Book 2 (2000AD #817–825) featured a human child raised by a pack of Tyrannosaurs seeking revenge on the Time to Time Corporation. Pat Mills and Tony Skinner’s visceral story was illustrated by Carl Critchlow and added a dash of dark humor to the grisly narrative: one scene features a dinosaur wearing a dress. Other writers, including Steve White, Dan Abnett, David Bishop, and Steve MacManus, worked on Flesh stories between 1996 and 1997. Mills returned to his saga in 2000AD #1724–1733 (2011) with the story Texas. James McKay provided the art. “James saw Westerns in John Ford terms rather than Spaghetti Western— which I subscribe to,” explains Mills, talking about six-time Oscar®– winning director Ford and his artistic aesthetic of

The Incredible Three-Headed Manosaurus (left) 2000AD Prog 17 (June 18, 1977) cover by Brian Bolland, signing his work as “Bollo.” (right) A bad day at the lake on Massimo Bellardinelli’s Flesh cover to 2000AD Prog 87 (Oct. 21, 1978). © 2023 Rebellion.

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Grisly, But Fashionable (top) The Rebellion collected edition Flesh: The Legend of Shamana Book 1, reprinting 1992 Flesh installments from 2000AD #800–808. Written by Pat Mills and Tony Skinner, with art by Carl Critchlow. (bottom) A dino in a dress! Flesh’s dark humor on display, from 2000AD Prog 806 (reprinted in Shamana Book 1). © 2023 Rebellion.

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having his central characters framed against dramatic vistas, as opposed to Sergio Leone’s preference of closeups. Set after the events in Flesh Book 1, Texas introduced Gorehead, a time-irradiated Tyrannosaur with a blood-encrusted head resulting from sheltering inside a dinosaur he had half eaten to protect himself from the Base 3 radiation blast. The dinosaur’s blood was permanently fused to Gorehead’s head, which was then branded with “666” (the symbol of Trans-Time base 6) seared into him three times by a cowboy. “Gorehead I think had a lot of work go into him,” Mills tells BACK ISSUE. “I agree that he’s now the top monster (of the trio completed by Old One Eye and Satanus), but I think the readers are locked into the monsters of their boyhoods, so he hasn’t registered to the same degree.” Texas also introduced Claw Carver’s eco-warrior daughter, Vegas, and establishes an empathic bond between her and Gorehead. We also meet evil religious fanatic Pastor Sunday: “Very much inspired by Robert Mitchum in The Night of the Hunter,” says Mills, referencing the 1955 Charles Laughton-directed thriller about a corrupt minister-turned-serial killer. Midnight Cowboys (2000AD #1774–1785, 2012) continued the saga of Vegas, Sunday, and Gorehead and introduced the titular Cowboys, who were radiationaltered Base 3 survivors. Now dubbed Reptoids, they included Jericho Jake, Randy Komodo, Viper, and Tarnation Tarmac McAdams. Vegas joined these cowboys in an attempt to transport Gorehead to future New York to stop Trans-Time farming the dinosaurs for their meat. This story brought back Earl Reagan and pulled Claw Carver out of time before his death in Flesh Book 2. Mills decided to bring them back: “To connect with that nostalgia audience. I don’t think readers emotionally engaged with these later stories as they did with Flesh of their childhood.” Badlanders (2000AD #1850–1861, 2013) saw Vegas transport Gorehead to Seabed City, where presidential candidates, chosen by Trans-Time and other corporations, auditioned for the presidency. Gorehead made a meal (literally) of the candidates, sparing new President General Butler, a member of Vegas’ Angry Planet eco group. Mills wanted to shine a light on American politics: “There’s always been some political context,” he explains. “And I wanted to show how an ecology president might triumph, but to do so he would need to subvert the system. Hence the presidential auditions.” Sadly, Mills’ last installment in the Flesh saga, Gorehead (2000AD 2001–2010, 2016), with incredible digitally painted art by Clint Langley, remains unfinished, with the final confrontation between Reagan and Gorehead unresolved. The final book of Flesh has yet to be written or commissioned. “There’s still one volume to go,” says Mills. “It ties up all the different elements.” Until then, fans of morally ambiguous humans versus savage iconic dinosaurs, wrapped in a decades long political ecological saga, have plenty of material to sink their teeth into. PAUL BURNS is a writer from the UK. He has had several Doctor Who stories published, including his recent story, The New Doctor, as part of Pencil Tip’s Temporal Logbook III. A lifelong comics reader, he is proud and excited to have written about one of his favorite strips from the 1970s in his absolute favorite magazine, bringing a bit of UK flavor to BACK ISSUE.

by B i l l

DeSimone

Released in 1989, Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure (WJA) features meticulous adherence to prior continuity and coordination by all the various X-Men creators and editors, with far-reaching ramifications on future Wolverine continuity. Or maybe not. “Walking through Marvel one day and Bob H(arras) asked me if I wanted to draw the ‘Wolverine Annual’—I asked who was writing it and he told me there was no writer yet. I had (and still have) no interest in Wolverine, but (being a smart ass), rather than say no, I said, ‘If you get Walt to write it, and it’s about Wolverine going to the Savage Land and becoming king of the cavemen, I’ll do it.’ And I walked off and figured that was the last I’d hear of that—and the next day you called me and said something like, ‘So I guess we’re doing a Wolverine book.’ It’s the best story I have about getting a job.”

TM & © Marvel.

– Mike Mignola on Walter Simonson’s Facebook page, August 2019

Mignola and Simonson were joined by inker Bob Wiacek, letterer Ken Bruzenak, and colorist Mark Chiarello. Unlike so many of today’s comics, the story itself is a fun, done-in-one “adventure” that doesn’t rely on an encyclopedic knowledge of continuity at the time. In fact, a couple of bits inserted by Simonson in the story could have had major impact on future Wolverine stories, only to end up being ignored. Forget about this story’s place in continuity. Just enjoy the ride, and especially the scenery, the really interesting visual storytelling from Mignola, Wiacek, and Chiarello. Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 57

‘I MET YOU ON SOMEBODY’S ISLAND’ (‘Jungle Love,’ The Steve Miller Band, 1977)

Simonson tells the story as the narration of a tribal elder. The events have already happened a while ago, so this is a sort of flashback. Thought balloons were still in use in comics at the time, so somehow the elder knows not only what Wolverine thought at various points in the story, he also knows when Wolverine flashes back to what brought him to the Savage Land, a flashback within a flashback! But this technique pays off at the end. The story starts with the elder narrating, then picks up when Wolverine arrives in the Savage Land. He finds his lighter, a gift from Nick Fury (small item, but plays a role later), and is challenged by and defeats the chieftain of the tribe, who turns out to be a very large, very capable female, named Gahck, which is good because that’s what Wolverine says when she comes to his cave and throws herself at him. Wolverine then trains the cavemen and women to defend themselves against the dinosaurs stealing their tribesmen, discovers who appears to be behind the abductions, beats him up, blows up his lab, and bails on the Savage Land. It’s a little more poetic when Simonson does it. Simonson drops glancing references to Tarzan, Jean Grey, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Turok, Son of Stone (“honkers” for dinosaurs), none of which bog down the narrative but give the reader a chance to say, “Hey, I get that reference!” SPOILER ALERTS FOR A 30-YEAR-OLD STORY: It’s not much of a spoiler, as he’s on the cover. The main villain is Apocalypse (REVERSE SPOILER… or is he? You’ll have to read to find out), who at this point had only been an X-Factor adversary. This version of

Apocalypse is converting tribesmen into cyborgs and has an over-thetop demeanor, announcing his plans like a Bond villain. After Wolverine defeats him, we encounter the first of Simonson’s reveals: Wolverine finds a skull in his lab, and, while not naming it as such, we’re led to believe by Wolverine’s reaction that it is adamantium; i.e., Apocalypse may be Wolverine’s daddy. Now, according to the Internet, which wouldn’t lie, this is allegedly what Chris Claremont had intended, so much so that in Weapon X, Barry Windsor-Smith had the scientists answering to an unnamed authority, which would have been Apocalypse. This was never used in future continuity, and Simonson said on his Facebook page (June 24, 2013), “I don’t remember any specifics… I don’t know if I tossed this stuff in for fun, or if Chris had a particular plot point he wanted made here. I remember it being a mostly fun touch…” The second point Simonson dropped, and which in turn is dropped from continuity, is on the last page. This is where the device of the elder narrating is critical. As the elder finishes, Mignola swings the point of view around from facing the elder to facing the audience, and in the audience is Gahck holding an infant. The caption reads, “…And he will dwell in the hearts of his people… forever.” The infant isn’t identified as such, and there’s no graphic sex in the pages, but come on, it’s Wolverine’s kid, give us a break. Well, apparently not because, except for a later mention in a Marvel Handbook, he was never heard from again. Again, Simonson on Facebook: “You know, sometimes, we just tossed in stuff that had a nice allusive quality because it was fun. And you never know, it might turn out to be a story down the road.”

walter simonson Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki.

‘I WANNA TAKE YOU TO MY CAGE LOCK YOU UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY’ (‘Jungle Love,’ Morris Day and the Time, 1984)

In Comic Book Artist #23 (Dec. 2002), Mignola told Jon B. Cooke that this was “the first project where I had significant story input.” On Facebook in March 2020, he wrote, “As I recall, Walt wrote a plot, not full script… it was more common to get full script from writers at DC.” Responding to a specific comment, Mignola wrote, “Certainly, Walt did not do breakdowns.” This was a Peak Superheroes phase for Mignola. Prior to this, he had done a variety of superheroes for Marvel and DC, but of them he told Cooke, “Cosmic Odyssey was the turning point, when style starts coming into play…” Cosmic Odyssey, plus Mignola’s Batman: Gotham by Gaslight and Wolverine, came out around the same time and were all commercially successful, after which he did covers and moved towards mystery and horror with the Dracula adaptation and Hellboy. In WJA, his Frazetta and Kirby influences are on full display, starting with the cover. Mignola described his painting to Joe Monks in the Comics Buyers’ Guide (January 10, 1992) as “…a painting or what I do that passes for a painting, which is really an ink drawing with watercolor…” The main image (without the border, logo, or text) was listed on comicartfans.com as an 11x17 watercolor. The woman in the foreground resembles one in Frazetta’s 1974 oil painting Red Planet, and the cavemen in the background could be related to those in his 1973 oil Captive Princess. In several interviews, Mignola explained that while he first looked to Frazetta for subject matter, later, Steranko and especially Rick Bryant encouraged him to add more black and shadows, to give his drawings more weight than thin repetitive lines do. This sent Mignola back to Frazetta’s work, getting past the subject and finding the technique. In this piece, you see both the shadows and spaces that later-Mignola would fill with black. Mignola also told

Who’s Your Daddy? Logan vs. Apocalypse, on Mike Mignola’s Frazetta-ish cover for 1989’s Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure. TM & © Marvel.

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mike mignola Photo by Christine Mignola.

‘Intermission’s Over, Bub!’ Magnificent Mike Mignola original art from Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure (WJA). Inks by Bob Wiacek. From the collection of Jeremy Radisich. TM & © Marvel.

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Looks Like Dino Ordered Takeout Logan is in no mood to be digested on page 26 of Simonson, Mignola, and Wiacek’s opus. Colors by Mark Chiarello. TM & © Marvel.

Cooke that he learned a lot from studying Kirby’s work in preparation for Cosmic Odyssey: “Jack is easy to imitate, but most of the people I’ve seen imitate him, miss the point. He’s not a guy to learn how to draw legs from, but he is a great guy to learn how to draw a fight scene from. To capture the power of Kirby without… the stylistic quirks.” The colorist on the interiors was Mark Chiarello. Mignola told Ken Fries (in Amazing Heroes #196, Nov. 1991), “…I still have editors say to me, ‘Oh, you got stuck with another one of those real subtle coloring jobs…’ Yeah, poor me. This is what I wanted! I don’t want a big, shiny, airbrush-looking comic… [Mark] understands my color sense a lot better than I understand his, which is real nice…” The colors are mainly earth tones, which pop against the black and shadows, with grays for flashback sequences, reds for blood, and the occasional white background to punctuate a scene. Examples: the panel where Wolverine ends the fight with Gahck (page 6), and the panel where Wolverine defeats Apocalypse (page 41). As good as the color is, one page in particular is almost more dramatic in black and white. The page

starts with Wolverine bound and caged. Mignola uses heavy black borders on the top two tiers, showing the small movements he makes to free his feet, then using the lighter to free his hands. The black verticals suggest the bars of the cage. In the third bottom tier, no more borders or panels: the scene extends to the edge of the page, the reader’s view is pulled back to see the full figure of Wolverine, centered, with machinery, claws, and action lines radiating out from the figure. The thought balloons and words don’t explain the action; the art does. As the art moves from confined to release so does the character. Mignola uses this confinement/release motif earlier in the book as well. When Wolverine fights the T. rex, the T. rex swallows him, to the T. rex’s disadvantage, as Wolverine cuts his way out of the stomach. As Wolverine is in the belly, there are closeups in small panels, only to pull back as Wolverine cuts his way out, again moving from closed up panels to art extending off the page (page 26). I met Mignola at a New Jersey convention not long after this was published. When I mentioned the confinement/release, he said, “Ye-e-e-a-h, that’s the kind of thing someone else says about the art. I’m just drawing.” Although he did give Ken Fries a little more elaborate answer: “When I do certain layouts, or if I do a black panel border or a white panel border, I do it for a reason. In some cases it’s something I can’t easily explain, but I’ve got a rationale for everything I do.”

‘GET DOWN, GET DOWN’ (‘Jungle Boogie,’ Kool and the Gang, 1973)

The 1989 Dark Knight/“Prestige” format WJA book is still available in back-issue bins and such for maybe double the cover price ($4.50!). The original has a black-and-white drawing of Wolverine and a caveman on the back cover that’s not taken from the interior. On the front and back inside covers, along with the credits and indicia, you’ll find a black, gray, and white image of Wolverine split longways, i.e., his right side on the inside front, left side on the inside back, that flips the image from the panel where he’s cut himself out of the dinosaur on page 26. No ads, no wasted space at all. If you like newer paper and fresh binding, the story was reprinted in September 2020 in Wolverine: Epic Collection: Back to Basics vol. 2, along with Archie Goodwin/Howard Chaykin’s Scorpio Connection and other Wolverine issues from 1988. Not long after WJA came out, “Adventures” in a comic-book title meant the book wasn’t part of comics continuity, but instead aimed at fans (and their kids) of a comic-based animated series. The subject matter was “all ages,” and the art styles copied the models of the animations. Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure was not one of those comics. It featured adult situations, action bordering on violence, and some dubious behavior by the star, none of which is explicit. You must read between the images depicted and the words on paper to pick up all that’s happening. And between the visual influences and panel-to-panel progressions, there’s plenty for fans of the art form to appreciate. BILL DeSIMONE has read comics since they were 15 cents on a newsstand, neither of which is comprehensible to today’s young fan. Previously for BACK ISSUE he’s written about Machine Man, Starman, and Jurassic Park.

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by B

ryan D. Stroud

A Valiant Comeback One of Valiant’s salvo of comic hits of the 1990s: Turok, Dinosaur Hunter #1 (July 1993), signed by Turok artist Bart Sears. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com). Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

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At a point in time where media depictions of Native Americans weren’t often done in a positive light, despite notable exceptions such as Lone Ranger sidekick Tonto and Pow Wow Smith, Indian Lawman over at DC Comics, a Native named Turok was a new protagonist who made his debut in Four Color #596 (Dec. 1954) from the Dell imprint of Western Publishing. Turok was the cover feature and also occupied the first story in the book. He and his companion, Andar, are located in the desert north of the Rio Grande River. They enter a cavern in search of water, ultimately emerging into a completely different world. Once beneath the desert, they discover a place that time forgot, inhabited by prehistoric beasts. In a classic man vs. nature narrative, the two companions deal with this strange environment in an effort to survive. After a second appearance in issue #656 (Oct. 1955) and having proven to be a popular theme, Turok was soon off to his own self-titled magazine, Turok, Son of Stone, oddly starting with #3 (Mar.–May 1956), possibly to coincide with his third appearance. This series went on under both the Dell and Gold Key imprints from 1956 to 1982, comprising 130 issues over a 26-year period before going on hiatus, but that hiatus would only last about a decade until Turok enjoyed a second act with Acclaim/Valiant comics.

TUROK RETURNS

The First Turok Comic (above) Dell’s Four Color #596 (Dec. 1954), featuring the first appearances of Turok and Andar. Painted cover by Robert Susor. After a return engagement in issue #656 (see inset), Turok spun off into his own magazine. (bottom) The Son of Stone battles a T.rex on the cover of Turok #25 (Sept.–Nov. 1961). Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

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After a guest appearance in Magnus Robot Fighter #12 (May 1992), the next glimpse we get of Turok in the ’90s is in the pages of X-O Manowar #14 (Mar. 1993). “The Coming of Turok, Dinosaur Hunter” is scripted by Bob Layton, with plotting by Jon Hartz and art by Bart Sears and Randy Elliott. Turok is seen battling it out with enhanced dinosaurs when suddenly he is sucked into a vortex and lands in Columbia, South America. He immediately goes on the hunt for the villainous Mon-Ark, the deadliest of the intelligenceenhanced “bionisaurs.” These new and more deadly creatures were the result of the efforts of Orb Industries, a corporation within the purview of Aric, the alter ego of X-O Manowar. Aric and Turok meet up and derail the efforts of some locals who have been selling the dinosaur genetic material on the black market. This story is the springboard for the reintroduction of Turok in his own series beginning with Turok #1 (July 1993). The story begins with a flashback to the origin story of Turok and Andar. Magnus, Robot Fighter arrives to help them in their battle against alien invaders in the Lost Land. Mothergod makes an appearance and Turok and Andar swear their allegiance to her and to her promise to bring unity into the existing chaos. Archer (of Armstrong and Archer) convinces Turok that Mothergod is not the picture of benevolence. Turok joins forces with X-O Manowar, Armstrong and Archer, and others to overthrow the forces of Mothergod. Later, Turok discovers that Andar and his people have been destroyed by the enhanced dinosaurs led by Mon-Ark. Turok is now the sworn enemy of Mon-Ark and hunts the creature in this new time and place; the jungles of Columbia. Before the initial three-issue story arc has concluded, Turok has found himself dealing not only with highly intelligent dinosaurs, but drug lords, who wonder what is happening to their product as their couriers are slaughtered and eaten; and the arrival of a professor of paleontology at Bogota University, who bears a resemblance to Lara Croft

Michelinie enjoyed pretty wide latitude with his of Tomb Raider fame, with her own agenda, urging Turok to hunt and capture a dinosaur so that she can writing, remembering that editor Bob Layton gave propagate them for study. In the end, our hero is him free rein: “Bob and I co-plotted a lot of stuff triumphant over all the forces, particularly the dinosaurs, at Marvel, but on Turok, he was strictly the editor. but enough of them survive to ensure his self-appointed He provided suggestions and guidance, but pretty much left the scripting to me. I believe there was mission is far from over. some talk of us co-plotting Turok early on, but Scripter David Michelinie shares some of by then he was running Valiant and his his recollections of his short time on the schedule didn’t leave him time for close title with BACK ISSUE, beginning with collaborations.” his coming onto the series: “Comics When asked about the artists’ companies were a lot different back interpretations of his scripts, Michelinie then, a lot simpler. I was probably shares, “I think they both [Bart Sears just asked if I wanted to write Turok and later Bernard Chang] did a good and said, ‘Yes.’ Most of my research job of depicting the unrelenting was reading the Unity cycle, which savagery necessitated by Turok’s backwas pretty much where the Turok ground, basic nature, and plot-driving series spun off from. I tried to keep motivations.” the characterization, personality, and As to the features of the storyline, speech/thought patterns consistent, Michelinie reflects, “I always try to then go from there.” david michelinie have fun when writing a story. That When queried about appearances way I feel there’s a better chance of by other classic Western Publishing characters, Dave offers, “I didn’t have any specific plans the reader having fun, and thus coming back for more. for crossovers. I generally prefer to keep heroes, villains, In this case, the setting [Columbia] and the main threat supporting cast, settings, etc. consistent within a [living dinosaurs] made drug traffic and paleontology single title, adding to those areas as I go along and believable story fodder.” Issue #3 was the writer’s last. He doesn’t clearly their world develops. Crossovers can boost sales, and I’ll be a part of them if I have to, but I prefer playing in recall why he moved on, but offers, “It was most likely because I had too many irons in the deadline my own sandbox if given a choice.”

Turok’s Coming Out Party (top) The Dinosaur Hunter’s first Valiant drop-in: Magnus Robot Fighter #12 (May 1992). Cover by Gonzalo Mayo. (bottom) Turok plays a major role in X-O Manowar #14 (Mar. 1993). Cover by Bart Sears and Bob Layton. Magnus and Turok are ® and © Random House, Inc. X-O Manowar © Valiant Entertainment, LLC.

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Not-So-Peaceful Meditation Behold, the magnificence of the Bart Sears/Randy Elliott art team, on this extraordinary original art page (sans caption copy) from Valiant’s Turok #1. Courtesy of Heritage. Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

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fire and something had to go. Since Turok was the newest addition, and so had less time to work its way into my creative heart, it was probably the easier of my assignments to drop. Also, issue #3 (inset) was a good stepping-off point in that it decided the fate of Turok’s major foe at the time, Mon-Ark. I liked the three-story arc, and probably would have enjoyed writing more if that had been in the cards, but I think readers were pretty happy with the Tim Truman era. “There was one unique element in my short Turok run that has never been repeated: I actually had two story titles in a row mis-lettered between script and print. Here, for the first time ever, are the real titles. The title for Turok #2, published as ‘Lizards of the Night,’ was actually supposed to be ‘Lizards of Night,’ and issue #3, published as ‘Slithering Sands,’ was actually written as ‘Slithering Sand.’ Small changes, but subtle differences that were lost, and undoubtedly never missed by anyone but me!”

FROM RICHES TO RAGS

With issue #4 (Oct. 1993) Tim Truman is the new scripter and along with him, Rags Morales takes over on interior penciling and full cover art. Truman introduces Andar as an elderly man and also adds Andy, his grandson. According to Tim, he’d originally been slated to start the Turok revival: “Actually, they wanted me to start with issue #1, and I sort of fought it for a while. I was getting kind of pegged for doing Western and Native material and at the time, I thought I was sort of getting pigeon-holed. I didn’t know which way they were going to take the character, either. I don’t recall exactly why I finally got involved, but I remember that Bob Layton made several phone calls to me wanting me to do the series. “Eventually, I came up with a plotline that I was comfortable with and a way to handle the interdimensional aspects Valiant was using to connect all the titles that were in their line. Initially in the Valiant series, Turok was solo. They hadn’t included Andar, Turok’s young protégé from the old Gold Key series. I wanted to firmly establish that Turok had been snatched from the past and as a man from the past, would be this sort of tribesman who was out of time—a sort of wanderer in time, trapped bart sears between an existence in modern BartSearsart.com. America or in Lost Land, but forever unable to get back home to his own land or family in the past. I then introduced Andar, or ‘Andy’ as

Sears-ed into Memory From the collection of Bryan D. Stroud, a Turok sketch by Bart Sears. Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

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Turok’s New Team Writer Tim Truman and penciler Rags Morales jumped onto the title with issue #4 (Oct. 1993). Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

December 1991. I was under exclusive contract and I was having medical [deductions] taken out of my check and for whatever reason, whoever was responsible for doing it monthly, hadn’t, and it got collected at the end of the fiscal year in December. So, money I was expecting to have for pages handed in so I could do Christmas got collected instead for medical. So, I was given a $7.00 check. Prior to that, I’d already heard about this company who wanted to work with me and I’d been invited to their Christmas party. So, I was going to pick up my check and then go to this party, and I met with Bob Layton, and he asked me, ‘Why the long face?’ I told him the whole $7.00 check story, but I’d also brought a double-page spread of the Valiant Universe as I saw it. Magnus was in there, it had Solar in there. Harbinger, Shadowman. I think it was back when he had a ponytail. Bloodshot was in there, X-O. All the Valiant characters. I did this so I could timothy truman get familiar with the characters. Bob saw it and liked it and said, ‘I’ll Raymond Foye. give you $400 cash for that.’ Which he did. And that was my Christmas. That’s how I joined Valiant. They were talking about the various titles that they had, like the ones I just mentioned, and Bob told me I’d probably be good on X-O Manowar, but then he also mentioned Turok. I listened and nodded and absorbed everything he said, and I said, ‘Sure, I’ll do Orok.’ I hadn’t heard of Turok at the time. [laughs] So, that’s how I got the gig.”

a young, modern Native-American youth who was really out of touch with any sort of tribal traditions. Thus, Turok could sort of instruct him in the ‘old ways’ while Andy could sort of ‘hip’ Turok to a more modern viewpoint. “When I was a kid, I loved the Turok series,” Truman adds. “And hey, it was Jimi Hendrix’s favorite comic, so you can’t go wrong. I especially loved Alberto Giolitti’s artwork from the original ’60s stuff. I was familiar with it in that regard. I’m usually more a fan of artists than actual characters, so when I get an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of artists I’ve admired, it’s always been the big thrill for me.” Rags Morales took a bit of a circuitous route to the assignment: “It was during my exodus from DC Comics. I was wooed by Valiant by an editor who told me I was on the short list to be recruited by a new company. It was during Christmas,

‘Cigasaurus’ by Truman From the collection of Bryan D. Stroud, a 2016 convention sketch by Tim Truman. Art © Timothy Truman.

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By way of research, Rags reveals, “Initially, I was given the stuff that they had already done. I believe Bart Sears had already done the first issue that was already out. I was given the first issue and was very much impressed with what Bart had done. So, I had that information, and I guess one reason why I was always drawn to it was that it was dinosaurs and Native Americans. Native Americans were always a fascination for me because my mother’s side of the family has it. As a kid, I remember going to an encyclopedia, the junior Encyclopedia Brittanica that my mother got for me because back then we didn’t have computers, and I read everything I could about Native Americans. I was fascinated. I was a big fan of the Lone Ranger, and Tonto was always a big draw for me. I found him more interesting. I mean, Clayton Moore looked really sharp in that powder-blue skintight outfit with the red scarf and the sharp hat. He looked like he was going to a party. But that was made in the ’50s, and I was catching it later in syndication on our black-and-white console TV. “The ’70s also had a lot of hippie culture and lots of Native American [influences] in the design of the fashions. It was just kind of a thing. And there were a lot of songs, too. Redbone with ‘Come and Get Your Love,’ and so forth. Part of my growing-up culture. And my favorite science fiction is post-apocalyptic, like Planet of the Apes more so than Star Wars or Star Trek at the time. It was the kind of thing I was always drawn to, and I’ve got tons of books, too. Mystic Warriors of the Plains by Thomas Mails, that was always an important resource to me. He actually lived among the Natives and documented them. A bunch of TimeLife books and various books on Sitting Bull and the Indian heritage, and things like that. I did the same sort of research for the dinosaurs as well.” Rags’ meticulous preparation and work ethic pushed him to work very hard to be as authentic as possible on Turok, which he relates to BACK ISSUE: “We’re taught that in the industry because of Hal Foster. Everything he did was very well researched. He kind of set the J.R.R. Tolkien inspired research of building a world. Everybody in the industry, especially if you go to industry specific trade schools, they’ll tell you to research. You need to know how to draw everything. In high school, I took a vocational course in commercial art, and we had to build our own swipe files. To this day, I have a bunch of old Sears catalogs from different years, so I know what people dressed like, what the houses and interiors were like, the kinds of toys they played with.”

Smith. Barry had a unique vision for it. I don’t think I really fulfilled his vision. Valiant gave me a number of other assignments, including Turok, Shadowman, and Ninjak, and those I nailed pretty well. The Turok issues I did with Rags Morales… all I can say is, I wish I could work with Rags Morales again. rags morales BARON’S NEW NEXUS Rags is one of the most outstanding With issue #10, writer Mike Baron Qwertzu111111. artists I’ve ever worked with.” arrived and scripted for a few books Baron also shares his vision of how to write the and he put his own unique spin on the adventures of Turok. In his three-issue story arc, Turok encounters character of Turok: “Turok is a classic character. I Asian gangsters dealing in contraband animal parts, was aware of Turok before I ever broke into comics and they are allied with an intelligent dinosaur that because every kid growing up saw those Turok comics. assists them. The adventure leads Turok from the Utah I had a couple, and Turok is one of the archetypes. desert to Los Angeles and points in between, as he He’s a classic hero. Because he’s an Indian, he’s untainted by most of the baggage of Western civiliseeks out the villains in this deadly play. Mike Baron shares with BACK ISSUE how he became zation. So, you can say he’s an innocent, but he’s not involved in this rotating cast of creators on the series: innocent. When I wrote this, I was conscious of his “I remember being at a convention with Bob Layton. Native-American heritage insofar as it helped me to Bob said, ‘How would you like to come write for us at characterize him. And to add to the plot, you can’t Valiant?’ And I said, ‘Sure.’ The first title they gave me be worshipful about these things, but you have to be was Archer and Armstrong, created by Barry [Windsor-] able to imagine his point of view.

Headed Downtown Rags Morales’ stunning, architecturally detailed original cover art to Turok #11 (May 1994). Courtesy of Heritage. Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

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Seeing Red (top) Turok tussles with Captain Red on the Rags Morales-drawn cover of Turok #15 (Oct. 1994). (bottom) From inside the issue, the showdown. Story by Tim Truman, art by Howard Simpson and Randy Elliott. Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

“In my stories there are references to the Great Spirit and vision quest, things like that. I’d been reading about things like that all my life since I grew up in South Dakota. I had some Indian friends. They were just regular people like you and me, they just happened to be Indian. Most of what I learned about Native Americans was through reading. You’ve got to be careful about the reading because most of it is like a hagiography. It’s worshipful and filled with old phrasing from the 19th Century. ‘Lo, the noble red man.’ It’s a satire of the press treating Indians like these sanctified creatures. Which they’re not. They’re just regular human beings like you or me. Some are better, some are worse, but it’s a fascinating culture and the more you read, the more you want to read.” Mike Baron further explains his unique storylines in the arc for BACK ISSUE: “Chinatown gangsters are now practically a cliché. At the time it occurred to me because the Chinese are crazy for rare animal parts. It’s not a good thing. They think rhino horns will make them virile and all this other crap, so it’s driving the poaching market in Africa and destroying endangered species.” Baron would return with more scripting later, but following this segment of the series, Tim Truman returned as both cover artist and writer on issue #13 (Aug. 1994) and introduced Captain Red, a pirate who is gradually becoming a cyborg who finds himself in the Lost Land in a very similar fashion to the roots of Turok, by exploring a cave. Another change in the creative team occurs with the next issue when Howard Simpson takes over as interior penciler, and by issue #17 is also penciling cover art. Rags Morales offers his theory as mike baron to the round-robin art duties on the series: Facebook. “I was really slow. That was it. ‘Rags can’t get it in this month, so let’s get Howard Simpson to jump in.’ Altogether, I think I did 15 issues.”

SIMPSON’S CLIFF NOTES

For his part, Howard Simpson felt he was in the right place at the right time to jump aboard: “Rags was getting another book, so that’s why Turok was open. I think I was just finishing up my time on Harbinger because I’d just done Harbinger #25 (Jan. 1994) and they wanted to start with a new team, because that was a good point to make the change as the storyline was going in a different direction. It was a good point for me to jump off, and it just so happened that Turok was available.” Howard describes to BACK ISSUE his approach to this unique new environment and the notion that it was a new experience for him: “This was something that didn’t have any superheroes in it. Turok’s not really a superhero. There are no costumes involved or anything like that. It was very different in that respect. So, I approached it differently, also. I tried to give it more of a street-level look and I used a lot of shadows in it when I was approaching the drawing as a way to make it more street level rather than superhero level. “I was familiar with the character from Gold Key. I never bought any of the Gold Key books because they had painted covers that didn’t look like comics to me, and then when I opened them up, a lot of the times the art wasn’t really all that good on the inside. That never really appealed to me. But I did do research because I wanted to understand the culture that Turok was from, and so I researched the Kiowa tribe that he was a part of and I found out a lot of things. I tried to throw some in there that the audience wouldn’t necessarily see unless they were tuned in. For example, I learned that a rabbit was a sign of some kind of superstition and I threw a white rabbit in there in one of the stories to foreshadow that something bad was going to happen. So, I did different things. The feathers had different meanings, depending on how many feathers were in his hair. That signified different things. So, yes, I did a lot of research to try and made it authentic to Turok’s culture, as 68 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

‘War Party’ Detail from the dynamic cover to Turok #17 (Nov. 1994). Pencils by Howard Simpson, inks by Randy Elliott, colors by Bill Dunn. Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

much as possible. When you’re not familiar with another culture, at least for somebody who is conscientious as a creator, you don’t want to go in and just start making stuff up. Plus, it will appeal to the people who do know. That you did the research.” With regard to challenges drawing the stories, Howard offers that he didn’t feel like dinosaurs were his forte: “I drew the worst dinosaurs because I really didn’t have a chance to prepare, so they are very inconsistent. My dinosaurs are really, really lame. I tried to get better as I went along, but once again, with research, it’s hard to do the research every month with something that doesn’t exist anymore. All we have is the bones, so it’s hard to figure out how dinosaurs move and bend. Something I probably should have done was to watch some Discovery or History Channel shows about dinosaurs so I could see how they moved because that would have helped me with my drawing, because I wasn’t drawing just Jurassic Park dinosaurs, so that wasn’t really helpful. I needed to know about the dinosaurs I was drawing for those particular issues. There were always different types. I think there was only one issue where we drew something similar to velociraptors, but otherwise it was more run of the mill dinosaurs. I wanted to be authentic. Also, I got voted worst dinosaur artist on a Valiant fan site.” Simpson was appreciative of working with the other creative members of the Turok team, with particular praise for the manyhatted Tim Truman as editor, scripter, and artist. “Tim was doing a great job,” Howard says. “It was definitely good working with him, and he did research with the Gold Key stuff. Once I took over art chores on the book, I dug back into the archives to look at it, so I tried to match what had gone before, but updated. Like the tribe was in jail, I can’t remember the storyline, but I wanted to see what the original look was like. But in this case, I only drew the stories. I got the plot or script and just drew them. Tim gave me plots. One difference with Mike [Baron] was that he gave me rough sketches of howard simpson the page layout with words on them, and he allowed me to have some input on that. [Valiant writer] Tony [Bedard] just gave me a full script, so there wasn’t a lot of input there. It wasn’t like with other writers I previously worked with, where I’d talk to them beforehand to come up with Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 69

Zero Hour Courtesy of Tim Truman, a scan of Rags Morales’ original art to page 15 of Turok #0 (Nov. 1995). This zero issue was released between Turok #32 and 33. Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

stuff, or I would have some input after getting the plot. There are many opportunities for input with plots, but there is not as much when you get a full script. “When drawing any story, I try to do what Disney calls ‘plus it.’ If people are watching what’s going on in the background, they’ll see some fun stuff. For instance, there’s a scene in Turok #15 (Oct. 1994) where he is at a shopping mall and an earlier issue at a carnival or a fair, and I put Barney dinosaurs in whenever I could. And when he is in the shopping mall, Turok has an ax, chasing a pirate, and it shows a beheaded Barney dinosaur next to him, so little fun things like that.” Howard Simpson also offers his take on what makes Turok a unique character and his approach on taking on an existing series: “Turok is unique because he’s Native American and also because there are dinosaurs present. That’s an anachronism because he went to their era, where humans didn’t exist at all. So, that was a very unique thing to do, with the Gold Key issues. With Valiant, they flipped it to where the dinosaurs were coming into his current period.

“Whenever I’m taking over a book from another artist, I look at what they were doing so I can kind of match the style. I always hated when there was this abrupt change, and I took over on Turok in the middle of a storyline. I always felt terrible as a reader when an artistic change happened. As a creator, I want to make the change as smooth as possible and not just come in with my style. So, I tried to make a bridge between what Rags was doing and what I do, so that it wasn’t as abrupt, so you might see that I’m doing a little Rags in there, and then I slowly switched to my style as we got further away from that storyline. I try to be sensitive to readers in that respect. “One final anecdote. I was drawing Turok #20 (Feb. 1995), and there is a scene where he is in a jeep, and it had to fall off a cliff. I really agonized with that scene. I thought, ‘Okay, if I made the cliff too high, people will wonder how he survived the fall, and if I make it too short, there’s no drama.’ As a storyteller, I have to figure out how to deal with that because I don’t want the reader to be brought out of the story. “So, I figured, here’s what I’ll do. I’ll show the top of the cliff, and I’ll never show the whole cliff. I’ll show the fall in between, and then I’ll show the end. Looking at the sequence, you see those things broken up into a beginning, a middle, and an end. “One of the guys at Valiant, Maurice [Fontenot], a writer on Harbinger that I worked with, said, ‘Man, why did you make them fall for so long?’ What I played into was precisely what the readers do in-between panels. The readers fill in the time. So, I made the panels so that they worked that way. The reader is looking at the panels and will make the time that the jeep falls as long or short as they wanted it to be because I created a page layout that invited them to do that. It was very gratifying to know that sequence worked precisely as I intended.”

THE GENERATION GAP

Turok continues to roll along with many different creators coming and going when, right after issue #32, a special issue #0 was produced with a publication date of November 1995 sporting a Rags Morales wraparound cover and interior artwork, with Tim Truman scripting. The cover blurb seems to indicate something of a reboot or reintroduction with “This is the beginning of… Turok, Dinosaur Hunter.” The story features Turok interacting with Andar, but this is not the Andar we know. He is actually the grandson of the original Andar, and it serves as a classic generation-gap scenario, with Turok, well-versed in the ancient ways, and this upstart Native, on the KiowaApache reservation in the Southwestern United States. Turok goes into an extended flashback sequence, describing how life was in his time and how he and the original Andar became close and eventually ended up in the Lost Valley. He further recounts how Andar grew to manhood, took a wife, and they parted ways while Turok continued to seek the passageway home. Along the way, many adventures occurred and there are cameo appearances by Magnus Robot Fighter and Erica Pierce, the Mothergod, whose self-proclaimed mission was to unite the tribes she’d collected for the Lost Land. Further encounters with Archer and Armstrong, Doctor Solar, and X-O Manowar are touched upon prior to the time of the great flash, when the various people were transported back to their own times and places, but Turok ended up in the present day. Turok tells “Andy” that while he longs to return to his own place, he is a man out of time, handily setting the stage for future adventures. 70 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

Rags Morales shares the backstory to his dedication Rags Morales also shares his thoughts on what in this issue to George Poolaw, Sr. of the Kiowa makes Turok a unique and enduring character: Nation: “Yeah, we had some Kiowa help us out. They “He was a leader. It’s easy to be a leader in an certainly helped me out. They were just very helpful environment that you’re used to. We’ve all had in fleshing things out. It’s all part and parcel with the dads who were leaders in families and women who research. Because with me, I have to build it right. If were mothers in families. A template to follow, but I’m working on a particular title that doesn’t if you have to find a new way to survive in have character sheets, I will stop the project an environment that is completely foreign just so I can get character sheets done to you while still maintaining a sense of and to do the research. I’ve even gone yourself, it’s challenging. It’s the old as far as doing blueprints of a house ‘playing off opposites.’ The internal so I know where a particular door is struggle and the external struggle. located in relationship to the stairs Putting somebody in an environand to specific windows. When I ment that is the complete antithesis turn the camera around, then I know of the character that they are. where I am and it’s consistent. That’s Knowing that is always going to very important to me. make something interesting. “Talking to the Kiowa Nation, “Back in art school it was the they really saved me a lot of grief. rule of opposites. You cannot name, Why are the moccasins the way they not once, a story, a sitcom, a movie mike grell are, for example? Like that little flap where the main characters weren’t at the back that was half as long as diametrically opposite of each other. the moccasins was designed to cover your tracks. That’s just part and parcel of storytelling. That’s part So, all these things become very important. How does of the drama. Pitting someone against his own a loincloth work? We even did a ‘Hey, kids’ thing devices. It’s not just the internal battle… it’s the on that and Bob [Layton] liked it, so we ran with it. external one. You draw interest that way. Turok was ‘Hey, kids. Draw Turok. This is how you do a loincloth.’ probably the most connected I ever felt, artistically. Anyway, those guys were great. Good people. We If someone else gets that [publishing] license, I’d really enjoyed them.” definitely do it again.”

Longbow Hunter Writer Mike Grell’s two-part story “The White Goddess” appeared in Turok #34 (Nov. 1995; cover by Rags Morales) and 35 (Dec. 1995, cover by Leo Liebelman). Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

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As 1995 came to a close, a two-part standalone story scripted by Mike Grell and titled “The White Goddess” was published in Turok #34 and 35. Then, in the spring of 1996, Grell was back with another two-part story appropriately titled “Son of Stone.” Once again it was a standalone. Mike Grell shares a few thoughts with BACK ISSUE on his contributions to the series and why he appreciates Turok: “My focus in general was to tell stories from the past. From before he went into the land of the dinosaurs. I was able to draw on my lifelong interest in Native-American culture. You owe it not just to your readers, but the culture that you’re portraying to be as accurate as possible and to do so without pandering and without impressing too much of your culture on it. “I think the uniqueness of the character is probably what is the most striking. You have a Native-American character that is unabashedly North American Indian. That’s all there is to it. This is who and what he is, and you take him and put him into a completely unique situation where he’s not just a modern-day man who is cast into the distant past, in and of his own right, he is a cultured savage. He is a person who knows how to live off the land, so he’s not in real bad shape at first, but he’s got to deal with dinosaurs, for God’s sake. “No matter how skilled you are, how talented you are, when a giant lizard is chasing you through the jungle, that’s got to put a crimp in your whole day,” Grell comments. “As a kid, I wanted to be an Indian so badly. It just always had a strong appeal to me. The idea of a culture that understood what it was like to live in harmony with nature. With Turok, you get that interesting comparison where all of a sudden, he’s living in a world where nature really is not interested in living in harmony with him. I suppose in some fashion it’s a bit like Tarzan. You’ve got the guy who is armed with relatively primitive weapons facing incredible odds.” The final three issues of the series wrapped up in the summer of 1996 and Tim Truman was once again at the helm with scripting duties. The multi-talented creator shares a few thoughts about what it was like to have others do the artistic interpretations of his stories: “By that point in my career, I’d written

Gulacy Gets a Grip Promo poster from 1995 touting Turok’s new artist. Signed by Paul Gulacy. Courtesy of Dave Lemieux. Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

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stories for other people pretty regularly in published books, so it wasn’t really that big of a leap. Not only had I been writing my own stuff, but I’d also written stories for other artists for First and Eclipse. “Occasionally, an artist wouldn’t see things as I’d envisioned them myself, as far as composition or the panel-to-panel stuff, but I don’t think it was too big a hurdle. “I have to say, working with Paul Gulacy was a dream for me. Paul and I would get on the phone and shoot some ideas past each other. He basically co-plotted the issues I did with him. My entire approach was to establish Turok as this time-lost person. He wasn’t from this time, couldn’t get back home and had a whole different concept of the world. I brought in Andy to sort of offset that… establishing Andy as a very modern Native and having them react to each other. As is sadly the case in real life, Andy has no knowledge of his tribal language, history, or traditions. “I also particularly enjoyed working with Rags Morales. We were just really in synch on everything. I admire his artwork so much. When his new pages would come in, they were just such a joy to look at. It was always really exciting.” Truman puts a great deal of thought and effort into his work on the series and elaborates for BACK ISSUE: “One of the things I wanted to do with Turok was to nail him down to a more specific tribe. For years, our entertainment industry fostered this concept that Native people are all part of just one big, single tribe. They all wear feathers, have the same traditions, and worship the ‘Great Spirit’ or whatever. So, when I’ve done stories featuring indigenous characters, I’ve tried to align characters to a specific culture because the cultures of the various tribes are so different. One tribe will be as different from the other as, say, Polish people are from Spanish people. I think it’s really important. That’s one thing I’m always very aware of, and I tried to pass along any information like that onto the artists I’d work with. I think some of it comes from being Appalachian. I’ve just seen so many bad portrayals of Appalachian ‘hillbillies’ over the years, so I’m sure it’s sort of a reflection of that. It tends to make you a little more culturally sensitive.” Truman also shares his perspective on what makes Turok a special character: “I think in part due to the fact that it’s probably the longestrunning comic featuring a Native-American primary character. That’s pretty cool. As a writer, that was kind of tough to live up to, bringing my own sensibilities and sensitivities to doing that character. “The original Gold Key comics were remarkably unique for their time. In the stories, Turok never had to deal with any

paul gulacy

Clap for the Wolf, Man Original Paul Gulacy artwork to an unpublished version of the cover of Valiant’s Turok #39 (Feb. 1996). Courtesy of Dave Lemieux. (inset) The published cover. Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

Europeans. It was all set in the Lost Land and they were their own men. He and Andar weren’t particularly super-heroic and sometimes they got pretty scared! They were dealing with this strange environment, using their skills and their intelligence to work their way out of different situations.”

TUROK RETURNS… AGAIN

By the spring of 1997, Turok was back, but totally revamped and under the Acclaim imprint. The stories were in a contemporary setting, based in Oklahoma and following two college friends, Joshua Fireseed and Barry Hackowitz. Josh soon learns of his connection to Turok and where he fits into things when he visits with his dying uncle Carl, who had recently been battling it out with Dinosoids. Carl explains that for 17 years he had borne the mantle of Turok, the Son of Stone and protector of Earth, and now it must pass to his male heir, nephew Josh. He learns of the spatial rift that caused the dinosaurs to be drawn into “…this strange nexus; this intergalactic interdimensional multi-temporal sewer drain of the universe known as the Lost Land.” His ancestor was drawn into the Lost Land by the Timefire, a form of spatial energy. After finally escaping, he inadvertently created a pathway for the evolved dinosaurs, the

dinosoids, to find their way to Earth. Thus, the Fireseed family has had the responsibility ever after to deal with this threat to the world and to serve as Turok, the Son of Stone. Josh is presented with a satchel that appears to be empty, but when he needs help the most, Josh is able to reach in for the tools of the trade to deal with the dinisoids, many of which live among them, camouflaged as regular human beings. This sets Josh up for multiple adventures throughout the series, learning to become Turok, dealing with the seemingly endless dinosoid threats and all while trying to navigate the treacherous waters of adolescence and college life. Additionally, Josh Fireseed often encounters other Turoks from different time periods, past and future, as he continues to learn to contain the threats posed by the dinosoids. Editor and writer Fabian Nicieza enlightens BACK ISSUE about his efforts on this new Turok series, which was published on a quarterly basis beginning in April of 1997: “I was editor-in-chief and I got to hand out the assignments, and the president of the company wanted me to write more than one book. Troublemakers was my monthly title, but by creating the quarterly one-shots like Turok, Eternal Warriors, and Solar, I was able to do the work on Turok on schedule without having it interfere with my ‘chiefing’ duties.” Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 73

Fabian drew inspiration for this major overhaul from several sources: “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Jurassic Park (the book) and John Carter and any other SF/fantasy/ barbarian adventure I’d read growing up. I wanted to be respectful of the original Turok, and Valiant’s series, while still being completely its own new thing.” With regard to the quarterly publication schedule, Nicieza saw it as both a positive and a negative: “It allowed me to work on the book, but it prevented us from the same kind of story flow a monthly allows. Ultimately, I was really happy with the Turok ‘one-shots.’ So, I guess the quarterly format didn’t hurt my view of the results.” The schedule also aided in keeping a shifting timeline, which included a lot of time travel, cohesive. “I think the benefit of a quarterly schedule gave me time between issues to try and keep things straight. I also had a hand-written timeline chart with all the Turoks and the time they served written down in the chronology.” When it came to artistic interpretation, Nicieza has accolades a-plenty: “Pleased isn’t nearly the right word. Ecstatic? Enthralled? Undeservedly blessed? Rafael Kayanan was, is, and always will be a phenomenal artist with one of the most gifted design sensibilities I have ever had the privilege to work with.” Fabian Nicieza concluded his recollections for BACK ISSUE with reflections on writing youthful characters and some of the special storytelling fabian nicieza elements he incorporated © Luigi Novi / into the series: “I’d classify Wikimedia Commons. Turok as science fiction, adventure, buddy romp, coming of age, fantasy, and horror. The fact that it busted so many genres was one of the pleasures I took from it. “Coming off the enjoyment I had writing [Marvel Comics’] New Warriors and understanding Troublemakers was a different look at much younger heroes, I wanted to keep writing about teens on the cusp of young adulthood, so Joshua fit that bill. I think it’s a great age to write about, since it’s filled with desperate longing to be taken seriously, make the right choices, hone the right set of beliefs, but it’s also a time lacking in experience and nuance. “I think the beauty of the mantle aspect is that it affords a tremendously rich tapestry to work with. There are many thousands of stories that could have been told with the setup we had for Acclaim’s Turok.” Turok is, by definition, a survivor. With over six decades of dealing with the most savage of environments, to include later runs in Dark Horse and Dynamite Comics, we’ll doubtless continue to thrill to the adventures of the Son of Stone.

Another Turok Comeback Promotional artwork by Rafael Kayanan for Turok’s 1996 revival. Courtesy of Heritage. Turok is ® and © Random House, Inc.

BRYAN STROUD is a longtime fan of DC Comics, particularly the Silver and Bronze Ages, and has had the opportunity to interview many of the creators from that era, which can be found at www.NerdTeam30.com. He is a frequent contributor to BACK ISSUE magazine, and owns a comic-book spinner rack that reminds him of his boyhood.

74 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

New book by MICHAEL EURY, editor of

HERO-A-GO-GO!

Welcome to the CAMP AGE, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, good guys beat bad guys with a pun and a punch, and Batman shook a mean cape. HERO-A-GO-GO celebrates the camp craze of the Swinging Sixties, when just about everyone—the teens of Riverdale, an ant and a squirrel, even the President of the United States—was a super-hero or a secret agent. BACK ISSUE magazine and former DC Comics editor MICHAEL EURY takes you through that coolest cultural phenomenon with this all-new collection of nostalgic essays, histories, and theme song lyrics of classic 1960s characters like CAPTAIN ACTION, HERBIE THE FAT FURY, CAPTAIN NICE, ATOM ANT, SCOOTER, ACG’s NEMESIS, DELL’S SUPER-FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA, the “Split!” CAPTAIN MARVEL, and others! Featuring interviews with BILL MUMY (Lost in Space), BOB HOLIDAY (It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman), RALPH BAKSHI (The Mighty Heroes, SpiderMan), DEAN TORRENCE (Jan and Dean Meet Batman), RAMONA FRADON (Metamorpho), DICK DeBARTOLO (Captain Klutz), TONY TALLARICO (The Great Society Comic Book), VINCE GARGIULO (Palisades Park historian), JOE SINNOTT (The Beatles comic book), JOSE DELBO (The Monkees comic book), and many more!

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

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

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DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

The photo identified as “Joe Gill” on page 27 of the latest BACK ISSUE [#138, Classic Heroes issue] is actually one of George Wildman. He is holding the wooden Charlton Comics logo he made by hand in the early 1970s. He, Nick Cuti, and others would use that logo at convention appearances. His son Karl said George cut and shaped it in a high school woodshop at night and painted it in his home studio. That photo was likely during the video session for the unfinished Charlton documentary. Sadly, George died not long after that. – Donnie Pitchford Lum and Abner cartoonist Tom Powers (BI #138) makes an all-too-common mistake when he refers to apartheid in South Africa first coming to “the world’s” attention in 1988, when what he really means is America’s attention. The United Kingdom, African nations, and other countries with links to the UK were well aware of the dreadful system of minority rule in South Africa long before 1988. Here in Britain, we had experienced countless demonstrations against the apartheid regime—I went on one or two myself— as well as any number of sporting boycotts and disruptions going back to the 1960s. It should be remembered that 29 countries—mostly African— boycotted the 1976 Olympics after the New Zealand rugby team toured South Africa in defiance of a UN embargo. The 1986 Commonwealth Games lost more than 30 countries for a not dissimilar reason. My parents refused to buy any goods from South Africa following the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, and no produce from that country was allowed into our home. Exotic South African fruit might have been cheaper, but my mother always insisted on reading the labels, and never wavered in her commitment. It made me incredibly proud to share this when I gave a reading at my mother’s, and later my father’s, funeral. – Simon Bullivant Thank you, Donnie and Simon, for the information.

BI TRIPLE ACTION

Re: BI #136: America’s Greatest Comic Weekly: I discovered the Menomonee Falls Gazette after the fact. I had never read any of the Superman or Batman

strips before. I’m not sure if I already knew there was a James Bond comic strip before seeing it in there. I know for a fact that I never knew there was a Ben Casey strip by Neal Adams! We came pretty close to getting that collected recently, but that was supposedly scuppered by collectors who had original art, but were unwilling to loan the art for use in reprinting the strip. Spider-Man: The Amazing Newspaper Strip: Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel character, but I could never get into the strip. The World’s Greatest Superheroes: One of the few strips I was able to get on the ground floor of, but once the NY Daily News stopped carrying it, that was that! I was once hopeful that IDW would get around to collecting it one day but, now that they’ve stopped reprinting the Superman daily strips just short of the “Atomic Age,” I doubt they’ll collect this series. It was great to see some unused Sunday art. The Star Trek newspaper comic strip: I have the second volume of the collected version. The art was hit or miss. BI #137: Green Arrow: I really enjoyed that miniseries. Mike W. Barr and Trevor Von Eeden made a great team! I definitely would’ve preferred a second mini from these creators versus The Longbow Hunters and the regular series that followed after. I’ll take trick arrows over regular arrows any day of the week, and the less said about the rape of Dinah (Black Canary) Drake Lance, the better. America vs. the JSA: I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more if not for the musical pencilers. The Legend of Wonder Woman: I liked the idea of this when it came out, a mini series done in the H. G. Peter art style, though I remember it being better executed artwise than it actually was. Looking at the art reproduced in the article shows how clumsy some of the art is, in my opinion. One of the cool things about buying these minis when they came out is that I don’t have to worry whether they’re collected in trade paperback or hardcover form. BI #138: Where Was That Masked Man? (The Lone Ranger): I didn’t expect that article to dip briefly into the Lone Ranger’s Golden Age comics exploits. That was a nice surprise! You can count me as one of the few that enjoyed the “disastrous” movie reboot. I’m sorry that Dynamite was unable to collect the complete collection of Bates and Heath’s comic-strip version as, after reading the single issue Greg Theakston released, their version is far superior to Dynamite’s version, where Tonto is older than the Lone Ranger. Having said that, the Dynamite LR is certainly more palatable than Lansdale and Truman’s revisionist take on the masked rider of the plains. Talk about epic fail! Popeye in the Bronze Age: I never got any of the Charlton Popeye comics, but I do remember watching Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter way back in 1972. I’ll have to give that a re-watch on YouTube. DC’s Flash Gordon: A 41-year-old former basketball player and deadbeat dad? A far cry from the young polo player of the strips or the quarterback of the film. I gave it a hard pass, but who knew all the drama that King Features was causing behind the scenes? Zorro In the Bronze Age: I really enjoyed the Don McGregor/Mike Mayhew Topps series! Lady Rawhide (left) was a fringe benefit. I never saw the McGregor/Yates comic strip, as it wasn’t carried in NYC. I wonder if that strip will ever get collected? – Delmo (The Saint) Walters, Jr.

TM & © ZPI.

76 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

FROM DC MINIS TO CLASSIC HEROES

Good afternoon, Michael. Being that issues #137 and 138 arrived two weeks apart, I would like to comment on the both of them. Let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed the DC Bronze Age Miniseries issue (#137). Although I purchased quite a few of the Marvel mini/maxiseries such as Wolverine, Contest of Champions, Secret Wars, Kitty Pryde and Wolverine, Magik, etc., I kind of bought them because Marvel was cool at that time. They were flooding the market and people complained about the lack of quality in Secret Wars and other such titles, but Marvel laughed all the way to the bank. I never really enjoyed the Marvel miniseries, as I was a DC guy. I grew up with the George Reeves Superman and Adam West Batman reruns of the mid to late ’70s, and the Christopher Reeve Superman and Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman. Spider-Man was the tall, lanky guy who never spoke a word and appeared on The Electric Company and swung around endlessly past the same buildings again and again on the cartoons. I was very excited to read The Untold Legend of the Batman (before even knowing that John Byrne was a fan favorite), World of Krypton and Krypton Chronicles, and enjoyed Curt Swan’s Superman. I also enjoyed both Nathaniel Dusk miniseries. Masters of the Universe, not so much. I found the Phantom Zone miniseries (not covered in this issue) a bit disturbing as a kid, but it was epic in a way that Superman II wasn’t. It focused on how the Phantom Zoners dealt with the rest of the JLA, and not just Superman and Supergirl while trying to destroy Earth. Gene Colan’s rendition of Superman was also quite a departure from Curt Swan’s or José Luis García-López’s version. I very much enjoyed the Green Arrow miniseries, and believe that at the time GA had the backup story running in Detective Comics, being drawn by the great Star Trek cover artist Jerome Moore, not mentioned in the coverage. I too am quite surprised that DC hasn’t reprinted it in the wake of television’s Arrow and other Arrowverse shows. I was never a big Legion fan at the time, but I do remember Legionnaires 3 and enjoying it. Great coverage on that. It’s funny, but the thing I remember most about the DC miniseries of the time— Conqueror of the Barren Earth, Jonni Thunder, Superman: The Secret Years, and even the first issue or two of Crisis on Infinite Earths—was the horrible printing that DC was experimenting with at the time. The colors appeared garish and there were purple splotches on every few pages. It really marred the enjoyment of those books. I also remember The Legend of Wonder Woman and being quite disappointed. To me it read like a Super Friends comic. I couldn’t understand why [the characters] looked so cartoony with very simplistic backgrounds. It was a far departure from Don Heck or Gene Colan, who were drawing Wonder Woman at the time. It was only much later did I realize that they were trying to emulate the Golden Age style. By that time, I no longer had the series. I enjoyed the Robotech and Barren Earth coverage as well. Overall, an excellent issue. But it was BI #138 that really excited me. I have been clamoring for years about the classic heroes such as the Lone Ranger, Zorro, and Dan Jurgens’ Flash Gordon. I was so excited that I downloaded and printed out the issue as soon as the link for the digital copy became available. You did not disappoint. My first experience with television’s The Lone Ranger (similar to writer Dan Johnson’s experience) was from WPIX Channel 11 in New York, where the Clayton Moore series was sandwiched in between Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves and the Adam West Batman. It was the mini comic that was packaged into

the Gabriel Lone Ranger action figure series (pictured in the article) that introduced me to the Ranger in the comics. Each miniadventure (probably a reprint) containing the origin or an adventure illustrated by Tom Gill. (I wish this would have been mentioned in the article.) Eventually I came across one of the last issues published by Gold Key in the late ’70s. As a 12-year-old, I was totally oblivious to the Clayton Moore controversy when the movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger came out. I thoroughly enjoyed it, along with the Sam Jones Flash Gordon movie that came out at around the same time. The worst depiction of the Ranger was actually the WB pilot that came out during the ’90s. They may as well have created a new character with a different name. I actually found the Johnny Depp Lone Ranger movie entertaining… it’s just that it wasn’t the Lone Ranger. As far as the Topps comics are concerned, distribution was very spotty in my neighborhood as I was only able to get the first three issues off the newsstand. I was a bit disturbed by the weirdness of it and found the script captions hard to read, but I loved the art by Timothy Truman and appreciated that writer Joe E. Lansdale and Truman were trying to do something different. The second series of Lone Ranger from Dynamite entertainment I found to be truly excellent. I didn’t fully appreciate the Topps Zorro series, as I was never fully aware of the character and only vaguely remembered the Disney series. I kind of felt that he was a guest-star in his own series. The coverage was excellent. Lady Rawhide definitely stole the show and eclipsed Zorro as well, as did some of the other villains appearing in the series. The Matt Wagner series from Dynamite was truly excellent, going the route of Batman Begins. My only familiarity with Flash Gordon was from the movie, and Dan Jurgens’ series was not a radical departure from it. Thank you for covering this almost-forgotten series. I also enjoyed the Son of Tomahawk article, being totally unaware of the history. I had seen some issues reprinted in some of the DC “Best of” series, but not Son of Tomahawk. It’s a shame that some of these classics have never been reprinted in their entirety, such as Bat Lash, Scalphunter, Blackhawk, and others. In conclusion, I would like to express my appreciation for covering the comics we grew up with or saw advertised at the time, a time when heroes were heroes and behaved like people we could emulate and look up to. We didn’t need to know that they had affairs with other married heroes (Black Canary and the Golden Age Starman), or updated to be abhorrent, foul-mouthed characters (Chaykin’s Blackhawk), or the necessity of having Batman utter the “F bomb” on screen (although I was totally okay with Superman both in the comics and on screen killing Zod to prevent him from killing innocent people instead of allowing him to murder another day). Thank you for producing an excellent publication. Looking forward to next issue. – Yaakov Gerber You’re welcome, Yaakov! And coming from you, the reader who so passionately lobbied ye ed for Lone Ranger and Zorro coverage in BACK ISSUE, your approval means a lot. You’re probably aware that a few of the DC miniseries you mentioned that TM & © DC Comics. were not featured in BI #137 appeared in earlier issues—examples include Untold Legend of the Batman (BI #50), The Phantom Zone (BI #109), and, outside of minis, the Green Arrow backups (BI #64). And the original Bat Lash series, delectably delineated by the amazing Nick Cardy, was reprinted in its entirety—in black and white—some years back in DC’s Showcase Presents trade paperback series. Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 77

BUCK AND FLASH, MOVIE SERIAL ‘TWINS’

Michael, I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy BACK ISSUE, and BI #138, the “Classic Heroes” Issue, is no exception. Ed Lute’s article on Flash Gordon’s Gold Key/Whitman years was very informative, and I appreciated his recap of the character’s origins. I had no idea that Flash Gordon was created after a failure to secure the rights to Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars character. I was a ’70s kid, so I missed the theatrical showings of these films, but discovered them, as most of my peers did, on TV. WBTV in Charlotte had a late-night show on Friday nights called Reelin’ in the Years [Those Were the Years] in the mid-1970s. They played classic TV shows and movie serials, and ran chapters of Flash Gordon, Captain Marvel, and Captain America serials, alongside TV shows like Boston Blackie and Peter Gunn. As an eight- to ten-yearold, it was a struggle to stay up in those pre-VCR years, but it was worth it to see early action cinema. Later, I grabbed the Whitman and Gold Key Flash Gordon comics when they appeared on my local drug store racks. The painted covers really drew readers in. I always wondered about the relationship between Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, and who came first. It was interesting to learn in the article that Buck was first in the newspaper strips, but Flash beat him to the silver screen. As a child, I didn’t understand why they looked like twins in the old serials. Buster Crabbe, who also played Tarzan in an early serial, looked like Alex Raymond’s art as Flash and brought life to both Buck and Flash for many years. I never read the 1980s version of Flash Gordon from DC. It seems to me that efforts to update and modernize classic heroes for today’s audiences (Doc Savage, The Shadow, Flash Gordon, The Phantom, The Spider, etc.) often fail to find much of an audience and don’t last long. Comics publishers like Dynamite, who present new stories based in the original time periods of the characters, are seeing ongoing success with them. BACK ISSUE continues to inform and entertain fans of the Bronze Age and beyond! – Kevin M. Holden SGT, United States Army (Retired) Thank you for supporting our mag, Sgt. Holden. And as someone who also grew up watching the Charlotte TV market, I also stayed up late on Fridays to watch those oldies, hosted by Mike McKay, on WBTV. (My brother and I got a kick out of Dick Purcell’s rather fleshy portrayal of Captain America; see below.) Readers interested in learning more about the superhero serials of the 1940s are directed to writer Christopher Irving’s new book from TwoMorrows, Cliffhanger!, which goes on sale in a few weeks.

BRIDWELL BOOSTER

I really enjoyed issue #138. I especially enjoyed the Lone Ranger article with special emphasis on the Joe R. Lansdale/Timothy Truman version. I loved those Topps comics and I’m especially happy that they turned me on to Joe R. Lansdale the novelist (howdy, Hap and Leonard!). Those were beautiful comic books, with a generous dollop of weirdness that struck a chord with me. I somehow missed the ’80s version of Flash Gordon done by Dan Jurgens. I will be haunting back-issue boxes looking for this. Dan can do no wrong in my book. The Zorro article with all the beautiful Alex Toth artwork was a treat. I never was a Zorro fan, but this wonderfully written article has piqued my interest in the character. I’ve also noticed that the last few BI issues have been light on letters. I don’t know if this is due to so much content having to shrink the letters column or if there hasn’t been as many letters of late. I hope it’s the former, as I would hate to see the letters column go away. It’s bad enough that they’re gone in comic books; I would hate to see them go away from BI. A note on issue #137, if I may. Through all my years of comic reading (along with BI, Alter Ego, and comic-related books), I’ve always been intrigued with E. Nelson Bridwell. He also seemed, to me, to come across as a gentle uncle with a ton of knowledge (both comic-wise and on other subjects). It was with a bit of outrage on my part to see in the sidebar that Paul Kupperberg wrote saying that Bridwell “...was the target of a lot of bullying and mockery, behind his back and to his face.” I felt like someone I knew and liked had been insulted in front of me. I’d really like BI to do an article about E. Nelson and let us fans know what he was really like. I’ve always assumed he is an unsung hero in the comics field. – Jeff Mitchell Jeff, as I’ve stated previously in our pages (particularly in BI #81), Nelson Bridwell’s vast knowledge of comics history and his DC text pages—along with the reprints he curated for the publisher— jumpstarted my interest in learning about the stories behind the stories in this medium. A previously unpublished interview with ENB (along with DC’s Ed Eisenberg and Carmine Infantino), conducted by Shel Dorf, will appear in a future edition of this magazine. And yes, our “mailbag” hasn’t been bursting lately, although surprisingly #138’s Classic Heroes theme—which ye ed feared might not be embraced by our largely mainstream superhero readership—generated some unexpected and appreciated buzz. Keep on truckin’, baby, and keep on writin’ to BACK ISSUE!

TREASURES IN THE CLASSIC HEROES ISH

Quite a few unexpected and pleasant surprises; one after another. First, in your Lone Ranger coverage, several pieces of prime Gil Kane art I don’t recall ever seeing. That Aurora Plastics full-pager was terrific! All the better as Gil both penciled and inked it. Yes, but for licensing restrictions, it would have made a spectacular cover. Here, however, as an interior page, it Captain America TM & © Marvel.

78 • BACK ISSUE • Savage Lands Issue

I thought I’d send a comment of my own, and hopefully other readers are, too. I’ve been reading BACK ISSUE since issue #1, nearly (good grief!) 20 years ago, and have generally found it a great read in all that time. So, the Classic Heroes issue then. Some excellent articles and mentions of comics that I never knew existed, notably the Lone Ranger’s Bronze Age appearances and Popeye’s comic exploits post-Charlton. I’d also love to see Dan Jurgens and Bruce Patterson’s DC Flash Gordon series collected as well. You can’t go wrong with more Hostess-related goodies, no pun intended, as well. I’m not sure if you’ll ever be able to fit them into a themed issue or not, but I’d love to see articles on a couple of titles I’ve recently bought and loved a lot: Barbara Slate’s Angel Love from DC Comics and US1 by Al Milgrom, Herb Trimpe, Frank Springer, and other creators, which I genuinely believe is one the best, and deliberately absurd, series Marvel has ever published. Keep up the good work, and long may you run. – Matthew Jones

TM & © ZPI.

Thanks for running to our aid by writing, Matthew! Good to hear from you. And thank you for being such a loyal reader.

X-MEN GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD

wasn’t covered with a logo or other type. Plus, an additional GK story page, in all its glory, and a sample comic strip. Any of these, alone, would be cause for celebration. Next, plenty of treasures in your Zorro article. That large photo cover of Guy Williams on Four Color #920 and trading cards of that era were wonderful. It must’ve been extra cool, for kids of that era, since, unlike the beloved show, they were in color. Also enjoyed the Alex Toth interpretation of the character. His rendering and likenesses captured the charm of the show quite well. Plus, his own unique style and storytelling. Even appreciated Ruben Procopio’s rendition; especially the commission he did for Guy Williams’ son, shown in #138. As with Toth, excellent contrast of blacks and whites. The other gem was the rare photo, in the letters column, of the reader checking out the late ’71 newsstand. My only suggestion? Next time, with a snapshot that cool, print it as a full pager. Here, even with a magnifying glass, it was hard to take in all the detail and titles on the racks. I don’t see photos like that very often, so please feel free to print more. Of course, one reason may be, with comics that tempting, fans were eager to run home and read them, not malinger around the racks, with their Polaroid Swinger, taking snapshots. – Joe Frank

LIGHT ON LETTERS?

Hi, Michael! I just thought I’d send you an email about the most recent issue of BACK ISSUE I’ve read. I was inspired by you mentioning in the letters column that’d you’d only received one comment on issue #132. Spider-Man and related characters TM & © Marvel. BACK ISSUE TM & © TwoMorrows.

Long-time BACK ISSUE reader and subscriber here, first-time letter writer. Here’s an idea for a future BI article. Maybe part of a “Lost Series”-themed issue? I was a huge X-fan in the ’80s and early ’90s. Two series that were solicited (or at least referenced) by Marvel in the late(ish) ’80s but never actually materialized were a Longshot ongoing series by Ann Nocenti and Art Adams and a Phoenix (Rachel Summers) mini by Chris Claremont and Rick Leonardi. There’s some info on these floating around on the web, but I’d love to see an article on these, how they were related, and why they never happened. – Morgan Berry Morgan, those unrealized X-Men spinoffs sound like good candidates for BI’s “Greatest Stories Never Told” department. GSNTs appear infrequently, but if any of our contributing writers has the urge to tackle either or both of those X-series, they should contact ye ed to discuss. Next issue: Watch your back, Wall-Crawler… it’s our Spider-Rogues Issue! Villain histories of Dr. Octopus, Lizard, Kingpin, Spidey’s mob foes, the Jackal and Carrion, Tarantula, Puma, and Spider-Foes Only a Mother Could Love. Featuring the work of Bronze Age Spidercreators ROSS ANDRU, SAL BUSCEMA, GERRY CONWAY, TOM DeFALCO, GIL KANE, TODD McFARLANE, DAVID MICHELINIE, FRANK MILLER, KEITH POLLARD, JOHN ROMITA JR. & SR., ROGER STERN, ROY THOMAS, LEN WEIN, MARV WOLFMAN, and many more. Featuring a Spider-Man and his Rogues’ Gallery cover by DUSTY ABELL! Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in thirty! Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

Savage Lands Issue • BACK ISSUE • 79

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 AUGUST 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! NOW SHIPPING! (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! NOW SHIPPING! (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. NOW SHIPPING! (160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-119-6

TwoMorrows 2023 www.twomorrows.com • store@twomorrows.com

THE

PACIFIC COMICS COMPANION

by STEPHAN FRIEDT & JON B. COOKE

Author STEPHAN FRIEDT shares the story of the meteoric rise of the Schanes brothers’ California-based imprint PACIFIC COMICS, which published such legends as JACK KIRBY, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, STEVE DITKO, NEAL ADAMS, MIKE GRELL, BERNIE WRIGHTSON, and DAVE STEVENS. From its groundbreaking 1981 arrival in the fledgling direct sales market, to a catastrophic, precipitous fall after only four years, THE PACIFIC COMICS COMPANION reveals the inside saga, as told to Friedt by BILL AND STEVE SCHANES, DAVID SCROGGY, and many of the creators themselves. It also focuses on the titles and the amazing array of characters they introduced to an unsuspecting world, including THE ROCKETEER, CAPTAIN VICTORY, MS. MYSTIC, GROO THE WANDERER, STARSLAYER, and many more. Written with the editorial assist of Eisner Award-winning historian JON B. COOKE, this retrospective is the most comprehensive study of an essential publisher in the development of the creator’s rights movement. Main cover illustration by DAVE STEVENS. SHIPS NOVEMBER 2023!

WORKING WITH DITKO by JACK C. HARRIS

WORKING WITH DITKO takes a unique and nostalgic journey through comics’ Bronze Age, as editor and writer JACK C. HARRIS recalls his numerous collaborations with legendary comics master STEVE DITKO! It features never-before-seen preliminary sketches and pencil art from Harris’ tenure working with Ditko on THE CREEPER, SHADE THE CHANGING MAN, THE ODD MAN, THE DEMON, WONDER WOMAN, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, THE FLY, and even Ditko’s unused redesign for BATMAN! Plus, it documents their work on numerous independent properties, and offers glimpses of original characters from Ditko’s drawing board that have never been viewed by even his most avid fans! This illustrated volume is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the creative comic book process by one of the industry’s most revered creators, as seen through the eyes of one of his most frequent collaborators! SHIPS OCTOBER 2023!

(160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-121-9

(128-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $24.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-122-6

THE CHILLINGLY WEIRD ART OF

MATT FOX

by ROGER HILL

MATT FOX (1906–1988) first gained notoriety for his jarring cover paintings on the pulp magazine WEIRD TALES from 1943 to 1951. His almost primitive artistry encompassed ghouls, demons, and grotesqueries of all types, evoking a disquieting horror vibe that no one since has ever matched. Fox suffered with chronic pain throughout his life, and that anguish permeated his classic 1950s cover illustrations and his lone story for CHILLING TALES, putting them at the top of all pre-code horror comic enthusiasts’ want lists. He brought his evocative storytelling skills (and an almost BASIL WOLVERTON-esque ink line over other artists) to ATLAS/MARVEL horror comics of the 1950s and ’60s, but since Fox never gave an interview, this unique creator remained largely unheralded—until now! Comic art historian ROGER HILL finally tells Fox’s life story, through an informative biographical essay, augmented with an insightful introduction by FROM THE TOMB editor PETER NORMANTON. This FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER also showcases all of the artist’s WEIRD TALES covers and interior illustrations, and a special Atlas Comics gallery with examples of his inking over GIL KANE, LARRY LIEBER, and others. Plus, there’s a wealth of other delightfully disturbing images by this grand master of horror—many previously unpublished and reproduced from his original paintings and art—sure to make an indelible imprint on a new legion of fans. SHIPS SEPTEMBER 2023! (128-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $29.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-120-2

New from TwoMorrows!

RETROFAN #27

ALTER EGO #182

ALTER EGO #183

ALTER EGO #184

BACK ISSUE #145

An FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) special, behind a breathtaking JERRY ORDWAY cover! Features on Uncle Marvel and the Fawcett Family by P.C. HAMERLINCK, ACG artist KENNETH LANDAU (Commander Battle and The Atomic Sub), and writer LEE GOLDSMITH (Golden Age Green Lantern, Flash, and others). Plus Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt by MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more!

Golden/Silver/Bronze Age artist IRV NOVICK (Shield, Steel Sterling, Batman, The Flash, and DC war stories) is immortalized by JOHN COATES and DEWEY CASSELL. Interviews with Irv and family members, tributes by DENNY O’NEIL, MARK EVANIER, and PAUL LEVITZ, Irv’s involvement with painter ROY LICHTENSTEIN (who used Novick’s work in his paintings), Mr. Monster, FCA, and more!

Known as one of the finest inkers in comics history, the late TOM PALMER was also an accomplished penciler and painter, as you’ll see in an-depth interview with Palmer by ALEX GRAND and JIM THOMPSON. Learn his approach to, and thoughts on, working with NEAL ADAMS, GENE COLAN, JOHN BUSCEMA, and others who helped define the Marvel Universe. Plus Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, FCA, and more!

SPIDER-ROGUES ISSUE! Villain histories of Dr. Octopus, Lizard, Kingpin, Spidey’s mob foes, the Jackal and Carrion, Tarantula, Puma, plus the rehabilitation of Sandman! Featuring the work of ANDRU, SAL BUSCEMA, CONWAY, DeFALCO, GIL KANE, McFARLANE, MILLER, POLLARD, JOHN ROMITA JR. & SR., STERN, THOMAS, WEIN, WOLFMAN, and more! DUSTY ABELL cover!

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

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Aug. 2023

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Oct. 2023

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships July 2023

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.

BACK ISSUE #147

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #31 KIRBY COLLECTOR #88

BRICKJOURNAL #81

Great Hera, it’s the 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF BACK ISSUE, featuring a tribute to the late, great GEORGE PÉREZ! Wonder Woman: The George Pérez Years, Pérez’s 20 Greatest Hits of the Bronze Age, Pérez’s fanzine days, a Pérez remembrance by MARV WOLFMAN, a Wonder Woman interview with MINDY NEWELL, and more! With a stunning Wonder Woman cover by Pérez!

MEN WITHOUT FEAR, featuring Daredevil’s swinging ’70s adventures! Plus: Challengers of the Unknown in the Bronze Age, JEPH LOEB interview about his Challs and DD projects with TIM SALE, Sinestro and Mr. Fear histories, superheroes with disabilities, and... Who Is Hal Jordan? Featuring CONWAY, ENGLEHART, McKENZIE, ROZAKIS, STATON, THOMAS, WOLFMAN, & more! GENE COLAN cover!

THE COLLECTORS! Fans’ quest for and purchase of Jack’s original art and comics, MARV WOLFMAN shares his (and LEN WEIN’s) interactions with Jack as fans and pros, unseen Kirby memorabilia, an extensive Kirby pencil art gallery, MARK EVANIER moderating the 2023 Kirby Tribute Panel from Comic-Con International, plus a deluxe wrap-around Kirby cover with foldout back cover flap, inked by MIKE ROYER!

Head to the city: Ellis City by GARETH and CATHY ELLIS, New Hasima by STEFAN FORMENTATO, and Fabuland City by STEVEN LAUGHLIN! Plus a wealth of other MOCs (”My Own Creations”) are showcased, along with: Nerding Out with BRICKNERD, AFOLs by GREG HYLAND, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships August 2023

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Sept. 2023

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Summer 2023

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Fall 2023

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships August 2023

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BACK ISSUE #146