Back Issue #14

ISSUE!

FUTURE LEGION “PRO 2 PRO” WITH COCKRUM & GRELL • “ROUGH STUFF” WITH MCLEOD & FRIENDS JACK KIRBY’S KAMANDI • GARCÍA-LÓPEZ’S HERCULES • AL WILLIAMSON’S STAR WARS

T H E U LT I M AT E C O M I C S E X P E R I E N C E !

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DC COMICS

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TwoMorrows.Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. (& LEGO! ) TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

Explore the world of tomorrow in our The Ultimate Comics Experience!

Volume 1, Number 14 February 2006 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, and Today!

EDITOR Michael “Editor Boy” Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks

PRO2PRO: Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Two of the Legion of Super-Heroes’ most popular artists in their first interview together!

PRO2PRO PLUS: The Parallel Worlds of the Imperial Guard and the Legion . . .18 A comparative look at Cockrum’s LSH and Shi’ar Imperial Guard FLASHBACK: Unbound For Glory: The Epic Story of Hercules Unbound . . . .20 With commentary and/or art by Conway, Michelinie, García-López, and Simonson

PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington

BEYOND CAPES: Killraven: A Martian Iliad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 A critical analysis of Marvel’s “War of the Worlds” series, with art by Adams & Russell

COVER ARTISTS Mike Grell and Bob McLeod

BACK IN PRINT: Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel Return to MARS . . . . . .34 The genesis of the acclaimed First Comics series, with rare artwork

COVER COLORIST Tom Ziuko COVER DESIGNER John Morrow SPECIAL THANKS John Allison Kevin Stawieray Brent Anderson Alan Steele Terry Austin Daniel Tesmoingt Alan Bahr Mark Texeira Mike Burkey Roy Thomas Glen Cadigan Alex Toth Dave Cockrum Al Williamson Gerry Conway Thomas Yeates Mark Evanier Keith Giffen Grand Comic-Book Database Mike Grell Ben Herman Heritage Comics Richard Howell Tony Isabella The Jack Kirby Collector Dan Johnson Bruce Jones Jim Kingman Scott Kress Ted Latner Paul Levitz Jonathan Mankuta Don McGregor Bob McLeod Darrell McNeil David Michelinie Guy Mills Dan Mishkin Brian K. Morris Mike Napolitano Alex Niño Gene Philips Rose Rummel-Eury P. Craig Russell Walter Simonson Tom Smith

BEYOND CAPES: Marvel’s Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction . . . . . . . . . . . .39 John Allison, Bruce Jones, Alan Steele, Tony Isabella, and Roy Thomas recall this ambitious series ROUGH STUFF: Bob McLeod and Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 The artist/inker hosts a spotlight of the pencils of J. Buscema, Byrne, Jurgens, Keown, McFarlane, Miller, Romita, Jr., Sienkiewicz, Starlin, Zeck, and McLeod himself FLASHBACK: Riding into Comics’ Future: Hex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 The grim cowboy’s time trek, with Mark Texeira and Keith Giffen interviews FLASHBACK: War in Space: Goodwin and Williamson’s Star Wars Strip . . .65 The behind-the-scenes tale of one of comics’ most celebrated collaborations WAY BEYOND CAPES: Kamandi: The Last Boy at DC! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 From Kirby to Conway, a look at Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth—with unpublished art BEYOND CAPES BONUS: Planned it for the Apes: Marvel’s Ape-daptations . . . .78 Remembering Marvel’s Planet of the Apes, with Bob Larkin and Mike Ploog art COMICS ON DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 New releases of interest to the comic-book fan OFF MY CHEST: Alex Toth on Black-and-White Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 The acclaimed artist weighs in on BI #10’s article on 1970s’ B&W mags BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Reader feedback on issue #12

BACK ISSUE™ is published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614.

Michael Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 5060A Foothills Dr., Lake Oswego, OR 97034. E-mail: euryman@msn.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $36 Standard US, $54 First Class US, $66 Canada, $72 Surface International, $96 Airmail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Legion of Super-Heroes TM & © 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2006 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

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by

Schweier Philip “Interview Boy”transcribed by

5, and Conducted April 19, 200 Lad” Morris.

Brian K. “Transcription

© 2006 DC Comics.

© 2006 DC Comics.

DC’s 2004 relaunch of the Legion of Super-Heroes represents a new future for the teen super-team. Since their very first appearance in 1958 in Adventure Comics #247, the Legion has known many chapters. Leaving Adventure Comics behind in the late 1960s, they resurfaced as an occasional backup feature in Action Comics before settling into the more appropriate Superboy title.

In 1972, DC reprinted a handful of the Adventure Comics stories in the Legion’s own featured title, perhaps testing the waters. The super-team would go on to co-star in the pages of Superboy, which they eventually took over. Dave Cockrum was the artist on deck at the start of this new era for the Boy of Steel and his futuristic friends. Cockrum gave the team a significant makeover before leaving, and art chores were assumed by newcomer Mike Grell. Throughout the 1970s, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes proved to be one of DC’s bestselling titles, and both Cockrum and Grell were fundamental to that success. We caught up with Dave and Mike for a retrospective we call:

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PHILIP SCHWEIER: I guess we’ll start with the early days. For both of you, the Legion represents some of the earliest work either of you did MIKE GRELL: Dave better take that one. I will bow to seniority.

DAVE COCKRUM: Well, I did several jobs over at Warren my first year in the business, all black-and-white stuff. Then I got an apprentice job, like background inking, for Murphy Anderson and Tony DeZuniga, and it was working with Murphy that actually put

Beginnings:

for Creepy and Miscellaneous features Anderson on y rph Mu ng isti ass / Eerie as backup h suc es, tur various DC fea Superboy in g nin gin be ries sto Legion pton” backKry of d orl “W #184 (1972) / ) 72 up in Superman #248 (19

Milestones:

since I was working for Murphy, [editor] Murray Boltinoff figured

ion of SuperSuperboy starring the Leg graphic novel ns Heroes / X-Men / Futuria lsearchers Sou / s erie nis mi / Nightcrawler cs) mi Co l and Company (Claypoo

that Murphy could guarantee that I would turn in proper work.

Work in Progress:

me in a position to be able to do the Legion, because I learned a lot from him and I got the Legion assignment on the basis that

New Futurians story nearing completion, release date to be determined

Y’know, if I didn’t do it right, Murphy would fix it.

SCHWEIER: Mike, how about you?

GRELL: I got totally lucky. In my early days, of course, I worked

Cadigan.

Photo courtesy of Glen

in comics. What sort of projects led up to your days on the Legion?

Cyberspace:

with Dale Messick on the Brenda Starr comic strip, but I was trying

www.davecockrum.net (tribute site)

to peddle my own strips at the same time and didn’t have any luck there so I wandered off to New York for a comic convention and

DAVE COCKRUM

had some better luck there. I ran into Irv Novick and Allan Asherman who looked at my stuff and told me in no uncertain terms that I should get up to Julie Schwartz’s office. Julie gave me my break by looking at my portfolio and showing it to Joe Orlando, and he gave me an Aquaman story to illustrate and I delivered that.

I picked it up on a Monday and delivered it the following Monday and picked up another story and by the time I got that one done, Joe called up again and asked if I minded him recommending me

have an artist for the Legion of Super-Heroes. So Murray gave me the job inking—destroying—Dave’s pencils on a long short story as a tryout, and then I ended up full-time on the book.

It was really funny because Murray said, “Well, congratulations, you got the job. Now for the bad news: You’re going to get hate mail.” And I said, “Whaddaya mean?” and he said, “Well, number one, you’re replacing the most popular artist we ever had on the Legion, and number two, we’re killing off one of their favorite characters.” And he was right. It was a long time before anyone mentioned me

Milestones:

Superboy and the Legion of Super-He roes / The Warlord / Green Lantern/Green Arrow / Starslayer (Pacific Comics) / Jon Sabl e, Freelance / Green Arrow / Shaman’s Tears (Image Comics)

Work in Progress:

New Jon Sable series (IDW) / lates t Sable trade paperback due February 200 6 (orders taken at Amazon.com)

Comics #12 (1976).

hall. I was walking in as he was walking out, and Murray Boltinoff was on vacation, destined to come back and discover he didn’t

Beginnings:

Dale Messick’s assistant on Brenda Starr / Aquaman backup feature in Adventur e Comics #435 (1974)

Cyberspace:

without comparing me unfavorably to Dave, justifiably so.

www.mikegrell.com (official site)

COCKRUM: If I recall, you had great timing coming in at that point

Photo from Amazing World of DC

for the Legion. Apparently, Dave and I passed each other in the

anyway. If I remember right, DC had pissed off a lot of artists— GRELL: It’s a knack, cultivated over decades.

MIKE GRELL

COCKRUM: —and a lot of artists were leaving DC, with a lot of becoming work available.

SCHWEIER: So, Dave, you took on the feature back around Superboy #184. The name of the story was “One Legionnaire Must

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“Well, we can do good things with it.”

SCHWEIER: Part of this process involved you pretty much redesigning and updating the whole Legion into the 1970s.

COCKRUM: Well, I didn’t do the costumes until about the fifth episode, and I really had to fight Murray over it.

He was very conservative. He didn’t like it, but he finally, very reluctantly, let me go ahead with some costume changes. I did about four the first time—that was for the story, “The War Between the Nights and the Days” [Superboy #193].

SCHWEIER:

Right—the

redesigned

Legionnaires

were

Chameleon Boy, Duo Damsel, Shrinking Violet, and Karate Kid. COCKRUM: And a lot of people think I actually redesigned Matter-Eater Lad, too, but I didn’t. They just got the colors wrong.

Dave Cockrum’s first solo pro work for DC, from Superman #248’s (Feb. 1972) “World of Krypton” backup series. Dave decided to redo the page after inking it, so this is the unpublished version of page 1. Courtesy of Ted Latner.

Art © 2006 Dave Cockrum.

Characters © 2006 DC Comics.

Go.” At the time, were you just a hired hand to draw the story as a backup, or was it DC’s intent to kind of rebuild the Legion’s popularity with you at the drawing board?

COCKRUM: Well, the Legion was dying, and I think they figured I couldn’t do it any harm, you know. But I don’t think they had any great plans for it at that point, they just needed to fill the space and they were reluctant to let go of the Legion at that time. After three or four episodes, readers began to comment favorably more and more on the Legion, and Murray Boltinoff figured,

An early Mike Grell gig: The title page to “The Alien Among Us,” an unpublished mid-1970s Weird War Tales story written by Jack Oleck. From The Amazing World of DC Comics #12 (Aug. 1976). © 2006 DC Comics.

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SCHWEIER: [laughs] His costume’s red in that panel.

Phantom Girl, in her groovy bellbottoms, in a commission by Dave Cockrum and shared with us by Mike Napolitano.

GRELL: You know, Murray Boltinoff wasn’t the only one who fought tooth-and-nail when changing costumes. I ran into a brick wall when I redesigned Cosmic Boy’s costume, and there were guys who never forgave me for it.

COCKRUM: I never wanted to change his. Not that I liked it, because I didn’t. I thought he and his costume and haircut

Art © 2006 Dave Cockrum.

Phantom Girl © 2006 DC Comics.

deserved each other.

GRELL: I had a funny conversation with Mike Flynn years later. Mike, of course, had been one of the key people with The Legion Outpost, the big Legion sort-of fanzine, and Mike despised that costume that I did. He later went to work for DC Comics, and he used all his power and influence to get the costume changed back to what it was before I got a hold of it. And then he quit. I asked him about that later on and he said, “Hey, I figured my job here was done.”

SCHWEIER: In redesigning these costumes, was it something you initiated yourself, submitting ideas, or was there a lot of editorial influence in that direction?

GRELL: No, I had to run it past editorial and I had to get its approval. Like Dave said, Murray was very, very conservative, and somewhat lacking in a sense of humor.

There was one story [Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #204, “Brainiac’s Secret Weakness”] that had Supergirl and Brainiac 5, who was searching all over for her; and there was a line where Brainiac said, “I’m looking for the girl in the red and blue costume.” And I said, “Murray, shouldn’t that be, ‘I’m looking for the girl with the big S.’” And Murray, not

Cockrum’s box cover art for Aurora’s Superboy mid-1970s modelkit reissue, which included a Comic Scenes insert.

Courtesy of Heritage Comics.

getting it at all, said “Let me see if that works.” And I said, “No, no, no. Murray, Murray, it’s just a joke.”

SCHWEIER: Too bad that never saw print.

GRELL: Ah, yeah, yeah.

SCHWEIER: Also, this is the early ’70s, predating Star Wars, so a lot of the science-fiction terminology that we take for granted these days didn’t really exist too well back then, and you

© 2006 DC Comics.

pretty much had the jobs, collectively, of designing the 30th century. How, as designers, did you approach that?

COCKRUM: I don’t know [laughs].

GRELL: I just copied everything Dave did.

COCKRUM: I didn’t have trouble with the art extension of the 30th century, or the

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Cockrum’s page 6 of Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #197 (Sept. 1973), the first issue co-“starring” the LSH, and story page 7 of issue #198 (Oct. 1973), pitting the Boy of Steel against the Fatal Five’s Emerald Empress and Persuader.

Courtesy of Alan Bahr of Heroes Comics (www.heroescomicbooks.com); special thanks to webmaster Guy Mills. © 2006 DC Comics.

rationale, I guess you’d call it. Some of my buildings were tall and sleek, some were square and chunky, and I recall putting an Aztec pyramid in one panel— GRELL: I liked that Aztec pyramid. I copied that one more than once.

SCHWEIER: Eventually the Legion pretty much took over the book and it became Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes. Was this something they had been working toward for awhile? How exactly did this not-so-hostile takeover come about?

COCKRUM: I don’t know. I think they must have at some point just realized they were getting more mail on the Legion stories than Superboy himself.

SCHWEIER: And when this happened it was around issue #197. Oddly enough, #197 is “Timber Wolf: Dead Hero, Live Executioner,” which leads into #199, “The Gun That Mastered Men.” Issue #198, “The Fatal Five That Twisted Time,” is a completely different tale coming right in the middle of a two-part story. You know, two halves, with a whole separate story in between. Was this a mix-up, or how exactly did that occur?

COCKRUM: Well, they had decided they wanted to do a

A coquettish Phantom Girl in a Cockrum sketch, from the collection of Ben Herman.

full-book story, and I don’t know if there was some kind of scheduling problem or not. It wasn’t on my part. I was managing to keep up with the deadlines. I don’t know.

SCHWEIER: As each of you began to settle in as the Legion artist, what were your hopes for the book, and how did you

Art © 2006 Dave Cockrum.

Phantom Girl © 2006 DC Comics.

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COCKRUM: Oh, I was really hoping to something really exciting. I was a big science fiction fan, and I liked the futuristic setting. I came up with several story concepts and Murray would shoot ’em all down. One thing I wanted to do was an homage to the Blackhawks. I had a whole story worked out where some of the Legionnaires were pursuing a bunch of bad guys which they go into the past, and they ended up on Blackhawk Island. It’s abandoned, nobody there, but there’s lots of Blackhawk relics, stuff like that. Their cruiser gets disabled, and they can’t fly out because sunspots are interfering with their flight rings, and the bad guys cut the Legion cruiser in half with the War Wheel, stuff like that. Murray said, “The Blackhawks aren’t being published. They’re obsolete.” So he shot that one down.

GRELL: That’s too bad.

COCKRUM: Yeah.

SCHWEIER: That sounds like a fun read.

COCKRUM: Yeah. To this day I still think about maybe just doing it just for myself. And I would’ve wanted to put Nightcrawler in there too.

SCHWEIER: So Nightcrawler was intended to be a Legionnaire. Why didn’t he make the cut?

COCKRUM: Murray said he was too funny-looking.

GRELL: Murray thought Nightcrawler was too funny-looking? Right. Chameleon Boy...?

COCKRUM: I think I made him one funny-looking guy. I had one idea worked out where I wanted to do a cross-time crossover between the Legion and the Teen Titans with the ’60s Superboy and Wonder Girl and Bruce Wayne as the Flying Fox and Aquaman as Aqualad. He didn’t want to do that either.

SCHWEIER: He just didn’t seem very open-minded.

COCKRUM: No, he wasn’t.

SCHWEIER: Were there other characters that you came up with that later saw the light of day, but you had intended for the Legion?

COCKRUM: Storm was a kind of amalgam of a character I had proposed for the Legion called Typhoon, and I had a bird-girl named Quetzal, and Storm kind of had Quetzal’s face and Typhoon’s powers. She’s also part of another character

Cockrum’s 1972 pinup/design presentation for a Legion villain concept proposal has the following names written on the back of the art: “Foxglove, Tyr, Wolverine, Sidewinder, Manta, the Devastators.” Only Tyr appeared in print, but it’s interesting that Cockrum had created a character called Wolverine a few years before Marvel’s version. Dave now refers to these characters as “the Strangers,” but the original name was “the Devastators.” Courtesy of Ted Latner.

Tyr TM and © DC Comics. Art and other characters © 2006 Dave Cockrum.

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Legionnaires you didn’t see: Dave Cockrum character designs for Trio, Quetzal, and Typhoon.

Characters and art © 2006 Dave Cockrum.

I created to be an X-Man called the Black Cat. SCHWEIER: Gotcha. Now one character who did make it was later known as Wildfire— COCKRUM: Yeah.

SCHWEIER: —but he was introduced as ERG-1. How did he come about as a creation?

COCKRUM: Well, he was one of the ones I proposed, and the one that Cary Bates picked, but they wouldn’t let me use the name. I wanted to call him Starfire, but they said, “You can’t call him Starfire, there’s already been two or three Starfires.” And I said, “Yeah, well, so what?” None of them were seriously being used, and they shot me down on Starfire. Later on I came up with Wildfire, but then of course later on after that they came up with another Starfire.

SCHWEIER: And Mike, you contributed Tyroc in issue #216.

GRELL: Ah, no, I didn’t.

SCHWEIER: No? GRELL: No, I just drew the character.

SCHWEIER: Ahhh.

GRELL: That’s one where I have to draw the line.

SCHWEIER: Okay.

GRELL: The whole story behind Tyroc is that in one issue [#207, “The Rookie Who Betrayed the Legion”] about a member of the Science Police who at first betrays the Legion and then

Cockrum’s splash introducing ERG-1—later known as Wildfire—from Superboy #195 (June 1973). Courtesy of Mike Napolitano. © 2006 DC Comics.

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turns around and saves the day. When I drew the character, I drew him as a black guy. And when I turned it in, Murray says, “You can’t do that. The

guy’s black.” And I said, “Yeah. Well, there’s nothing in the story that says he isn’t, so why couldn’t he be black?” “Oh, um, well, you can’t do that because we’ll get a lot of negative mail from our black readers.” “But there are no black characters

Cockrum’s original character notes for Wildfire.

in the Legion. Why not use one?” He said, “Well, we’re actually going to do a black Legionnaire. We’re planning on it, and we’ve been talking about it for a long time. We’re planning

Wildfire TM and © 2006 DC Comics.

a big launch of the new character, so you’ll just have to make the changes and wait.” Reluctantly, I did change the character... ever so slightly, leaving enough characteristics that it was obvious to the readers that he had been intended to be black. Sure enough, we got mail from black readers who spotted it and knew it had been a black man colored pink.

And then several months went by, and I kept hounding Murray about doing the story with the black Legionnaire.

Finally, they came up with Tyroc. I thought: One, he had about the stupidest power of all. Aside from that, what was far worse in my mind—as a writer, as a reader, as an artist, as an inhabitant of the planet Earth—was the concept of the explanation as to why there had never been any black people in the 30th century: they had all gone to live on an island, which sounds like the most racist concept I have ever heard. So I cobbled up a costume that was a combination of Elvis Presley Las Vegas shows and old blaxploitation movies. I drew it, but I didn’t take credit for it.

SCHWEIER: But you did take credit for Dawnstar [Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #226, “The Dazzling Debut of Dawnstar”].

GRELL: Half of it, anyway. I thought her character was interesting enough, being a Native American girl with wings, but it was felt that she should have some sort of additional power. Paul Levitz came up with her super-tracking ability. I honest-to-God don’t remember who came up with her name. I think it might have been a collaborative effort.

SCHWEIER: I see. So, with this whole new Legion coming about, and this partial redesign, partial facelift, is there a reason that either of you can think of why some characters got a facelift and others didn’t? Was it a matter of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” or did somebody dictate, “Hands off that person?”

GRELL: Well, I think anytime you’re—this is just me jumping in here— I think anytime you’re dealing with long, established characters, you have to build off what’s already there, like I did with Cosmic Boy. You want to redesign costumes with the old concepts in mind. I kept the basic black and pink, or flesh-colored pattern. Dave, of course, designed some terrific stuff. I never changed Dave’s costumes, ever, and they’re some of the most complex sonuvaguns to draw.

From the collection of Mike Napolitano comes this soaring Wildfire illo by Dave Cockrum.

Art © 2006 Dave Cockrum. Wildfire © 2006 DC Comics.

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SCHWEIER: Shrinking Violet.

GRELL: Shrinking Violet, yeah.

COCKRUM: I’d go have to look it up.

GRELL: [laughs] I was so glad when you told me that years later, so relieved.

I swear to God, last year sometime I was doing a sketch at a convention, and it finally dawned on me that hidden in all the swirly stuff in the bodice were the initials S.V. I thought, “Oh, DUHH!” You know, all these years I’ve been trying to remember what happens here, does this swirl go this way, does that swirl go that way, or whatever. Very complicated stuff.

SCHWEIER: Now, Dave, were there any characters that you designed, or redesigned, that you’re especially proud of? That you look at proudly and say “I did that.”

COCKRUM: Especially Lightning Lad. I think he was my favorite...

GRELL: Mine, too.

COCKRUM: ...and I almost didn’t get to do it because of Murray Boltinoff, but I went ahead and stuck that in the story and made sure the colorist got the coloring instructions on it. If Murray noticed he never said anything.

SCHWEIER: Well, I suppose it’s similar enough to his regular costume.

Obviously the cape is missing, but otherwise it’s pretty close.

COCKRUM: I thought that it looked like a dress uniform, you know. I’m very proud of that one. And they’ve sort of maintained some of the look of the original costumes.

SCHWEIER: Dave, you left with issue #202. There was a full story you drew called “Wrath of the Devil Fish,” and then, Mike, you inked over him on “Lost: A Million Miles from Home.” Dave, exactly how did your departure from the book come about?

Grell’s splash to Superboy starring the Legion #216 (April 1976), the first appearance of Tyroc.

Original art courtesy of Alan Bahr of Heroes Comics.

COCKRUM: There was a fight with DC. When I did the wedding of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel [Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #200, “The Legionnaire Bride of Starfinger”], they weren’t returning artwork yet at that point. Marvel was, DC wasn’t, and I asked Murray, I said, “Listen, could I have this double-page spread back, the wedding scene? I know you don’t give back anything else, but

© 2006 DC Comics.

I’d like to have that for my own personal collection.”

And Murray said, “I don’t see any reason why not.

Sure.” So later on the artwork came back and he set that aside for me. The day that I was about to come in and pick it up, Carmine Infantino happened to see

Grell and editor Murray Boltinoff in a photo, circa 1974–75, from The Amazing World of DC Comics #5 (Mar. 1975).

it on Murray’s desk, said “What’s this?” and Murray told him and Carmine said, “You can’t let him have that back. We’re not returning artwork.” And that was it, I didn’t get it. Actually I did get it back but much later.

SCHWEIER: And you still have it?

© 2006 DC Comics.

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COCKRUM: Actually, no. Somebody quoted me

A mid-2000s Supergirl commission

by Grell, courtesy of Scott Kress.

such a price on it that I couldn’t refuse. But I came in to see Murray, and he said, “I’m sorry. Carmine says you can’t have that page back,” and I blew up.

I said, “Well, in that case, I’m not going to stay on

Art © 2006 Mike Grell.

Supergirl © 2006 DC Comics.

the book any longer, you’ll have to get somebody else.” He didn’t leave on vacation, so I don’t understand why Murray came back from somewhere and didn’t know he didn’t have an artist, because I told him in no uncertain terms to his face.

GRELL: Wel-l-l-l, I guess my inking was their

The splash to the landmark issue #200 (Feb. 1974), drawn by Cockrum.

From the collection of Mike Napolitano.

roundabout means of trying me out. Dave’s departure was probably filtered editorially, because that was exactly the story I had been told, that Murray was off on vacation and came back and discovered he had no artist.

COCKRUM: Not so, because I told him to his

© 2006 DC Comics.

face. And then I went up to Julie Schwartz’s office—they had just assigned me the Captain Marvel, Jr. [backup] series [in Shazam!]—and I told him, “I’m leaving, but I would really like to continue to do Captain Marvel, Jr. for you if

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that’s all right.” He said, “I don’t have a problem with it if it’s all right with Marvel.” So I went to check with Roy Thomas and Roy says, “It’s all right with me if it’s all right with Julie.” So I was fixed to go on doing Captain Marvel, Jr., and Carmine heard about that and put a stop to it.

So I ended up going to work for Marvel exclusively.

SCHWEIER: Hmm. Now, Mike, you told us how you became tapped as Dave’s successor. Did Dave offer you any helpful words of wisdom?

COCKRUM: I don’t think we even met.

GRELL: No, we hadn’t. We didn’t meet face-to-face until years later, when I was finally able to thank you for making the sketchbook. I had a copy of that sketchbook on my desk at all times. Keeping track of 26 different costumes and 26 characters would have been impossible if I hadn’t had that sketchbook. And Dave just laughed and said, “Yeah, me too.” [Philip chuckles] COCKRUM: Here’s something else: When I went over to Marvel, they had me doing costume designs, and had me do the definitive version of Jack of Hearts. You remember Jack of Hearts?

SCHWEIER: That’s an incredibly detailed costume.

COCKRUM: Keith Giffen I think came up with the original design for it.

Nobody that ever drew him ever drew him the same twice. And when they had me do a definitive version that they handed out to everybody, they were both thanking me and cursing me at the same time.

GRELL: Yup. I know that feeling.

SCHWEIER: Now, Dave, did you follow the Legion after Mike took over?

COCKRUM: Yeah, for a long while. I guess I kept following it for about three years, and

This B&W version of Grell’s #207 (Mar. 1975) cover saw print in Amazing World of DC Comics #5 (Mar. 1975).

then I kind of drifted away for a long, long time. But I guess I’m too much of a Legion fan at heart to give it up right away.

SCHWEIER: Cary Bates wrote so many of these stories initially. How much input did he solicit

© 2006 DC Comics.

from you guys, or were you both just the hired hands who drew the pages?

COCKRUM: Cary and I would sit and talk out ideas. I helped co-plot the wedding of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel, for one thing.

Element Lad “kills” Roxxas on Mike Grell’s cover to Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #211 (Sept. 1975).

Original art courtesy of Alan Bahr.

We had a big row over it because Cary didn’t like to have to write more than about four Legionnaires at once. We’ve got this wedding with 50 or more characters, the villain shows up having stolen half the bride, and they only send about four guys after him. The entire wedding party should have risen up en masse and squashed him like a bug.

© 2006 DC Comics.

SCHWEIER: Mike, how about you? Were you contributing with Cary, or were you still getting

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your feet wet?

GRELL: No, I was strictly a hired hand.

SCHWEIER: How about with Jim Shooter? He was pretty much an old Legion hand, having written some of the stories in the ’60s, and he comes on board in the mid-’70s. What was working with him like?

GRELL: Not so good. I have described it as having a strange lady show up and fix your lunch. She may be a good cook and a nice lady and all, but she’s not your mom. She doesn’t make your sandwich the way you like with the bread you like or whatever. So I went from working with a writer like Cary, a very visual writer, to Jim Shooter, who could easily give you three or four typewritten pages to illustrate one comic page. Cary would tell you just enough to help you to illustrate the scene, who was standing next to whom, that sort of thing. I think Jim took it for granted everyone had this understanding of what had to be in the shot. Cary would tell you.

SCHWEIER: During the ’70s, Legion grew to be one of the top-selling books for DC. What do either one of you attribute to the popularity. Was it the art? Was it the stories? Was it the fact that there was a limited amount of science fiction out there?

GRELL: Yes. COCKRUM: Science fiction doesn’t always make a big hit. It was always the cast and crew of the Legion, I think, is what made the book popular; those bold characters and just good writers and artists. In redesigning the

Scott Kress of Catskill Comics (www.catskillcomics.com) contributed this recent Invisible Kid commissioned illo

by Mike Grell.

30th century, like with the Legion cruiser, that was my ode to Star Trek. I was pulling from Star Trek. I did that a lot. I had Spock in one panel.

SCHWEIER: Really?

COCKRUM: Yeah. It was the issue with the wedding; Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel were going to, I don’t know, I guess get their wedding license or something

Art © 2006 Mike Grell.

Invisible Kid © 2006 DC Comics.

like that and they pass a character who stops to look back at them and it’s Spock [#200, page 5, panel 1].

SCHWEIER: I remember you put in a Klingon disruptor in “The Gun That Mastered Men” [page 1, panel 1], and you included the Enterprise in a silhouette panel in “Timber Wolf: Dead Hero, Live Executioner” [page 10, panel 4] in the background. You seem to have a tendency to throw in little references, subtle references here and there, like featuring Blackhawk in an X-Men panel.

COCKRUM: Yeah.

GRELL: Can I jump in here for a second?

SCHWEIER: Sure, sure.

GRELL: Yeah, I wanted to say that there was one story [Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #211, “The Legion’s Lost Home”] featuring a 30th century junkyard that had the Enterprise, and it had the flying saucer from Forbidden Planet and the Jupiter II from Lost in Space [page 2, panel 1].

Grell’s original cover art to #215 (Mar. 1976), courtesy of Alan Bahr. As the inset shows, the DC cover graphics and the cover date were altered for publication. © 2006 DC Comics.

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SCHWEIER: I remember that story. Now inkers, they came on board fairly late in the game. Up until about issue #220, Mike, you were pretty much drawing by yourself. What kind of work-

The splash panel from #202’s changinghands Legion tale, with Cockrum pencils and Grell inks.

load was that for you?

GRELL: I was too young to know any different.

But I will tell you that back in those days, I was about 26, I’d draw for several hours and catch catnaps in between. Draw for 18 or 20 hours,

© 2006 DC Comics.

sleep for four, draw for another 12 hours, then sleep again. It took its toll. I had met Joe Orlando’s wife, Karen, when I first moved to New York. A few months later, I ran into her again and she said, “What the hell happened to you?” I said, “What do you mean?” “You look like hell!” I went and looked at myself in the mirror and found I had aged in just that short time. Before that I got carded at every liquor store, but never again.

SCHWEIER: Well, Dave, how did you feel about Mike inking your work on “Lost: A Million Miles From Home?”

COCKRUM: There were places where I would go, “No, no, he shouldn’t have done that,” but on the whole he did a nice job and I could hardly have expected better considering how abrupt my departure was.

GRELL: Let me step in here and say that Dave’s pencils were absolutely superb. All I had to do was follow the line and not kill him in inking it.

SCHWEIER: Doesn’t sound like a whole lot to ask.

COCKRUM: I must say I saw a lot of Neal Adams in your work.

GRELL: I was certainly influenced by Neal Adams. I had gotten away from comics about the time that I discovered girls. When I was in the Air Force, stationed in Saigon, a guy showed up with his comics, and I was floored. Comic books had grown up in my absence. When I was a kid, characters like Batman looked more like Hanna-Barbera animation— square-jaws, blocky torso. The Marvel Silver Age had begun, and I had the first issues of Spider-Man and Fantastic Four, but Green Lantern/Green Arrow was a real eye-opener. I decided right there and then that this was the kind of art I wanted to do. Neal’s style pretty much defined the ’70s—just as guys like Todd McFarlane did in the ’90s and anime has in the millennium—and being able to emulate that style certainly made me more employable.

COCKRUM: Neal Adams was one for me, too. He actually helped me get in the business, but before him, there was Carmine and Gil Kane. Wally Wood was one of my all-time favorites. I worked for him very briefly, on a strip for an overseas newspaper called Shattuck. He produced three strips: Sally Forth, Shattuck, and Cannon. I penciled Shattuck and Jack Abel was the inker.

Shattuck was a Western strip. The main thrust of the strip was to get the girls out of their clothing as quickly as possible. Shattuck wasn’t as well received

Shadow Lass, as seen in a mid-2000s Grell commission, courtesy of Scott Kress.

Art © 2006 Mike Grell. Shadow Lass © 2006 DC Comics.

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as the other two. It died an early death. I went on to work on the other two a little bit.

SCHWEIER: Mike, beginning around issue #225 you started doing just the covers. Was there any particular reason why you didn’t break entirely from the book, that you still had your hand in to a degree?

GRELL: There are only two reasons why I can think of. One is simply for the work and the other is that when I left the book there was a small desire to stick with something I’d been a part of for so long. And, you know, in those days it was not uncommon for an entirely different artist to do the cover while someone else did the interior.

SCHWEIER: Right. Nick Cardy did so many.

GRELL: Oh, heck, yeah.

SCHWEIER: When issue #300 rolled around in 1983, that was an anniversary issue featuring creators from the Legion’s past. Dave, you contributed a few pages.

COCKRUM: I don’t specifically remember which one that is, but I know I did contribute some anniversary artwork.

GRELL: Was that the one where they finally married off Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad? SCHWEIER: No, actually, that was one of the collector’s editions, a tabloid. This was a standard size comic, Legion #300. And because it was an anniversary, they decided, “Let’s do something special.” I believe they had Curt Swan— GRELL: Oh, yeah. I remember it well. Yeah, yeah.

SCHWEIER: But you didn’t draw anything for it.

GRELL: Nope.

SCHWEIER: That was ’83, you were in the thick of Jon Sable launching—

A 2005 Star Boy commission by Grell, courtesy of Scott Kress.

GRELL: Yep. SCHWEIER: —and so you just didn’t have time?

GRELL: I don’t recall actually being asked.

SCHWEIER: Really? That surprises me.

Art © 2006 Mike Grell.

Star Boy © 2006 DC Comics.

GRELL: They could’ve thought I was too busy for it to be possible, because I was, but I don’t recall being approached for it. I would’ve done it if I had the time.

SCHWEIER: If you were invited back today, both of you, how would you feel about coming back and doing a few pages?

GRELL: Oh, as far as I’m concerned, it’s like

Mike Grell inked by Bob Wiacek, from issue #220 (Oct. 1976). Courtesy of Ted Latner.

somebody asking you, “Hey, remember that sports car you used drive back in the ’70s?

How’d you like to take it for one more turn around the track?”

SCHWEIER: Dave, how about you?

© 2006 DC Comics.

COCKRUM: Well, I have always thought I’d like to come back. They had me do six pages for some kind of special but they didn’t invite me

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panel that I drew in a story [Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #204, “Brainiac’s Secret Weakness,” page 8, panel 2] with Brainiac 5 and what appeared to be Supergirl but turned out to be a robot, and I drew them as Michelangelo’s Pieta, and Murray just about came unglued. The fondest memory that I have is of the look on his face in that moment, when he realized that I had used a religious icon for that purpose. That’s one of my all-time favorite memories.

COCKRUM: Well, Mike, I’ve got an Alex Ross lithograph that he sent me. I guess it’s based on one of your covers, but he signed it as a personal tribute to me.

The Legionnaires are all bursting skyward.

Superboy’s at the top. You’ve probably seen it.

GRELL: Actually, I haven’t.

COCKRUM: You haven’t?

GRELL: No. You better scan it and send it to me.

COCKRUM: It’s way too big for me to scan.

GRELL: Next time somebody’s taking a picture of you, stand in front of it and send me the picture.

COCKRUM: He did it for the Warner Bros. store originally, and it is gorgeous. It’s got everybody in it, all of mine, and Dawnstar and Tyroc as well. It’s a big painting, about 4 feet tall. Tall and narrow, and all of them are soaring skyward. Colossal Boy is giant-sized, covered up in the background by all the other heroes.

SCHWEIER: And if I remember correctly, Cosmic Boy has your costume, Mike.

A 2005 Timber Wolf commission by Grell, courtesy of Scott Kress.

Art © 2006 Mike Grell.

Timber Wolf © 2006 DC Comics.

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back for anything else.

GRELL: Really? [laughs]

SCHWEIER: So looking back on the past 30 years

SCHWEIER: Yes. Not the original pink costume,

of Legion lore, is there any particular moment for

but his black one.

either of you that perhaps still lingers today, that

GRELL: Somewhere Mike Flynn is having a conniption

you can look at and say, “That was me. I’m

right now.

responsible for that,” whether it was a costume

SCHWEIER: Well, gentlemen, just one final question:

design or character?

Legion fans tend to be rather fervent in their

COCKRUM: Well, I’m generally pretty pleased

appreciation. What comments that you’ve received

with my run on the Legion, but I’m more pleased

over the years stand out in your memory? What

with my runs on the X-Men. I had fun, and if it

wackiness from conventions has come down your way?

hadn’t been for the clash over the artwork I probably

COCKRUM: Oh, well, I don’t necessarily believe

would’ve stayed on it longer.

it’s true, but I’ve had a number of people say they

SCHWEIER: Mike?

thought I was the best artist the Legion ever had.

GRELL: Well, I suppose as long as Dawnstar is

GRELL: I second that. I second that totally. I truly do.

featured to any degree, I’ll always take partial

My wacky fan memory is that, to a large part,

credit for her. But apart from that, there was one

Legion fans are absolutely the most loyal fans in

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comics. If they take you to their heart, they will stand by you no matter what you perpetrate. To this day, I could be sitting at a convention some place in the world, and some guy will come up to me, obviously a fan from that era, and ask me to sign one of those early, early books where I drew all the people too many heads high, arms too short to reach their pockets, if they had pockets, you know, tiny little feet, really awful anatomy, and they’ll set down and say, “I sure wish you’d go back to the Legion. This is the best work you ever did.”

SCHWEIER: Well, to be honest, I think that’s true for both of you. Legion was one of the first books I ever bought and I want to thank you both for taking the time for this interview. It’s been a real pleasure for me personally.

GRELL: My pleasure, and it’s always a great pleasure for me to have the chance to talk to Dave, even if it is over 3000 miles of telephone wire, I guess.

COCKRUM: Opposite sides of the continent.

GRELL: Yeah, well, they made us do that because they decided the country was barely big enough for both of us.

Dave Cockrum’s original version of the cover to Glen Cadigan’s The Legion Companion (2003); the published version was inked on a separate artboard by Josef Rubinstein. Also, Mike Grell’s pencils for the commission that became this issue’s cover; note that Grell’s pencil illo is based upon Gil Kane’s cover to Inhumans #8 (1976). Courtesy of Ted Latner.

Legion of Super-Heroes © 2006 DC Comics. Inhumans © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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by

Te d L a t n e r

Penciler Dave Cockrum and inker Dan Green’s double-page spread (pages 2–3) from X-Men #107 (Oct. 1977). © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

In X-Men #107, a strangely familiar-looking group of characters appeared. The group was led by a powerful visitor from another planet wearing red and blue with a yellow logo on his chest. He was joined by a team whose young members were from multiple worlds and backgrounds. They were drawn with unique and stylish costumes designed by Dave Cockrum. Could it be... the Legion of Super-Heroes? Nah—it was the Shi’ar Imperial Guard.

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The Imperial Guard started off as parody and/or homage of the Legion of

Here’s the rundown of the Imperial

Super-Heroes, similar to what Marvel did with the Justice League-like Squadron

Guard members pictured here. I’m using

Supreme. Why did Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont use these characters?

their original names, as some have been

Most likely it was just an inside joke for fans of Dave’s earlier work. Perhaps it was

renamed in later appearances. On the left

also a way for Dave to take a dig at DC. Dave was rightfully irritated that DC

side, we have Starbolt (inspired by Sun

refused to return the original artwork to the double-page splash of Lightning Lad

Boy), Midget (based on Shrinking Violet),

and Saturn Girl’s wedding

Tempest (based on Lightning Lad) and

from Superboy starring the

Impulse (based on Wildfire). On the right

Legion of Super-Heroes #200.

is Fang (based on Timber Wolf). Fang’s

He had also been subject to

costume was stolen by Wolverine during

lots of restrictions while working

the fight and he ended up wearing it for a

on the Legion, especially with

few issues. It might have been permanent

regard to costume changes.

if Cockrum had continued on the book,

Dave designed several brilliant

but John Byrne hated the Fang costume

new costumes for the team

and couldn’t wait to get rid of it. To the

and the editor had stopped

right of Fang is Mentor (based on Braniac

him from continuing due to

5)

unfounded fears about alienating

Superboy/Superman),

readers. In the case of Karate

Smasher (based on Ultra Boy), Astra

Kid,

costume

(based on Phantom Girl) and Hobgoblin

appeared for only one issue

(based on Chameleon Boy). Below Astra is

and then reverted to the old

Electron (loosely based on Cosmic Boy

one. It wasn’t until after Mike

having a bad hair day). Flying above

Grell took over the book that

Mentor is Oracle (based on Saturn Girl).

Dave’s

new

and

then

Gladiator

(based

on

followed

by

the Cockrum costume reap-

To her right is Quasar (very loosely based

peared (and it was then also

on Star Boy) and then Titan (based on

used for the Karate Kid series,

Colossal Boy) and Nightshade (based on

well after Dave had left DC).

Shadow Lass). Whew!

Dave’s editor had also nixed

While Claremont and Byrne added several

some new characters that he

other team members during the classic

wanted to introduce, including

“Death of Phoenix” storyline in X-Men

a strange-looking one called

#137, they had no resemblance to Legion

name

characters. Other Imperial Guard members

sounds familiar for some reason

have been introduced since then, some

doesn’t it?).

resembling the Legion and some not, but to

The Imperial Guard gave

me, the only authentic group is the original

Dave a chance to design

Cockrum version.

Nightcrawler

(that

over

The Imperial Guard appearance in X-Men

again. Showcasing his incredible

#107 allowed Dave Cockrum to draw the team

talent as a costume designer

he loved again—sort of. Oh, and by the way,

on

throwaway

he did get the original art to this two-page

actually

spread returned. I just happen to have been

improved on many of the Legion costumes. If that wasn’t enough, this issue also

fortunate enough to buy it a few owners

introduced the Starjammers, another well-designed (and much more original)

down the line after Dave had decided to sell.

all-new

costumes

basically

characters,

he

all

team of characters.

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by

Jim Kingman In Greek mythology, the strongest man and greatest fighter in the world was Herakles. In Roman mythology, he was known as Hercules, which is the popular usage of his name.

Hercules was the offspring of Zeus, chief of the Olympian gods, and Alkmene, Queen of Sparta. The man-god sailed for some time with Jason and the Argonauts. He was driven temporarily mad by Hera and killed his wife, Megara, and their three sons. In penance to King Eurystheus, Megara’s father, Hercules performed twelve fantastic, legendary labors. After his death by poison Hercules became an Olympian god.

In the Marvel Universe, Hercules teamed with the Avengers and the mighty Thor for many adventures on Earth and throughout the cosmos, even landing a teaching job at UCLA before becoming a founding member of the Champions.

Yet the man-god’s most noble undertaking was in DC’s speculative future. There, Hercules became humankind’s last hope of survival!

When writer Gerry Conway departed Marvel Comics in 1975, he left the Marvel Hercules behind him and made a successful pitch for a new take on Hercules to DC, then National Periodical Publications. At that time DC was meeting the challenge of Marvel’s saturation of the newsstands and spinner racks by themselves releasing a multitude of titles. Joe Orlando would be the comic’s editor.

“I’m going to try mixing it with sword and sorcery to get Hercules,” Orlando revealed in an interview in The Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (May 1975).

Also in that issue of DC’s in-house “News and Behind the Scenes” magazine, Hercules Unbound was originally announced as The Power of Hercules and set during World War IV. The first issue was scheduled for an October 1975

Move Over, Steve Reeves!

Hercules Unbound #2’s original cover by García-López, on DC’s 100-page artboard; contributed by Mike Napolitano. © 2006 DC Comics.

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release. But sometime after the publication of that

where Cerberus was killed in battle with the man-god.

“Sneak Previews” article and the official listing in “Direct

Some time later and having reached England (HU

Currents” for July 1975 releases (in which there was no

#4, Apr.–May 1976), Hercules, Kevin, and Jennifer

entry for HU), The Power of Hercules became Hercules

were attacked by the humanoid-animal legions of

Unbound, with issue number one hitting the comics

Hunter Blood, a mutant with death-dealing vision.

spinner racks during the last week of July.

Hercules learned the origin of the humanized animals

Conway wrote the first six issues, setting the story

from a gorilla-man as the two of them sought out

in 1986, the same year of the atomic war that would

Blood (HU #5, June–July 1976). The explanation

give birth to the Atomic Knights. The Atomic Knights

involved Cortexin, a man-made drug that gave

series

animals intelligence. Cortexin was originally introduced

ran

sporadically

in

Strange Adventures during the early 1960s and was written

by John Broome and illustrated

by Murphy Anderson. “I think tying it into the Atomic Knights

was

intentional,”

remembers Conway, “as I was a fan of that series.”

“The Power and the Glory of” Hercules Unbound #1 (Oct.–Nov.

1975)

began

shortly after the widespread cataclysmic and radioactive destruction brought on by the outset of World War III. Hercules, who had been imprisoned on an Aegean island by Ares, his half-brother and god of war, broke his chains after a thousand years of captivity. He teamed with a blind boy, Kevin, and his dog, Basil (named after Basil Rathbone, the British actor who played Sherlock Holmes), and began striking

in Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth #16 (Apr. 1974).

The artistic pairing of

back, first in Rome, against his foe. In Paris, Hercules

Finally, a connection had been made to another

then-newcomer

and Kevin met three more survivors of war, Jennifer

of DC’s speculative futures. After Blood’s defeat,

García-López with

Monroe, David Rigg, and Simon St. Charles (HU #2,

Hercules soon tracked Ares down in Stonehenge,

the venerated Wood

Dec. 1975–Jan. 1976). They were soon attacked by

England and battled him for the lives of Simon St.

made Hercules

Ares’ deputy Cerberus and his two-headed dogs of

Charles and Dave Rigg (HU #6, Aug.–Sept. 1976).

Unbound a visual

war. Cerberus captured Jennifer in order to lure

Having won the battle, Hercules inexplicably let

feast. Issue #1/page

Hercules to a battle in Pluto’s realm, Hades (setting up

Ares go free.

25, and #1/page 29,

a sequel of sorts to Hercules’ twelfth labor). With the

With Conway’s departure from both HU and DC

aid of Orpheus (HU #3, Feb.–Mar. 1976), Hercules

Comics, writer David Michelinie came in to script

Richard Howell and

and Kevin were able to rescue Jennifer from Hades,

Hercules Unbound #7 (Oct.–Nov. 1976). “As a fill-in

Carol Kalish.

from the collecton of

© 2006 DC Comics.

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writer I didn’t think it was my place to establish any

Levitz, “I probably signed on for Hercules on the

kind of direction for the book,” Michelinie recalls.

assumption that Conway was going to add more

“Since someone else was going to be writing the series,

writer/editor titles and drop Herc. Then Gerry left DC to

why saddle them with circumstances they might not

become Marvel’s editor-in-chief, his DC assignments

like, and would have to spend time changing?” Artist

were divided, and I was promoted to editor and got

Walter Simonson also came on board to pencil the

All-Star Comics, which probably replaced Herc on my

one issue, while Wood remained as inker. With

schedule. David and Walt had a ball working together,

Hercules’ quest to defeat Ares fulfilled, the man-god

they were neighbors on the upper West Side of

and friends traveled to Scotland and battled Casper

Manhattan at the time... and that was why David

Zedd, a disciple of the Titan Oceanus. Zedd hoped

stayed on the series.” Unfortunately, García-López

to restore his master’s strength by sacrificing Kevin,

did not return to HU, having picked up the assignment

but Hercules was able to thwart his plans.

to illustrate the adaptation of Tarzan the Untamed in

How did Simonson feel about working with the

the Lord of the Jungle’s DC book. However, on the

legendary Wally Wood? “I was delighted,”

plus side, Simonson remained as penciler on HU for

Simonson reveals. “Actually, the fact that Woody

the rest of the comic’s run.

was doing the finishes on the book was the reason

At this time, in an article in Amazing World of DC

I took the gig in the first place. I already knew his

Comics #12 (Aug. 1976) published between Hercules

work, of course, and I was acquainted with Woody

Unbound #7 and 8, Paul Levitz outlined the “confusing

himself some because I used to see him at

continuity” of DC’s speculative future. He effectively

Continuity, the Neal Adams/Dick Giordano studio

tied many of DC’s future elements together, including

on E. 48th Street. We all hung out at Continuity in

the final battle between Darkseid and the New Gods,

those days and I’d met Woody there. Denny O’Neil,

Ares’ involvement in World War III, OMAC’s history, the

HU’s editor, asked me to take over doing the layouts

rise of the Atomic Knights, Wonder Woman’s Paradise

for Woody after José Luis García-López left the title. I

Island, and the Natural Disaster that transformed our

had only been in comics

Earth into Kamandi’s world.

maybe four years at the

Levitz also noted how the

time and had never done

DC Universe was gearing

layouts for another artist at

toward a crucial moment

that point. Mostly, I finished

that would cause history to

my own work. But, hey—

follow

this was Wally Wood and I

Kamandi’s world or lead to

jumped at the chance. In

the formation of the Legion

the end, Woody left the

of

title after I’d laid out two

years in the future. The

issues but I love having

pivotal moment in time:

‘inked by Wally Wood’

October 1986.

According to the letters column in Hercules Unbound

path

Super-Heroes

into

1,000

In Hercules Unbound #8

on my résumé!” © 2006 DC Comics.

the

(Dec. 1976–Jan. 1977) and #9

(Feb.–Mar.

#7, Paul Levitz was scheduled

Hercules,

to take over scripting HU

Jennifer were forced to

García-López’s HU #3

with issue #8, with García-

take part in a “war game”

cover art, courtesy of

López also scheduled to

played with real weapons

Mike Napolitano.

return. However, recalls

“copied” from the past as

© 2006 DC Comics.

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Kevin,

1977), and

solid, functional constructs by the disturbed Lady

overlooked that when he killed

Agatha Simms. They soon discovered that their primary

one of the Atomic Knights, he

opponent was the captured David Rigg, now controlled

had executed a character still

by Simms’ computer defense system. Hercules and

very much alive and involved in

Kevin tried to keep Rigg from harm, to no avail. To

the original Atomic Knights

save herself from a fired atomic missile that Hercules

stories that took place some

had hurtling in her direction, Simms sent it through

years after 1986. However,

a rift in time into the past where it detonated over

Bates and co-plotter Simonson

Greece in October of 1986. The blast killed thousands,

successfully tied Hercules’

including Kevin’s brother Jason, and instigated World

present with the compressed

War III (I know what you’re thinking... that can’t be

water invention of Dr. Skuba

right... but I will soon explain all). This was a spec-

that originally appeared in

tacular plot twist that brought the story full circle.

OMAC: One Man Army Corps

Recalls Michelinie: “I’d love to take absolute credit

#7 (Sept.–Oct. 1975).

for that ending, but Walt Simonson had plot input

In Hercules Unbound #11

on those stories and I honestly don’t remember if

(June–July 1977) the man-

that particular twist came from his imagination or my

god forged a new, colorful

own. Walt was responsible for the ME-262 fighters

uniform for himself. He

and Enola Gay appearance.”

then reluctantly battled Kevin, who had

“David was really the writer,” notes Simonson,

apparently gone mad and attempted to kill two of the

“and I’m sure it was his idea. I kibitzed here and

Atomic Knights. Hercules prevented Kevin from

there but he was the main guy.”

destroying the Knights’ headquarters and restrained his

Hercules Unbound #8 was Wood’s last appearance

young friend in chains. Jennifer was then possessed by

in the book. He had moved on to contribute both

the spirit of Athena, who warned Hercules of a dreadful

pencils and inks to the Justice Society of America

danger that not even the gods could overcome. A

revival in All-Star Comics. Simonson would now be

giant dragon suddenly attacked the group and during

aided for three issues by the sturdy inks of Bob Layton.

the fierce battle Jennifer mysteriously died. After the

With HU #9’s dramatic denouement, Michelinie

dragon was defeated Hercules and his comrades

HU #4’s original cover, with Wally Wood inking José Luis García-López.

Contributed by Mike Burkey (www.romitaman.com). © 2006 DC Comics.

was also gone. Writer Cary Bates stepped in to continue the series with Hercules Unbound #10 (Apr.–May 1977), and—after the burial of the deceased David Rigg, mortally wounded during the previous issue’s war game—Hercules, Kevin and Jennifer were sent in a new direction, to the United States. There the man-god finally met up with the Atomic Knights, one of whom had been destroyed and replaced by an energy being in search of the secret behind exploding compressed water in and around the Great Lakes region. While Bates did a terrific job handling the team-up, he posited an awkward moment in continuity. He completely

Bottom half of HU #4’s page 8, signed by Wally Wood. Courtesy of the Howell/Kalish collection. © 2006 DC Comics.

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buried Jennifer. Kevin then lost his

know where the series would have gone if the book had

mind again and took off in the Flying

lasted longer. But in fact, we were able to stretch the

Wing the adventurers had been

ending slightly, thanks to the good auspices of DC.

utilizing to travel long distances.

Originally, Cary and I were told that the title was going

The Flying Wing crash-landed on

to wrap up with issue #11. There were a lot of loose ends

the rock that once chained

and both of us wanted to go out with the book

Hercules. There, Kevin was revealed

‘finished.’ We worked out the plot with the Anti-Gods as

to be possessed by a terrifying

a wrap-up and it was just too big to fit into a single issue.

man-creature calling itself Anti-Ares.

So we asked for an additional issue to accommodate our

#12

concluding story. That request went up the editorial

which

ladder. My understanding is that ultimately, Jeanette

Simonson both penciled and

Kahn, Paul Levitz, and Joe Orlando decided to give us the

inked, Hercules learned the truth

additional issue so that we could wrap up our storylines.

behind his imprisonment. The

I thought it very cool of DC to give us the extra issue.”

In

Hercules Unbound

(Aug.–Sept.

Olympian

Herk takes on Hunter Blood in #5’s splash, a Conway/GarcíaLópez/Wood collaboration. Courtesy of Heritage Comics. © 2006 DC Comics.

© 2006 DC Comics.

García-López’s cover

gods

had

used

While Kevin had exhibited extraordinary capabilities

Hercules as part of the chain that

for a human being during the course of the series, and

imprisoned the Anti-Gods in the

Conway admits to a general idea being there at the

very rock the man-god had been

start, it was quite jarring to see Kevin take on the form

secured to for centuries. When

of the Anti-Ares. (Now that would have been some-

Hercules broke his chains Anti-Ares

thing to see: The Anti-Ares in possession of Kevin giving

was able to escape and possess Kevin. Distraught by

Hercules an explanation of Women’s Lib.) This plot

the knowledge that his own father had used him,

twist also established that the real Ares had been

Hercules still battled the combined strengths of the

imprisoned on Mount Olympus and that the Anti-Ares

Anti-Gods to save the Earth and the five Olympian

had been in possession of Kevin after escaping from

gods who were the Anti-Gods’ sources. The gods,

inside the rock where Hercules had been chained. I

including Ares, had been held captive and practically

confess that as much as I’ve enjoyed reading and

helpless on Mount Olympus by a temporal storm.

rereading Hercules Unbound over the years, the fate of

Grateful for Hercules’ successful

Kevin and the final story arc’s

efforts in freeing them and

explanation

defeating their deadly doppel-

release has always left me

gangers, the Olympian gods

somewhat confused.

for

Hercules’

restored Jennifer to life, and

Just who was the Ares that

Hercules, Jennifer, and Basil

allegedly instigated World War

strode happily into a post-

III (time-traveling nuclear missile

nuclear sunset. Sadly, an

detonation set aside for the

ongoing tease early in the

moment), freed Hercules in

series, a discussion of Women’s

issue #1, and battled the man-

Lib that Kevin was going to

god in issues #1–6? I have a

have with Hercules after the

theory. It’s possible that the

man-god offended Jennifer on

Ares of issues #1–6 was just a

at least two occasions, never

mortal man driven insane by

transpired.

the onslaught of World War III,

to HU #6, courtesy

Regarding the final storyline,

and he somehow acquired god-

of Mike Burkey.

Simonson recollects: “I don’t

like powers due to exposure to

© 2006 DC Comics.

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1977),

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nuclear radiation. This guy simply believed he was Ares,

we were officially saying it was part of the computer

and maybe somehow Hercules caught onto this and

simulation and therefore consigning it to the status of

that’s why the man-god let “Ares” go free at the end of

‘not real’ as far as DC continuity was concerned.”

issue #6. In this light, it makes plausible the revelation in

However, it didn’t explain away the issue of

issue #9 that World War III started because Agatha

Cortexin, the plot device in Kamandi’s timeline (which

Simm’s time-traveling nuclear bomb detonated over

did not involve the Atomic Knights) that had been

Greece in October of 1986. It isn’t in accord with the

utilized in Hercules’ series. Then along came a little

Atomic Knights’ very different version of what started

saga called Crisis on Infinite Earths that completely

World War III (Strange Adventures #144, Sept. 1962), but

erased Kamandi’s future. In Crisis #12 (Mar. 1986),

even us hardened continuity buffs can’t have everything.

Kamandi emerged from the Command D bunker and

In time, whatever, or whomever, the true cause of

grew up to become Tommy Tomorrow. With that

World War III would no longer make any difference.

Hercules was forever wiped out of DC’s future continuity.

Six years after Hercules Unbound was canceled it was

Yet the legend wasn’t quite over. Hercules’ exis-

revealed in DC Comics Presents #57 (May 1983), by

tence was then regulated and severely limited to

(below) Walter

writers Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn and artists Alex

“comic-book limbo,” a haven for discarded DC

Simonson’s splash

Saviuk and Frank McLaughlin, that World War III

characters established in writer Grant Morrison’s Animal

page, featuring a

happened and would never happen—Hercules was

Man #25 (July 1990), where the man-god now resides

vividly festooned

never chained to a rock on an Aegean island, and yet

with, among others, the Inferior 5; the Green Team;

man-god, to Hercules

he had been, and the Atomic Knights never existed,

Jemm, Son of Saturn; and the Red Bee. Not a Mount

Unbound #11.

but yet they did. It had all occurred in Gardner

Olympus by any means,

Grayle’s computer-simulated imagination. It was a

but at least a place where

clever explanation, and one that irritated many

Hercules could someday be

continuity buffs, but it simply had to happen. DC knew

selected and unbound for

it couldn’t wipe out the super-hero franchise (Superman,

epic use again!

© 2006 DC Comics.

© 2006 DC Comics.

Batman, Wonder Woman, JLA, the very popular Teen Titans, et al.) in the real 1986 just to establish a post-apocalyptic continuity that, while inventive and entertaining, wasn’t selling many funny books.

“The idea to do this story was entirely editor Julius Schwartz’s,” remembers co-writer Mishkin. “I’d done several DC Comics Presents stories already when he pointed out that the original Atomic Knights series referred to a world war in 1986, and now that 1986 was actually approaching, there should be a story explaining why that war did not take place. Given that task, it was pretty clear to Cohn and myself that one way or another we were going to have to arrange things so that those original stories didn’t really happen either.”

© 2006 DC Comics.

Continues Mishkin, “I can’t say for certain, but I don’t believe either Schwartz or Cohn was aware of the Hercules connection. That would have been me, as I was

Jim Kingman currently publishes Comic Effect, a quarterly

without question the continuity geek of the bunch. I liked

fanzine dedicated to emphasizing the fun in reading comics

the Hercules Unbound series, but I think that in making

from all ages Golden, Silver, and Modern. For more on CE,

the Knights connection in our story we were aware that

check out its website at comiceffect.com.

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by

Gene Philips Following the first Martian attacks on England in H.G. Wells’ classic novel The War of the Worlds, a panicky character asks the narrator, “What are these Martians?” The narrator replies, “What are we?”

Few later alien-invasion tales have pursued themes as sophisticated as those of H.G. Wells, who made his Martians emblematic of mankind’s tendency to dominate and destroy other living beings. Wells even heightened the resemblance by suggesting that his tentacled BEMs might have evolved from life very like that of human beings. In 1973 Marvel Comics wrote a new chapter to Wells’ Martian saga (then safely in public domain), but despite using the trappings of the then-popular barbarian comics, Marvel’s “War of the Worlds” (henceforth “WOTW”) both did justice to Wells’ original theme and forged its own identity as well.

The new chapter began in Amazing Adventures (henceforth “AA”) #18 (May 1973), conceived by Roy Thomas, scripted by Gerry Conway, and illustrated

by Neal Adams and Howard Chaykin.

Conway and Chaykin returned for only one more issue, but the first stories left subsequent creators a strong template on which to build. On the surface, the series looked more like Robert E. Howard than H.G. Wells, depicting the hero Killraven as a sword-swinging hero battling assorted monsters in a post-apocalyptic future Earth. The hero even shared Conan’s lack of background prior to becoming a mature monster-slayer. Yet Conan’s

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

past was simply ignored, while Killraven’s lack of a personal history

Of Course, You Know This Means War!

proved a source of concern. WOTW’s other supporting characters all had

John Romita, Sr. and Mike Esposito’s cover art to Marvel’s first “War of the Worlds” issue, Amazing Adventures #18 (May 1973), reprinted in 2005 as the cover of Essential Killraven, where it was wonderfully colored by its contributor, Tom Smith.

memories of their existence before the Martian invasion—particularly of their fathers—but Killraven, who remained fatherless throughout the series, never experienced more than fragments of pre-invasion memories. To be a tabula rasa, of course, is to start from square one, like an infant, and as the hero’s only “teachers” were the enslaving Martians and their pawns, there was a touch of the Oedipal in WOTW.

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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The first story in AA #18 goes six pages without

infant brother Joshua as all three flee the invaders. The

even mentioning the Martians. We see only Killraven

fugitives escape the Martians, but are betrayed by two

fighting various guardsmen, both humans and

humans, Saunders and Raker, who are collaborating

monstrous mutants, in order to break into a stronghold

with the aliens. The traitors kill Jonathan’s mother and

of an old man called “the Keeper.” After dispensing

divide up the two children. Saunders takes Joshua

with the guards, Killraven deals a fatal blow to the

away to some fate that will not be disclosed for many

Keeper. Yet after completing his mission, Killraven feels

issues, while Raker forces young Jonathan to become a

“empty.”

gladiator who fights other humans for the amusement

Fortuitously, the Keeper revives long

of the conquerors. Killraven escapes his captors, and, along with other fugitives, becomes a roving freedom fighter. The flashback ends, and it is at last clear that the Keeper is Raker, some 20 years older.

Before Raker (finally!) dies, he tells that the Martians mentally coerced him into serving them, © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

and that at some point he eluded their mental control just long enough to bestow upon Killraven some mysterious “power” via his advanced science. In Freudian terms, Raker thus becomes both a “bad father” and a “good father” to

This unfinished Neal Adams-penciled page was intended for AA #18, Killraven’s first outing, but was not published. Courtesy of Kevin Stawieray.

Killraven. Bad, because he slays the hero’s mother and in concert with the Martians gives the hero his slave-status and his gladiatorial nickname.

Good, because he gives Killraven a gift that enables the hero to escape that enslavement, even though it means the Keeper’s death.

WOTW’s opening scenario strongly recalls a segment of Wells’ novel in which a

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

militiaman speculates that though the Martians may conquer humanity, humans will continue to fight the aliens with guerillawar tactics. He also predicts that the Martians will keep some humans as slaves or pets, to be controlled through various brainwashing stratagems, including some sort of enough to tell the warrior (and the readers) the entire

“eroticism” (about which the militiaman does not

backstory of the series: how the Martians invaded in

elaborate). Conway’s take on this is to reveal that

1901, were defeated by Earth’s bacteria, and how the

his Martians can create not only ugly mutants, but

survivors returned to Earth in 2001, immune both to

beautiful ones as well: scantily clad “Martian

germs and all Earth’s military defenses, both nuclear

sirens” able to charm men with both their beauty

and biological. (The unleashing of such weapons helps

and hypnotic powers. In AA #19 the sirens focus

populate Killraven’s world with the usual post-

their powers on Killraven, whereon he learns that

apocalyptic monsters, not to mention those created

his mysterious “power” makes him immune to

by Martian science.) The long flashback then shifts to

their mesmerism. More monsters attack, and the

how the Keeper met Killraven, the same year the

issue is finished with standard fight scenes, but not

Martians invaded. The hero is first seen as a small boy,

before Conway introduces some of Killraven’s rebel

Jonathan Raven, in the company of his mother and

allies, the “Freemen.”

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© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Original cover art to Amazing Adventures #25 (July 1974), penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Mike Esposito. Courtesy of Mike Burkey (www.romitaman.com).

In AA #19 only two Freemen are given names: a

Strange Land—is bestowed upon Grok by Carmilla as

black man named M’Shulla and a mutton-chopped

a symbol of “hope,” but Grok doesn’t look like a very

Caucasian named Hawk, both former gladiators like

hopeful case. He resembles an orangutan with

Killraven. In AA #20, scripted by Marv Wolfman and

sucker discs growing from his fingers, and is said to

drawn by Herb Trimpe, the Caucasian Hawk is trans-

be the result of a botched cloning experiment

formed into an Amerindian with a surly attitude,

supervised by Carmilla. The name of the man from

presumably to give the feature greater racial diversity.

whom Grok was made is revealed many issues later,

In addition, Wolfman’s single script sets up one of the

but given that Carmilla never talks about anyone

feature’s long-running motifs: an ongoing humorous

from her past life but her late father, it doesn’t take

guy-banter between Killraven and M’Shulla. Herb

Sherlock Holmes to guess the clone-donor’s identity.

Trimpe remains the artist on the “War of the Worlds”

In a strange way, just as Killraven’s symbolic “father”

feature through issue #24, but his art proves unsuited to

Raker is both enslaver and benefactor, Grok mingles

the feature’s swashbuckling requirements. As

multiple identities: he is both Carmilla’s father and

compensation, however, in AA #21 Don McGregor

her “son” (because she “creates” him in sole-parent

debuts as the permanent (and

Frankenstein fashion). If there is any real “hope” in

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Grok’s existence, it lies in his capacity to return the

and scripts all the remaining

characters (and the series) to the theme of “the lost

stories in the series save for two

family.” Indeed, this becomes WOTW’s raison d’être

fill-in stories by Bill Mantlo.

from then on (though not until AA #23 does

Of his assignment to the

Killraven remember that he has a lost brother he

feature, McGregor wrote (in e-

needs to seek out!) Additionally, though Conway

mail, September 2005) that, “I

transmitted the basic notion of seeing the creations

wanted to come into it doing

of modern mankind through the lens of a Wellsian

my own stories, not someone

apocalypse, McGregor uses words with a greater

else’s.” This is evident in that

sense of poetry as he evokes mankind’s shattered

the

by

history—sometimes with nostalgia (Yankee Stadium

Wolfman is finished up as

is described as “a place of summer afternoons”),

expeditiously as possible,

sometimes with irony (the Watergate tapes of

emphasizing the new charac-

Richard Nixon are found by Killraven in AA #24, and

ters McGregor introduces.

are thought to symbolize a time of “trust” between

One is Old Skull. He appears

politicians and their constituency).

plotline

begun

as a background figure in

AA #22–24 gives us McGregor’s first continued

#20 but has no character as

story, as well as the last of his collaborations with

such. In addition to giving

Herb Trimpe. The Martians devise a plan to subjugate

him a name, McGregor

humanity not just by force but also by perverting all

makes him another former

of mankind’s cherished social myths: for instance,

gladiator, but one with a

holding slave auctions before the remnants of the

childlike “diminished capacity.” Another is Carmilla

Lincoln Memorial. Because Killraven has become a

Frost, a scientist who claims that she only worked with

legend to enslaved humanity, the Martians want to

the Martians under duress. Because she helps the

execute him in a way that will crush all of mankind’s

Freemen escape a Martian prison, Killraven reluctantly

hopes for independence. This plot is supervised by

allows the scientist to join their company. He remains

the “High Overlord,” a Martian who, though he is a

suspicious of her, in part because she brings along a

tentacled blob like his fellows, is always seen in a

monstrous servant named Grok.

•

“human” form, in that he constantly wears a suit of

The name, patently drawn from another

human-form armor. (No other Martian follows his

“Martian novel”—Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a

example, though.) The Overlord uses various

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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definitive) writer of the feature,

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pawns to assail the hero—the tentacle-armed

still lives, but the hero takes this disclosure as an

Abraxas, a swashbuckler called Sabre (ancestor to

impetus to search for Joshua Raven. Carmilla takes on

the hero of the McGregor/Paul Gulacy Sabre pub-

greater textual importance as she becomes

lished later by Eclipse), and Rattack, a freaky fellow

Killraven’s personal gadfly, constantly challenging

who can control rats—but the Overlord’s most for-

him to be a greater leader, and she also becomes

midable ally is... television. To be precise, this is a

involved with M’Shulla, one of the first interracial

futuristic TV, called the “mural-phonics system.”

romances depicted in comics.

Killraven is subjected to televised torture, all

Artistically the next two issues of AA are much

designed to make him look unheroic, but he fights

improved over the Trimpe run, but both artists—Rich

free, causing his heroic legend to be so enhanced

Buckler in AA #25, Gene Colan in #26—are pinch-hitters.

In AA #25 Carmilla Frost urges Killraven to become a visionary leader, capable of “cosmic wonder,” and not coincidentally, here McGregor at last deals with the concept of Killraven’s “special power,” though he rewrites what little Conway

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

had to say about the matter. Now Killraven’s gift from his symbolic father is “clairsentience,” which allows him to observe events far away from him (sort of the reverse of people seeing him, as happened during his mural-phonics torment). In a future issue Killraven will learn that

Original art to page 15 of AA #29 (Mar. 1975), pencils and inks by Craig Russell.

From the collection of Kevin Stawieray.

this ability is dependent upon his ability to tap into the telepathic powers of Martians (thus, once again, linking his very identity to his alien oppressors). AA #25 also introduces WOTW’s best villain: the cyborg Skar, who is described as a “Cyclops,” though in fact his one “eye” looks like

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

a big hole blown in the middle of his face. Yet his truly monstrous quality is that, more than any other villains, he takes a sadistic joy in killing for the Martians. Skar fights Killraven, and then escapes, but the villain is fated to make an unforgettable mark on the series. AA #26 proves a bit of a downturn: competent but not overly memorable.

AA #27 redefines the series as McGregor is teamed with artist Craig Russell, who will pencil that even the mercenary Sabre turns against his

almost all the remaining issues through AA #39,

masters on Killraven’s behalf. The Overlord escapes

and who is regarded as WOTW’s premiere artist.

even though all of his henchmen are slain.

Russell gives WOTW an elegant linework that

(Abraxas is fittingly crushed by a falling statue of

complements

Abraham Lincoln, full of “paternal somber wisdom.”)

McGregor’s prose, and gives the characters both

As a bonus, the Overlord has reminded Killraven

greater humanity and a physical dynamism. But

that the hero has a lost brother to find. True, all the

one character gets sidelined. Early in #27 Grok

Overlord says is that he wants “Keeper Saunders” in

receives a severe wound, changing him from a

“Yellowstone” to watch Killraven’s destruction. This

combatant to a burdensome “relative” who must

is slim proof for Killraven to assume that his brother

receive constant care. Carmilla is most affected by

the

febrile

romanticism

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Russell’s page 31 of AA #29, inked (in a deadline assist)

by Klaus Janson; art courtesy of Kevin Stawieray. © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Grok’s prolonged suffering, but Grok’s injury also

novel the Martians only drink blood from captive

forces the entire group to function as a family would,

humans, but Marvel’s Martians gain the power to

lugging the injured monster/father along with them

eat flesh, with the consequence that they breed

(eliciting frequent complaints from Hawk, who sees

humans in order to produce fresh young infants for

Grok as a distraction from their mission).

the delectation of Martian palates. Indeed, the

While the Freemen bond as a family, they are

Sacrificer is a gynecological nightmare: a cyborg-

confronted with the Martian desire to pervert the

doctor with a huge scalpel mounted at the end of

familial unit, when they take on the cult of “Death

one arm, and a comical-looking reflector bound

Breeders,” an adventure that extends through AA

about his head. In addition to perverting the family

#31. Building on Wells’ idea that the Martians

unit, the “Death Breeders,” in keeping with their

would treat humans as animals, the Death

name, exist to pervert creation itself, bringing life

Breeders—led by the unctuous Atalon and the

into the world only to kill it.

sadistic Sacrificer—keep thousands of human couples

Since this mission outrages the forces of life, it’s

in breeding-pens, with each man named “Adam”

fitting that the Freemen receive help from something

and each woman “Eve,” with only a number to

very like a goddess of creation: Volcana Ash, another

distinguish one Adam or Eve from another. In Wells’

human mutated by a Martian experiment. The experiment imbued her with a super-human power—that of projecting bolts of fire-plasma from her body—which she promptly turned on her captors. She recalls feeling as though “creation spawned anew within me... I was the universe conceiving planets, mother to the dawning of galaxies.” Despite this burst of poeticism, Volcana’s a cocky type, teasing Killraven with lines out of a Mae West movie. This makes her the first female who actually shows an interest in him (another difference between Killraven and the average barbarian hero, who usually scores with, well, scores of compliant women). Like Carmilla, Volcana seeks to connect with a lost family member: her sister is one of the Eves in the breeding-pens, and she allies herself with the Freemen to overthrow the death-cult. But though the mission eventually succeeds in destroying the Death Breeders’ stronghold, and Volcana finds her sister, the familial quest is again frustrated, for the sister has lost all memory of her previous life and cannot connect with the volcanic vixen.

Volcana parts from the group in #31, and the Freemen return to their erratic search for Killraven’s brother Joshua. Cryptically, Joshua is finally seen in AA #30 as a shadowy figure named “Deathraven,” strongly suggesting that this Joshua has made common cause with the oppressors, so that again the quest for family will be doomed.

In AA #32 the Freemen wander into an abandoned mural-phonics site, but the site proves active

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enough to take images from the heroes’ minds and

latest offspring, and the woman he chooses for

convert them into physical threats. During this

G’Rath is Carmilla. McGregor and Russell give the

exploit M’Shulla relates a few memories of his past

reader a raw look at the emotional violation of an

with his own family, but the highlight of the issue is

impending rape, despite the fact that Carmilla is

that surly Hawk (who has mentioned a conflict with

saved from that violation. Both the 24-Hour Man and

his father in AA #29) finally tells his story of his life

his dragon-father are destroyed, ending a long cycle

before the invasion, relating how he saw his father as

of violence perpetrated for the sake of reproduction.

having sold out Amerindian culture to embrace

In AA #36 Killraven experiences, via telepathy,

Caucasian ways (much as human servitors sold out

the homeworld of the Martians, his indirect “creators.”

their kind to ally with Martians). Hawk’s memories

Then he and his rebels encounter yet another

are poignant and painful, and the adventure in the mural-phonics system questions how much power our fantasies of empowerment (like barbarian comic books!) may have to take over and consume one’s life.

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

AA #33 is simply a fill-in issue by Bill Mantlo and Herb Trimpe, but #34 culminates the familial theme, with the aptly titled “A Death in the Family.” The plot is simple: Skar tracks the Freemen down and tries to kill

Amazing Adventures #34 (Jan. 1976), page 23, written

by Don McGregor and illustrated

by Craig Russell.

Original art courtesy of Terry Austin.

them, and does succeed in killing Hawk and Grok. But the manner of their death cements the familial theme, for though Hawk had resented Grok’s presence, he dies trying to save Grok from a rockslide started by the villain. McGregor had “conceived of the book as done entirely in captions” (Whizzard #13), but though the editors prevented the full use of

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

this idea, the last pages show its effectiveness.

Killraven destroys Skar, but is consumed by wordless despair (heightened only by poetic captions) that he cannot make the unfeeling cyborg suffer as humans do.

AA #35 is a strange Gothic excursion that dispenses with Martian threats, as the Freemen meet a pair of mutant beings bonded through their

Martian stronghold, within which, unknown to

reproductive cycle. G’Rath is a dragonlike creature

them, some of the Martians born on Earth are

who has apparently existed for decades, and every nine

beginning to question the domineering ways of

months he brings a human being into existence, a

their elders. The Freemen attack the stronghold,

“son” doomed to die within 24 hours. This “son”

and blunder into a nursery of Martian younglings.

essentially exists long enough to “pimp” for his

Faced with the expansion of the Martian fami-

serpentine father by finding a mother for the next

ly/menace, Killraven wants to destroy the nursery.

incarnation of himself, nine months down the line,

Carmilla protests, drawing her blade to prevent a

though it’s unclear just who impregnates the mother:

slaughter of innocents. Killraven argues expedience

G’rath, his son, or both of them. “Emmanuel”

and Carmilla a greater ethicality, but the debate is

(translation: God is with him) is the name of G’Rath’s

conveniently terminated by the intrusion of

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Martian guards. The Freemen escape without inten-

to christen the retarded man with a more respectful

tionally slaughtering the younglings, but their violent

cognomen, one that suggests that his childlike

escape ends up polluting the nursery and causing the

persona should be given the same veneration one

innocents’ deaths anyway. Once again Killraven is

gives old age.

forced to realize that simple retaliatory violence makes him as “inhuman” as his oppressors.

AA #38 is another fill-in issue, by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen. AA #39, though not planned as a

AA #37 tells us how Killraven and Old Skull

final issue, does succeed in giving the Freemen a

met, and completes the cycle of self-revelation,

fine sendoff. Somehow, while still looking for

in which Old Skull speaks of his relationship with

Yellowstone, they end up in the Okefenokee Swamp. Killraven, finding his way blocked by huge strands of webbing, reverts to barbarian-mode by blasting through it.

Again he unintentionally destroys innocents, for the web contains mutant pupas birthed

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

by

a

humanoid

butterfly-

woman. Mourning Prey (the name Carmilla gives to the mutant woman) attacks the Freemen, flees, and attacks again later, spiriting away most of the “I loved Craig’s art so

Freemen save Killraven and M’Shulla. The

much,” reveals Terry

conflict winds down to nothing as Old

Austin, who contributed

Skull persuades Mourning Prey that their

this page (10) from AA

transgression was an accident, but the series

#37 (July 1976), “I

ends with a vision of a world permanently

offered to ink backgrounds

altered by the invaders’ presence, as

for Jack Abel when he

Killraven asserts that, “Even if we win our

inked this issue.”

war... Earth will never be the same.” It may be significant that even though Killraven

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

never finds a father, the mutant Mourning Prey—an unspeaking figure whose sole purpose seems to be that of creating new life— gives him symbolic contact with the mother he lost in his origin-tale.

However, if the WOTW series ended with the notion of Earth’s relative innocence having

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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his father, finally leaving Killraven as the only cast-

been ravaged by the Martians, there was one last

member who has no memories of a biological

story that remained to tell: the ravaging of

father. This story touches on a very Wellsian

Killraven’s own innocence. For this McGregor and

theme concerning the ethics of human-animal

Russell were reunited circa 1983 in order to finish

relations, for Old Skull’s father is a cattleman,

the WOTW saga in Marvel Graphic Novel #7.

who calls his son “numbskull” because of the

It should be said that McGregor had altered

son’s nurturing feelings for the cattle. The cattleman

other matters of past continuity besides Killraven’s

dies in a Martian attack just as he makes an

powers. He misremembered “Keeper Raker” as

attempt to reconcile with his offspring. Later,

“Keeper Whitman” back in AA #25, but the graphic

when the “numbskull” meets Killraven in the

novel goes further: it makes them two different

arena, Killraven revises the paternal insult in order

characters! In addition, the ages of Joshua and

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Jonathan are reversed: in Conway’s tale Joshua is

According to McGregor (e-mail, September

younger, but here Joshua becomes the older of the

2005) he had hoped to continue the saga with

two brothers, which has certain psychological

Russell, to “make good on the promise I’d made

consequences for the Killraven mythos.

to the readers with my very first issue, that

According to McGregor he had already used

Killraven would take the War back to Mars!”

the Yellowstone locale as a setting for a 1983

Unfortunately Marvel’s editors were not willing to

issue of the Eclipse feature Sabre (which used a

commit to the project, but it could still happen.

post-apocalyptic milieu not unlike that of WOTW);

Marvel could do worse than to provide a finish to

thus, rather than repeating himself he had the

a series possessed of a psychological depth worthy of

Freemen encounter Joshua in the remnants of

(though not quite equal to) the work of H.G.

Cape Canaveral. (In an August 2005 e-mail Russell

Wells himself.

Double trouble for Killraven on this astounding P. Craig Russell-illustrated cover to AA #36 (May 1976). Original art courtesy of Kevin Stawieray. Note that in the published version (see inset), Craig’s background art was deleted.

remarked that this reunion also gave him the chance to redesign the Martians, who had “tended

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

to look a lot like Mr. Potato Head.”) As the Cape represents man’s dreams of space exploration, it’s an ideal target for degradation, one from which the Martians plan to rob Earth of all its life-elements before returning to Mars. The Freemen get a new ally: an aged female astronaut, yet another survivor from the pre-Martian days, but it’s another sort of “alliance” that most concerns Carmilla, once she discovers herself pregnant by M’Shulla. To say the least, she’s less than pleased about this “invasion” of her body. In contrast the amnesiac Killraven wants greater familial connectedness, but Joshua turns out to be a Judas, who befriends the Freemen in order to betray them. He also shows them that Martian science has enabled him to transform into a werewolfmonster, and after he beats up Killraven he reveals that even as a human he loved beating and tormenting his younger brother (Freud would say that this “brother” is just another cruel father-figure in disguise).

Unable to defeat such superior power directly, Killraven can only triumph by assimilating an even greater power: to overthrow a tyrannical brother with the power of a greater tyrant, one of the Martians who “made” Killraven. Through clairsentience Killraven takes control of a Martian and forces it to attack Joshua. Even while dying, the wolf-monster “knows that it is his brother who tears and sucks the life from him.” After such a tortured finale, the subsequent destruction of the Cape Canaveral stronghold is almost anti-climactic, though on a positive note Carmilla becomes reconciled with the prospect of motherhood.

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Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel Return to

by

Joseph McCabe

Mission to MARS

MA R S

Whether or not man ever strides gallantly

“New” MARS art penciled by Marc Hempel in the mid1980s and inked by Mark Wheatley in 2005 for use as a sales incentive signed print from Westfield Comics’ subscription service.

across the surface of the red planet, comic-book fans, at least, will have no trouble imagining such a visit thanks to MARS, the pioneering First Comics series that marked the twin debuts of fan-favorite creators Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

MARS, like its fellow First titles Grimjack and Jon Sable: Freelance, has been honored with a new collected edition from IDW, a collection Wheatley (who’s re-

MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

colored the book) describes as “the best printed comic book I’ve ever had.”

In speaking with BACK ISSUE, longtime collaborators Wheatley and Hempel explain the unorthodox way in which they sold their science-fiction saga to First.

“Marc and I had just done the paperback book series Be an Interplanetary Spy,” says Wheatley. “I had been working for Heavy Metal, I was doing some strips for Epic Illustrated, but mostly we were doing a lot of local advertising work, and designing imprinted balloons for a local balloon company.

MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

There’s a moment where you’re doing all that stuff, where you go, ‘Well, this is earning us money, and this is fine, and this is drawing...’. And we really

Pencil art by Mark Wheatley from the 1983 presentation art used to sell the MARS series to First Comics.

wanted to do comic books, but the market was dead. There was no creator-owned anything. I mean, nobody did this. It just didn’t happen.

“I worked this deal where we went out to San Diego [Comic-Con] in ’82, and we got a table. And I

MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

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had done this little proposal for MARS, this pitch. I had this whole routine, y’know? It was like an acting

The first character design sheet penciled by Mark Wheatley. This was before Hempel joined the project.

job, I acted it out for the publishers. Then I heard there’s this new company just announced, First Comics, at the show. I grabbed them and I said, ‘Who do I talk to?’ So [then-art director] Joe Staton listened to the pitch. He left with his jaw down.

Actually, the only people that turned us down on

MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

the spot were Pacific Comics. First Comics wanted us, Marvel wanted us, DC wanted us. We had callbacks from everybody, saying, ‘Yeah, let’s talk about doing this.’ And the only people that ever completely followed through were First. Partially, [MARS editor] Mike Gold told me later, because he thought everybody else wanted it. (Joe had brought the proposal back and did the pitch for Mike.)

“For a long time after that, our proposal was the model they used in the industry for how to present

a new series. Because it was a new thing at the time.

People hadn’t been presenting new series. So, in ’83, we had our first issue out in September.”

The tale of a paraplegic astronaut named Morgana Chase, her shipmates, and their journey through time, space, and consciousness, MARS was inspired in part by a friend of the creators.

“Her name is Marion Vessels,” says Wheatley. “She was Miss Wheelchair America at the time, a paraplegic, who’s been on the governor’s committee here in Maryland, and has worked with the president’s council, and was instrumental in developing the access laws

Marc Hempel looking like he’s ready to run out to the woods and do some hunting.

that are currently in place.

“One time we were having a conversation when we were out at a movie together. She said it had been so long at that time since her accident that even if she did get reconnected with her nerves in her legs she would probably never be able to walk again, because she wouldn’t be able to move her legs enough to exercise them, to build strength, to get back to the point where she could stand on them.

Also the bones may have become brittle through disuse. Astronauts have run into this, that’s why they can’t stay up there forever. And so I got to thinking, ‘But if you were on the moon, where you had very little gravity, you

Mark Wheatley at the fall 2005 Baltimore Comic Con.

could slowly build up to it.’ And then from that point, it was like, ‘Oh, cool, then if they went to

Painted and penciled by Mark Wheatley and inked by Marc Hempel, this image was the “money shot” that graced the cover of the presentation that sold MARS as a series to publisher First Comics. At the time almost everyone at First and even Mark and Marc were surprised that the original presentation image survived the development process to end up as the cover for the first issue of MARS. MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

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Mars there’d be a little more gravity and then...’.

a flood of titles—“We were canceled at

Wheatley and Hempel found inspiration for

50,000.”), it proved Wheatley and Hempel

the look of MARS from Wash Tubbs and Captain

could produce their own monthly book, and led to such later collabo-

Easy creator Roy Crane.

rations as Blood of the

“We had out mutual influences and our separate

Innocent,

influences,” says Hempel,

and Breathtaker.

“I think we just got

overlap, because he really

better,” says Wheatley. “I

affected us in terms of our

mean, this was our first

very direct storytelling, and

long-term gig working in

our nuts ’n’ bolts approach

storytelling, and we were

to comics.

feeling our way. The only conscious

MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

best work. The other thing

doing that. We got criticized

of course is when you’re

a lot for not doing finished

suddenly thrown to the

art—‘It

lions and you have to turn

doesn’t

have

enough detail.’ There were

out a whole book every

people out there doing that,

month. It’s interesting to

but not in the mainstream.

me to look back at MARS.

Not so much anyway.

Because

like Bruce Timm, there are artists out there who are really popular that have

it up left and right. And then I look back at it

a very simple approach. I never thought I’d live to

and I think, ‘Oh, well I essentially did what I

see the day. But we do most of our detailed drawing,

would do now.’

two worked in producing MARS: “I did the breakdowns for most of the issues. We would switch off a little bit at the end, but, for the most part: my breakdowns, Mark’s pencils, my inks, my letters, and his coloring... with Kathy Mayer helping on the coloring and lettering.”

Though MARS was cancelled after only 12 issues (the result, says Wheatley, of premiering during “Black September,” in which retailers cut orders in half due to

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believed that I didn’t have a

Hempel explains the way the

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clue, and that I just screwed

really. It’s kind of a European approach.”

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Certainly now with people

You’ll notice there’s not much cross-hatching,

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we’ve

creators at the time weren’t

whatever you want to call it, in the coloring.

MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

goal

always had is to do our

down there, and a lot of

(right center and lower right) Layout sketches

by Marc Hempel for promotional art, pre-release of MARS issue #1.

Quest,

“but Crane was an important

“We had all the basics MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

Jonny

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“Except,” he adds with a laugh, “now I understand why I would do it.”

Breakdowns by Hempel for issue #1 of MARS. MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

This page is part of the extras in the new IDW MARS book.

The pencils are by Wheatley and represent unused story pages from the first MARS issue.

MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

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This page originally appeared in Amazing Heroes for one of its annual swimsuit issues. It was penciled by Wheatley and inked by Hempel. Colored

by Wheatley for the new IDW MARS GN. MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

Another page from the “extras” section of the new IDW MARS GN. This shows an unused splash page from issue #12 of MARS, laid out by Wheatley and penciled and inked by Hempel. The art was changed for final publication at the request of the series editor Mike Gold. (Says Wheatley: “Gold made very few changes to the MARS material—but his deft editorial skill was a very important element in the creation of the MARS series.”)

The second illustration is the unaltered art for the splash page in MARS #11. In the final version the art was cut apart to give the illusion of shattering glass.

MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

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by

Zack Smith

In 1975 and 1976, Marvel published seven issues of a black-and-white magazine called Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction. While the magazine was short-lived, it was a true labor of love, featuring adaptations of SF and fantasy authors of all eras, interviews with SF’s best writers, reprints of rarely seen stories by some of comics’ top creators, and early Marvel work by future comics superstars.

Looking at the lineup from Unknown Worlds’ brief run is like a who’s who of great names from the Bronze Age: Neal Adams, Frank Brunner, Gene Colan, Howard Chaykin, Archie Goodwin, Michael William Kaluta, Denny O’Neil, Alex Niño, and Wally Wood, just to name a few. Famed SF artists such as Frank Kelly Freas and Michael Whelan contributed covers, while the authors adapted ranged from Golden Age favorites such as Alfred Bester and A.E. Van Vogt to “New Wave” writers such as Michael Moorcock and Harlan Ellison.

A true labor of love, Unknown Worlds was a book for and by true science-fiction fans... and, unfortunately, never caught on. © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Still, it made a definite impression on its readers. One of these readers was Allen Steele, who would go on to become an acclaimed SF author and winner of two Hugo Awards. Steele still has his issues of the magazine, which he says he keeps filed with his SF magazine collection, rather than his comic collection.

“Until Unknown Worlds came out, all comics seemed like SF to me,” Steele says. “What was different about Unknown Worlds was that it didn’t have super-heroes and super-villains, but instead adaptations of then-current SF stories. I’d already seen

Alex Niño’s rendition of the Ticktockman, commissioned at the 2003 San Diego Comic-Con. All artwork in this article was submitted by Zack Smith.

the Ballantine reprints of the old E.C. comics adaptations of Ray Bradbury’s stories, but somehow those seemed old-hat to someone growing up in the ’60s and ’70s. The Ellison, Moorcock, and Niven stories were still fairly new, though—the paperback anthologies that contained the originals were still available in bookstores.

“So there was a real sense that you weren’t reading just another comic book, but rather a sciencefiction magazine that happened to be done in graphic form.”

Unknown Worlds even helped Steele to discover several major SF writers after reading the interviews featured in the magazine. “I sought out Frank Herbert’s Dune after reading the interview with him in one issue, and went

Art © 2006 Alex Niño “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” © 2006 Killimanjaro Corporation.

into a serious Larry Niven binge after reading both his interview and the adaptation of ‘All the Myriad Ways,’” Steele says. “Those interviews are the major reason why I keep my old issues of UW filed with my SF magazines

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rather than with my comic collection.”

named “Sandson O. Tyme,” who enticed customers

The magazine was masterminded by Roy Thomas, already an acclaimed comics writer and

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Sandson O. Tyme in one of the “Slow Glass” framing sequences in issue #1,

by Tony Isabella and Gene Colan.

Art and adaptation © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc. “Slow Glass” © 2006 Bob Shaw

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with slow glass images of the issue’s stories.

“Working with Gene was a pleasure,” Isabella

editor, and a lifelong fan of SF. “I was practically

recalls. “He put so much emotion into the faces and

a charter member of the Science Fiction Book

body language of characters that a writer could

Club!” Thomas said.

‘imagine’ what the characters were saying and thinking.

At first, the magazine was attempted as a standard-

My main challenge in adapting Bob Shaw’s classic

sized color comic called Worlds Unknown, which

story was trying to make my adaptation worthy of it.

mainly featured adaptations of, among other stories,

Shaw wrote me to tell me how pleased he was with

A.E. Van Vogt’s “Black Destroyer” and Harry Bates’

it, but I think Gene made me look good.”

“Farewell to the Master.” In his introduction to

While no Bradbury adaptations appeared in

issue #1 of Unknown Worlds, Thomas recalled how

Unknown Worlds, the magazine did try to tie some of

the creators felt frustrated by the lack of room in

its adaptations into authors interviewed in a particular

the color comic, and wanted to do something that

issue. Thus, Alfred Bester was interviewed by Denny

focused on a larger scope of stories.

O’Neil in issue #2, who also scripted an adaptation of

Originally, the plan

Bester’s “Adam and No Eve.” A Frank Herbert

was to use Ray Bradbury’s

adaptation appeared along with an interview in #3,

Illustrated Man as a framing

#4 featured an A.E. Van Vogt interview along with an

sequence for the book,

adaptation of “The Enchanted Village,” and Larry

with one Bradbury story

Niven was interviewed alongside an adaptation of

being adapted per issue.

“All the Myriad Ways” in #5.

When this didn’t work

Along with the first part of an adaptation of John

out, Gerry Conway, who

Wyndham’s “The Day of the Triffids,” the framing

published

SF

sequence and the Shaw adaptation were the only

books in the 1970s,

several

original comics in the first issue. The remaining part of

came up with the idea

the magazine was made up of reprints from fanzines,

of using Bob Shaw’s

featuring an A-list group of talents. The reprints

“Slow Glass” concept

consisted of Neal Adams’ thought-provoking anti-

from his story “Light of

Vietnam story “A View from Without”; Wally Wood

Other Days.”

The

and Al Williamson’s “Savage World!”; Michael Kaluta’s

story dealt with a kind

“Hey Buddy, Can You Lend Me A...”; and Frank

of

through

Brunner’s pulp SF parody “Smash Gordon,” which,

which light traveled

glass

Thomas said in the first issue, was a parody of the

slowly, meaning that

kind of SF Unknown Worlds intended not to publish.

the images shown in

Using the reprints gave Unknown Worlds two

it would be from the

advantages. First, it did not have to rely on reprints

past. Why not use

from older Marvel SF comics to fill out space when

slow

from

an issue came up short. In addition, it gave Marvel

other times and other worlds, with the issue’s stories

fans the opportunity to read rarely seen works by

playing out in each piece?

some of the biggest talents in comics.

glass

Thomas liked the idea, and the team of Tony

“They were things that I had seen around, and I

Isabella, Gene Colan, and Tom Palmer brought the

thought, ‘Well, we could have some very nice stuff

idea to life in the framing sequence for the issue,

some by some nice artists,’” Thomas said.

which also featured a “Light of Other Days” adaptation

In addition, the first issue featured interviews with

by Isabella, Colan, and Mike Esposito. In each issue,

Ray Bradbury and Frank Kelly Freas. Freas did the

readers were taken into the shop of the improbably

cover for the first issue, showing a young couple

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cowering from an alien landing. However, the cover

was the story in which he really came into his own,”

wound up being redone before the issue came out.

Isabella says. “He took a complicated plot and did a

“Stan Lee did not like the people on the cover,”

masterful job drawing it. I was so fired up by his art

Thomas said “John Romita did an overlay with

I stayed up all night to script it. It was going so

younger people. It was more like, ‘Marvel Comics met

well that I didn’t want to step away from it until

science fiction,’ which was what we wanted to do.” The

I had finished the final panel.

original artwork ran in a smaller form in issue #2...

“It’s still one of my favorite stories.”

whose cover was most definitely approved by editorial.

Cover artist Kaluta also saw one of his fanzine

Thomas had an idea for a cover depicting a

stories, the haunting “The Hunter and the

variation on the famous flag raising at Iwo Jima...

Hunted,” reprinted in issue #2. Another fanzine

with a robot. The result was the Michael Kaluta cover

story reprinted was the E.C.-esque “Specimen” by

for issue #2 and the issue’s cover story, “War Toy” by

Bruce Jones, who would contribute stories in all of

Tony Isabella and George Pérez.

Unknown Worlds’ remaining issues.

Widely regarded as the best original story in

“It was a nice little book, a nice time to be in

Unknown Worlds’ run, “War Toy” told the tragic tale

comics,” Jones says. “We were all just so glad to have

of FM-1, a robot raised like a human to be the

something to draw or write other than super-hero

perfect soldier, only to be rejected by both the

stuff, which tended to be pretty two-dimensional in

military and civilian life. The story was picked as the

those days. I think, in

best of the issue in a subsequent reader poll, and

most cases, the sci-fi

Isabella still receives comments about it from fans.

comics and magazines

“It started with a Roy Thomas idea for a cover

of the day were leagues

showing an Iwo Jima-type flag raising with one of the

ahead of the super-hero

soldiers being a robot and Roy’s great line about not

books, at least in terms

being able to pin a medal on a tank,” Isabella recalls.

of story content.”

“I don’t remember if I plotted ‘War Toy’ before or

Jones

remains

after I saw the cover, but I did know what Roy had

critical on his work for

asked Mike to do for it. Roy let me take it from there.

the series “Looking

“I had three goals in mind for ‘War Toy.’ I wanted to

back I may have

draw a parallel to the way societies often turn their backs

tended to be a little

on the men and women who fight for them. I wanted

verbose in the word

to do homage of sorts to the war stories Robert Kanigher

balloon and especially

had written for Our Army at War during that DC title’s

the caption area,”

heyday. And I wanted to kick off a series of ‘robots at

Jones says. “Probably

war’ stories for Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction.”

that was the E.C. influ-

The idea for the robots series came from Marvel’s

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

ence or something.”

desire to do a robot series in the vein of Isaac Asimov’s

Still, Jones says

work without directly imitating his stories. “Asimov’s

that he enjoyed the

robots had been developed during peacetime, but the

experience of work-

sad truth is that war has been a catalyst for many

ing

on

Unknown

technological advances,” Isabella says. “That gave me the hook I needed, though, unfortunately, ‘War Toy’ was the only story that made it out of my typewriter.”

Isabella says he was excited about collaborating with Pérez on “War Toy.” “I’d worked with George— as a plotter and editor—on some stories for various Marvel black-and-white magazines, but ‘War Toy’

From issue #2’s “War Toy,” by Tony Isabella and George Pérez.

Betty Curtis, the reporter character in the story, is named after an SF writer... who happens to be Comics Buyer’s Guide’s Maggie Thompson’s mother. And the general in the story, Hamilton Arkay, is named in part after Robert Kanigher (Arkay = “R.K.”). © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

“Kick the Can” by Bruce Jones, from issue #4 (July 1975).

Worlds, and getting to both write and illustrate sev-

The only panel he said he liked—one of a group of men

eral of his stories. “I recall writing and drawing a

walking in stiff formation—was one which (though he

story about a spaceman being hunted by another

didn’t know it) I’d had Alex change between penciling

spaceman a distant planet, I forget the name of the

and inking. To me, this showed that even an author of

story [“Kick the Can,” in issue #4], but I had a lot of

Harlan’s undisputed talent isn’t always the best judge

fun with it,” Jones says. “All that cool chiaroscuro

of how his stories should be adapted.”

stuff you could do with the darkness of outer space

Despite Ellison’s dislike of the adaptation, more of

against the starkness of the rocky alien terrain—it

his works might have appeared in Unknown Worlds

worked well in the black-and-white magazine

had it gone on, Isabella says. “Harlan Ellison and I

format. Stories like that don’t need color—you don’t

discussed a couple of stories. I wanted to do ‘Along

really want color, just that deep shadowed noir feel.”

the Scenic Route’ and he wanted me to do a better

Issue #3 featured several high-profile adapta-

adaptation of ‘Delusion for a Dragon Slayer’ than the

tions, including Frank Herbert’s “Occupation Force”

one which had appeared in one of Marvel’s color

by Gerry Conway and George Pérez; Larry Niven’s

titles [Chamber of Chills #1].

“Not Long Before the End” by Doug Monech and

“Nothing came of those chats, but, decades later,

Vicente Alcazar; and one of Unknown Worlds’ most

I did get to adapt one of his crime stories—“Opposites

well-known adaptations, “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said

Attract”—for Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor. Harlan is

the Ticktockman” by Thomas and Alex Niño.

not only one of my favorite writers, he’s also a friend,

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Niño’s

swirling,

cartoon-ish take on

Issue #4 featured another offbeat adaptation, of

Harlan Ellison’s award-

Robert Silverberg’s robot-as-pope tale “Good News

winning classic was

from the Vatican.” It also featured the most elaborate

picked as best story of

“Slow Glass” story yet, “An Official Inquiry.” In it, it

the issue in a reader

was explained how Sandson O. Tyme got his slow

poll. However, one

glass from an extra-dimensional “Peddler”... who, at

person who was not a

the end, was revealed to actually be supplying slow

fan was Harlan Ellison

glass to Tyme in an effort to overthrow the insane

himself. In an interview

Tribunal of the Universe!

with Comic Book Artist

This proved to be Tony Isabella’s last framing

(CBA) in December

sequence, and even he had no idea where it was

2002, Ellison said that

going to go. “I was making it up as I went along,

while he was a fan of

playing with the idea that information—and ‘slow

Niño’s work, he felt

glass’ was an information storage medium—was the

the adaptation was

most dangerous weapon of all.

“too madcap,” and

“It’s a concept I would again use in The Shadow

that the Harlequin

War of Hawkman and Hawkman series I wrote for DC

should represent the

in the 1980s and which I’ll use again should I ever

only chaotic element

get my hands on another DC hero I have in mind.

in

Not the obvious one.”

an

otherwise

regimented

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and it was great fun working with him.”

world

Issue #5 featured the “All the Myriad Ways”

(“Hell-Raisin’ Harlan

adaptation by Howard Chaykin, which ranks

Ellison,” CBA #23).

alongside “Harlequin” as one of Unknown Worlds’

Thomas disagrees with Ellison’s assessment. “I

most memorable adaptations. It also featured a

have a real fondness for our ‘Ticktockman’ adaptation,”

reprint of the fanzine story “Half Life” by John

Thomas says. “Harlan didn’t like Alex’s art for it, and I’ve

Allison, who would go on to become a special

always maintained that he was wrong, wrong, wrong.

effects artist and win two Emmys for his work on

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Roy Thomas and Alex Niño’s adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s “‘Repent, Harlequin!’

Said the Ticktockman,” from UWoSF #3 (March 1975). The soldiers in line was the only aspect of the adaptation that Ellison liked, according to Thomas.

Art and adaptation © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc. “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” © 2006 Killimanjaro Corporation.

the PBS documentaries Cosmos and The Brain.

with conflict from one of the Surfer’s creators. “Stan Lee

Allison showed his portfolio to Thomas while he

just sh*t on my script so big!” Allison laughs. “He

was in Toronto. Impressed, Thomas bought “Half

wanted his script used, which was like 400 pages long.”

Life” for Unknown Worlds and gave a plug for Orb,

The project never went anywhere, but Allison still

the fanzine where Allison originally published it. “It

found his comic-book work following him into his

was just shocking that he bought it,” recalls

career in SFX. When working on the effects for the pilot

Allison, who currently does effects for the

M.A.N.T.I.S., Allison found that producer Sam Raimi

Nickelodeon series Ned’s Declassified School Survival

was familiar with his comics work. “It’s funny, after 20

Guide and Unfabulous. “I thought I had it made, I

years I got work because of my comics!” Allison says.

was finally going to be a comic artist.”

“Half Life” by John Allison, from Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction #5 (Sept. 1975).

The final regular issue, #6, went out with a bang,

Allison had another story published in Unknown

as Unknown Worlds tackled its most controversial

Worlds, “Mind Games,” in issue #6, and was halfway

adaptation yet, Michael Moorcock’s “Behold the

© 2006 John Allison.

through another story, “The Black Hole,” when the book was canceled (see the accompanying art for the first-ever look at this story!). Though he published an adaptation of James Tiptree’s “The Man Who Walked Home” in the fanzine Andromeda, he had trouble finding more comics work and went into SFX. However, it wasn’t the end of his involvement with the comics industry.

In the early 1980s, Allison worked on a screenplay for a Silver Surfer movie for Lee Kramer, producer of the notorious Olivia Newton-John flop Xanadu.

According to Allison, Kramer had a linear induction magnetic track that would allow a specially designed surfboard to float three or four feet in the air. The project went to a storyboard stage, but Allison met F u t u r e

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Man.” The complex,

fondness. “It was an experiment that, not surprisingly,

psychological tale of a

didn’t quite work out.” Thomas says. “[Science fiction]

time-traveler who takes

never did sell for E.C., and it didn’t sell for us either!”

the place of Jesus was

And sadly, the odds of Unknown Worlds being

already one of the most

reprinted are practically nil. “The funny thing is that,

brutal depictions of the

since Marvel doesn’t have any of the agreements

time of the Crucifixion

with the writers, they can’t reprint any of that

this side of Mel Gibson,

stuff legally now without risking a nasty letter or

and Alex Niño’s detailed

lawsuit,” Thomas says. “So a lot of good stuff (the

art, as tight and ordered

adaptations, anyway) isn’t seen.”

as

his

“Harlequin”

However, the back issues of Unknown Worlds are

adaptation was chaotic,

still available at low prices for new readers to discover.

drove every moment of

And those who did read it the first time still remember

this

home,

it. “I’d love to see a magazine like UW again,”

while Doug Moench’s

Steele says. “In the short time that it lasted, I

script helped drive home

eagerly looked forward to each issue.

brutality

the devastating themes of Moorcock’s story.

So, for SF fans looking for good comics... check out

cover for the issue, while

the back issue bins. There’s a great series waiting for you

only dimly based on the story, touched upon the

Art and adaptation © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc. “Behold the Man” © 2006 Michael Moorcock.

not one that could be openly displayed in a

issue’s themes by depicting a crucified spaceman. It was a daring move for a comic magazine.

“There’s no way that ‘Behold The Man’ would be adapted as a comic book today, or at least comics shop,” Steele says. “Things were very different 30 years ago.”

With issue #6, Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction came to an end, leaving a number of possibilities dangling. In the final letters page, Thomas mentioned that an adaptation of A.E. Van Vogt’s Slan was already scripted, and that adaptations of Fritz Leiber, Roger Zelazny, and others were planned. A special was published the following year featuring completed material that was never published, including adaptations of Stanley Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey” and Frederic Brown’s “Arena,” (reprinted from Worlds Unknown #4) four new stories written by Jones, and a reprint of Archie Goodwin’s fanzine story “Sinner,” along with an interview with Theodore Sturgeon.

Though Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction proved short-lived, it was a book that both its fans and contributors look back upon with

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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again... or at least not with the same sort of material.”

Even the Frank Brunner

From issue #6’s (Nov. 1975) “Behold the Man” adaptation, by Doug Moench and Alex Niño.

A George Pérez-drawn “War Toy” frontispiece from the story’s reprinting in Marvel Preview (featuring Bizarre Adventures) #20 (1980).

“Somehow, though, I doubt we’ll ever see its kind

that doesn’t deserve to remain unknown.

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ntributions ns, and art co Feature, captio eod

by Bob McL

I guess most people would think something this rough [John Buscema’s splash-page breakdowns from Nova #22 (1979)] couldn’t be inked, but really, all the essential drawing is there. Tom Palmer was the regular inker on the book. Josef Rubinstein and I each inked half, both of us trying to ink like Palmer. © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

“Rough Stuff” is a very apt name for what I was often assigned to

Milgrom, Ross Andru, Don Heck, Bob Brown, Carmine Infantino,

ink back in the ’70s and ’80s. Unlike so many of today’s pencilers,

Mike Vosburg, Frank Miller, George Pérez, Rich Buckler, John Romita,

who usually draw in every feathering line, strand of hair, and

Jr., Mark Texeira, or Bill Sienkiewicz. While they were all very good

lighting indication, in the good old days of the ’70s most of that

artists, even fan-favorite artists, most of today’s pencilers would never

was usually left up to the inker. It was considered the penciler’s job

dare turn in work as sketchy as theirs was back then. These pencilers

to lay out the panels, compose the scene, and loosely draw the

expected the inker to bring a lot of style and drawing ability to the

figures and backgrounds. How much other detail he added was up

table, along with the good brush and pen control every inker needs.

to him, but it was considered the inker’s job to lay down the exact

As Bill Sienkiewicz once said to me, speaking about his rough,

line needed and to add a rendering style and often even to decide

sketchy pencils: “If I have to take the time to clean it up and draw it

where to add black areas and lighting.

exactly the way I want it to look in print, I may as well ink it myself.”

Today, people often joke about inkers being just “tracers.” Inking

4 6

And he was right, of course. Bill was an excellent inker himself, but

is a far more complex affair than that, of course, but there is often a

he figured it was the inker’s job to polish up his rough drawing and

lot of tracing involved in inking today’s tight pencilers. No one in the

make it shine. So many of today’s pencilers pencil the job, then ink

’70s or ’80s could ever accuse an inker of “tracing” when he was

the job on a lightbox with a pencil, leaving the inker little to do but

inking true “rough stuff” artists like Val Mayerick, Billy Graham, Al

try his best to reproduce the same sweeping pencil lines in ink.

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This Frank Miller job [Spectacular Spider-Man #27 (1979)] was inked by Frank Springer, and I really wish I could have inked it. Miller was really starting to develop here and there’s a lot of potential inking fun. © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Some pencilers, like the young Frank Miller I inked (on his first

pencils on Action Comics were breakdowns. Breakdowns were

two jobs at Marvel), hadn’t yet developed a finished style. He didn’t

always my favorite work. As an inker, there was nothing quite like

really “do” inking at first, so I had a great time taking his raw,

getting John Buscema breakdowns in the mail. His breakdowns

undeveloped pencils and adding lighting and rendering of my own

were notoriously loose; just broken-line sketches. What a thrilling

choosing to finish the jobs up. This is in no way meant as an insult to

challenge to have his marvelous dynamic layouts with which to do

Frank, either. Everyone at Marvel was very excited by Frank’s first

whatever you wanted to take them to the finish line. I have several

penciling jobs, and I was thrilled at the chance to add my inks to his

examples of his breakdowns before and after inks on my web site at

dramatic pencils. He, in turn, was appreciative of my ability to take

http://www.bobmcleod.com/befaft.html.

his drawing and add the finish he hadn’t yet learned how to do. My

Over my career, I made Xerox copies of the pencils and inks of

jobs with Frank, and most other comics from that period, were a true

most of my jobs, for several reasons. It’s helpful to have a copy of

collaboration between penciler and inker, creating artwork wholly

the pencils to refer to while inking, because pencils can get

different and usually better than either artist could have done alone.

smudged and erased, and inadvertently changed during inking.

There is also the matter of “breakdowns,” where the pencil artist

Pages have also occasionally been lost or damaged in the mail, and

just supplies a rough layout, with no blacks or lighting or rendering,

copies can prevent the need to re-do an entire job. And it’s also just

and the inker finishes the drawing and inks it. Does anyone even do

nice to have a record of past work. I’m happy to

breakdowns anymore? I was lucky enough to ink breakdowns over

have this chance to share with you some of the

John and Sal Buscema, Ron Frenz, George Pérez, Jim Starlin, Mike

pencils I’ve saved by so many fine pencilers over the

Zeck, Rich Buckler, and Mike Golden. I also penciled breakdowns for

years. I hope you enjoy them.

my idol Tom Palmer to ink on Star Wars, and most of my Superman

– Bob McLeod

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John

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

IRON MAN #117 cover (1978): JOHN ROMITA, JR. / BOB McLEOD This was about as tight as JRJR’s pencils got; more like semi-breakdowns. Most inkers just did ellipses freehand back then, and so did I.

JIM © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

STARLIN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #187 page 7 (1978): JIM STARLIN / BOB McLEOD This was just a very rushed fill-in job for Jim, who came in late to help the editor meet the deadline.

But it was my one chance to ink Starlin and I gave it everything I had.

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BILL

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

MOON KNIGHT (1979): BILL SIENKIEWICZ / BOB McLEOD Bill and I were both in full Neal Adams mode here, and it was great fun to ink. [Editor’s note: This Moon Knight story, “An Eclipse, Waning,” was published in Hulk magazine #15.]

FRANK © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

MILLER CAPTAIN AMERICA #241 cover (1980): FRANK MILLER / BOB McLEOD This was a great scene, but very rough pencils. I wish I could have another shot at it, and Frank probably does, too.

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© 2006 Lucasfilm Ltd.

BOB

MC LEOD

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

NEW MUTANTS #2 pages 16–17 (1983): BOB McLEOD pencils This issue was fun because I drew the local mall in Tampa where I lived, put in the local comic shop, and drew in me and my wife, my in-laws (standing outside the comic shop), and some friends. My mother-in-law was not amused.

STAR WARS #83 page 22 (1984): BOB McLEOD pencils and inks I make a lot of changes when I ink my own pencils. The ship in the last panel had to be changed I think because Han had the Falcon elsewhere.

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BOB © 2006 Lucasfilm Ltd.

MC LEOD STAR WARS #86 cover (1984): BOB McLEOD pencils and inks It was difficult laying out this cover, trying to get the foreshortening right on Leia and show it from an angle that really emphasized the long drop below.

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ZECK MIKE © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #31 cover (1987): MIKE ZECK / BOB McLEOD This looks like very tight pencils, but it’s really all grey tones! I usually enjoy inking Mike, but when I saw this I was wishing I was back inking Buscema breakdowns!

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MIKE © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

ZECK WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #32 page 22 (1987): MIKE ZECK / BOB McLEOD Well, be careful what you wish for. I wanted breakdowns and I got ’em, but black costumes and bare walls... !? What’s an inker to do? I did what I could.

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TODD

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #299 page 12 (1988): TODD McFARLANE / BOB McLEOD Todd got a finished pencil rate for these breakdowns. That meant $550 out of my pocket, so I quit after this issue. He went on to glory; I didn’t.

John © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

BYRNE NEW MUTANTS #75 page 1 (1989): JOHN BYRNE / BOB McLEOD Byrne does terrific breakdowns, and I tried to keep the same “cartoony” feel in my inks. But the fans didn’t understand why this didn’t look more like Byrne’s X-Men work with Terry Austin, which of course was tightly penciled.

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KEOWN DALE

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

INCREDIBLE HULK #372 page 15 (1990): DALE KEOWN / BOB McLEOD I don’t remember why I used duo-tone board on this page. Maybe after I inked it, it just looked too empty.

Maybe I just wanted to experiment. I did some tones, decided it needed still more, and went crazy.

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BOB © 2006 DC Comics.

MC LEOD ACTION COMICS #662 page 20 (1991): BOB McLEOD pencils and inks It was exciting to get to draw this big moment in Superman history, where Clark finally reveals his secret identity to Lois. This page was all talk and no action, so I tried to move the camera a lot and play with the lighting.

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JURGENS DAN © 2006 DC Comics.

ACTION COMICS #674 cover (1992): DAN JURGENS / BOB McLEOD Since this was breakdowns, I did what I could to make Supergirl more attractive. At the office, Dan gave her back her fat thighs and flatter chest.

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MC LEOD

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

BOB SPIDER-MAN #32 cover (1993): BOB McLEOD pencils and inks After I submitted the layout for this, I found a similar cover by Jim Lee for Punisher War Journal #15. The editor said to use it anyway because he liked it. In my pencil version, the editor thought it looked too much like I was trying to draw around the corner UPC box, which I was. I’ve never been comfortable drawing guns.

Editor’s Note: Available in February 2006 is Bob McLeod’s new children’s book from HarperCollins, SuperHero ABC. Visit Bob’s website at www.bobmcleod.com.

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Riding into Comics Future:

TM

by

Dan Johnson

© 2006 DC Comics.

Trapped in a World He Never Made Jonah’s future shock, from Hex #1 (Sept.

1985). Art by Mark Texeira. © 2006 DC Comics.

Jonah Hex was one of the last great holdouts from a

issue of Jonah Hex was published (issue #92, cover-

time when mainstream comic books weren’t just

dated Aug. 1985), the book had been demoted to a

about super-heroes. The character was one of DC

bimonthly status. Fleisher estimated in the letter

Comics’ most popular and successful Western stars

pages of Hex that the Western book might have lasted

and one of the company’s first anti-heroes whose

only another year, maybe two, when the decision

gritty stories often read like comic-book adaptations

was made to try something new and different.

of a Sam Peckinpah film. Jonah Hex’s longevity was

According to accounts Fleisher shared with readers in Hex #2, inspiration hit him when

owed largely to writer Michael Fleisher.

Even though Fleisher didn’t create the

Ed Hannigan came into the DC

character, he was responsible for filling in

offices with the Hex logo that he

much of Hex’s backstory and he gave the

had designed and hand painted in

series much of its intensity and emotional

violet and pink. Fleisher didn’t

depth. [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE

think it would be of much use for

#12’s interview with Tony DeZuniga for

Jonah Hex, but then a thought hit

the story of Jonah Hex’s beginnings.]

him. What if Hex was taken from the Wild West and transported to

Jonah Hex managed to outlast every © 2006 DC Comics.

other gunslinger in DC’s stables, but by

the war-torn future? The result was

1985 it looked like he was ready to ride

the monthly series Hex; its first issue

off into the sunset. By the time the final 6 2

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© 2006 DC Comics.

was cover-dated Sept. 1985.

Texeira’s Clint Eastwood-esque interpretation of Hex. In a response to a letter that had been written by

risk. Under the hand of Fleisher, though, who had over

T.M. Maple, and published in Hex #5, Fleisher addressed

ten years experience writing the character already, it

the main reason for the jarring change in Hex’s setting.

paid off. Fleisher changed Jonah’s surroundings, but

“[The] decision to catapult the scar-faced gunslinger into

he didn’t alter what worked

the post-holocaust world of Hex was a creative decision

about the character. No matter

and not a business decision,” wrote Fleisher. He went on

where you go, there are always

to explain that the business heads at DC had asked that

going to be bad men who do

he create a totally different character and let him be the

bad things. Sometimes the

one to go have adventures in the 21st century. DC felt

only person who can deal

that new readers would be more readily accepting of

with them is an even badder

a new character in that situation than one who had

man. With the world having

been around for as long as Jonah had. “Graciously,

gone to hell in a hand basket,

however, DC left the final decision to me,” continued

there were more owlhoots

Fleisher in the same response. “And it was my feeling

and desperados than ever

(judgment) that transplanting Jonah Hex—always a

that needed to be taught a

powerful character—into a nuclear-devastated future

lesson. The fact that they

would give the series a depth and meaning impossible

were packing lasers and

to attain in any other way. If the idea succeeds, I

riding motorcycles instead

deserve full credit for it. If it fails, I’ll take the blame.”

of slinging six-shooters and

The initial penciler on Hex, Mark Texeira, helped

riding horses made “no

to keep the flavor of the old West in the way he drew

never-mind” to Hex. Hex was not sent to

Jonah, basing his interpretation of him on Western star Clint Eastwood. Even though Texeira was credit-

© 2006 DC Comics.

the

Comics

Code

ed with helping to create the look of Hex’s new

Authority for approval,

world and the characters who inhabited it, Fleisher

duplicating a move DC had earlier made by not

called the shots. “I started Hex with Michael,” recalls

submitting Alan Moore’s Saga of the Swamp Thing to

Texeira. “He clearly had his vision, and it wasn’t my

the “standards” board. Without the Code and with

vision. With Mike, it had to be his vision.” “[Fleisher]

Fleisher’s active imagination, the sky was the limit for

was generous, always interested in your input, but he

Hex. “[DC] sort of left us to our own mini-universe,”

certainly had set ideas about the way comic books

recalls Texeira. “As long as the deadlines were met,

should be done,” says Keith Giffen, who penciled the

they left us alone.” Jonah spent 18 issues looking for

last four issues of Hex, echoing Texeira’s sentiment.

a way back to his own time. In those issues, Fleisher

Changing Hex from a bounty hunter in the 1870s

introduced such characters as Reinhold Borsten, a

to an adventurer in the mid-21st century was a huge

time-traveling dictator who had brought Hex to the

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The Brave New World and the Bold: Jonah and future Batman, as seen on Hex #11’s (July 1986) cover by Denys Cowan and Dick Giordano. © 2006 DC Comics.

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future; Stiletta, Borsten’s daughter and Hex’s love

with amusement park antiques.

interest; Chain, a faceless assassin hired by the

Hex #18 (Feb. 1987) was Michael Fleisher’s

Conglomerate, a criminal organization that con-

farewell to the character of Jonah Hex. After the

trolled Soames, the only means to purify water in the

series ended, Fleisher’s contributions to the industry

future; Cohen, the Batman of the future; the

were, sadly, few and far between. “There are certain

Dogs of War, a five-man

personalities that comics are

super-group made up of

worse

other warriors and soldiers

[Fleisher] was one of them,”

Borsten had snatched out

Giffen tells BACK ISSUE. “There are

of time; and the Xxggs, an

these voices that are always

alien

to

entertaining, snuggling into the

enslave the Earth in the

high bound continuity of

far-off future. The final issue

whatever book they were working

though offered up the most

on. I had never had much use

memorable moment from

for [Jonah Hex]. When they

the series’ run in a story

turned him into Road Warrior, I was

entitled “Thanksgiving.” In

really against that. I consoled

the last pages of this story,

myself [by telling myself], ‘At

Hex realizes that he would

least I get to work with

Keith Giffen and

indeed eventually make it

Michael Fleisher,’ who was

Carlos Garzon’s last

back to his own time after he

and still is one of the most

story page to Hex’s

discovers his own stuffed

unique voices in comics.”

final issue, #18.

and mounted body in an

© 2006 DC Comics.

abandoned warehouse filled

© 2006 DC Comics.

race

destined

off

for

losing,

Showcase Presents: Jonah Hex vol. 1 DC Comics · Nov. 2005 · 528 pgs. B&W · $16.99 U.S. Jonah’s earliest tales from All-Star Western #2–8 and #10–11 and Weird Western Tales #12–14 and #16–33 were recently collected in DC’s new, highly recommended Showcase series—an affordable way to read these timeless, gritty classics. Art by Tony DeZuniga, Doug Wildey, and José Luis García-López.

Jonah Hex #3 DC Comics · Jan. 4, 2006 · 32 pgs. color · $2.99 U.S.

© 2006 DC Comics.

Bat Lash guest stars in the third issue of Jonah’s revived series, written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and drawn by Luke Ross, with a cover by Phil Noto.

© 2006 DC Comics.

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and

by

Christopher Irvi

ng

Widescreen Edition The horizontal layout of newspaper strips afforded Al Williamson latitude for lush, panoramic rendering during his heralded Star Wars stint. (All art in this feature comes from Dark Horse Comics’ reprintings of the Archie Goodwin/Al Williamson Star Wars.)

Star Wars TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd.

When Star Wars: A New Hope hit movie theaters in

from space travel, pocked up by blaster marks . . even

1977, the face of cinema and pop culture were forever

the Death Star floor lacked a shine. Fans of Al

changed. Director George Lucas, who had previously

Williamson’s E.C. Comics work will recognize his similar

gained success through American Graffiti, the story of

steeped-in-reality approach. So it should be no surprise

hotrodding teenagers in the 1950s, presented cultural

that Williamson was the first artist contacted by

archetypes in a never-before seen science-fiction

Lucasfilm for a Star Wars daily comic strip.

setting. Aside from being one of the first films to feature

“I was contacted to do it when the movie came

a “soundtrack,” American Graffiti also allowed the young

out,” Williamson recalls. “I had heard that ‘Lucas

filmmaker the finances to create his space opera.

loves your work,’ and I thought it was bologna,

It wasn’t that the concept of space opera was a new

frankly. I finally got a call from somebody at

one: Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and Tom Corbett had

Lucasfilms, saying that they wanted me to do the

been present in radio, comic strips, movie serials, and

strip, and would I consider it? I figured ‘Why not?

television for decades. One of the factors that made

It sounds like a good idea.’

Star Wars: A New Hope such a success was that it was

“I got a hold of my friend Archie Goodwin,

the first time a space opera was realized on the big

who was a wonderful artist and terrific writer, and

screen in such a realistic manner. The ensemble cast

he adapted two weeks of the first movie. I sent it in,

that featured Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford,

and didn’t hear from them, and I needed the money.

and Sir Alec Guinness gave the movies a sense of fun

I called up and got the young lady that I was dealing

and believability. The design of the Star Wars films was

with said, ‘I’ll have someone get in touch with you.’ I

that of a real world: ships became dirty with grime

get a call from this guy, who is absolutely insulting

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and yelling at me, saying ‘How dare you ask us for more money!’ He’s going on and on.

Williamson once again contacted his friend Archie

“Finally, when he stopped, I said, ‘Let’s get one thing

Wars universe. Goodwin had become writer and editor

“Then there’s this silence on the other end.

of the Star Wars comic book released by Marvel Comics with #11 in 1978, and worked on the book for three

“I decided then that I wasn’t

years. He and Williamson decided to work on the strip

going to work with these people,”

in 1979, with their run filling in the blanks between

Williamson laughs. “I finally got

Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.

the check, and I said ‘No, I

“We made the decision to set the strip in the time

can’t do it.’ Then they got a

period between the end of A New Hope and the

hold of Russ [Manning], and

beginning of The Empire Strikes Back,” Goodwin said

he did a nice job. That’s what

in an interview for the website www.echostation.com.

happened, but I never men-

“So we had a pretty clearly defined Star Wars time

tioned it to Lucasfilm, since I

frame in which to work. We didn’t want to set the

figured to just let it go.”

strip after The Empire Strikes Back for a few reasons:

Lucasfilm did get legendary

One of the characters is in a block of carbonite and

artist Russ Manning to take

that restricts dialogue; also, Al wanted to use Han

up the writing and art

Solo extensively. It would make doing story lines

chores on the Star Wars

much more of a problem, because they (Lucasfilm)

strip, which debuted March

would never reveal ahead of time what was going to

12, 1979. Manning picked up from the end

happen in the third movie. So for convenience sake

of A New Hope, taking Luke, Leia, Han, and the

and for Al’s sake it made sense to set the strip before

droids around the galaxy.

the second Star Wars movie.

Star Wars TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd.

Although only in his early fifties, Manning was in poor

“That also gave me a chance to do some individual

health during his tenure on the strip, and had to leave

episodes giving some sense of where the strip was

due to complications. He died in 1982, at the age of 53.

going. I could start explaining how the Rebel base

With Manning now unable to continue the strip,

moves, how they decided to go to Hoth and gradually,

Lucasfilm needed another team on the strip. For a

slowly, move the strip forward to there until we knew

second time, they approached Al Williamson.

what the hell was going to happen to the characters in

“They got in touch with me a few years after, when

the second movie. We never had that in the comic

Russ had to give it up, and asked me if I’d do it,”

book. The [comic] books were always set after the

Williamson says. “I said that I’d think about it and get

movie and you might be doing something that might

back. I called Russ, and spoke with

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Goodwin, who was no stranger to writing the Star

straight: I haven’t been paid, I just want my money.’

‘Oh, okay.’

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made me feel better about it, which is why I did it.”

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be contradicted by the next film.”

him. He was a very sweet guy, and

“That was Archie’s idea,” Williamson praises his late

we had a nice talk, because I

creative partner. “That way, we knew some of the

wanted to make damn sure that

characters and could introduce some of the characters

it wasn’t their idea to get rid of

that had nothing to do with either of the films. Since

him. I never met him personally,

we knew what was happening, it was very good. He

but had spoken with him on the

wrote an excellent story, just wonderful.”

phone a couple

Goodwin decided to use throwaway references

of times, and

from The Empire Strikes Back and develop them into

he was a very

storylines for the ongoing Star Wars strip. For instance,

sweet guy. He said,

Princess Leia mentions a bounty hunter at Ord Mandell

‘It’s all right, they treated me

in Empire, which Goodwin and Williamson developed

okay. They’re good people.’ He

during their run, as well as Luke Skywalker’s discovery

of ice-covered Hoth (the site of the Rebel base at the beginning of Empire). Other details of the Star Wars universe that had grown up significantly between two movies that were presented in the strip included the introduction of Mon Calamarian Admiral Ackbar and background of the Massassi Temple, the Rebel base shown in the final act of A New Hope. Surprisingly, Lucasfilm granted Goodwin and Williamson a degree of creative freedom in filling out the Star Wars continuity.

“I sent [Lucasfilm] a synopsis so they would have an idea of where I was going,” Goodwin recalled.

“Once they saw what Al and I were doing, they were very good about not being on our backs. I would give them a vague idea of what we were doing and they would trust us.”

Goodwin’s synopsis would then develop into a script, told in his own unique manner: thumbnail sketches accompanied by a fully written script to be drawn by Williamson.

In order to maintain continuity with the movie aesthetic, Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson were

were awe-inspiring enough to trigger Williamson’s

privy to the script and visuals for not only the Marvel

equally awe-inspiring artwork. The result was the type

comic-book adaptations, but also for the strips.

of magic that the comic-strip page had been lacking

“Fortunately the excitement of being able to go

for some time (and lacks even more to this day).

through all the visual files—by the time I was sent

“A syndicated comic strip is very restrictive,”

out to get the reference material, the principle

Goodwin said, “in how much space you have, how

photography with the live actors was done, so they

many panels you have, how the material has to be

had lots of stills—the excitement of seeing all the sets

adjusted for newspapers that only run daily strips and

and sketches of what the special effects would

those that only carry Sunday strips, newspapers that

include would kind of carry you through,” Goodwin

don’t carry Saturday, those that do... To a certain

admitted. “But there is a nervous feeling of ‘Oh, my

extent doing the comic strip becomes like working a

God, this is the sequel to probably the most popular

crossword puzzle. You’ve got to have big suspense

film ever made at that time,’ and you have to do a

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and yet

decent adaptation to it and not blow it. You’ve got

constant daily suspense; so in

to do it within a certain amount of time and not be

that sense, the strip is more

late—that makes you nervous. I think the excitement

restrictive. But in terms of

of being the one to do it carries you through that.”

telling some good Star

“We had no problem,” Williamson says of being

Wars stories, they both have

privy to such top secret information. “We kept it quiet.

great potential and possibility.

It’s your job, you do it, and any surprises you keep to

The limitations always seem to

yourself. I knew for the longest time who Darth Vader

be in the people doing it rather

was. When I saw the movie, and it turned out to be

than in the forms themselves.”

Luke’s father, I was still surprised, although I knew!”

Even an experienced

The widescreen appeal of the films was not lost in

Star Wars TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd.

and accomplished artist

the translation to the comic-strip page, despite the

like

relatively diminutive size difference. Goodwin’s scripts

needs

Al

Williamson help

every

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paper, the lettering was in pencil by Al, and he roughed out where the figures went. I took it home and finished it, tightening up the pencils, and inking it, adding zip-a-tone. I did that fast, and he was real happy with it. I ended up helping him quite a bit with the rest of that storyline, penciling and inking various parts of the weeklies and Sundays.”

“Al called me and asked if I’d be available to help out,” Brent Anderson says. “That prompted the visit, since I’d visited him before, and I came out and worked in the studio, rather than sending stuff by mail.”

Anderson worked much like Yeates, with Carlos Garzon inking over his penciled strips. Brent Anderson’s week-long run (titled “The Paradise Detour”) went from July 18 through July 23, 1983, with Yeates’ run the following week. Other assistants once in a while, such as was the case one disastrous

Star Wars TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd.

week when several daily strips were lost in the Federal Express shipment to Lucasfilm. shipment,” the artist speculates, “and I sent the two weeks of dailies and the two Sunday pages, and they never got the dailies. They got the Sundays, so I think the dailies must have slipped out. We had to do them over again, and thank heaven the boys came through.

They were very kind to help me out with that.”

The “boys” in question have, within the past 20 years, become accomplished artists in their own right: Brent Anderson of Astro City, and Tom Yeates of Tarzan fame. fairly regularly, and take friends up there sometimes, show off his great collection and basically goof off,” Yeates reminisces. “I remember that one time, Federal Express (according to Al) lost two weeks’ of his strip. It wasn’t insured, which is what he told me. He called and asked me if I could help him with one of those weeks. Brent Anderson

worked

one week, and I did maybe the following week. I went up there, and what I got from Al were real loose breakdowns on

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assist the legendary Williamson.

“He called me back to help him, and I was about to move back to northern California, and had a crunch of projects to get done before I moved,” Yeates says.

“What I did for him on that batch wasn’t as good, I messed it up a bit since it was rushed, and he ended up redoing some of it. The first story I did had to do with a mind-witch who was projecting hallucinations of Darth Vader. The first one has some old friend of Luke’s being captured by a jungle monster.

“My work on it fades in and out. I came back

“I lived in New Jersey and would go up to visit him

•

Alden MacWilliams, and the aforementioned Garzon.

Yeates returned once again, later in the strip’s run, to

“I guess I didn’t do a very good job of wrapping the

6 8

that Williamson employed were Victor Delaflente,

and helped Al, intermittently. The last one I did was the one with a giant snow dragon, and the pirate Rathgar, which is funny because Al modeled for this pirate which he drew as a character. They fly the Millennium Falcon into this crevasse in a snow planet, and they fight this giant, polka-dotted Williamson slug. I was a little bit too rushed to give it the right finesse.”

Overall, Anderson and Yeates still, after 20 years, feel positive about their contributions to the Star Wars daily strip.

“I thought it was great, and felt privileged to have contributed one week of it,” Anderson says.

“Al was probably the biggest influence on me at that point in my career,” Yeates elaborates. “At that point, it was a very strong influence.”

“I guess that nobody was interested in adventure

movies. I never had any trouble with Archie’s

strips at that time,” Williamson speculates. “People

scripts, and we did a lot of work together in

wanted the funny stuff. The gag-a-day, and all

comics. It was always great working with Arch, and

that. It wasn’t like the old days with the Sunday

I never had a problem with his scripts.”

pages, where you had Prince Valiant nice and big,

“There was the comfort

and Flash Gordon by [Alex] Raymond was beautiful.

of knowing that I would be

It was big, and you could really see the work. By

working with Al Williamson,

this time, they didn’t care about strips.”

an old friend that I've

“It didn’t have very many papers,” Yeates

worked with over the

elaborates “Al and them felt like nobody ever saw

years,” Goodwin recalled

it, and I felt the same way. Comics were going in

years

a different direction from the Al Williamson stuff,

absolutely the best Star

at the time. I loved it, and I managed to collect

Wars artist you could

most of the strips from a handful of papers from

ever want to have. That

across the country, with people sending them to

makes it easier because

later.

“He

was

me. Dark Horse reprinted them all, so I think there

you feel that whatever

is certainly some type of market or popularity to it. It

you do as a writer, you

made an impression on some people, and certainly

have an artist that will

is phenomenal work.”

make it look great. He’s also an artist that Lucasfilm

The Star Wars daily comic strip would come to

kind of begged and pleaded for and always wanted

its end on March 11, 1984, almost four years to the

to have do Star Wars material. There was that comfort

day after it first began. The final movie, The Return

factor in it as well.”

of the Jedi, had been released on May 25, 1983, so

The Star Wars movies 1930s’ comic-strip influence

it isn’t surprising that the strip folded soon after

shone the brightest during Goodwin and Williamson’s

the trilogy. Al Williamson would continue to work

run, and for a brief moment, the daily comics page had

in comic books, garnering acclaim as an inker for

a craftsmanship once prevalent a long, long time ago.

Star Wars TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd.

Marvel Comics. Archie Goodwin went on to edit the Epic line for Marvel, ultimately moving to DC

This article is dedicated to the memory and work of

Comics, where he continued as a successful

Archie Goodwin. To read the original interview from

writer/editor until his death in 1998.

which his quotes were pulled, visit

“Working with Archie was just wonderful,”

www.echostation.com/interview/goodwin.htm.

Williamson beams. “We tried our best, I worked hard, and it was fun to do. It was nice to be working with something that everybody knew. Archie wrote

Star Wars TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd.

such a good story, and really got the feeling of the

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by

Tom “The Comics Savant” Stewart “Kirby is coming!” It was splashed across ads in DC comics in the early ’70s. It was the biggest thing to hit the ever-shrinking comics world since the Batman TV series. Jack Kirby, a (the?) mainstay of Marvel Comics and the erstwhile partner of Stan “the Man” Lee, was leaving the company he’d help lift to popularity with his sheer talent and going to Marvel’s greatest rival, DC Comics. Worlds shook that day.

Jack Kirby was an idea machine... no, an idea fountain. His New Gods series burst with new ideas, concepts, and characters so rich that DC continues to mine them to this day. Jack came to DC to change the world of comics for good. When people told him the industry was dying, Jack didn’t know what they were talking about. How can an industry with so much untapped potential be dying? What the industry needed was not more foot draggers slowing things down, but people with vision, who could imagine a world of new formats, genres new and neglected, markets overlooked, and talent that was raring to go. Jack Kirby felt he had that vision.

Jack proposed magazines. He proposed hardcover books to be sold in bookstores. He saw a universe of fresh creations that could save comics and save DC. Kirby would be the idea man and editor, seeding the new books then passing them off to handpicked talent to carry them forward.

DC, though, wanted Kirby, not Kirby as editor of a line of Kirby creations turned out by other people. DC wanted one big, wet, sloppy hit of a book that publisher Carmine Infantino could point out to the new bosses at Warner’s and say, “See, I told you I could do it! I can save this company!”

Kirby had come at the right time, when DC was casting about, ready to try anything that looked good at the moment. Kirby had come at the wrong time, when DC

The King’s pencils to an alternate version of the cover for Kamandi #1, courtesy of The Jack Kirby Collector (TJKC).

would try anything... but not long enough to make it work. DC wanted to change, but was too rooted in the “We’re the oldest, biggest company out there” mantra to make the changes that were necessary, and too insecure to push reluctant distributors to try a format they self-fulfillingly declared dying—dead. DC half-heartedly put out a couple of Jack’s magazine ideas, and gave a parental “We’ll see” to the rest. [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #10 for more details on DC’s black-and-white magazines of the 1970s.]

Artwork © 2006 the Jack Kirby Estate.

Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth TM & © 2006 DC Comics.

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A format change had undercut sales just as Kirby and DC were launching its new books. Remember the •

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25-cent comics (new lead stories fleshed out by

In the late 1950s Kirby produced this and a few other pencil samples for his proposed but unreleased newspaper strip Kamandi of the Caves.

Courtesy of The Jack Kirby Collector.

this was to be the basis of his new book, originally

reprints)? We love picking up these issues now at the

planned to be titled Kamandi of Earth. By the time

cons for way too much money, but they were a

Jack had finished spinning the story of his new

disaster for DC. Marvel briefly matched DC’s 25-cent

comic, the only thing that remained was the boy

price, then cut back to 20 cents while DC maintained

named Kamandi. And the occasional cave.

its price. Marvel took the lead in sales and didn’t

This may not have been Jack’s regular sort of

look back. Rumors flew: DC was to be sold, DC was

thing, but Jack was going to do the best he could

closing, DC was firing everyone and going to all

with it. It was a challenge, to take an “end of the

reprints. In this siege of despairing gossip, Infantino

world... foolish mankind destroyed themselves”-type

cast around for something popular with the audience,

of premise and try to find some of the Kirby optimism

something that could be “that hit” he was looking

in it. Kirby’s stories were all about optimism, about

for, and found Planet of the Apes. He called Jack in

hope. Even New Gods was about hope. What is New

Kamandi of the Caves TM & © 2006 the Jack Kirby Estate.

Thousand Oaks, California.

Could Jack Kirby do a Planet of the Apes-type book, but not so close as to cause trouble with Apes’ 20th Century Fox? “Sure! I can do that!” As Kirby’s one-time assistant Mark Evanier says of Jack: “Jack took great pride in his ability to make anything work. It didn’t matter what the genre: romance, super-heroes, Westerns, funny animal.

He would consider it a challenge... I don’t think Jack ever saw Planet of the Apes, but he knew the basic plotline. He wanted to change it enough so fans wouldn’t think he was ripping off the movie, but some said that anyway.”

Jack still had the dream of starting a book off and

© 2006 DC Comics.

then, once underway, handing it off to another writer and artist, editing from what would amount to a “DC West.” Evanier was to be the recipient of Kamandi, Kirby’s “Planet of the Apes.” Mark watched

A penciled page from Kamandi #1, courtesy of TJKC.

as Jack pulled out some old samples of a strip Kirby had once thought of submitting to the syndicates back in the 1950s, Kamandi of the Caves. Jack said

© 2006 DC Comics.

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his dinner in a restaurant and the arrival of his food (not to say it was a shoddily conceived book. Jack’s concepts were often full born, with only a few details to be worked out. I said he was a genius). The Demon debuted shortly after Kamandi. It was Jack’s version of the sorcery and mystery books. Again, not a perfect fit to Kirby, but a challenge.

EARTH AFTER DISASTER Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth #1 was cover-dated Oct.–Nov. 1972.

Kamandi lived in the world of the Great Disaster. A world where not only apes talked, but tigers, leopards, rats, wolves, and dogs all had taken the place of man not

Two spectacular Kamandi #5 splashes

by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer, page 1 signed by Kirby. From the collection of Richard Howell and Carol Kalish.

Gods #7’s “The Pact” about if not about hope, and a quest for understanding? Planet of the Apes is about the failure of hope; it takes place one minute after midnight on the nuclear clock. Jack’s Kamandi would therefore be the hope of mankind, of its new kinder, smarter-insorrow rise, not the despair of its fall.

What would also make this a Kirby book is that he would attack it with the

© 2006 DC Comics.

same passion he used on his Fourth World books. Jack was building a universe, a Kirby tapestry, woven of his own

ideas

Carmine

and was

sweat. hunting

around for something that would fly. He knew, probably better than Kirby, that New Gods was a slow seller, and Infantino was looking for a hit now. He saw that © 2006 DC Comics.

the mystery books being

Flower had little to say— as if Kamandi cared!

Story page 10 from Kamandi #5. From the Howell/Kalish collection.

edited by Joe Orlando were popular, why not have Jack do one of those? Sure, no problem. Jack figured out the book between ordering

© 2006 DC Comics.

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only as talkers and thinkers, but as rulers of the Earth, doomed to repeat the exact same follies that had led man to the Great Disaster. Kamandi had been raised in a special bunker, “Command D,” by his grandfather, who educated him before the radiation drove them underground. As the first issue begins, Kamandi is caught away from the bunker exploring the devastation when a pack of talking wolves kills his grandfather.

Kamandi is left to wander the wasteland, trying to find people like himself to fill his loneliness. He finds that the humans can neither talk (those that can don’t do much more than grunt) nor think for themselves. The ruling creatures of the Earth treat humans as man once treated farm animals.

In the monthly series Kirby puts Kamandi into constant peril, forcing him to keep moving while being hunted like an animal. No sooner does Kamandi get out of one peril, he is

thrust into another. He had to be the unluckiest

BROKEN BLOSSOMS

boy in the middle of a very crowded wasteland.

I know guys who still sigh over Kamandi #6,

And always he was looking for someone like him, a

“Flower,” who will shake their heads over 30 years

human.

later at the blow dealt to them by their friend Jack

Kamandi’s search for a friend, for anyone remotely

Kirby in that issue. Lions who are running an

like himself, is heartbreaking at times. He’s so desperate

endangered species preserve attack Kamandi and

to find someone in this strange world of talking

Flower. The lions take the pair to their own little

beasts that when he finally meets the mutant Ben

environmental zoo, the ruins of a suburban devel-

Boxer he sobs in relief. Boxer is part of group from

opment called Sunny Hills Estates. There Kamandi

“Tracking Station” (notice the use of “Kirby

realizes why the stoves, lights and fireplace work:

Quotes”), a group of humans that survived the

He’s in a zoo, and he’s a valuable, poachable

nuclear fallout by slowly exposing themselves to

commodity. When the poachers (pumas, of course) © 2006 DC Comics.

the radiation. The result is not only are they still alive, but now they are able to “fission” themselves into men of living steel. Kamandi sets off with them in their scouting balloon on their explorations of the ruined cities. But he seems to lose track of them quite often, falling prey to the various animal rulers of Earth A.D. (After Disaster).

Kamandi can never be sure who will be his friend one minute, and his enemy the next. The animals treat him like a freak, or fear just what a “smart animal” like Kamandi might mean, and his treatment by the closest thing to his own kind, the wild humans of the plains, isn’t much better. They are also fearful of Kamandi, not knowing what to think of one of their own who talks like their oppressors. Often he’ll make a friend, only to find himself betrayed back into captivity, or meet a kindly animal, only to be treated like a pampered pet. That seemed to change with issue #5.

Kamandi, again separated from Ben Boxer and friends, finds himself escaping from a gorilla city with Prince Tuftan, son of Great Caesar, the king of the tigers. Kamandi finds time to free a pen of captured humans, one of which, a young girl about Kamandi’s age, decides to follow him. Her name is Flower, and she wears a flower in her long black hair, and no top.

Only her seemingly glued-on hair and the fact there is no wind on Kamandi’s world protects her modesty.

The end of the issue sees Flower and Kamandi driving off together in a dune buggy given to them by a grateful Prince Tuftan: “By Caesar, he was almost as human as we tigers!” Kamandi had won the tigers’ respect, found a friend, and things were looking up.

Until #6.

Original cover art to Kamandi #12, courtesy of Heritage Comics. © 2006 DC Comics.

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show up, they grab Flower and

and Jack accepted it as a challenge and tried to make

demand Kamandi give up his

the best job of it he could. Sandman? Jack didn’t like

rifle. To save Flower, he starts to

or understand the scripts, but okay. Manhunter,

comply. Flower stops him. She

Dingbats, Atlas, Kobra, the Losers—all projects either

kicks the puma, and runs toward

DC never followed up on, or suggested to Jack to

Kamandi as the puma opens

keep his contract quota fulfilled.

fire. They gun down Flower as she steps in front of Kamandi.

A giant frog keeps the action hopping on this page (signed by Kirby) from issue #21, from the Howell/ Kalish collection.

Kamandi showed what Jack could do with elements handed to him by someone else, elements that were

As Jack worked on the first

shopworn before Jack got to them himself. Planet of

few issues of Kamandi and The

the Apes may have been the inspiration, but Jack had

Demon, Carmine told him the

left the movies far behind with just the first few pages.

news: New Gods was to be

Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth bursts with Jack’s

cancelled

#11

imagination and, something Kirby isn’t always credited

(Oct.–Nov. 1972). This and its

with, emotion. Kamandi is a confused and angry

companion

young man (really, his mouth and attitude get him

with

issue

Fourth

World

series (Forever People and

into more trouble...), desperate to find someone, any-

Mister Miracle, which were also

one, like himself to cure his loneliness.

axed, although Miracle lasted

Mike Royer, the heaviest-lifting inker in the biz

longer than the other two)

(really, inking 15 pages of Kirby a week, not to mention

were books close to Jack’s heart, ones that he had

covers and lettering as well? The man deserved a

planned, thought about, and stayed awake into the

break and a tremendous thank-you!), left the series

early morning hours creating. They were the books that were going to save comics. What can you do? Kirby had a family to take care of, a contract to fulfill, and responsibilities to meet. He had a tremendous work ethic, born of the Great Depression and poverty. Kirby

© 2006 DC Comics.

didn’t let people down. Jack sharpened his pencil and drew up another issue of Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth.

Carmine showed his faith in the book by featuring it at the 1972 San Diego Comic-Con as the next big thing

(below) Teela, Kamandi’s dolphin friend, in panels 5 and 6 of issue #22’s page 13. From the Howell/Kalish collection.

from DC. Just as he’d hyped the Fourth World books in the previous years. With the Fourth World books canceled, Jack had a hole in his 15-pages-a-week schedule.

This continued a trend with Kirby. DC more and more dictated what Kirby’s next project would be,

© 2006 DC Comics.

(above) Here at BACK ISSUE central we can never get enough of Bruce Timm—here’s Bruce’s take on the Last Boy on Earth.

Art © 2006 Bruce Timm. Kamandi TM & © 2006 DC Comics.

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with issue #16, with D. Bruce Berry taking over after assisting Royer

Kamandi #25’s cover, in its penciled (courtesy of The Jack Kirby Collector) and inked (courtesy of Heritage Comics) forms.

on backgrounds in #17. Bruce was thrown in the deep end of the pool with no lifeguard. In addition to Kamandi, he was expected to ink all Jack’s pages for other books, like “The Losers” (in Our Fighting Forces), and any other assignments Carmine threw Jack’s way.

LAST BOY ON EARTH VS. MAN OF TOMORROW

© 2006 DC Comics.

With the cancellation of The Demon with issue #16 (Jan. 1974), Kamandi had become Jack’s main assignment, and he was fast enough to be several issues ahead. You could never fault Jack’s professionalism, but Kamandi was starting to grow stale. Kirby’s cosmic imagination was too earthbound in Kamandi’s world. Of the later issues (indeed, of the whole run), #29 (May 1975) is a standout.

“The Legend” is a story of a gorilla cult that worships a fractured and distorted version of the story of Superman. They catapult themselves through the air in an effort to prove themselves “the Mighty One” reborn. Kamandi puts his friend Ben Boxer up as the new/old Mighty One, and the gorillas put him through the trials to prove him worthy of the prize. Kamandi and Ben are shown the prize, Superman’s supersuit. Before they could claim it, it is stolen by one of the gorilla Mighty One candidates. The villain is dispatched, and Ben (never wanting the mantle anyway) refuses the suit, leaving it to hand, awaiting the return of its owner. Kamandi is sure he’s “Still Alive! Not even the Great Disaster could conquer him.”

I’ve always wondered if this was Jack’s version of a team-up?

Something he might have been asked to do by DC to tie the book into the rest of the line? Leave it to Jack to team Kamandi with Superman’s costume, but not Supes himself.

It was something voiced by fandom, and relayed to Jack via the letter columns: “DC had different futures!” Kamandi was not the future of the Legion of Super-Heroes, so thoroughly mapped out over in Adventure Comics and Superboy; it was not the future of the Atomic Knights or even Space Cabbie. How did he explain that?

Jack didn’t bother. It was irrelevant to what he was trying to do. But what was he trying to do? Jack now found himself right back in the monthly book grind, a place he didn’t want to be. What now?

Around this time, Jack went to an executive get-together held by the Warner people in California at the Beverly Hills Hotel. They would all be there, the Warner execs, the distributors, and Jack Kirby representing DC for Carmine Infantino, who couldn’t attend. Mark Evanier tells a story of Steve Sherman (Jack’s other assistant) and himself picking up Jack at his home in Thousand Oaks and driving him over (Kirby could drive, but would often get lost in his latest idea, and forget where he was) to the meeting. Here’s Mark: “On the way over, Jack was talking about how he was going to tell these guys how to do comics. He couldn’t wait to get there and show them what comics were about.”

They found a quieter Kirby on the trip back. When asked how it went, Jack replied: “They don’t care.

They just don’t care.” Many of those present didn’t realize they owned a comics company; the rest “didn’t care.” Kirby went home and worked ahead on Kamandi.

© 2006 DC Comics.

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Kirk (Man-Bat) Langstrom’s favorite postKirby issue of Kamandi was no doubt #52.

Its original cover art by Rich Buckler and Alfredo Alcala appears courtesy of Jonathan Mankuta. If anyone owns ANY original art pages from Kamandi #50, #55–60, or the cover art to Kamandi #50, 56, or 60, please contact Jonathan at jonmankuta@aol.com He is looking to reassemble the original art for those books and is happy to pay top dollar or trade other art for them.

(above) The splash to Kamandi #40, Jack Kirby’s final issue.

Courtesy of TJKC. © 2006 DC Comics.

© 2006 DC Comics.

(right) The sizzling Jim Starlin-drawn original cover to Kamandi #57, contributed by Jon Mankuta. © 2006 DC Comics.

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PLAYING IT OUT “Kirby was tired,” reveals Gerry Conway. “They told me he didn’t want to do the editing anymore, so I took it over.” Conway, fresh from Marvel Comics, came aboard as editor with issue #34 (Oct. 1975). Since Jack worked so far ahead (when in danger of falling short of his 15-page-a-week quota, Carmine told him to “do another Kamandi”), Conway’s impact wouldn’t be that huge for a couple of issues.

The first thing Gerry did was to have Joe Kubert do the covers. This was probably a move to have more control over the look of the entire line. Joe Kubert fit the look of DC more than Kirby did.

Which was part of the problem. Kirby was never that good a fit with the DC Universe. The new Kamandi stories would now be lettered in New York. This would lessen the incredible workload on Bruce Berry, but it would now be easier for Gerry to make changes to Jack’s dialogue. Gerry?

“Jack’s talent was great, but it didn’t lay in dialogue.”

Jack had fought hard for his independence. How did he take the changes? Mark Evanier: “Jack knew he was leaving at this point. He’d been talking to Marvel for awhile, but he still needed to stay on good terms with DC, in case it fell through.”

Jack had been a pioneer in comics. For 30 years he was a groundbreaker and builder. Now health problems were plaguing him, as was disillusionment with the whole comics industry. It was clear the situation at DC wouldn’t stand. But where would he go?

Jack accepted Conway’s changes to his dialogue, drew #39 and 40 to Conway’s plots, then moved back to Marvel, something he didn’t really want to do, but better a job at Marvel then no job at all.

Jack’s last issue was #40 (Apr. 1976), drawn to a Gerry Conway plot, and dialogued by Gerry.

“WITHOUT KIRBY, I’M NOT SURE WHY WE WENT ON” Kamandi continued with Gerry Conway as editor and writer, then Denny O’Neil, then Jack C. Harris.

The art was handled by Chic Stone and Mike Royer (to give it something of a Kirby feel), then some early Keith Giffen and Jack Abel, finally Dick Ayers and Alfredo Alcala (then Danny Bulanadi).

Turnover became the norm on the title, only stabilizing at the end with Harris/Ayers and Bulanadi.

Kamandi was established as OMAC’s grandson (another Kirby title, and yet a different article), but while this storyline was happening, Kamandi became a victim of that other Great Disaster, the DC Implosion. DC canceled the lowest-selling books, and Kamandi fell just below the cutoff, ending with issue #59 (Sept.–Oct. 1978). Unused stories turned up in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade (DC’s Xeroxed volumes sent out to contributors to protect copyrights). Later Kamandi would turn up in a 1993 miniseries by Tom Veitch, Frank Gomez, and Mike Barriero. This time Kamandi was under the Elseworlds umbrella, placing it outside of DC’s continuity.

Kirby’s run is now being reprinted in the DC Archives volumes, a testament to how Kirby was able to take an idea springboarded by someone else, and find his own personal vision in it. His ’70s DC work has aged very well, now it seems the readers are finally catching up with Jack.

See? Told you he was a genius.

Thanks to Mark Evanier and Gerry Conway for the info!

From the collection of Jon Mankuta: The cover produced for Kamandi #60 (by Rich Buckler and Jack Abel), and the splash pages to what would have been Kamandi #60 and 61; all were “published” in 1978’s Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2. Art by Dick Ayers and Danny Bulanadi (note that the inker’s last name is misspelled “Bulandi” on #60’s splash). © 2006 DC Comics.

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The movie version of Planet of

by

Tom “The Comics Savant” Stewart

the Apes hit the screens in 1968 (okay, if you haven’t seen the many Planet of the Apes movies, the TV series, the cartoon show, or the remake, or if you never played with a Dr. Zaius Mego figure in your backyard, DON’T READ ANY FURTHER, because I’m gonna give the whole thing away),

Planet of the Apes TM & © 20th Century Fox.

featuring a future Earth, ruined and nearly destroyed by man’s warlike nature. A

Bob Larkin’s original cover painting for Marvel’s Planet of the Apes #17 (1976). Courtesy of Heritage Comics.

planet now ruled by... apes!

Talking

APES!

Twentieth

Century Fox managed to get five movies out of what was essentially a one-joke premise (It was Earth! “You

Planet of the Apes TM & © 20th Century Fox.

fools, you blew it up, you damn

fools!”)

declining

before

popularity

forced it onto primetime

television

and

Saturday morning for a season,

then

into

reruns.

The first Apes comic book was Beneath the Planet of the Apes put out by Gold Key in 1970. They did the one issue based on that one movie, and then dropped the title without wetting their toes with a possible series.

Marvel Comics, at this point getting itself into the expanding black-and-white magazine business, picked up the license and did its own Planet of the Apes mag in 1974, only about three years too late to catch the crest of the popularity of the movies. The first several issues adapted and expanded upon the movies, with Doug Moench Planet of the Apes TM & © 20th Century Fox.

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scripting and George Tuska doing the art on the first film. This was spread over six issues, then issues #7–11 did

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Beneath the Planet of the Apes (the one with the missile worshipers, what was that about?), with Alfredo Alcala’s beautiful art. Escape from the Planet of the Apes, (#12–16) had art by Rico Rival. Alcala was back for Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (#17–21), and the last film, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, filled #23–28. The first two adaptations were reprinted in 11 issues of the regular color comic, Adventures on the Planet of the Apes. But it wasn’t the film Planet of the Apes TM & © 20th Century Fox.

adaptations that the magazine is remembered for today.

Besides

adapting

all

the

movies, writer Doug Moench was

A Mike Ploog-drawn “Chronicles” page from Planet of the Apes #2 (1974).

Courtesy of Heritage Comics.

asked to go beyond the films and do some new stories using the world of the films as a backdrop.

These would be used to meet the demand for more and more Apes product in the UK. Doug created

Planet of the Apes TM & © 20th Century Fox.

the series “Chronicles of the Planet of the Apes” for the back of the magazine, drawn by Mike Ploog, then after Mike departed for Hollywood, that art was taken over by Tom Sutton.

“Chronicles” was not really meant to be part of the Apes movie stories, but to be a sort of parallel/pre-history, based somewhere on the same future Earth that Taylor and Dr. Zaius were running around on (dang it! I gave it away again!). Tom Sutton’s art for the B&W book is truly amazing, detailed, and done in wash tones. Tom went overboard in trying to create the world of the apes. As he told Comic Book Artist in 1999, “I went apesh*t!” Tom would do full paintings of the ape world, creating a whole society for what was really a backup series. “The attitude of these people [Marvel] was if you want to go ahead and kill yourself out of enthusiasm, go right ahead.”

The series ran in the back pages of the Apes magazine until

Planet of the Apes TM & © 20th Century Fox.

#24, along with another Moench written strip, “Terror on the Planet of the Apes.” “Chronicles” ran in issues #12, 15, 17, 24, 29; and “Terror” in #1–4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, and 19. Of the

The movie poster for Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Courtesy of Heritage Comics.

“Terror” stories, the ones drawn by Mike Ploog are the best, but, hey, the whole series is worth a look. It lasted 29 issues, three years, which means it beat the TV series in longevity. You can generally find them stuck in back-issue magazine bins for a

Planet of the Apes TM & © 20th Century Fox.

few bucks each.

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Welcome back to our column reviewing and previewing DVDs featuring comic-book characters translated to film and television.

For a comprehensive listing of comic-book DVDs, check out the three-part article that ran in BACK ISSUE #5, 7, and 9! In this column, I’ll take a closer look at newer releases of films, TV series,

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© Warner Home Vide

Batman Returns Warner (126m)

When a wannabe Satanic gang leader (David Boreanaz) kills trailerpark denizen Jimmy Cuervo (Edward Furlong), a mystical crow brings the youth back from the dead for vengeance. Every time I see a film that steals an hour and a half from my life—like this one— I want vengeance of my own.

Everything is cut-rate: The acting is abysmal, especially Dennis Hopper, so over the top he’s in another galaxy; the script is incoherent, even if it is adapted from a Crow novel; the horror factor and gore is nonexistent (it could practically be shown on the Disney Channel); and even the soundtrack— generally a standout in Crow films—is boring. The best thing this direct-to-DVD project has going for it is a raft of extras, but you’ll likely want to go to your grave without seeing them. One line of dialogue almost defines this: “You’re a hiccup, man. A fart in my gas pump.”

And that’s as good as it gets.

DVD Extras: 4 commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, storyboards, image galleries.

Few expected Tim Burton to top his initial Batman film, but in 1992, Batman Returns, arguably the best in the initial quartet of Bat-films, debuted to rapturous reviews and startled licensees (who worried the creepy Penguin and kinky Catwoman weren’t Happy Meal McFriendly). Warner had previously released a bare-bones version, but this two-disc set sparkles with great extras, among them: a 22-minute Robert Urich-hosted TV special; a 30-minute documentary; 122 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes; and a music video.

Plus, a commentary track by Tim Burton reveals the rest of the story!

A winner all around. © Warner Home Video. Batman © DC Comics.

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o.

When a group of top filmmakers decided to pool their collective love for E.C. Comics in 1989, the result was the HBO anthology Tales from the Crypt. Each halfhour frightfest adapted an E.C. story, generally with highprofile actors and comedians in the role.

John Kassir provided the creaky voice of the punslinger known as the Cryptkeeper.

Season One is a skimpy collection of six episodes, but an informative 50-minute documentary tracing the comics to television (and showing rare 1950s comic Senate hearing footage) was a delight; less enjoyable was the piffling 6-minute making of Season One. The second boxed set offers 18 more shows, including some standouts with Demi Moore, Iggy Pop, Patricia Arquette, and a pre-Lois Lane Teri Hatcher. A 13-minute featurette on making Season Two and development of the Cryptkeeper is included, but the 3-minute short about making a Crypt radio show needed to be lengthier! One major gripe that Warner should address for the future: Packaging claims these episodes are uncut, but the opening credit sequence (with miniatures and Danny Elfman music) is trimmed from every single episode! A ghastly boil on two otherwise fine sets.

DVD Extras: Introduction (S1), featurettes.

For several generations of fans, one man defined the Man of Steel. We didn’t yet believe that Christopher Reeve could fly, and Kirk Alyn was a distant movie-serial memory. So it was George Reeves who played the stocky last son of Krypton, first in the 1951 theatrical feature Superman and the Mole Men, and then in the Adventures of Superman TV series debuting in 1952. Pulpy stories filmed in black-andwhite were peppered with veteran character actors, all the better to convincingly portray a Metropolis more overrun with suit-wearing criminals than costumed villains. Now, the series debuts in a gorgeous 5-disc set which includes not only the Mole Men film and 26 episodes, but a rocketship of extras. Four episodes feature commentary from Superman historians, and a 17-minute documentary sheds light on the beginnings of the series.

Plus, thrill to a trio of vintage Clark Kent Kellogg’s cereal commercials, and a historical short film. Only complaint here?

No chapter breaks in the episodes. Dare I say it, this may be your grandpa’s Superman, but it’s a super package, and a definite must-buy for fans!

DVD Extras: Documentary, commentary, short film, commercials.

The Crow: Wicked Prayer Dimension (99m)

© Dimension Video.

Adventures of Superman: Season One Warner (662m)

and comic-related documentaries. Let’s dive right in...

DC Comics.

Tales from the Crypt: The Complete First Season & The Complete Second Season Warner (168m, 486m)

An

s

© Warner Home Video. Superman ©

by

ngel dy Ma

DVD Extras: Commentary, documentary, featurettes, music videos.

Next time out: Be on the lookout for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season One Volume Two, with exclusive art postcards from Earl Norem and Gilbert Hernandez, and featuring two new 30-minute documentaries produced/directed/ scripted by me!

Have a comic book-oriented DVD you want to see reviewed? Contact me care of www.andymangels.com!

guest editorial by alex toth

Editor’s Note: BACK ISSUE #10’s examination of DC’s non-participation in the 1970s black-and-white comics-magazine boom sparked some colorful and fascinating commentary from one of our medium’s masters...

– M.E.

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Send your comments to: E-mail: euryman@msn.com (subject: BACK ISSUE) No attachments, please!

Postal mail: Michael Eury, Editor • BACK ISSUE 5060A Foothills Drive • Lake Oswego, OR 97034

© DC Comics.

Nice issue of BACK ISSUE, as per usual. Interesting to see what John Byrne would’ve done with Shazam!

Interestingly, since Dann and I first shoehorned Black Adam into the very early days of Captain Marvel in our mid-’80s series (which got sabotaged at DC, whether on purpose or by accident), everyone seems to have independently stumbled on that same good idea... both Byrne and Ordway. Hey, I’m not only in good company, but I got there first! And of course, as revealed in Alter Ego V3 #9 and another piece a few issues later, our Mary Marvel in our never-quite-made-it late-1980s Shazam! series was going to be an adult, as well. Fun to play around with these things, and I might have liked Byrne’s version, although I always felt he made Billy Batson look too young and too short.

But actually, I start out writing this letter to correct an error in Adam McGovern’s piece on “Arch Heroes.”

When I spoke with Adam, I thought I made it as crystalclear as I possibly could that in no way, shape, or form, at least on any conscious level, did the Squadron Sinister (evil forerunner of the Squadron Supreme) ever owe anything to the Crime Syndicate. I had very much liked the first Crime Syndicate story—which led to Gerry Conway and me reviving them in our early-1980s JLAJSA-All-Star Squadron 5-part crossover—but the 8 2

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Squadron Sinister was based entirely on my wish to create an evil equivalent of DC’s greatest heroes, the four best-known male Justice Leaguers.

Of course, that’s what Julie and Gardner had done several years earlier, but if I had meant the Squadron Sinister to be an “answer” to the Crime Syndicate, I’d have sat down that night and drawn sketches of FIVE characters instead of three, because then I’d have definitely wanted an equivalent of Superwoman. As a matter of fact, I’ve always felt in retrospect that I should have had a female in the Squadron Sinister, and dunno why I didn’t!

Other than that, it was nice to be credited with jumpstarting the postmodern super-hero or whatever it is exactly that I’m supposed to have done. But, as Adam relates based on our conversations, I was just fulfilling part of that joke that Mike Friedrich, Denny O’Neil, and I cooked up on DC and Marvel, and which mostly didn’t quite come off. Certainly Watchmen, Astro City, et al., have taken the idea of the “adult” superhero series (still basically an oxymoron in my mind) and carried it to loftier heights than I ever tried or wished to, and I applaud their creators for doing so.

– Bestest, RoyThomas Interesting BACK ISSUE. It was most interesting to read John Byrne’s take on Captain Marvel. Glad that Jerry Ordway got the nod, though. His ideas were much more in line with the original.

BTW, how about an issue or two about Jim Shooter?

The controversy surrounding him seems to be a natural for a long series of articles about him in general, his

And a good thought it is, Keith. Jim Shooter is participating in an upcoming BI feature... more details to come soon.

– M.E. One of the best things about #12 has to be the article on Calculator. I liked the character and had expected him to return after his initial stories, much like Bob Rozakis expected. I am glad that he had a few brief appearances and now has a more prominent role in the current comics, although he is not entirely the same character from the original stories.

Thank you for the way you connect the past with the present, much as you did with the recent Dracula reprint/remake series and how it was originally presented, now completed. I always enjoyed the comics of the 1970s but having a crossover with what’s happening now seems to give it a new perspective today.

While more political and complex, I also appreciate your articles on the business side backstories, like this issue’s Destroyer Duck article. It’s sad that big businesses can treat people so badly when it’s those people who are the creative geniuses making the profits for the companies! While I haven’t necessarily liked or agreed with Steve Gerber’s views or works, I know he’s done much to help creators get better treatment.

– Paul Green Just wanted to say how much I enjoy BACK ISSUE. It has been a wealth of information and is easy to read. It has replaced The Comics Journal as my favorite comic-related magazine.

I picked up BACK ISSUE #12 this week and noticed what I believe to be an error on page 22. You credit Frank Miller with what I believe to be Gil Kane breakdowns.

Questions? Comments? Exaltations? Send 'em to euryman@msn.com. Thanks for helping make BACK ISSUE the ultimate comics experience!

Beyond that I absolutely LOVED the article on Murphy Anderson. I was sorry to hear that sales of Superman declined during the period when the character was revamped. That was the only time I read Superman.

Go figure.

Murphy Anderson was, and remains, one of my favorite inkers. He had a smooth, clean style that worked not only with Curt Swan but also Carmine Infantino.

Murphy Anderson’s inks are the only reason I still have fond memories of Adam Strange. I didn’t much care for the imitation John Carter of Mars storyline, but the artwork was incredible with Mr. Anderson’s inks.

Thank you also for the guest editorial by Mike Friedrich. I was a big fan of Star*Reach and Quack. With the exception of the undergrounds, Star*Reach and Quack were the only daring comics to be found. It is unfortunate that Star*Reach did not last longer.

Please continue the “Greatest Stories Never Told,” “Pro2Pro,” and “Beyond Capes” features. I look forward to them every issue.

Oh, yes, and thank you for publishing Modern Masters Volume 5. José Luis García-López has long been one of my favorite illustrators. Though I no longer have any of his 1970s comics I still have Twilight, what I consider to be his best work.

– C.S. Gaines Great letter, C.S. Thank you.

Those Elektra breakdowns were indeed Miller’s, by the way, although upon closer inspection we can see some similarities to Kane’s figure work.

“Pro2Pro,” “Beyond Capes,” and our other departments are what make BACK ISSUE unique.

Don’t worry, they aren’t going away (although from time to time a department might not appear in an issue).

You and other García-López fans must join us next issue, when José is interviewed on the topic of Deadman. And José and Modern Masters editor Eric Nolen-Weathington thank you for your kind comments.

– M.E. © Marvel Characters, Inc.

relationship with older and younger workers, and his take on the issue concerning Kirby wanting his art back.

Just a thought.

– Keith Lee

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Wow! Mr. Eury, I started reading comics in about ’86, at the age of 11. I couldn’t really appreciate comics of the time (or of the fairly recent past) at that time, but now I’m captivated by them, and the behind-thescenes stories of the creators and publishers. You not only make me more familiar with titles I remember seeing at the time, or hearing the goth-garbed employees talking about, you’ve introduced me to fantastic series like The Maze Agency and the Tarzan adaptations. Thank you very much!

– Dan Peeff Dan, your letter made my day! One of my editorial goals is to make BI’s presentation of comics history appealing to those who didn’t experience it the first time. And you do know that IDW has brought back The Maze Agency, right?

– M.E.

© DC Comics.

Just finished reading BI #12 and thought I would write. I found a mistake in that article about archetypes. There was mention of how Roy Thomas and Mike Friedrich had conspired to do an unofficial JLA/Avengers team-up, with Roy creating the Squadron Sinister in Avengers #70 and Mike was to follow suit in the issue of JLA that came out at the same time. According to the article, the DC end of it never came about. Not true—the DC version came out in JLA #87. Here’s a link to an article about it online: http://captain.custard.org/league/php/article.php?id=angor.

Also, someone wrote in regarding a version of the Flash whose powers were light-based? I think they are referring to the Tangent Comics (DC) version of the Flash, who was a girl with light-based comics.

Tangent Comics was a series of one-shot issues that DC published during a skip week in 1997. More info can be found here:

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http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/tangent.html.

Hope this helps.

– Delmo Walters, Jr. Re the original JLA/Avengers “crossovers,” Adam McGovern correctly reported, through his interview with Roy Thomas, that the Justice League of America issue in question (#75, penned by Denny O’Neil) included veiled references to the Avengers (such as Batman hurling a Captain America shield-like trashcan lid). JLA #87, written by Mike Friedrich, was DC’s half of a second attempt to do such a stunt. (There’s a wealth of information about these “crossovers,” including interviews and artwork, in my 2005 TwoMorrows book, The Justice League Companion.

And thanks, Delmo, for setting up that plug...)

– M.E. Just a quick message for the Euryman and all the staff on BACK ISSUE. Many thanks for producing a fantastic mag, notably issue #12!! A brilliant mix of interviews and insightful articles, not to mention great artwork.

Roll on with issue #13!!

– Lee Davis Sorry to tell you I’m dropping BACK ISSUE from my standing order. Your scattergun approach makes it difficult to justify picking up the magazine. I wish you would have a more focused approach.

– Steven Morrell What Lee Davis calls “a brilliant mix,” Steven Morrell calls “scattergun,” which shows that we can’t please everyone. Nonetheless, we hope you’ll sample the magazine again in the future, Steven.

– M.E. I really enjoyed BACK ISSUE #12. It’s nice to have a magazine telling how and why the stories that I grew up reading came about. I picked this issue up because I loved Spider-Man’s black costume and wanted to know how it came about and why it disappeared so quickly. Thinking back on it now, it was a controversial move to change Spidey’s outfit and somehow I was surprised about there being a backlash to the change.

© TwoMorrows Publishi ng.

© Marvel Characters, Inc.

I also enjoyed the article about the John Byrne Shazam!

Sounds like it would have been interesting. Oh, well.

While reading the Spider-Man story, I came up with a possible story suggestion. With Marvel about to release a trade paperback of [the stories featuring] Steve Rogers abandoning the Captain America identity for Nomad, I would like to know how this came about. This has to be almost as controversial as Spidey’s wardrobe change.

Picked up those back issues a long time ago and really enjoyed the story.

Keep up the good work!

– Thomas Chick That’s a very good idea, Thomas—a “Pro2Pro” between Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema on Nomad/Cap might be a possibility.

We’ll see if we can make that happen.

Next issue, we spotlight “Weird Heroes,” including Ghost Rider, Werewolf by Night, the Demon, Deadman, Ragman, the Phantom Stranger, and ’Mazing Man, with the help of Mike Ploog, Don Perlin, Matt Wagner, José Luis García-López, Joe Kubert, Len Wein, Bob Rozakis, Stephen DeStefano, and other creators. Also: Gene Colan hosts a “Rough Stuff” showcase of his pencil work (including 1980s DC fare like Wonder Woman and an unpublished Detective Comics cover), and “Greatest Stories Never Told” digs up the story of the unrealized late-1970s Gorilla Grodd series, with commentary by Terry Austin and Carl Potts! With a new Arthur Adams Werewolf cover, you can’t go wrong! See you in sixty!

Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor

ON S U B M I S SEI S GUIDELIN BACK ISSUE is on the lookout for the following comics-related material from the 1970s and 1980s:

Unpublished artwork and covers Original artwork and covers Penciled artwork Character designs, model sheets, etc.

Original sketches and/or convention sketches

Original scripts Photos Little-seen fanzine material Other rarities Creators and collectors of 1970s' /1980s' comics artwork are invited to share your goodies with other fans! Contributors will be acknowledged in print and receive complimentary copies (and the editor's gratitude).

Submit artwork as (listed in order of preference): Scanned images: 300dpi TIF (preferred) or JPEG (e-mailed or on CD, or to our FTP site; please inquire) Clear color or black-and-white photocopies BACK ISSUE is also open to pitches from writers for article ideas appropriate for our recurring and/or rotating departments. Request a copy of the BACK ISSUE Writers' Bible by e-mailing euryman@msn.com or by sending a SASE to the address below.

Artwork submissions and SASEs for writers' guidelines should be sent to: Michael Eury, Editor BACK ISSUE 5060A Foothills Dr. Lake Oswego, OR 97034

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BOOKS by BACK ISSUE’s editor MICHAEL EURY

KRYPTON COMPANION Unlocks the secrets of Superman’s Silver and Bronze Ages, when kryptonite came in multiple colors and super-pets scampered across the skies! Writer/editor MICHAEL EURY explores the legacy of classic editors MORT WEISINGER and JULIUS SCHWARTZ through all-new interviews with NEAL ADAMS, MURPHY ANDERSON, CARY BATES, NICK CARDY, JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, KEITH GIFFEN, ELLIOT S! MAGGIN, JIM MOONEY, DENNIS O’NEIL, BOB OKSNER, MARTIN PASKO, BOB ROZAKIS, JIM SHOOTER, LEN WEIN, MARV WOLFMAN, and other fan favorites!

Plus: Super-artist CURT SWAN’s 1987 essay “Drawing Superman,” JERRY SIEGEL’s “lost” imaginary story “The Death of Clark Kent,” MARK WAID’s tribute to Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, and rare and previously unpublished artwork by WAYNE BORING, ALAN DAVIS, ADAM HUGHES, PAUL SMITH, BRUCE TIMM, and other Super-stars. Bonus: A roundtable discussion with modern-day creators examining Superman’s influential past! Cover by DAVE GIBBONS!

JUSTICE LEAGUE COMPANION A comprehensive examination of the Silver Age JLA written by MICHAEL EURY (co-author of THE SUPERHERO BOOK). It traces the JLA’s development, history, imitators, and early fandom through vintage and all-new interviews with the series’ creators, an issue-by-issue index of the JLA’s 1960-1972 adventures, classic and never-before-published artwork, and other fun and fascinating features. Contributors include DENNY O’NEIL, MURPHY ANDERSON, JOE GIELLA, MIKE FRIEDRICH, NEAL ADAMS, ALEX ROSS, CARMINE INFANTINO, NICK CARDY, and many, many others. Plus: An exclusive interview with STAN LEE, who answers the question, “Did the JLA really inspire the creation of Marvel’s Fantastic Four?” With an all-new cover by BRUCE TIMM!

BATCAVE COMPANION The writer/editor of the critically acclaimed KRYPTON COMPANION and the designer of the eye-popping SPIES, VIXENS, AND MASTERS OF KUNG FU: THE ART OF PAUL GULACY team up to explore the Silver and Bronze Ages of Batman comic books in THE BATCAVE COMPANION! Two distinct sections of this book examine the Dark Knight’s progression from his campy “New Look” of the mid-1960s to his “creature of the night” reinvention of the 1970s. Features include issue-by-issue indexes, interviews with CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA, DENNIS O’NEIL, and NEAL ADAMS, and guest essays by MIKE W. BARR and WILL MURRAY. Contributors include SHELDON MOLDOFF, LEN WEIN, STEVE ENGLEHART, and TERRY AUSTIN, with a special tribute to the late MARSHALL ROGERS. With its incisive introduction by DENNIS O’NEIL and its iconic cover painting by NEAL ADAMS, THE BATCAVE COMPANION is a musthave for every comics fan! By MICHAEL EURY and MICHAEL KRONENBERG. (240-page trade paperback) $26.95 US • ISBN: 9781893905788 • Diamond Order Code: NOV068368

(224-page trade paperback) $24.95 ISBN: 9781893905481 Diamond Order Code: MAY053052

(240-page trade paperback) $24.95 ISBN: 9781893905610 Diamond Order Code: MAY063443

COMICS GONE APE!

DICK GIORDANO: CHANGING COMICS, ONE DAY AT A TIME

The missing link to primates in comics, spotlighting a barrel of simian superstars like Beppo, BrainiApe, the Gibbon, Gleek, Gorilla Man, Grease Monkey, King Kong, Konga, Mojo Jojo, Sky Ape, and Titano! It’s loaded with rare and classic artwork, cover galleries, and interviews with artists & writers including ARTHUR ADAMS (Monkeyman and O’Brien), FRANK CHO, CARMINE INFANTINO (Detective Chimp, Grodd), JOE KUBERT (Tor, Tarzan), TONY MILLIONAIRE (Sock Monkey), DOUG MOENCH (Planet of the Apes), and BOB OKSNER (Angel and the Ape)! All-new cover by ARTHUR ADAMS, and written by MICHAEL EURY.

MICHAEL EURY’s biography of comics’ most prominent and affable personality! Covers his career as illustrator, inker, and editor, peppered with DICK’S PERSONAL REFLECTIONS on his career milestones!

Lavishly illustrated with RARE AND NEVER SEEN comics, merchandising, and advertising art (includes a color section)! Also includes an extensive index of his published work, comments and tributes by NEAL ADAMS, DENNIS O’NEIL, TERRY AUSTIN, PAUL LEVITZ, MARV WOLFMAN, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, JIM APARO and others, plus a Foreword by NEAL ADAMS and Afterword by PAUL LEVITZ!

(128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781893905627 Diamond Order Code: FEB073814

(176-pg. Paperback with COLOR) $19.95 ISBN: 9781893905276 Diamond Order Code: STAR20439

CAPTAIN ACTION: THE ORIGINAL SUPER-HERO ACTION FIGURE (Hardcover 2nd Edition)

CAPTAIN ACTION was introduced in 1966 in the wake of the Batman TV show craze, and later received his own DC comic book with art by WALLY WOOD and GIL KANE. Able to assume the identities of 13 famous super-heroes, his initial career was short-lived, but continuing interest in the hero has led to two different returns to toy-store shelves. Lavishly illustrated with over 200 toy photos, this FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER SECOND EDITION chronicles the history of this quick-changing champion, including photos of virtually EVERY CAPTAIN ACTION PRODUCT ever released, spotlights on his allies ACTION BOY and the SUPER QUEENS and his arch enemy DR. EVIL, an examination of his comic-book appearances, and “Action facts” that even the most diehard Captain Action fan won’t know! The original softcover edition has been sold out for years, but this revised, full-color hardcover second edition includes behind-the-scenes coverage of CAPTAIN ACTION’S TRIUMPHANT 2008 RETURN to comics shelves in his new series from Moonstone Books, and spotlights the new wave of Captain Action collectibles. Written by MICHAEL EURY. (176-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490175 • Diamond Code: APR091003

TwoMorrows Publishing 2009 Update WINTER/SPRING

Supplement to the 2008 TwoMorrows Preview Catalog

ORDER AT: www.twomorrows.com

SAVE

BATCAVE COMPANION

All characters TM & ©2009 their respective owners.

IT’S FINALLY HERE! The writer/editor of the critically acclaimed KRYPTON COMPANION and the designer of the eye-popping SPIES, VIXENS, AND MASTERS OF KUNG FU: THE ART OF PAUL GULACY team up to explore the Silver and Bronze Ages of Batman comic books in THE BATCAVE COMPANION! Two distinct sections of this book examine the Dark Knight’s progression from his campy “New Look” of the mid-1960s to his “creature of the night” reinvention of the 1970s. Features include issue-byissue indexes, interviews with CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA, DENNIS O’NEIL, and NEAL ADAMS, and guest essays by MIKE W. BARR and WILL MURRAY. Contributors include SHELDON MOLDOFF, LEN WEIN, STEVE ENGLEHART, and TERRY AUSTIN, with a special tribute to the late MARSHALL ROGERS. With its incisive introduction by DENNIS O’NEIL and its iconic cover painting by NEAL ADAMS, THE BATCAVE COMPANION is a must-have for every comics fan! By MICHAEL EURY and MICHAEL KRONENBERG.

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WHE % N YO ORD U ONL ER INE!

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95 US • ISBN: 9781893905788 • Diamond Order Code: NOV068368 • Ships April 2009

COMIC BOOK PODCAST COMPANION Comic book podcasts have taken the Internet by storm, and now TwoMorrows offers you the chance to go behind the scenes of ten of today's top comic book podcasts via all-new interviews with the casts of AROUND COMICS, WORD BALLOON, QUIET! PANELOLOGISTS AT WORK, COMIC BOOK QUEERS, iFANBOY, THE CRANKCAST, THE COLLECTED COMICS LIBRARY, THE PIPELINE PODCAST, COMIC GEEK SPEAK, and TwoMorrows’ own TUNE-IN PODCAST! Also featured are new interviews about podcasting and comics on the Internet with creators MATT FRACTION, TIM SEELEY, and GENE COLAN. You'll also find a handy guide of what you’ll need to start your own podcast, an index of more than thirty great comic book podcasts, numerous photos of your favorite podcasters, and original art from COLAN, SEELEY, DC's MIKE NORTON, and many more! By ERIC HOUSTON, with a spectacular new cover by MIKE MANLEY. (128-page trade paperback) $15.95 • ISBN: 9781605490182 • Ships May 2009

ALL-STAR COMPANION Volume 4 The epic series of ALL-STAR COMPANIONS goes out with a bang, featuring: Colossal coverage of the Golden Age ALL-STAR COMICS! Sensational secrets of the JUNIOR JUSTICE SOCIETY! An index of the complete solo adventures of all 18 original JSAers in their own features, from 1940 to 1951! The JSA's earliest imitators (Seven Soldiers of Victory, All Winners Squad, Marvel Family, and International Crime Patrol)! INFINITY, INC. on Earth-Two and after! And the 1980s SECRET ORIGINS series! With rare art by ALEX ROSS, TODD McFARLANE, JERRY ORDWAY, CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE KUBERT, ALEX TOTH, GIL KANE, MURPHY ANDERSON, IRWIN HASEN, MORT MESKIN, GENE COLAN, WAYNE BORING, GEORGE TUSKA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, GEORGE FREEMAN, DON NEWTON, JACK BURNLEY, MIKE MACHLAN, HOWARD CHAYKIN, DICK DILLIN, and others. Edited by ROY THOMAS.

CAPTAIN ACTION: THE ORIGINAL SUPERHERO ACTION FIGURE

(240-page trade paperback) $27.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490045 Ships June 2009

(Hardcover 2nd Edition)

CAPTAIN ACTION was introduced in 1966 in the wake of the Batman TV show craze, and later received his own DC comic book with art by WALLY WOOD and GIL KANE. Able to assume the identities of 13 famous super-heroes, his initial career was short-lived, but continuing interest in the hero has led to two different returns to toy-store shelves. Lavishly illustrated with over 200 toy photos, this FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER SECOND EDITION chronicles the history of this quick-changing champion, including photos of virtually EVERY CAPTAIN ACTION PRODUCT ever released, spotlights on his allies ACTION BOY and the SUPER QUEENS and his arch enemy DR. EVIL, an examination of his comic-book appearances, and “Action facts” that even the most diehard Captain Action fan won’t know! The original softcover edition has been sold out for years, but this revised, full-color hardcover second edition includes behind-the-scenes coverage of CAPTAIN ACTION’S TRIUMPHANT 2008 RETURN to comics shelves in his new series from Moonstone Books, and spotlights the new wave of Captain Action collectibles. Written by MICHAEL EURY. (176-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490175 • Ships July 2009

MARVEL COMICS IN THE 1960s: An Issue-By-Issue Field Guide

The comic book industry experienced an unexpected flowering in the early 1960s, compliments of Marvel Comics, and this book presents a step-by-step look at how a company that had the reputation of being one of the least creative in a generally moribund industry, emerged as one of the most dynamic, slightly irreverent and downright original contributions to an era when pop-culture emerged as the dominant force in the artistic life of America. In scores of handy, easy to reference entries, MARVEL COMICS IN THE 1960s takes the reader from the legendary company’s first fumbling beginnings as helmed by savvy editor/writer STAN LEE (aided by such artists as JACK KIRBY and STEVE DITKO), to the full maturity of its wild, colorful, offbeat grandiosity.

With the history of Marvel Comics in the 1960s divided into four distinct phases, author PIERRE COMTOIS explains just how Lee, Kirby, Ditko, and others created a line of comic books that, while grounded in the traditional elements of panel-to-panel storytelling, broke through the juvenile mindset of a low brow industry and provided a tapestry of full blown pop culture icons.

(224-page trade paperback) $27.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490168 • Ships July 2009

GRAILPAGES:

Original Comic Book Art And The Collectors GRAILPAGES brings to light the burgeoning hobby of collecting the original, hand-drawn art that is used to create comic books! Beginning more as a novelty, the hobby of collecting original comic art has expanded to a point where some of the seminal pages commonly run more than $10,000 each. Author STEVEN ALAN PAYNE lets you meet collectors from around the globe and hear their passion in their own words, as they detail collections ranging from a few key pages, to broad, encompassing collections of literally hundreds of pages of original comic art by such artists as JACK KIRBY, JOHN ROMITA SR., and others! Balancing out the narratives are incisive interviews with industry pros, including writers GERRY CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, and ROY THOMAS, and exclusive perspectives from Silver Age artists DICK GIORDANO, BOB McLEOD, ERNIE CHAN, TONY DeZUNIGA, and the unparalleled great, GENE COLAN! Completing the book is a diverse sampling of breathtakingly beautiful original comic art, some lavishly presented in full-page spreads, including pages not seen publicly for decades. Fans of comic art, comic books, and pop culture will find in GRAILPAGES an appreciation for a uniquely American form of art!

(128-page trade paperback) $15.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490151 Diamond Order Code: JAN094470 • Ships March 2009

MAGAZINES

DIEDGITIIOTANSL BL AVAILA

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BRICKJOURNAL magazine is the ultimate resource for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages, spotlighting the LEGO Community with contributions and how-to articles by top builders worldwide, new product intros, and more. Edited by JOE MENO. ALTER EGO focuses on Golden and Silver Age comics and creators with articles, interviews and unseen art, plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), Mr. Monster & more. Edited by ROY THOMAS.

BRICKJOURNAL #3

BRICKJOURNAL #4

BRICKJOURNAL #5

BRICKJOURNAL #6

Event Reports from BRICKWORLD, FIRST LEGO LEAGUE WORLD FESTIVAL and PIECE OF PEACE (Japan), spotlight on our cover model builder BRYCE McGLONE, and interviews with ARTHUR GUGICK and STEVEN CANVIN of LEGO MINDSTORMS to see where LEGO ROBOTICS is going!

There’s also STEP-BY-STEP BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS, TECHNIQUES, & more!

Interviews with LEGO BUILDERS including BREANN SLEDGE (BIONICLE BUILDER), Event Reports from BRICKFAIR and BRICKCON, plus reports on new MINDSTORMS PROJECTS, STEP-BY-STEP BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS and TECHNIQUES for all skill levels, NEW SET REVIEWS, and a report on constructing the Chinese Olympic Village in LEGO!

Features event reports from around the world, and the MINDSTORMS 10TH ANNIVERSARY at LEGO HEADQUARTERS! Plus an interview with the head of the LEGO GROUP’S 3D DEPARTMENT, a glimpse at the LEGO Group's past with the DIRECTOR OF LEGO'S IDEA HOUSE, instructions and spotlights on builders, and an idea section for Pirate builders!

Spotlight on CLASSIC SPACE SETS and a look at new ones with LEGO SET DESIGNERS, BRANDON GRIFFITH shows his STAR TREK MODELS, plus take a tour of the DUTCH MOONBASE with MIKE VAN LEEUWEN and MARCO BAAS. There's also coverage of BRICKFEST 2009 and FIRST LEGO LEAGUE'S WORLD FESTIVAL and photos from TOY FAIR NEW YORK!

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Diamond Order Code: JUN084415

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Diamond Order Code: SEP084428

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Diamond Order Code: DEC084408 Ships March 2009

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US Ships June 2009

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

TM

BACK ISSUE celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through a variety of recurring (and rotating) departments, plus rare and unpublished art. Edited by MICHAEL EURY. DRAW! is the professional “How-To” magazine on cartooning and animation, featuring in-depth interviews and step-bystep demonstrations from top comics professionals. Edited by MIKE MANLEY. ROUGH STUFF features never-seen pencil pages, sketches, layouts, roughs, and unused inked pages from throughout comics history, plus columns, critiques, and more!

Edited by BOB McLEOD. WRITE NOW! features writing tips from pros on both sides of the desk, interviews, sample scripts, reviews, exclusive Nuts & Bolts tutorials, and more!

Edited by DANNY FINGEROTH.

ALTER EGO #81

ALTER EGO #82

ALTER EGO #83

ALTER EGO #84

New FRANK BRUNNER Man-Thing cover, a look at the late-’60s horror comic WEB OF HORROR with early work by BRUNNER, WRIGHTSON, WINDSOR-SMITH, SIMONSON, & CHAYKIN, interview with comics & fine artist EVERETT RAYMOND KINTSLER, ROY THOMAS’ 1971 origin synopsis for the FIRST MAN-THING STORY, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

MLJ ISSUE! Golden Age MLJ index illustrated with vintage images of The Shield, Hangman, Mr. Justice, Black Hood,

by IRV NOVICK, JACK COLE, CHARLES BIRO, MORT MESKIN, GIL KANE, & others—behind a marvelous MLJ-heroes cover

by BOB McLEOD! Plus interviews with IRV NOVICK and JOE EDWARDS, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

SWORD & SORCERY PART 2! Cover by ARTHUR SUYDAM, in-depth art-filled look at Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, DC’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Dagar the Invincible, Ironjaw & Wulf, and Arak, Son of Thunder, plus the never-seen Valda the Iron Maiden by TODD McFARLANE! Plus JOE EDWARDS (Part 2), FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

Unseen JIM APARO cover, STEVE SKEATES discusses his early comics work, art & artifacts by ADKINS, APARO, ARAGONÉS, BOYETTE, DITKO, GIORDANO, KANE, KELLER, MORISI, ORLANDO, SEKOWSKY, STONE, THOMAS, WOOD, and the great WARREN SAVIN! Plus writer CHARLES SINCLAIR on his partnership with Batman co-creator BILL FINGER, FCA, and more!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: AUG084454

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: OCT084483

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084368

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: JAN094555 Ships March 2009

C o l l e c t o r

The JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine celebrates his life and career through INTERVIEWS WITH KIRBY and his contemporaries, FEATURE ARTICLES, RARE AND UNSEEN KIRBY ART, and more.

Edited by JOHN MORROW.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PRINT EDITION, AND GET THE DIGITAL EDITION FREE, BEFORE THE PRINT ISSUE HITS STORES!

BACK ISSUE #29

BACK ISSUE #30

BACK ISSUE #31

BACK ISSUE #32

“Mutants” issue! CLAREMONT, BYRNE, SMITH, and ROMITA, JR.’s X-Men work, NOCENTI and ARTHUR ADAMS’ Longshot, McLEOD and SIENKIEWICZ’s New Mutants, the UK’s CAPTAIN BRITAIN series, lost Angel stories, Beast’s tenure with the Avengers, the return of the original X-Men in X-Factor, the revelation of Nightcrawler’s “original” father, a history of DC’s mutant, Captain Comet, and more! Cover by DAVE COCKRUM!

“Saturday Morning Heroes!” Interviews with TV Captain Marvels JACKSON BOSTWICK and JOHN DAVEY, MAGGIN and SAVIUK’s lost Superman/”Captain Thunder” sequel, Space Ghost interviews with GARY OWENS and STEVE RUDE, MARV WOLFMAN guest editorial, Super Friends, unproduced fourth wave Super Powers action figures, Astro Boy, ADAM HUGHES tribute to DAVE STEVENS, and a new cover by ALEX ROSS!

“STEVE GERBER Salute!” In-depth look at his Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Omega the Unknown, Defenders, Metal Men, Mister Miracle, Thundarr the Barbarian, and more!

Plus: Creators pay tribute to Steve Gerber, featuring art by and commentary from BRUNNER, BUCKLER, COLAN, GOLDEN, STAN LEE, LEVITZ, MAYERIK, MOONEY, PLOOG, SIMONSON, and others. Cover painting by FRANK BRUNNER!

“Tech, Data, and Hardware!” The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, WEIN, WOLFMAN, and GREENBERGER on DC’s Who’s Who, SAVIUK, STATON, and VAN SCIVER on Drawing Green Lantern, ED HANNIGAN Art Gallery, history of Rom: Spaceknight, story of BILL MANTLO, Dial H for Hero, Richie Rich’s Inventions, and a Spider-Mobile schematic cover by ELIOT BROWN and DUSTY ABELL!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: MAY084246

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: JUL084393

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: SEP084399

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084369

DRAW! #17

DRAW! #18

ROUGH STUFF #10

ROUGH STUFF #11

ROUGH STUFF #12

Interview with Scott Pilgrim’s creator and artist BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY on how he creates the acclaimed series, plus learn how B.P.R.D.’s GUY DAVIS works on his series.

Also, more Comic Art Bootcamp: Learning from The Great Cartoonists by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, reviews, and more!

Features an in-depth interview and demo

by R.M. GUERA (the artist of Vertigo’s Scalped), behind-the-scenes in the Batcave with Cartoon Network’s JAMES TUCKER on the new hit show “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” plus product reviews by JAMAR NICHOLAS, and Comic Book Boot Camp’s “Anatomy: Part 2” by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY!

Interview with RON GARNEY, with copious examples of sketchwork and comments.

Also features on ANDY SMITH, MICHAEL JASON PAZ, and MATT HALEY, showing how their work evolves, excerpts from a new book on ALEX RAYMOND, secrets of teaching comic art by pro inker BOB McLEOD, new cover by GARNEY and McLEOD, newcomer critique, and more!

New cover by GREG HORN, plus interviews with HORN and TOM YEATES on how they produce their stellar work. Also features on GENE HA, JIMMY CHEUNG, and MIKE PERKINS, showing their sketchwork and commentary, tips on collecting sketches and commissions from artists, a “Rough Critique” of a newcomer’s work, and more!

Interview and cover by comic painter CHRIS MOELLER, features on New Zealand comic artist COLIN WILSON, G.I. Joe artist JEREMY DALE, and fan favorite TERRY DODSON, plus "GOOD GIRL ART" (a new article about everyone's favorite collectible art) by ROBERT PLUNKETT, a "Rough Critique" of an aspiring artist's work, and more!

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 US • Ships Spring 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: AUG084469

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: NOV084404

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships April 2009

(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 US • Ships February 2009 Diamond Order Code: DEC084377

ALTER EGO #85

ALTER EGO #86

ALTER EGO #87

ALTER EGO #88

WRITE NOW! #20

Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy stories, and in court, with art by WALLY WOOD, CURT SWAN, and GIL KANE), an in-depth interview with Golden Age great LILY RENÉE, overview of CENTAUR COMICS (home of BILL EVERETT’s Amazing-Man and others), FCA, MR. MONSTER, new RICH BUCKLER cover, and more!

Spotlighting the Frantic Four-Color MAD WANNABES of 1953-55 that copied HARVEY KURTZMAN’S EC smash (see Captain Marble, Mighty Moose, Drag-ula, Prince Scallion, and more) with art by SIMON & KIRBY, KUBERT & MAURER, ANDRU & ESPOSITO, EVERETT, COLAN, and many others, plus Part 1 of a talk with Golden/ Silver Age artist FRANK BOLLE, and more!

The sensational 1954-1963 saga of Great Britain’s MARVELMAN (decades before he metamorphosed into Miracleman), plus an interview with writer/artist/co-creator MICK ANGLO, and rare Marvelman/ Miracleman work by ALAN DAVIS, ALAN MOORE, a new RICK VEITCH cover, plus FRANK BOLLE, Part 2, FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

First-ever in-depth look at National/DC’s founder MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELERNICHOLSON, and early editors WHITNEY ELLSWORTH, VIN SULLIVAN, and MORT WEISINGER, with rare art and artifacts by SIEGEL & SHUSTER, BOB KANE, CREIG FLESSEL, FRED GUARDINEER, GARDNER FOX, SHELDON MOLDOFF, and others, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, and more!

Focus on THE SPIRIT movie, showing how FRANK MILLER transformed WILL EISNER’s comics into the smash-hit film, with interviews with key players behind the making of the movie, a look at what made Eisner’s comics so special, and more. Plus: an interview with COLLEEN DORAN, writer ALEX GRECIAN on how to get a pitch green lighted, script and art examples, and more!

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BACK ISSUE #33

BACK ISSUE #34

BACK ISSUE #35

KIRBY COLLECTOR #52

KIRBY COLLECTOR #53

“Teen Heroes!” Teen Titans in the 1970s & 1980s, with CARDY, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, PÉREZ, TUSKA, and WOLFMAN, BARON and GUICE on the Flash, interviews with TV Billy Batson MICHAEL GRAY and writer STEVE SKEATES, NICIEZA and BAGLEY’s New Warriors, Legion of Super-Heroes 1970s art gallery, James Bond Jr., and… the Archies! New Teen Titans cover by GEORGE PÉREZ and colored by GENE HA!

“New World Order!” Adam Warlock examined with JIM STARLIN and ROY THOMAS, the history of Miracleman with ALAN DAVIS & GARRY LEACH, JIM SHOOTER interview, roundtable with Marvel’s post-STAN LEE editors-in-chief on the New Universe, Logan’s Run, Star Hunters, BOB WIACEK on Star Wars and Star-Lord, DICK GIORDANO revisits Crisis on Infinite Earths and “The Post-Crisis DC Universe You Didn’t See,” and a new cover by JIM STARLIN!

“Villains!” MIKE ZECK and J.M. DeMATTEIS discuss “Kraven’s Last Hunt” in a “Pro2Pro” interview, the history of the Hobgoblin is exposed, the Joker’s short-lived series, looks back at Secret Society of Super-Villains and Kobra, a Magneto biography, Luthor and Brainiac’s malevolent makeovers, interview with Secret Society artist MIKE VOSBURG, plus contributions from BYRNE, CONWAY, FRENZ, NOVICK, ROMITA JR., STERN, WOLFMAN, and a cover by MIKE ZECK!

Spotlights Kirby’s most obscure work, like an UNUSED THOR STORY, his BRUCE LEE comic, animation work, stage play, and see original unaltered versions of pages from KAMANDI, DEMON, DESTROYER DUCK, and more, including a feature examining the last page of his final issue of various series BEFORE EDITORIAL TAMPERING (with lots of surprises)! Color Kirby covers inked by DON HECK and PAUL SMITH!

Spotlights THE MAGIC OF STAN & JACK! There’s a new interview with STAN LEE, a walking tour of New York showing where Lee & Kirby lived and worked, a re-evaluation of the “Lost” FF #108 story (including a missing page that just surfaced), “What If Jack Hadn’t Left Marvel In 1970?”, plus MARK EVANIER’s regular column, a Kirby pencil art gallery, a complete Golden Age Kirby story, and more, behind a color Kirby cover inked by GEORGE PÉREZ!

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NEW MODERN MASTERS VOLUMES Each book contains RARE AND UNSEEN ARTWORK direct from the artist’s files, a COMPREHENSIVE INTERVIEW, DELUXE SKETCHBOOK SECTIONS, and more!

Volume 19: MIKE PLOOG

Volume 20: KYLE BAKER

Volume 21: CHRIS SPROUSE

Volume 22: MARK BUCKINGHAM

Volume 23: DARWYN COOKE

by Eric Nolen-Weathington & Roger Ash (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781605490076 Diamond Order Code: SEP084304 Now shipping

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by Eric Nolen-Weathington & Todd DeZago (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 97801605490137 Diamond Order Code: NOV084298 Ships March 2008

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by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $15.95 ISBN: 9781605490205 Ships June 2008

AGE OF TV HEROES Examines the history of the live-action television adventures of everyone’s favorite comic book heroes! FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER features the in-depth stories of the actors and behind-thescene players that made the classic super-hero television programs we all grew up with.

Included are new and exclusive interviews and commentary from ADAM WEST (Batman), LYNDA CARTER (Wonder Woman), PATRICK WARBURTON (The Tick), NICHOLAS HAMMOND (Spider-Man), WILLIAM KATT (The Greatest American Hero), JACK LARSON (The Adventures of Superman), JOHN WESLEY SHIPP (The Flash), JACKSON BOSTWICK (Shazam!), and many more!

Written by JASON HOFIUS and GEORGE KHOURY, with a new cover by superstar painter ALEX ROSS! (192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490106 Diamond Order Code: SEP084302 Rescheduled for July 2009

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EXTRAORDINARY WORKS KIRBY FIVE-OH! OF ALAN MOORE: LIMITED HARDCOVER Indispensable Edition Limited to 500 copies, KIRBY FIVE-OH! The definitive biography of the co-creator of WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA finally returns to print in a NEW EXPANDED AND UPDATED VERSION! Features an extensive series of interviews with MOORE about his entire career, including a new interview covering his work since the sold-out 2003 edition of this book was published.

Includes RARE STRIPS, SCRIPTS, ART, and private PHOTOS of the author, plus a series of tribute comic strips by many of Moore’s closest collaborators, a COLOR SECTION featuring a RARE MOORE STORY (remastered, and starring MR. MONSTER), and more! Edited by GEORGE KHOURY, with a cover by DAVE McKEAN! (240-page trade paperback) $29.95 US ISBN: 9781605490090 Diamond Order Code: OCT084400 Limited Hardcover Signed by Alan Moore (100 hardcover copies) $49.95 US Only available from TwoMorrows!

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JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR (4 issues)

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ALTER EGO (12 issues) Six-issue subs are half-price!

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LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION covers the best of everything from Jack Kirby’s 50-year career in comics, including his 50 BEST STORIES, BEST COVERS, BEST EXAMPLES OF UNUSED KIRBY ART, BEST CHARACTER DESIGNS, and profiles of, and commentary by, 50 PEOPLE INFLUENCED BY KIRBY’S WORK! Plus there’s a 50-PAGE GALLERY of Kirby’s PENCIL ART, a DELUXE COLOR SECTION, a previously unseen Kirby Superman cover inked by DARWYN COOKE, and an introduction by MARK EVANIER! Includes a full-color wrapped hardcover, and an individuallynumbered extra Kirby pencil art plate not included in the softcover edition! It’s ONLY AVAILABLE FROM TWOMORROWS, and is not sold in stores! Edited by JOHN MORROW.

Reprints JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #27-30, with looks at Jack’s 1970s and ‘80s work, plus a two-part focus on how widespread Kirby’s influence is! Features rare interviews with KIRBY himself, plus Watchmen’s ALAN MOORE and DAVE GIBBONS, NEIL GAIMAN, Bone’s JEFF SMITH, MARK HAMILL, and others! See page after page of rare Kirby art, including a NEW SPECIAL SECTION with over 30 PIECES OF KIRBY ART NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED, and more!

(288-page trade paperback) $29.95 US ISBN: 9781605490120 Diamond Order Code: DEC084286 Ships February 2009

(168-page Limited Edition Hardcover) (500 hardcover copies) $34.95 US Only available from TwoMorrows!

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Subscriptions will start with the next available issue, but CURRENT AND OLDER ISSUES MUST BE PURCHASED AT THE BACK ISSUE PRICE (new issues ship in bulk, and we pass the savings on in our subscription rates). In the US, we generally ship back issues and books by MEDIA MAIL.

COLLECTED JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR Volume 7

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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. (& LEGO! ) TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

“HOW-TO” MAGAZINES Spinning off from the pages of BACK ISSUE! magazine comes ROUGH STUFF, celebrating the ART of creating comics! Edited by famed inker BOB McLEOD, each issue spotlights NEVER-BEFORE PUBLISHED penciled pages, preliminary sketches, detailed layouts, and even unused inked versions from artists throughout comics history. Included is commentary on the art, discussing what went right and wrong with it, and background information to put it all into historical perspective. Plus, before-and-after comparisons let you see firsthand how an image changes from initial concept to published version. So don’t miss this amazing magazine, featuring galleries of NEVER-BEFORE SEEN art, from some of your favorite series of all time, and the top pros in the industry!

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ROUGH STUFF #1 Our debut issue features galleries of UNSEEN ART by a who’s who of Modern Masters including: ALAN DAVIS, GEORGE PÉREZ, BRUCE TIMM, KEVIN NOWLAN, JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, ARTHUR ADAMS, JOHN BYRNE, and WALTER SIMONSON, plus a KEVIN NOWLAN interview, art critiques, and a new BRUCE TIMM COVER!

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The follow-up to our smash first issue features more galleries of UNSEEN ART by top industry professionals, including: BRIAN APTHORP, FRANK BRUNNER, PAUL GULACY, JERRY ORDWAY, ALEX TOTH, and MATT WAGNER, plus a PAUL GULACY interview, a look at art of the pros BEFORE they were pros, and a new GULACY “HEX” COVER!

Still more galleries of UNPUBLISHED ART

by MIKE ALLRED, JOHN BUSCEMA, YANICK PAQUETTE, JOHN ROMITA JR., P. CRAIG RUSSELL, and LEE WEEKS, plus a JOHN ROMITA JR. interview, looks at the process of creating a cover (with BILL SIENKIEWICZ and JOHN ROMITA JR.), and a new ROMITA JR. COVER, plus a FREE DRAW #13 PREVIEW!

More NEVER-PUBLISHED galleries (with detailed artist commentaries) by MICHAEL KALUTA, ANDREW “Starman” ROBINSON, GENE COLAN, HOWARD CHAYKIN, and STEVE BISSETTE, plus interview and art by JOHN TOTLEBEN, a look at the Wonder Woman Day charity auction (with rare art), art critiques, before-&-after art comparisons, and a FREE WRITE NOW #15 PREVIEW!

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NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED galleries (complete with extensive commentaries by the artists) by PAUL SMITH, GIL KANE, CULLY HAMNER, DALE KEOWN, and ASHLEY WOOD, plus a feature interview and art by STEVE RUDE, an examination of JOHN ALBANO and TONY DeZUNIGA’s work on Jonah Hex, new STEVE RUDE COVER, plus a FREE BACK ISSUE #23 PREVIEW!

Features a new interview and cover by BRIAN STELFREEZE, interview with BUTCH GUICE, extensive art galleries/commentary by IAN CHURCHILL, DAVE COCKRUM, and COLLEEN DORAN, MIKE GAGNON looks at independent comics, with art and comments by ANDREW BARR, BRANDON GRAHAM, and ASAF HANUKA! Includes a FREE ALTER EGO #73 PREVIEW!

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Features an in-depth interview and cover by TIM TOWNSEND, CRAIG HAMILTON, DAN JURGENS, and HOWARD PORTER offer preliminary art and commentaries, MARIE SEVERIN career retrospective, graphic novels feature with art and comments by DAWN BROWN, TOMER HANUKA, BEN TEMPLESMITH, and LANCE TOOKS, and more!

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ROUGH STUFF #9

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ROUGH STUFF #8 Features an in-depth interview and cover painting by the extraordinary MIKE MAYHEW, preliminary and unpublished art

by ALEX HORLEY, TONY DeZUNIGA, NICK CARDY, and RAFAEL KAYANAN (including commentary by each artist), a look at the great Belgian comic book artists, a “Rough Critique” of MIKE MURDOCK’s work, and more!

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Editor and pro inker BOB McLEOD features four interviews this issue: ROB HAYNES (interviewed by fellow professional TIM TOWNSEND), JOE JUSKO, MEL RUBI, and SCOTT WILLIAMS, with a new painted cover by JUSKO, and an article by McLEOD examining "Inkers: Who needs ’em?" along with other features, including a Rough Critique of RUDY VASQUEZ! (100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: MAY084263

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THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

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Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

Go online for an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE! 6-ISSUE SUBS: $44 US Postpaid by Media Mail ($60 First Class, $70 Canada, $105 1st Class Intl., $115 Priority Intl.).

BACK ISSUE #1

BACK ISSUE #2

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“PRO2PRO” interview between GEORGE PÉREZ & MARV WOLFMAN (with UNSEEN PÉREZ ART), “ROUGH STUFF” featuring JACK KIRBY’s PENCIL ART, “GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD” on the first JLA/AVENGERS, “BEYOND CAPES” on DC and Marvel’s TARZAN (with KUBERT and BUSCEMA ART), “OFF MY CHEST” editorial by INFANTINO, and more! PÉREZ cover!

“PRO2PRO” between ADAM HUGHES and MIKE W. BARR (with UNSEEN HUGHES ART) and MATT WAGNER and DIANA SCHUTZ, “ROUGH STUFF” HUGHES PENCIL ART, STEVE RUDE’s unseen SPACE GHOST/HERCULOIDS team-up, Bruce Jones’ ALIEN WORLDS and TWISTED TALES, “OFF MY CHEST” by MIKE W. BARR on the DC IMPLOSION, and more!

HUGHES cover!

“PRO2PRO” between KEITH GIFFEN, J.M. DeMATTEIS and KEVIN MAGUIRE on their JLA WORK, “ROUGH STUFF” PENCIL ART by ARAGONÉS, HERNANDEZ BROS., MIGNOLA, BYRNE, KIRBY, HUGHES, details on two unknown PLASTIC MAN movies, Joker’s history with O’NEIL, ADAMS, ENGLEHART, ROGERS and BOLLAND, editorial by MARK EVANIER, and more! BOLLAND cover!

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“PRO2PRO” between JOHN BYRNE and CHRIS CLAREMONT on their X-MEN WORK and WALT SIMONSON and JOE CASEY on Walter’s THOR, WOLVERINE PENCIL ART by BUSCEMA, LEE, COCKRUM, BYRNE, and GIL KANE, LEN WEIN’S TEEN WOLVERINE, PUNISHER’S 30TH and SECRET WARS’ 20TH ANNIVERSARIES (with UNSEEN ZECK ART), and more! BYRNE cover!

Wonder Woman TV series in-depth, LYNDA CARTER INTERVIEW, WONDER WOMAN TV ART GALLERY, Marvel’s TV Hulk, SpiderMan, Captain America, and Dr. Strange, LOU FERRIGNO INTERVIEW, super-hero cartoons you didn’t see, pencil gallery by JERRY ORDWAY, STAR TREK in comics, and ROMITA SR. editorial on Marvel’s movies!

Covers by ALEX ROSS and ADAM HUGHES!

TOMB OF DRACULA revealed with GENE COLAN and MARV WOLFMAN, LEN WEIN & BERNIE WRIGHTSON on Swamp Thing’s roots, STEVE BISSETTE & RICK VEITCH on their Swamp work, pencil art by BRUNNER, PLOOG, BISSETTE, COLAN, WRIGHTSON, and SMITH, editorial by ROY THOMAS, PREZ, GODZILLA comics (with TRIMPE art), CHARLTON horror, & more! COLAN cover!

History of BRAVE AND BOLD, JIM APARO interview, tribute to BOB HANEY, FANTASTIC FOUR ROUNDTABLE with STAN LEE, MARK WAID, and others, EVANIER and MEUGNIOT on DNAgents, pencil art by ROSS, TOTH, COCKRUM, HECK, ROBBINS, NEWTON, and BYRNE, DENNY O’NEIL editorial, a tour of METROPOLIS, IL, and more! SWAN/ANDERSON cover!

DENNY O’NEIL and Justice League Unlimited voice actor PHIL LaMARR discuss GL JOHN STEWART, NEW X-MEN pencil art by NEAL ADAMS, ARTHUR ADAMS, DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI, ALAN DAVIS, JIM LEE, ADAM HUGHES, STORM’s 30-year history, animated TV’s black heroes (with TOTH art), ISABELLA and TREVOR VON EEDEN on BLACK LIGHTNING, and more! KYLE BAKER cover!

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MIKE BARON and STEVE RUDE on NEXUS past and present, a colossal GIL KANE pencil art gallery, a look at Marvel’s STAR WARS comics, secrets of DC’s unseen CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS SEQUEL, TIM TRUMAN on his GRIMJACK SERIES, MIKE GOLD editorial, THANOS history, TIME WARP revisited, and more! All-new STEVE RUDE COVER!

NEAL ADAMS and DENNY O’NEIL on RA’S AL GHUL’s history (with Adams art), O’Neil and MICHAEL KALUTA on THE SHADOW, MIKE GRELL on JON SABLE FREELANCE, HOWIE CHAYKIN interview, DOC SAVAGE in comics, BATMAN ART GALLERY by PAUL SMITH, SIENKIEWICZ, SIMONSON, BOLLAND, HANNIGAN, MAZZUCCHELLI, and others! New cover by ADAMS!

ROY THOMAS, KURT BUSIEK, and JOE JUSKO on CONAN (with art by JOHN BUSCEMA, BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH, NEAL ADAMS, JUSKO, and others), SERGIO ARAGONÉS and MARK EVANIER on GROO, DC’s never-published KING ARTHUR, pencil art gallery by KIRBY, PÉREZ, MOEBIUS, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, BOLLAND, and others, and a new BUSCEMA/JUSKO Conan cover!

‘70s and ‘80s character revamps with DAVE GIBBONS, ROY THOMAS and KURT BUSIEK, TOM DeFALCO and RON FRENZ on Spider-Man’s 1980s “black” costume change, DENNY O’NEIL on Superman’s 1970 revamp, JOHN BYRNE’s aborted SHAZAM! series detailed, pencil art gallery with FRANK MILLER, LEE WEEKS, DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI, CHARLES VESS, and more!

CARDY interview, ENGLEHART and MOENCH on kung-fu comics, “Pro2Pro” with STATON and CUTI on Charlton’s E-Man, pencil art gallery featuring MILLER, KUBERT, GIORDANO, SWAN, GIL KANE, COLAN, COCKRUM, and others, EISNER’s A Contract with God; “The Death of Romance (Comics)” (with art by ROMITA, SR. and TOTH), and more!

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DAVE COCKRUM and MIKE GRELL go “Pro2Pro” on the Legion, pencil art gallery

by BUSCEMA, BYRNE, MILLER, STARLIN, McFARLANE, ROMITA JR., SIENKIEWICZ, looks at Hercules Unbound, Hex, Killraven, Kamandi, MARS, Planet of the Apes, art and interviews with GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, KIRBY, WILLIAMSON, and more! New MIKE GRELL/BOB McLEOD cover!

“Weird Heroes” of the 1970s and ‘80s!

MIKE PLOOG discusses Ghost Rider, MATT WAGNER revisits The Demon, JOE KUBERT dusts off Ragman, GENE COLAN “Rough Stuff” pencil gallery, GARCÍALÓPEZ recalls Deadman, DC’s unpublished Gorilla Grodd series, PERLIN, CONWAY, and MOENCH on Werewolf by Night, and more! New ARTHUR ADAMS cover!

“Toy Stories!” Behind the Scenes of Marvel’s G.I. JOE™ and TRANSFORMERS with PAUL LEVITZ and GEORGE TUSKA, “Rough Stuff” MIKE ZECK pencil gallery, ARTHUR ADAMS on Gumby, HE-MAN, ROM, MICRONAUTS, SUPER POWERS, SUPER-HERO CARS, art by HAMA, SAL BUSCEMA, GUICE, GOLDEN, KIRBY, TRIMPE, and new ZECK sketch cover!

“Super Girls!” Supergirl retrospective with art by STELFREEZE, HAMNER, SpiderWoman, Flare, Tigra, DC’s unused Double Comics with unseen BARRETTO and INFANTINO art, WOLFMAN and JIMENEZ on Donna Troy, female comics pros, art by SEKOWSKY, OKSNER, PÉREZ, HUGHES, GIORDANO, plus a COLOR GALLERY and COVER by BRUCE TIMM!

“Big, Green Issue!” Tour of NEAL ADAMS’ studio (with interview and art gallery), DAVE GIBBONS “Rough Stuff” pencil art spotlight, interviews with MIKE GRELL (on Green Arrow), PETER DAVID (on Incredible Hulk), a “Pro2Pro” chat between GERRY CONWAY and JOHN ROMITA, SR. (on the Green Goblin), and more. New cover

by NEAL ADAMS!

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BACK ISSUE #19

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“Unsung Heroes!” DON NEWTON spotlight, STEVE GERBER and GENE COLAN on Howard the Duck, MIKE CARLIN and DANNY FINGEROTH on Marvel’s Assistant Editors’ Month, the unrealized Unlimited Powers TV show, TONY ISABELLA’s aborted plans for The Champions, MARK GRUENWALD tribute, art by SAL BUSCEMA, JOHN BYRNE, and more! NEWTON/ RUBINSTEIN cover!

“Secret Identities!” Histories of characters with unusual alter egos: Firestorm, Moon Knight, the Question, and the “real-life” Human Fly! STEVE ENGLEHART and SAL BUSCEMA on Captain America, JERRY ORDWAY interview and cover, Superman roundtable with SIENKIEWICZ, NOWLAN, MOENCH, COWAN, MAGGIN, O’NEIL, MILGROM, CONWAY, ROBBINS, SWAN, plus FREE ALTER EGO #64 PREVIEW!

“The Devil You Say!” issue! A look at Daredevil in the 1980s and 1990s with interviews and art by KLAUS JANSON, JOHN ROMITA JR., and FRANK MILLER, MIKE MIGNOLA Hellboy interview, DAN MISHKIN and GARY COHN on Blue Devil, COLLEEN DORAN’s unpublished X-Men spin-off “Fallen Angels”, Son of Satan, Stig’s Inferno, DC’s Plop!, JACK KIRBY’s Devil Dinosaur, and cover by MIKE ZECK!

“Dynamic Duos!’ “Pro2Pro” interviews with Batman’s ALAN GRANT and NORM BREYFOGLE and the Legion’s PAUL LEVITZ and KEITH GIFFEN, a “Backstage Pass” to Dark Horse Comics, Robin’s history, EASTMAN and LAIRD’s Ninja Turtles, histories of duos Robin and Batgirl, Captain America and the Falcon, and Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, “Zot!” interview with SCOTT McCLOUD, and a new BREYFOGLE cover!

“Comics Go Hollywood!” Spider-Man roundtable with STAN LEE, JOHN ROMITA, SR., JIM SHOOTER, ERIK LARSEN, and others, STAR TREK comics writers’ roundtable Part 1, Gladstone’s Disney comics line, behindthe-scenes at TV’s ISIS and THE FLASH (plus an interview with Flash’s JOHN WESLEY SHIPP), TV tie-in comics, bonus 8-page color ADAM HUGHES ART GALLERY and cover, plus a FREE WRITE NOW #16 PREVIEW!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: SEP063683

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BACK ISSUE #24

BACK ISSUE #25

BACK ISSUE #26

BACK ISSUE #27

BACK ISSUE #28

“Magic” issue! MICHAEL GOLDEN interview, GENE COLAN, PAUL SMITH, and FRANK BRUNNER on drawing Dr. Strange, Mystic Art Gallery with CARL POTTS & KEVIN NOWLAN, BILL WILLINGHAM’s Elementals, Zatanna history, Dr. Fate’s revival, a “Greatest Stories Never Told” look at Peter Pan, tribute to the late MARSHALL ROGERS, a new GOLDEN cover, plus a FREE ROUGH STUFF #6 PREVIEW!

“Men of Steel!’ BOB LAYTON and DAVID MICHELINIE on Iron Man, RICH BUCKLER on Deathlok, MIKE GRELL on Warlord, JOHN BYRNE on ROG 2000, Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman, Machine Man, the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes comic strip, DC’s Steel, art by KIRBY, HECK, WINDSOR-SMITH, TUSKA, LAYTON cover, and bonus “Men of Steel” art gallery!

Includes a FREE DRAW! #15 PREVIEW!

“Spies and Tough Guys!’ PAUL GULACY and DOUG MOENCH in an art-packed “Pro2Pro” on Master of Kung Fu and their unrealized Shang-Chi/Nick Fury crossover, Suicide Squad spotlight, Ms. Tree, CHUCK DIXON and TIM TRUMAN’s Airboy, James Bond and Mr. T in comic books, Sgt. Rock’s oddball super-hero team-ups, Nathaniel Dusk, JOE KUBERT’s unpublished The Redeemer, and a new GULACY cover!

“Comic Book Royalty!” The ’70s/’80s careers of Aquaman and the Sub-Mariner explored, BARR and BOLLAND discuss CAMELOT 3000, comics pros tell “Why JACK KIRBY Was King,” “Dr. Doom: Monarch or Menace?” DON McGREGOR’s Black Panther; an exclusive ALAN WEISS art gallery; spotlights on ARION, LORD OF ATLANTIS; NIGHT FORCE; and more! New cover by NICK CARDY!

“Heroes Behaving Badly!” Hulk vs. Thing tirades with RON WILSON, HERB TRIMPE, and JIM SHOOTER; CARY BATES and CARMINE INFANTINO on “Trial of the Flash”; JOHN BYRNE’s heroes who cross the line; Teen Titan Terra, Kid Miracleman, Mark Shaw Manhunter, and others who went bad, featuring LAYTON, MICHELINIE, WOLFMAN, and PÉREZ, and more! New cover by DARWYN COOKE!

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THE

BATCAVE C O M P A N I O N NOW SHIPPING! Batman. Is he the campy Caped Crusader? Or the grim Gotham Guardian?

Both, as The Batcave Companion reveals.

On the brink of cancellation in 1963, Batman was rescued by DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz, who, abetted by several talented writers and artists, gave the hero a much-needed “New Look” which soon catapulted Batman to multimedia stardom.

In the next decade, when Batman required another fresh start, Schwartz once again led a team of creators that returned the hero to his “creature of the night” roots.

Writers Michael Eury (The Krypton Companion, The Justice League Companion) and Michael Kronenberg (Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu: The Art of Paul Gulacy) unearth the stories behind the stories of both Batman’s “New Look” and Bronze Age (1970s) comic-book eras through incisive essays, invaluable issue-by-issue indexes, and insightful commentary from many of the visionaries responsible for and inspired by Batman’s 1960s and 1970s adventures: Neal Adams, Michael Allred, Terry Austin, Mike W. Barr, Steve Englehart, Mike Friedrich, Mike Grell, Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Adam Hughes, Sheldon Moldoff, Will Murray, Dennis O’Neil, Bob Rozakis, Mark Waid, Len Wein, and Bernie Wrightson.

Featuring 240 art- and info-packed pages, The Batcave Companion is a must-have examination of two of the most influential periods in Batman’s 70-year history.

Written by Back Issue’s

MICHAEL EURY & MICHAEL KRONENBERG ISBN 978-1-893905-78-8 $26.95 in the U.S. plus shipping Batman, Robin, and all related characters and indicia are TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics.

TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

Unlock the FINAL secrets of the JUSTICE SOCIETY of AMERICA (& friends) !

THE

• Amazing new info on the Golden Age JSA—including every JUNIOR JUSTICE SOCIETY message ever—and an incredible index of the solo stories of the original JSAers, from 1939 to 1951!

• Sensational new JSA and INFINITY, INC. cover by JERRY ORDWAY, drawn especially for this volume!

• The OTHER 1940s Hero Groups Examined in Depth! THE SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY—THE MARVEL FAMILY—THE ALL WINNERS SQUAD— & M.C. Gaines’ own INTERNATIONAL CRIME PATROL! • Issue-by-issue 1980s spotlight on INFINITY, INC. & SECRET ORIGINS! • Rare, often unpublished art & artifacts by: ALEX ROSS * TODD McFARLANE JOE KUBERT * CARMINE INFANTINO ALEX TOTH * GIL KANE MURPHY ANDERSON * IRWIN HASEN WAYNE BORING * SHELDON MOLDOFF MORT MESKIN * GENE COLAN MART NODELL * HARRY LAMPERT DON NEWTON * GEORGE TUSKA PAUL REINMAN * JOE GALLAGHER CHESTER KOZLAK * LEE ELIAS E.E. HIBBARD * ARTHUR PEDDY JIM VALENTINO * ALAN KUPPERBERG MICHAEL T. GILBERT * RICK HOBERG MIKE SEKOWSKY * JACK BURNLEY MIKE MACHLAN * FRANK HARRY DICK DILLIN * BERNARD KRIGSTEIN H.G. PETER * MICHAEL BAIR —& many others!

VOLUM E FOUR

Companion

Edited by

ROY THOMAS $

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256 Big Pages ISBN 978-1-60549-004-5

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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics.

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Captain Marvel and Superman’s battles explored (in cosmic space, candy stories, and in court, with art by WALLY WOOD, CURT SWAN, and GIL KANE), an in-depth interview with Golden Age great LILY RENÉE, overview of CENTAUR COMICS (home of BILL EVERETT’s Amazing-Man and others), FCA, MR. MONSTER, new RICH BUCKLER cover, and more!

Focus on THE SPIRIT movie, showing how FRANK MILLER transformed WILL EISNER’s comics into the smash-hit film, with interviews with key players behind the making of the movie, a look at what made Eisner’s comics so special, and more. Plus: an interview with COLLEEN DORAN, writer ALEX GRECIAN on how to get a pitch green lighted, script and art examples, and more!

Interview and cover by comic painter CHRIS MOELLER, features on New Zealand comic artist COLIN WILSON, G.I. Joe artist JEREMY DALE, and fan favorite TERRY DODSON, plus "GOOD GIRL ART" (a new article about everyone's favorite collectible art) by ROBERT PLUNKETT, a "Rough Critique" of an aspiring artist's work, and more!

Go behind the pages of the hit series of graphic novels starring Scott Pilgrim with his creator and artist, BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY, to see how he creates the acclaimed series! Then, learn how B.P.R.D.’s GUY DAVIS works on the series, plus more Comic Art Bootcamp: Learning from The Great Cartoonists by BRET BLEVINS and MIKE MANLEY, reviews, and more!

Features event reports from around the world, and the MINDSTORMS 10TH ANNIVERSARY at LEGO HEADQUARTERS! Plus an interview with the head of the LEGO GROUP’S 3D DEPARTMENT, a glimpse at the LEGO Group's past with the DIRECTOR OF LEGO'S IDEA HOUSE, instructions and spotlights on builders, and an idea section for Pirate builders!

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #52

EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE:

BATCAVE COMPANION

Spotlights Kirby’s most obscure work, like an UNUSED THOR STORY, BRUCE LEE comic, animation work, stage play, unaltered versions of pages from KAMANDI, DEMON, & DESTROYER DUCK, a feature examining the last page of his final issue of various series BEFORE EDITORIAL TAMPERING, unseen Kirby covers & more!

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The definitive autobiographical book on ALAN MOORE in a NEW EXPANDED AND UPDATED VERSION! Includes new interviews covering his work since the original 2003 edition of the book. From SWAMP THING, V FOR VENDETTA, WATCHMEN, and LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN and beyond – all are discussed by Alan. Plus, there’s RARE STRIPS, SCRIPTS, ARTWORK, and PHOTOGRAPHS, tribute comic strips by NEIL GAIMAN and other of Moore’s closest collaborators, a COLOR SECTION featuring the RARE MOORE STORY “The Riddle of the Recalcitrant Refuse” (newly remastered, and starring MR. MONSTER), and more! Edited by GEORGE KHOURY, with a cover by DAVE McKEAN!

Explore the Silver and Bronze Ages of Batman comic books in THE BATCAVE COMPANION! Two distinct sections of this book examine the Dark Knight’s progression from his campy “New Look” of the mid-1960s to his “creature of the night” reinvention of the 1970s. Features include issue-by-issue indexes, interviews with CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA, DENNIS O’NEIL, and NEAL ADAMS, and guest essays by MIKE W. BARR and WILL MURRAY. Contributors include SHELDON MOLDOFF, LEN WEIN, STEVE ENGLEHART, and TERRY AUSTIN, with a special tribute to the late MARSHALL ROGERS. With its incisive introduction by DENNIS O’NEIL and its iconic cover painting by NEAL ADAMS, THE BATCAVE COMPANION is a must-have for every comics fan! By MICHAEL EURY and MICHAEL KRONENBERG.

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Original Comic Book Art & The Collectors Examines the hobby of collecting original comic book art, letting you meet collectors from around the globe as they detail collections ranging from a few key pages, to hundreds of pages of original comic art

by JACK KIRBY, JOHN ROMITA SR., and others! Features interviews with industry pros, including writers GERRY CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, and ROY THOMAS, and exclusive perspectives from Silver Age artists DICK GIORDANO, BOB McLEOD, ERNIE CHAN, TONY DeZUNIGA, and the unparalleled great, GENE COLAN! Completing the book is a diverse sampling of breathtakingly beautiful original comic art, some lavishly presented in full-page spreads, including pages not seen publicly for decades. Written by STEVEN ALAN PAYNE. (128-page trade paperback) $15.95 US ISBN: 9781605490151 Diamond Order Code: JAN094470 Now shipping!

VOLUME 20: KYLE BAKER

(120-page trade paperback with COLOR) $14.95 US • ISBN: 9781605490083 Now shipping!

VOLUME 21: CHRIS SPROUSE

(128-page trade paperback) $14.95 US • ISBN: 97801605490137 Ships May 2009 Each features an extensive, career-spanning interview lavishly illustrated with rare art from the artist’s files, plus huge sketchbook section, including unseen and unused art!

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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics.

TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com