Back Issue #16

% Y ROM MICRONAUTS SUPER POWERS CAPT. ACTION! T% O WEIRD HEROES! Art by HAMA, S. BUSCEMA, GUICE, GOLDEN, KIRBY, TRIMPE, & MILTON KNIGHT! STORIES!

THE ULTIMATE COMICS EX PERIENCE!

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G. I. JOE AND TRANSFORMERS TM & © HASBRO. GUMBY TM & © PREMAVISION, INC. AND PREMA TOY CO. SKELETOR TM & © MATTEL. WONDER WOMAN TM & © DC COMICS.

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MIKE ZECK

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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

You’re never too old to read about toys! It’s our The Ultimate Comics Experience!

TOY STORIES ISSUE!

Volume 1, Number 16 June 2006 Celebrating the Best Com ics of the '70s, '80s, and Today!

EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington COVER ARTIST Mike Zeck COVER COLORIST Tom Ziuko COVER DESIGNER Robert Clark

INTERVIEW: Arthur Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 A bouncy dialogue about Adams’ oddball 1980s’ Gumby comics FLASHBACK: Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 The Robots in Disguise as Marvel Comics superstars BEYOND CAPES: The Swivel-Arm Battle-Grip Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 How G.I. Joe recruited a new generation of comic-book readers FLASHBACK: Kirby’s Last Stand: Super Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Jack Kirby’s Kenner-style Justice League BEYOND CAPES: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Paul Levitz, Paul Kupperberg, and George Tuska revisit He-Man’s DC days BACK IN PRINT: He-Man on DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

SPECIAL THANKS Extras include exclusive art cards—with peeks at Alex Ross and Adam Hughes art Arthur Adams Milton Knight Christian Voltar Alcala Paul Kupperberg ROUGH STUFF: Mike Zeck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Ruben Azcona Phong Le The artist hosts a gallery of his pencil art, including Spider-Man, G.I. Joe, and Punisher Mike Blanchard Paul Levitz Jerry Boyd Andy Mangels WHAT THE--?!: Looking to Buy a Used Car? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Mike Burkey Michael Mantlo Remember the Spider-Mobile and Supermobile? We do!

Sal Buscema Bob McLeod Dewey Cassell Joshua Mossing OFF MY CHEST: Milton Knight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Joyce Chin Stuart Neft The Hugo cartoonist wonders why some folks can’t laugh at humor comics John Cogan Eric NolenGerry Conway Weathington PRO2PRO INTERVIEW: Sal Buscema and Jackson “Butch” Guice . . . . . . . . . .64 Charles Costas Denny O’Neil Eric Delos Santos Kristen Palmer The Rom and Micronauts artists discuss working in Marvel’s toy box Kim DeMulder Michael Romanenko Mark Evanier Steve Rude GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Wonder Woman and the Star Riders . . . .74 Tim Finn Rose Rummel-Eury A behind-the-scenes look at the toy line that fizzled, with rare art by José Luis Simon Furman James Schafer García-López, Mike Vosburg, and Boyd Kirkland José Luis García-López Rick Shurgin Mike Gartland Louise Simonson FLASHBACK: Captain Action: The 9-Lives-in-One Super-Hero . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Court Gebeau Ben Smith Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the original super-hero action figure Grand Comic-Book Val Staples Database Tom Stewart BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 Jackson Guice Rick Taylor Reader feedback on issue #14 Larry Hama Greg Theakston Allan Harvey Roy Thomas Sam Hatmaker Herb Trimpe BACK ISSUE™ is published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Heritage Comics George Tuska Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 5060A Foothills Dr., Lake Christopher Irving Mike Vosburg Oswego, OR 97034. E-mail: euryman@msn.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $36 Standard US, $54 First Class US, $66 Canada, Tony Isabella Len Wein $72 Surface International, $96 Airmail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the The Jack Kirby Collector Andrew Wildman editorial office. Cover art by Michael Zeck. G.I. Joe and Transformers TM & © Hasbro. Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. Dan Johnson Mitch Wilson and Prema Toy Co. Skeletor TM & © Mattel. Wonder Woman TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are Boyd Kirkland Mike Zeck © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2006 Michael Eury Charles Kiyasu and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

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Run, Clayboy, Run! Collector Charles Kiyasu says of this 1996 Art Adams

conducted on February 1, 2006

“After receiving the sketch, I noticed that he forgot to put in the teeth detail. I asked him about it and he told me that the T-Rex is geriatric dinosaur.”

Art © 2006 Arthur Adams. Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

interview

by Michael Eury

commissioned illo, which he contributed for publication:

Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

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Comico (Ko-mee-ko) the Comic Company, under the

allied the clayboy and his pony pal with space bears, a

creative orchestration of Diana Schutz and Bob

werewolf babysitter, pirates, and the monsters of

Schreck, made fan favorites of such series as Mage,

Halloweentown to thwart an alien invasion, while Winter

Grendel, Elementals, Jonny Quest, and The Maze Agency

Fun took them underground, to the fiery pits of “Heck,” to

during the mid- to late 1980s [see BACK ISSUE #2 for a

rescue the captive “Ray Crabbe”—aka Santa Claus—from

detailed look at Comico’s history].

the clutches of the Prince of Darkness.

Among the company’s most unusual publications were

As the editor of Winter Fun, I had the good fortune of

Gumby’s Summer Fun Special (July 1987), written by

working with the amazing artist of both Comico Gumbys: Arthur

Flaming Carrot creator Bob Burden, and Gumby’s Winter

Adams. Nearly 20 years later, Arthur has heeded his former

Fun Special (Dec. 1988), written by Sam & Max:

editor’s call and dusted off his memories to discuss the pair of

Freelance Police creator Steve Purcell. Summer Fun

one-shots that truly were . . . fun and special. —Michael Eury

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MICHAEL EURY: May I have your permission to tape record our conversation?

ARTHUR ADAMS: Live it up, man!

EURY: Of course, you realize that there’s probably someone else listening in on our conversation . . . hello, Mr. President!

ADAMS: Oh, come on, like he cares what we’re saying. It’s that Cheney guy, he’s the evil one.

EURY: A lot of people have said that.

ADAMS: I really don’t think these guys are evil—they’re just misguided.

EURY: [laughs] Do you think that Gumby and Pokey could be terrorists?

ADAMS: Not on purpose, but they might accidentally do something where high jinks might ensue.

EURY: Like what?

ADAMS: They might accidentally get some plastique mixed in with their bodies, you never know.

EURY: That would be pretty cool: Gumby, living bomb.

ADAMS: Exactly. He doesn’t know it, but we, the audience, know it.

EURY: There’s your third chapter in the Gumby trilogy.

ADAMS: Oh, my God, at any moment, Gumby could go off! [laughs] EURY: I understand you had a traumatic childhood experience of being physically abused by a Pokey . . . is this true?

ADAMS: [laughs] It’s only marginally true. We don’t quite need to put it into the category of abuse. [laughs] But I did have a neighbor, a slightly older boy . . . let’s see, I would’ve been three or four, and he was probably four or five, so he was a big kid. I was outside playing with my Gumby and Pokey, and he got a hold of my Pokey and ran away and wouldn’t give it back, and I was chasing and chasing, but I was too small and I was crying, and I was calling, “Rusty, Rusty, bring back my Pokey!”

Finally, he was fed up with my whining, and he threw Pokey at me, right at my head! It bounced off my head and went into this big bush, and I couldn’t reach Pokey. It was gone forever.

EURY: Were you bruised by the impact of Pokey to the head?

ADAMS: Oh, no, it was a rubber toy. I think it was mostly my soul that was bruised.

EURY: And the kid’s name was Rusty.

ADAMS: Rusty, that bastard! [laughs] EURY: Is there anyone named Rusty who’s nice?

ADAMS: How could they possibly be? Although I think there’re some nice strippers named Rusty.

EURY: [laughs] I’d love to volley with a snappy comeback, but it’s impossible after that one! So let’s move on . . .

Let’s go back to 1986. How did Arthur Adams, artist of Longshot, become the artist of Comico’s Gumby’s Summer Fun Special?

ADAMS: I’ll bet you’ve heard this story before, and probably others have, as well . . . but why not? It’s such a timeless story.

EURY: [laughs] Pull up the kids around the campfire—here we go!

Beginnings:

Farrah Foxette pinup in Captain Carr ot and His Amazing Zoo Crew (1983)

Milestones:

Longshot / Action Comics Annual and covers / Gumby’s Summer and Winter Fun Specials / Uncanny X-Men Annuals / Fantastic Four / Godzilla / Creature from the Black Lago on / Monkeyman & O’Brien / The Authority / “Jonni Future” in Tom Strong’s Terri fic Tales

Work in Progress:

Modern Masters vol. 6

ARTHUR ADAMS

The title splash to Comico’s Gumby’s Winter Fun, courtesy of Eric Delos Santos.

Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

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Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc.

ADAMS: We-l-l-l-l, it was early on in my career, and I was working on issue #2 of Longshot. In the upper right-hand corners [of the original art pages], for whatever reason, probably because I thought it was funny, I started drawing Gumby dressed as different super-heroes.

There was a Superman Gumby, and a Batman Gumby, and a SpiderMan Gumby . . . the way they used to print those books, a lot of those probably got cut right off the page.

So after doing these little drawings of Gumby—just for fun, not for any special love for Gumby—I would show these pages around to various friends, and one of those was Diana Schutz, who at the time worked at a comic-book store called Comics & Comix in Berkeley. The late, lamented Comics & Comix. At some point she moved back east and got a job at Comico.

One of the first things she did was call me up and say, “Hey, we can get the rights to do Gumby!

Why not do some Gumby comics?”

And I said, “Why do some Gumby comics?”

EURY: [laughs] How did Diana respond to that?

ADAMS: Well, she was pestering me to draw Gumby, and I said, “I don’t want to draw Gumby. It was fun doing those cute little things, but I really don’t need to spend months doing a comic about Gumby! That’s silly.”

and Prema Toy Co.

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So me, thinking I was so smart, I said to myself, “I’ll try to get Diana to get a writer who I know doesn’t have time to write this thing, because he’s working on his own project,” and he’d told me before he was busy, busy, busy, working all the time on this. So I said, “If you can get Bob Burden, the creator of Flaming Carrot, to write a Gumby comic, I’ll be happy to draw it,” rubbing my hands together and going, [diabolical laughter].

She called back about ten minutes later and said, “Oh, yeah, Bob would love to write it.”

EURY: [laughs] You were stuck!

ADAMS: I was stuck. [laughs] Of course, I was thinking, “If you can get Bob to write it, why don’t you get Bob to draw it, too? That’d be great. I’d buy that!”

EURY: Oh, so you actually tried to pass off the art on Bob? ADAMS: Well, not really, but a lot of [Summer Fun] was influenced by his drawing style. Come to think of it, he actually designed a lot of the characters in it.

EURY: Burden obviously designed the eye-popping aliens, the Hysterians.

ADAMS: I think them, and the robot kids were designed by him—and possibly their parents, I don’t quite remember.

EURY: So the robot family was created specifically for this comic.

ADAMS: I don’t think they ever appeared anywhere else.

EURY: I have to admit, I’m not exactly well versed in Gumby lore . . .

ADAMS: Oh, there’s so much of it—who could be? [laughter] EURY: Thank you for rallying to my defense.

ADAMS: No one could know the whole Gumby tome.

EURY: On Summer Fun, did you do full pencils first, then ink it, or did you do breakdowns or some halfway method? I remember the second Special that you did what looked to me to be full pencils, I’m guessing to make licensor approval corrections easier, if needed.

ADAMS: Well, when I’m inking myself, for some people they might call it full pencils, but for me they’re loose pencils. It’s just that I’m fussy with my own stuff, and I pretty much need to know what it’s gonna look like when I put inks to paper.

EURY: Did the Art Clokey camp insist upon many changes in Summer Fun? I don’t recall their doing so for Winter Fun. ADAMS: I don’t remember their asking for changes. I think they were just mildly amused, if they were even aware, that these Gumby comics were even being done.

EURY: The weird thing is, when you look back at this stuff, in the first one Pokey’s getting drunk with pirates, and in the second one, Gumby and Pokey are going to “Heck” and cavorting with demons. [laughs] Not your average Gumby and Pokey terrain.

ADAMS: You know, at about the time those original Gumbys were being done [for television], those guys were famous for being under the influence of various chemicals. I don’t know about Mr. Clokey himself, but it’s my understanding that some of the guys who worked on those [episodes] might have enjoyed a little bit of an illegal substance.

EURY: Oh, really? On Gumby? Are you sure it wasn’t some hallucinogenic reaction to all of that clay?

ADAMS: [laughs] Yeah, Plasticene, maybe it seeped through their skin through the pores in their hands . . . yeah, who knows? Now they’re malleable, with super-powers and stuff.

EURY: Wow. So that’s the secret . . . I always wanted those powers—I thought they were really cool.

ADAMS: But you can’t go outside on a warm day.

EURY: But can you go near a radiator?

ADAMS: No, no, you gotta keep cool. [laughter] EURY: On Summer Fun, did Burden write full script, do layouts, a plot, or what?

ADAMS: Oh, that’s right, you weren’t at Comico at that point.

EURY: No, I wasn’t.

ADAMS: Well, he . . . [labored laugh] oh, God, this was rough . . . he sent me audio cassettes.

EURY: Audio cassettes? [chuckles] ADAMS: Yeah. First Diana calls up and says, “Well, I have the script, but I’m not sure I should send it to you. I think I will, but don’t worry, I’ll make copies for myself, and I’ll fix it.” So I got a couple of audio cassettes, and [Bob] started going, [imitating Bob Burden] “Hullo, Art, I hope this will work out, ’cause it’s a little late and I’m a little drunk, but I’ll give it a go. Page one.” [laughter] So I called Diana and went, “What the hell is this thing?” And she said, “That’s what I thought you’d say, but don’t worry, we’re transcribing it.”

EURY: Oh, wow. Nobody ever told me that story.

That is so weird.

ADAMS: Yeah. [laughs] EURY: I remember, Diana wasn’t too happy with Steve Purcell’s script to the second Special.

ADAMS: Oh, really?

EURY: Nothing to do with the content, mind you, but its presentation. Didn’t Steve print it? I seem to remember it being hand-written.

Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

ADAMS: That’s not impossible. He might have done that. For my own self, when I write scripts, they’re hand-written, too, so I can’t complain about that.

When I first started working on the Godzilla comic for Dark Horse, I spent one whole day trying to type the first page of the script, and it was just impossible.

EURY: So this is why I don’t get a lot of e-mails from you . . . you’re not exactly the fastest typist in town.

ADAMS: Not really, no. I can do it, so long as my e-mail is something like, “Hey, thanks for the stuff.” [laughs] Or maybe giving response on eBay, that’s about the extent of my letter-writing capability.

EURY: So who came up with the tothe-rescue space bears in the first Gumby? What that yours?

ADAMS: No, that was all Burden’s. That’s one of the things on that job that I’m not that happy with. One of the things that Bob had in the script that I just couldn’t quite get to my satisfaction was that the bears were supposed to have really tiny heads, and I just couldn’t draw them that way.

EURY: I don’t know . . . their heads were pretty small. [laughs] ADAMS: They needed to be smaller.

EURY: Do you like bears? Have you drawn bears very often? Has anyone ever asked you a question about bears before?

ADAMS: No. [laughs] I don’t care about bears.

They’re nice, big, cool animals, but they don’t have a lot of expressions.

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A 1991 Bat-Gumby commission, contributed

by John Cogan.

Art © 2006 Arthur Adams. Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co. Batman © 2006 DC Comics.

Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

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EURY: Did you know that Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report cites bears as the number-two greatest threat to Americans?

ADAMS: [laughs] Now I’m worried.

EURY: How much time lapsed between your drawing the two Gumbys?

ADAMS: Oh, at least a year, possibly two. It’s hard to keep track, I’ve been in comics for so long now. I think this year, I’ll have been in comics for 22, 23 years.

EURY: Well, Happy Anniversary!

ADAMS: Thank you.

EURY: Was Steve Purcell your choice as the Winter Fun writer?

ADAMS: Yes, he was. I was a big fan of Steve Purcell’s Sam & Max, and I thought it would be fun to work with him, and I was right!

EURY: I’m glad you had that intuition, because I really had a good time working with you guys on that book. That script was absolutely hilarious!

ADAMS: Steve’s a funny guy. He’s working at Pixar now.

EURY: That’s very cool. He was at Lucasfilm for quite a while.

Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and ADAMS: Yeah, he started doing video games there— Prema Toy Co. there was even a Sam & Max game.

EURY: How many episodes of the Sam & Max Saturday morning cartoon were produced?

ADAMS: I’m not sure. There must’ve been 13. I don’t know if they did a whole season worth. And they scheduled it at such odd times.

EURY: You and Steve go back a ways, right?

ADAMS: Yeah. Steve Purcell was an old friend of Mike Mignola’s, and when I first moved away from home I moved into the same apartment building that both Mignola and Purcell were living in. It seemed like a good idea at the time. [laughs] The three of us used to hang out all the time. Steve was working at the time on Sam & Max, and I liked it quite a lot, and thought it’d be fun to work together on Gumby.

EURY: Did you work with him on the plot to Winter Fun? ADAMS: I think it was like when I worked with Walt Simonson on Fantastic Four—Steve and I had a brief conversation about the things that we thought would be fun to have in a comic. I mentioned a couple of things that I thought would be fun . . . I don’t remember if I mentioned the mole people or he did. It was a Winter Fun Special, so we figured it had to involve Santa in some way. And it was Steve’s idea to do kind of a Sean Connery Santa.

EURY: You nailed the Connery likeness.

ADAMS: You’re much too kind.

EURY: Just speaking the truth. It was actually kind of scary— Santa’s dialogue sounded so much like Connery, it was like the guy was going to step off the page.

ADAMS: It wasn’t just Sean Connery, but Sean Connery from The Man Who Would Be King.

EURY: In Winter Fun, Gumby and Pokey burrow into the earth in the Amazing X-5 Nitro-Burning Dyna-Plunge® Crust Crawler Sedan.

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ADAMS: After I drew that, I wanted a toy of it.

And the world continues to disappoint me on that one. [laughter] EURY: You certainly can’t order one off the back of a comic.

ADAMS: Oh, no, no.

EURY: But that was the joke in Winter Fun, that Pokey had ordered it from an ad in a comic book.

When you were a kid, did you ever buy anything advertised in a comic?

ADAMS: No, I . . . well, I’m not really sure. I must have known somebody who did. I seem to remember a kid who ordered one of those 500-piece armies from the back of comic books in the ’70s. It came in the mail in a little, tiny box, about the same dimensions as an envelope but maybe an inch, an inch-and-a-half thick, and it was full of . . . well, 500 army men, but they were all about a half-inch tall. [laughs] EURY: [laughs] They were wafer-thin, weren’t they?

ADAMS: Absolutely. It was very disappointing.

EURY: Yeah, I only discovered this very recently, because the beautifully rendered illustrations lead you to believe that you’re getting a wildly colorful set— ADAMS: —and can reenact the entire World War II. EURY: —but they’re all thin, single-colored, vacupressed standees. I recently was at a convention, looking at old toys, and the dealer showed me a bag of these soldiers. It just shattered this great illusion from my childhood.

ADAMS: Exactly. It’s just one of the ways the world is set up to hurt kids. [laughter] EURY: Gumby’s Winter Fun also featured parodies of city-stomping giant Japanese monsters. You didn’t draw Godzilla for Dark Horse until 1992, so was Winter Fun your first time drawing “Godzilla” for print?

ADAMS: I’m not sure about that. I think [Winter Fun] was after the Web of Spider-Man Annual that I did [#2, 1986]. I had a character in the Web of Spider-Man Annual named Longshot that could turn into different stuff. He turned into Godzilla, and I think King Kong in that story. He didn’t turn into both at the same time. [laughs] EURY: Are there any other classic toys that you’d like to draw as comics, like Rock-’em Sock-’em Robots?

ADAMS: Oh, that’s a good idea. I’m getting off the phone right now to do that.

EURY: Any chance that Summer and Winter Fun will be reprinted?

ADAMS: You know, I’m not the guy to talk to about that. I believe there’s a fellow here in San Francisco who I’m supposed to see in two weeks at Wonder-

Con who I think has the rights to do new Gumby comics, but I don’t think he has the rights to reprint the others—but I think he’s working on it. And that would be great. I’d like to see somebody get the rights to reprint those, because we could probably sell four or five more. [Michael laughs] EURY: Would you like to do a third chapter, and make it a Gumby trilogy?

ADAMS: I’d like to do that at some point, if I had the time.

EURY: If you had the time, who would be your choice to be the writer?

ADAMS: Wow, that’s difficult . . .

EURY: You chose the writers for the first two, so why not the third?

ADAMS: I guess I could do a short one for Purcell and a short one for Burden, or I could find some new, hilarious talent . . . but right now I have no idea.

Don’t be fooled, consumers— communion wafers are thicker than these soldiers! © 1975 Lucky Products.

Life never slows down for Gumby and Pokey.

Commissioned sketch courtesy of Eric Delos Santos.

Art © 2006 Arthur Adams. Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

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MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE:

by

IN THE 1980S

Christopher Irving

Original art to the cover of Transformers #12, by Herb Trimpe.

Courtesy of Ruben Azcona (www.ComicBookArtGallery.com).

Transformers TM & © Hasbro

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In 1982 American toy company Hasbro forged an agreement with Japanese toy company Takara to license both their Diaclone and Micro Change toy lines. Diaclone was a series of robots that transformed into vehicles, complete with small driver figurines, while Micro Change was a spin-off of the Microman line (known as Micronauts in the U.S.), which transformed into objects like guns, Walkmans, and microscopes.

Hasbro merged both toy lines into their new Transformers concept, with a plan to introduce Japanese toy sensibilities to American children.

Hot off of the recent success of the revived G.I. Joe toy line, Hasbro decided to approach Marvel Comics about not only creating names and personalities to their new Transformers line, but also in producing an accompanying comic book and cartoon. The story has it that both Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and editor Denny O’Neil created a rough treatment of The Transformers, and that editor Bob Budiansky was given the assignment of fleshing it out further. “[Shooter] needed somebody who had a little time on their hands who could write something,” Budiansky told www.bwtf.com. “I was not the obvious candidate . . . so he came to me, and I came up with a bunch of names, characters, and a bunch of character biographies and they liked it; they were really happy with it with very few changes as I recall to that initial two dozen or so Transformers in that lineup.”

The Transformers #1 hit the stands on Sept.1984 with an impressive Bill Sienkiewicz cover featuring an abstract version of the heroic Optimus Prime.

The first appearance of Megatron from Transformers #1, page 2, in a scan made from a photocopy. Courtesy of Charles Costas.

Transformers TM & © Hasbro

Written by Bill Mantlo and Ralph Macchio, penciled by Frank Springer, inked by Kim DeMulder, and edited by Bob Budiansky, it was the first chapter in a bimonthly four-issue limited series.

The Transformers were the noble Autobots (who transformed into cars) led by Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons (who became everything from jets to a gun to a Walkman) were led by the evil Megatron—all “Robots in Disguise.” While on a mission aboard their spaceship the Ark, the Autobots are boarded by the Decepticons. With certain defeat at hand, Optimus Prime sends the Ark hurtling toward the third planet of the solar system they are flying through—Earth, where they crash in the side of a volcano.

Awakening in 1984 from a dormancy of over four million years, the Transformers are reactivated by the Ark’s computers, and programmed to adapt to what the ship mistakenly thinks the dominant life form on Earth: vehicles.

September 17, 1984 marked the premiere of the syndicated Transformers cartoon; the initial three episodes recapped the same essential story as the comic book.

Interestingly enough, the Transformers in the first issue of the comic book looked exactly like their toy counterparts, but then inexplicably took on the appearance of the cartoon versions with the second issue.

Charles Costas provided a closeup of this panel from page 13 of issue #1, featuring the first appearance of the Decepticons.

Notice the degree of cutting and pasting; most of this page was statted and redone, presumably due to last-minute editing.

Transformers TM & © Hasbro

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A double-page spread from issue #1, introducing the Autobots, with stats galore. Scanned from a photocopy and contributed by Charles Costas.

“When I started inking this, the marketing of Transformers in the U.S. hadn’t actually started or had just barely started,” inker Kim DeMulder reveals. “And the cartoon series had not started showing here yet. So originally we had no access to any reference other than the toys themselves.

Marvel actually gave me several of the toys as the only reference I had! Just after I had left the book, all the Transformer artists got those wonderful clear model sheets that the animators were using.”

Transformers #3 (Jan. 1984) featured Spider-Man in his symbiotic black costume . . . and in one of the more bizarre Marvel team-ups in recent history. The fourth and supposedly final issue of The Transformers had the Autobots victorious against the Decepticons, only to be blown away by long-lost Decepticon Shockwave on the final page.

Transformers TM & © Hasbro

Transformers TM & © Hasbro

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(left) Transformers #1, page 12, from the Costas collection: The top of this page was never published, and the art for the bottom 2/3 was reduced and used on page 16 of the published comic.

When the art was statted, the dialogue was completely redone. Compare this against published page 16 (right).

The cliffhanger ending led into an unannounced fifth issue, where The Transformers became a monthly ongoing series. Graced with a painted Mark Bright cover, Transformers #5 was Budiansky’s first issue as writer, a job he would keep for five more years.

As The Transformers progressed, humans’ fear and paranoia against the giant robots grew, and more Autobots and Decepticons were introduced. The art team was always changing, with Kyle Baker, Jose Delbo, Alan Kupperberg, and Herb Trimpe drawing issues. Don Perlin became the first regular artist on Transformers with #13 (Feb. 1986) and ending with Dec. 1987’s #35, with a few fill-in issues throughout.

The Transformers would crossover with G.I. Joe for a four-issue limited series, starting in Jan. 1987; another miniseries, The Transformers: Headmasters, came out six months later and featured a Cybertronian group of Transformers in a space opera.

Meanwhile, events such as the deaths of Optimus Prime in Transformers #24 (Jan. 1987) and Megatron in the following issue were timed with the August 8, 1986 theatrical release of Transformers: The Movie, where Prime is killed and where Megatron transforms into Galvatron. Under the new leadership of Dinobot leader Grimlock, the Autobots leave Earth in a newly repaired Ark, and the stories become more cosmic. Optimus Prime returned with The Transformers #42 (July 1988), just in time to lead up to “The Underbase Saga,” a four-part story arc T o y

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Transformers #3 guest-starred Spider-Man and brought the Transformers into the Marvel Universe, as seen in this closeup (right) from a tier of panels from page 11, plus page 23 in its entirety. Contributor Charles Costas (the “premiere” collector of G.I. Joe and Transformers art) notes that the originals contain stray pencil lines that reveal that Frank Springer originally penciled Spidey in his red-and-blue costume, which was altered to the black-and-white, alien symbiote costume by inker Kim DeMulder.

Transformers TM & © Hasbro Spider-Man © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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that results in Decepticon Starscream’s obtaining cosmic power. Starscream’s rampage results in the deaths of dozens of Autobots and Decepticons in an obvious thinning out of older characters.

Jose Delbo became the artist on the book from #36 (Jan. 1988) through 60 (Dec. 1989), with occasional fill-ins. Bob Budiansky remained as writer until Transformers #55 (Aug. 1989).

“I had wanted to get off [the title] for a year or so, but either my editor or the people at Hasbro, I forget, kept saying ‘Just write it a little longer,’” Budiansky revealed to www.bwtf.com. “I was beginning to burn out after I don’t know how many, a couple hundred of these guys I had gone through? So I was ready to move on.”

Succeeding Budiansky was Transformers U.K. editor and writer Simon Furman, who would eventually make a career out of writing the Robots in Disguise. “[The] transition couldn’t have been smoother,” Furman recalls. “I just reviewed what Bob Budiansky had done, decided what I wanted to do, and did it. Don [Daley, the U.S. Transformers editor] was really supportive and just trusted me to do whatever I felt was right for the book, pretty much from the outset . . . So, after a four-parter that was largely me finding my feet, getting used to working Marvel plotstyle, etc., I just went back to telling the kind of stories I’d already cut my teeth on over in [Transformers U.K.].”

While Furman was limited to the new characters that were coming out through Hasbro, he interlaced some old favorites like Ratchet, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Jazz, and Megatron. The Transformers #61 (mid-Dec. 1989) is the first indication of Furman’s

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desire to give the Transformers a mythology. Not only is the origin of the Transformers revealed when they discover the robot god, Primus, but the robot planet Unicron (the Orson Welles-voiced menace from Transformers: The Movie) is also introduced.

“I really wanted to give the whole saga this epic sweep to it,” Furman remembers. “The original animated movie inspired me immensely. I loved the sheer scale of it. I wanted to do my version of that, and as the storyline evolved I just saw a chance to tie it all together, into an origin story I could work with, that excited me.”

After a few issues drawn by British artist Geoff Senior and Jose Delbo, artist Andrew Wildman began his affair with The Transformers with #69 (Aug. 1990), a run that would last until the final issue, #80 (July 1991).

“When I started on the U.S. book it was fortunately at the beginning of a new story arc that took the book through to its conclusion,” Wildman recalls.

“I saw it as completely selfcontained and kinda lived in that world for a year. [I was] totally absorbed in what was going on.”

The Transformers would end with #80. Furman would return for a follow-up series, Transformers: Generation 2 in the early ’90s. After working on The Transformers for the nowdefunct publisher Dreamwave in the early 2000s, Furman is in the mid-2000s spearheading the reimagining of the franchise for IDW Comics. Steven Spielberg is also producing a live-action film slated for release July 7, 2007, giving hope that the Robots in Disguise won’t have to hibernate for another four million years before reemerging.

Introducing Shockwave, the newest Decepticon, in Transformers #4, page 22, from the Costas collection.

Transformers TM & © Hasbro

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(left) No, this isn’t a plug for our fellow TwoMorrows magazine, Mike Manley’s DRAW!—it’s Herb Trimpe’s original cover to Transformers #20, courtesy of Ruben Azcona.

Transformers TM & © Hasbro

(right) Herb Trimpe’s rock-’em sock-’em cover to Transformers #43, courtesy of Mike Burkey (www.romitaman.com).

Transformers TM & © Hasbro

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THE SWIVEL-ARM BATTLE-GRIP REVOLUTION TM

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G.I. Joe arguably recruited more children into the ranks of comic-book readership than any other comic of the latter 20th century. While Star Wars had ushered the comeback of the action figure (albeit in a smaller 3-inch format) and pioneered a multi-media approach to merchandising, G.I. Joe went one step further and created a model for nonfilm properties to survive in other mediums.

Hasbro decided to jump on the bandwagon in the early ’80s by bringing G.I. Joe back to toy shelves. In the post-Vietnam world of 1977, Star Wars revived the toy soldier in the guise of Luke Skywalker and company. G.I. Joe had started as a 12-inch doll in 1964 and was shrunk down to the 8-inch Action Joe line by 1978. Not only would he shrink further down to Star Wars size for this new incarnation, but would also be micro-managed into a team of soldiers.

Hasbro’s marketing plan for the new G.I. Joe was revolutionary, and set the standard for action figures.

The G.I. Joe comic book came about, unsurprisingly, as an excuse to have animated commercials. “[Hasbro] wanted an angle on being able to advertise it, which is how the Marvel connection came in,” writer Larry Hama reveals. “There were only a few seconds of animation you could have in a toy commercial, and you had to show the toy, so people wouldn’t get totally deluded. Somebody at Hasbro (who was actually sort of a genius) named Bob Pruprish realized that a comic book was protected under the

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Herb Trimpe’s cover pencils to Marvel’s G.I. Joe #1 (June 1982), courtesy of Bob McLeod, the cover’s inker.

G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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first amendment, and there couldn’t be restrictions based on how you advertised for a publication.”

Hasbro’s plan for G.I. Joe: By having Marvel produce a comic book based on the toy line, they could have fully animated commercials for the comic book, which would also advertise the toy. Not only would Marvel produce the comic book, but would also create the characters’ personalities.

“Their deal with Marvel was, ‘Can you do the comic, and we’ll produce and pay for animated commercials for a year?’” Hama says. “They had these ten figures and said, ‘We need to come up with what they are, and who they are, and have a comic.’

“They showed us the drawings, and that’s all they had! We looked at these and said, ‘We’ll come up with the characters and personalities,’ and I suggested we do dossiers, like in the military, and make them look authentic with specifications. They thought it was a cool idea. I ended up on the project because no one else wanted to do it. I was the last guy on the row of editors that they asked, *!&% ! +( and nobody wanted to Not a doll, but a 12-inch action figtouch it with a ten-foot ure—1964’s moveable fighting man, pole.”

G.I. Joe, from Hasbro.

While Hasbro had designed the initial wave of G.I. Joe figures, they apparently hadn’t given G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro. thought to an important narrative part of the G.I. Joe comic book, as Hama illustrates: “At the meeting, one of the things that we brought up was, ‘Who are the bad guys?’

“Hasbro said, ‘What do you mean, bad guys?’

“We said, ‘What are these guys gonna do, just march around and go on bivouac? They have to have somebody to fight.’ “‘We don’t have anybody for them to fight.’

“We said, ‘We’ll have somebody for them to fight in the comic, and you can run with it if you want.’

“I think it was Archie Goodwin who said, ‘We’ll have some sort of semi-fascistic, para-military organization, and we’ll call them COBRA or someCover © Marvel Characters, Inc. thing.’ We just threw it all together.”

G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

Interestingly enough, the G.I. Joe comic book was

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offered to two pencilers who turned it down: Marvel legends Joe Sinnott and artist Don Perlin. The third time is the charm, as Marvel found out, when staffer Herb Trimpe accepted the assignment to draw the new G.I. Joe comic book. In retrospect, Trimpe, a military and history buff, seems a natural choice.

“The first job I had ever done for Marvel was drawing Phantom Eagle [in Marvel Super-Heroes #16, Sept. 1968], with [writer] Gary Friedrich,” Trimpe recalls. “That concentrated on airplanes . . . one of my chief interests. I think the G.I. Joe thing came about the same way. I wouldn’t say that I had a reputation for being interested in military things, but I think it was a known fact at that point. Larry was an expert in the field, and really knew his stuff. Considering people that were working for Marvel at the time, and the resources that they had, I was probably the most likely candidate to draw G.I. Joe.”

GO, JOE!

G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero (hereupon G.I. Joe) #1 hit the stands with a June 1982 cover date, a printing on high-grade Baxter paper, two stories, and a whopping $1.50 price tag (when comics only cost 65 cents). The Joes’ first adventure, “Operation: Lady Doomsday,” was by Hama, Trimpe, and inker Bob McLeod. The issue opens with the abduction of scientist Dr. Adele Burkhart

by COBRA agent Baroness and her troopers. After an assessment by General Flagg, we’re introduced to Codename: G.I. Joe, a crack military team who operate in the subterranean base “the Pit,” located under the cover of the Fort Wadsworth motor pool.

Led by General Hawk, the team includes the Ranger Stalker, Emma Peel-ish Scarlett, the mute and black-clad commando Snake-Eyes, laser soldier Flash, communications officer Breaker, infantryman Grunt, bazooka soldier Zap, mortar soldier Short-Fuse, tank driver Steeler, machine-gunner Rock ’N’ Roll, and LASER soldier Grand Slam.

As fate would have it, since around 1979 Hama had actually been developing a concept for Marvel called Fury Force—one which would be transformed into the new G.I. Joe. Fury Force was, according to Hama, “an elite counter-terrorist unit, like Delta, and it was led by Nick Fury’s son . . . Fury Force [also] had an underground secret base under a motor pool. The basic concept was very similar.”

Eerily similar, actually: Early versions of Hawk, Stalker, and Scarlett are pretty dead-on to their future versions. The prototype for Snake-Eyes, dubbed Spook, wore a hooded cloak with a pair of eyes peering out from the shadows beneath. With less than a year’s difference between Hama’s development of

Fury Force and the start of G.I. Joe, one can see where Hama transferred one concept to the other.

Back in the first issue, the Joes infiltrate a Caribbean island inhabited by COBRA to save Dr. Burkhart. The COBRA forces are led by the blue-clad, hooded Cobra Commander, and his right-hand woman, the Baroness. At this point, the Commander and Baroness were the only two distinctive COBRA agents, leading an army of fanatic storm troopers.

The backup story, “Hot Potato,” by Hama, penciler Don Perlin, and inker Jack Abel, follows Rock ’N’ Roll, Scarlett, and Snake-Eyes on a mission in the Middle East against the jihad of generic Arabian villain Colonel Sharif. The story would later be adapted into a ViewMaster reel in another example of cross-marketing.

“Lady Doomsday” does an admirable job of introducing all of the team members, with the characters often referring to one another by code name, lettered in bold, sparing the headache of excessive captions. Hama also balanced the “screen time” for each of the characters judiciously, as they split in smaller groups to take a portion of the island.

Given that the comic was essentially a toy commercial printed in four colors, “Lady Doomsday” is a solid story that combines military fare with classic Marvel style super-spy technology.

Hama would be presented by Hasbro with only the

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Larry Hama’s G.I. Joe prototype team. The scan of this ultra-rare image is courtesy of teacher and writer Tim Finn, who is penning a comprehensive book on the 1980s/1990s’ Joe. An additional thank you goes to Ben Smith at GothamCityArt.com, the official source for Larry Hama’s original artwork and archives.

Art © 2006 Larry Hama. G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

image and specialty of each character. It was then up to him to give them a code name, and to also supply background material in the form of a small “military dossier” file card that came with each action figure.

Basically, Hama had devised everything from a character’s birthplace to military specialties. Early dossiers even had psychological evaluations.

“At first, [Hasbro] didn’t think that writing the dossiers was anything special,” Hama observes. “In fact, in the second year, they decided to can me on them and get somebody in-house to write them. In two weeks, they called me back. It wasn’t as easy as they thought. You had to boil stuff down into two paragraphs, and it was hard to get it succinct and still have

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EARLY JOE COMICS

Publisher Ziff-Davis’ Korea-based G.I. Joe enjoyed a lengthy run during the 1950s; some issues, like the one depicted (#13), featured painted covers by the legendary Norman Saunders. Stanhall’s G.I. Jane #1 (May 1953) launched an 11-issue series looking at the lighter side of military life. On the (boot) heels of Hasbro’s 1964 deployment of G.I. Joe, DC drafted the fighting man’s name for a two-issue Showcase stint featuring war reprints and new framing sequences; pictured here is Showcase #53 (Nov.–Dec. 1964), with a Joe Kubert cover.

And DC stalwart Kurt Schaffenberger illustrated 1967’s G.I. Joe, America’s Moveable Fighting Man, a mini-comic/catalog inserted into Hasbro Joe figures.

© 1951 Ziff-Davis.

it be a real definitive character. It has to be in the right voice, and the military stuff has to be right.”

Hama also wanted to make the file cards more than just an extra piece of cardboard: “It has to read on two levels: A ten-year-old kid has to be able to read it and think it’s absolutely straight, and an adult reads it and should chuckle.

There should be a joke in there for the adult. One of the factors that helped sell G.I. Joe [figures] was that the salesmen who sold it to retailers used the dossiers as a selling point. They could read the dossiers to an adult buyer in a polyester suit, and they’d get a rise and understand what it was all about.”

Not all of the characters in G.I. Joe #1 were based on figures, however, particularly Cobra Commander’s right-hand aide.

“I created the Baroness out of the whole cloth,” Hama says of the Patty Hearst-ish villainess. “She was a comic-book character before she was a toy. There were always objections to female characters, because they never sold, but I figured, ‘Hey, black leather, there’s got to be some appeal.’”

In the meantime, the animated TV commercial’s promotional value was redeemed as G.I. Joe #1 became a sales success, along with the sparse new action figure line (the initial run only consisted of five figures).

MARCHING ONWARD

© 1953 Stanhall.

© 1967 Hasbro.

© 1964 DC Comics.

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With his main cast in place, Hama wasted no time in introducing new story elements with G.I. Joe #2 (July 1982).

“Panic at the North Pole,” drawn by Don Perlin and inked

by Jack Abel, introduced Eskimo mercenary Kwinn. “North Pole” also fleshes out the mute Snake-Eyes, establishing the facial deformity that causes him to wear a full face-mask, and creates a bond between him and the honorable Kwinn.

G.I. Joe #2 quickly rose over #1 in value. The reason behind the so-called “G.I. Joe Syndrome” of sales was that Marvel’s demand for #2 far exceeded the supply. In short, there were more people wanting to buy G.I. Joe when #2 was released than there had been with #1.

Hama and Trimpe showcase the invasion of the Pit by a COBRA robot in #3 (Aug. 1982), the Joes’ undercover infiltration of a militia in possession of an atomic bomb in #4, and COBRA’s attempts to steal the super high-tech M.O.B.A.T. tank in #5 (as an unwritten rule, almost all Joe and COBRA vehicles were acronyms of some sort). G.I. Joe #6 betrays its Cold War roots with the introduction of the Joes’ Russian counterpart, the Oktober Guard. By the time the cliffhanger ending resumes with G.I. Joe #7, Denny O’Neil had become the new editor of the book.

“It was a job where I knew I would be working with a good writer, and [with] good artists,” O’Neil recounts. “An editor’s job becomes very easy if you have good people

working with you. It’s nightmarish if you don’t.

I knew, in this case, that I would be working with real professionals. Aside from that, it was an assignment, and I was a professional editor working for Marvel Comics.”

While the Cold War and other political realities were reflected in G.I. Joe (which, ironically, came of during the Reagan Administration’s massive spending on military projects like “Star Wars”), the entirely Herb Trimpe-produced #8 (Feb. 1983) showed just how crazy and Nazi-esque COBRA really could be. The Joes, after offering to evacuate a group of COBRA troopers from a COBRA base left to self-destruct by Cobra Commander, are faced with a legion of fanatics giving “Heil Hitler”-esque salutes and refusing to leave.

“We serve Cobra Commander to the END! We have failed and will stay to meet our fate!” a head trooper declares. A chant of “Long Live COBRA!” resounds right before the base detonates.

While the cartoon COBRA would be the type of terrorist group just focused on weather-control rays and stealing world landmarks, the comic-book counterpart would be far scarier . . . and more fanatic. Trimpe definitely went out with a bang on G.I. Joe #8, as it would be his final issue . . . but a book he would revisit later.

“When I started doing G.I. Joe, I had a looseleaf notebook of characters that was about three inches thick,” Trimpe says. “I had a closet filled with toys, since they sent me almost every single toy, including all the figures to use a reference. At any given issue, you never knew who was going to be featured in it. It could be a whole different set of characters.

The reason I left the book was that it was too hard, and a pain in the ass to do. Even with Shogun Warriors, which were highly detailed robots that were very difficult to draw, at least it was a set bunch and, after a while, it started to seep in. You didn’t need to thumb through volumes of reference, since it was easier to commit to memory. Not so with the G.I. Joe characters: there were hundreds of them.

“Every book would feature a new bunch, and out would come the reference again. Every book was almost like doing it for the first time. I think that, from the viewpoint of not just somebody who draws comics but is also a commercial artist (I was doing other freelance at the time), anything that would impede your progress or block the artist from getting into the rhythm of the job made it difficult. It was very hard to get into a routine. The fact is that you’re dealing with deadlines, and people who want a certain level of quality in a certain amount of time, and that made it very difficult with the amount of material we had to

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G.I. Joe #1, page 6, introducing the Joe team. Note the last-minute corrections on this page: Snake-Eyes was whited out and redrawn, the name “Ranger” was whited out and replaced with “Stalker,” a full beard was added to Rock ’N’ Roll, and a scruffy beard was added to Clutch. Full-page scan made from a photocopy and contributed by Charles Costas.

G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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deal with. It was hard, from my point of view, to produce the book on a monthly basis.”

G.I. Joe #10’s “A Nice Little Town Like Ours,” drawn by new penciler Mike Vosburg, introduces a few vital elements that would recur throughout the series’ long run. Scarlett, Zap, and Snake-Eyes are abducted by the Baroness to the generic town of Springfield. While Snake-Eyes is strapped to new baddie Dr. Venom’s mind-reading Brain-Wave Scanner, Scarlett and Zap meet a young boy named Billy, who reveals that Springfield is really a town infested with nothing but COBRA agents.

COBRA had taken over Springfield through a supposedly innocent pyramid scheme to sell soaps and other household cleaning products. The weekly pyramid meetings soon escalated into a cult of COBRA agents. COBRA, in essence, used ’80s

Cover © Marvel Characters, Inc. G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

yuppie tactics to seduce people into their fold.

Meanwhile, hints of an earlier helicopter accident in Snake-Eyes’ life flashes upon Dr. Venom’s machine.

ENTER: DESTRO

G.I. Joe #11 introduces the next batch of new Joes: helicopter pilot Wild Bill, the Cajun Marine Gung-Ho, snow trooper Snow Job, and pacifist medic Doc. Also introduced is COBRA’s weapons supplier and “surrogate field commander,” the mysterious Destro. Clad in a silver face-mask, and armed with a disco-centric black jumpsuit and wrist rocket launchers, Destro would become one of the most memorable characters in the G.I. Joe mythos.

With a solid character base established within the first year, Hama began the first true story arc in G.I. Joe, from issues #12–19 (May–July 1984). Reintroducing Kwinn and reuniting him with Snake-Eyes, Hama also introduces the mercenary Major Sebastian Bludd.

The eight issues flesh out character relationships even further, when Cobra Commander hires Bludd to kill Destro, and Baroness and Destro’s prior relationship is established. During a mission to infect U.S. currency with a deadly toxin, Cobra Commander gives Bludd the kill order on Destro, which Baroness foils by crashing the H.I.S.S. tank both she and Bludd are in.

Bludd and a horribly burned Baroness are taken to the Pit as prisoners, something COBRA exploits to track the location of the Joes’ base. Kwinn and Snake-Eyes, meanwhile, are captured by COBRA. Through the Pit attack, not only does Major Bludd kill General Flagg while escaping, but most of the Pit is destroyed, and Kwinn is shot in the back by Dr. Venom, who is subsequently killed by a live grenade in the dead man’s hand.

An awful lot of action packed into a mere eight issues? Definitely, but action seemed to be the primary mission of the G.I. Joe comic. Hama kept the momentum while still building character relationships, even during the constant infusion of new characters

by Hasbro, and arranging for animated commercials

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This previously unpublished Mike Vosburg Scarlett sketch, contributed by Charles Costas, shows the penciler’s underappreciated talents as a good-girl artist.

Vosburg occasionally sketched on the backs of originalart pages; this Scarlett illo was drawn on the flip side of the last page of G.I. Joe #12.

Art © 2006 Mike Vosburg. Scarlett © 2006 Hasbro.

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for the comics.

“In some ways, it was one of the more interesting projects I had, because of the involvement with Hasbro,” O’Neil says. “They paid for three TV commercials about the comic books. They had this idea that the toy, comic book, and TV show would feed off of each other, which pretty much proved to be the case. There were some technical things like having to figure out storylines way, way, way ahead, for them to figure out the commercial and schedule the animation.

“The involvement with Hasbro made it interesting, because we’d never done anything like that before.

“Their attitude was, ‘You guys know how to make comic books, we know how to make toys. You don’t tell us how to make toys, we won’t tell you how to make comic books.’ We would get a letter, message, or note from them every month that almost always said, ‘Another great issue, guys, and a great job.’ We’d meet with them once a year, mostly so that they could tell us what additions to the line they were making, so that we could incorporate those into our stories. We accommodated them in that respect, but they absolutely did no editorializing.”

lettered. I wrote and drew it in about a week, and Steve Leialoha did the finishes in about a week. We got it, from start to finish, out the door in two weeks. It’s not the fastest I’ve ever done a comic.”

Ironically, the “silent issue” concept was so successful that G.I. Joe would periodically feature a silent story . . . and always exclusively with ninja action.

G.I. Joe #22 introduces many of the Joe characters released as figures in 1984: Tripwire, Cover Girl, Airborne, Roadblock, and, most importantly . . . First Sergeant Duke. While Hawk was the Joe’s leader in the comics, he had been absent in the cartoon series, with Duke leading the Joes in his stead.

Duke’s introduction gave the G.I. Joe team a field leader, and the comics readers a face familiar from the cartoon. Also introduced are the mysterious saboteur Firefly and pilot Wild Weasel.

Cover © Marvel Characters, Inc. G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

SOUNDS OF SILENCE

“Silent Interlude” in G.I. Joe #21 (Mar. 1983)— dubbed the “silent issue”—is a story utilizing nothing more than visual storytelling and sound effects.

“Silent Interlude” pits Snake-Eyes and Scarlett against Destro in the weapons supplier’s impregnable fortress. Drawn by Larry Hama and Steve Leialoha, the issue also introduces the COBRA ninja Storm Shadow, yet another major player to-be. The revolutionary concept of a silent comic book actually came about when Hama and O’Neil came up against every writer’s worst nightmare: “It was [silent] because of deadline problems,” Hama admits years later. “I think I did the entire issue in a week, and it saved another week from getting it

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Contributor Charles Costas remarks of this 1985 Scarlett Sketch by Larry Hama: “Larry did this for me at a Washington, DC-area convention back when I was a kid. I knew he was the writer of G.I. Joe at the time, but I didn’t know he could draw as well. I’ve cherished this sketch for over 20 years—it was the very first comic sketch I ever received!”

Art © 2006 Larry Hama. Scarlett © 2006 Hasbro.

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(*-&(" Up close and personal with Destro and the Baroness, from page 17 of G.I. Joe #15. Mike Vosburg pencil art courtesy of Tim Finn. Joe expert Charles Costas adds that Vosburg, an “anti-war guy,” had penciled the entire issue #24 when he was informed that he was off the book. Russ Heath’s substitute story appeared in issue #24, while Vosburg’s tale went unpublished—and his artwork was never returned.

G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

G.I. Joe #23–25 (May–July 1984) have a small team of new Joe recruits capture Cobra Commander (and they even got to do it in an issue beautifully delineated by legendary Russ Heath), only to have Storm Shadow rescue the enemy leader and take his place as hostage.

Baroness even returns, dressed in a sexy black leather bodysuit after her plastic surgery.

Australian master of disguise and mercenary Zartan appears with his diminutively-minded motorcycle gang the Dreadnoks.

The file card for the Zartan figure would cause a controversy upon its release. Due to Zartan’s excessive adoption of differing personalities/ disguises, he apparently developed paranoid schizophrenia. The card was soon changed to exclude any mention of mental instability.

Cover © Marvel Characters, Inc. G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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“A friend of mine, who was a shrink, said, ‘You should have known that would happen. Of course paranoids are going to get bothered—they’re paranoids!’” Hama laughs.

G.I. Joe #26 (Aug. 1984) begins a classic storyline that not only cements Snake-Eyes as a major player, but adds to the already growing appeal of the mystery man. “Snake-Eyes: The Origin” reunites Hama and Leialoha on the art chores, and stands out in the series 100-plus-issue run.

The second part, #27, would start Frank Springer’s run as penciler.

Stalker reveals that he and Snake-Eyes had served in Vietnam together, along with a soldier named Tommy. Snake-Eyes was caught in a crossfire while the trio were loading onto a chopper, and Tommy rushed out, braving enemy fire to bring Snake-Eyes to safety. In the process, a distinctive red-barred tattoo on Tommy’s forearm was revealed—the same tattoo seen on the presentday Snake-Eyes’ forearm. Tommy’s last name, as Stalker would find out, translates directly into “Storm Shadow.”

After his parents and twin sister are killed by a drunk driver on the way to pick him up at the airport, Snake-Eyes joined Tommy’s family business: a ninja clan. Led by the jovial Soft Master, stone-faced Hard Master, and Tommy (the Young Master), they trained Snake-Eyes for two years, with the two friends becoming equals in the ninja arts. One fateful day, The Hard Master was

murdered with one of Tommy’s arrows . . . killed when the Hard Master imitated Snake-Eyes’ distinct breathing pattern.

The arrow meant for Snake-Eyes was deployed by a ninja trick that only Storm Shadow could perform: “The Ear That Sees.” Tommy disappeared, and the clan disbanded.

During one of the first missions of the Joe team some time later, SnakeEyes was caught in a horrible helicopter crash while saving Scarlett. The blast that struck Snake-Eyes’ face left him disfigured and mute. In the present day, Storm Shadow reveals that he’d seen a COBRA assailant kill the Hard Master years before and had joined the organization to find his uncle’s killer.

By the title’s third year, Larry Hama had woven G.I. Joe into a Dickensian tapestry rife with character relationships and ironies. The threads would continue to weave as Hama introduced even more characters. With the opening of a renovated Pit, Hawk and the original Joes are promoted to becoming the administrative wing of the Joe team (with Snake-Eyes the sole exception). This provided Hama with an explanation for having new recruits like Flint, Spirit, Rip-Cord, and Lady Jaye gain such active roles.

On the COBRA front, the elite Crimson Guardsmen (or “Siegies”) are introduced. Cobra Commander’s undercover agents undergo plastic surgery to look identical, and are named Fred with successive Roman numerals after their names. The Siegies would infiltrate America as bankers, lawyers, and salesmen, legally taking the country over.

Taking a note from “Greed is Good,” COBRA is revealed as a terrorist organization run by the most cutthroat of all men: lawyers and yuppies, in biting social satire orchestrated by Hama. Also, Billy, the boy introduced in #10, is revealed as Cobra Commander’s son.

( #!$ Larry Hama’s preliminary cover art to G.I. Joe #24, from the collection of Court Gebeau (www.comiconart.com).

READERS FLIP THEIR WHIGS

Penciler Rod Whigham joins inker Andy Mushynsky with G.I. Joe #38 (Aug. 1985), bringing more realism and less stylization to the book’s appearance, just in time to introduce even more elements. Rip-Cord’s girlfriend Candy Appel and the Joes

Art © 2006 Larry Hama. G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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Snake-Eyes by Mike Zeck. Courtesy of the artist.

Art © 2006 Mike Zeck. Snake-Eyes © 2006 Hasbro.

discover her father’s double life as a Crimson Guardsman, and Storm Shadow helps Billy escapes certain death in Springfield. Whigham’s art would define the look of G.I. Joe for some time to come.

“He brought a different something to it,” Hama says of Whigham. “He was a detail freak, and his work had a real intensity to it. Right now, the average person who goes to a comic-book store is 26 years old.

“Back then, I could go to a signing for five or six hours, and everybody in line would be a ten-year-old boy. I remember when we did the Yearbook that Michael Golden drew, everybody thought that the drawings were fantastic. He’s an artist’s artist—everybody thinks Golden is great. The Yearbook went out, and

Cover © Marvel Characters, Inc. G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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all these kids wrote in saying, ‘This guy is too cartoony, and it looks like kid’s stuff.’ They weren’t sophisticated enough to realize how sophisticated this guy’s stuff was!

“When Rod took over the book, [readers] went, ‘This guy draws realistically, not like that cartoony guy Michael Golden.’ It really is a matter of perception.

He was one of the first of the guys who were coming back into that tight, clean line in their pencils. I guess the same school that George Pérez comes out of. It’s more intense, clean line, and less sketchy Gene Colan-esque stuff.”

In G.I. Joe #41 (Nov. 1985), COBRA fools G.I. Joe into setting off a fault line, creating a new island from the three-mile limit of the nearest sovereign state.

Dubbed COBRA Island, Cobra Commander turns the Joe team away from an invasion of the new land mass by having his lawyers lay claim to the land, establishing COBRA as an independent nation. Two issues later, the Soft Master, Billy, and Candy are apparently blown up

by COBRA weapons master Scrap-Iron. The next issue introduces Dr. Mindbender, heir to the late, lamented Dr. Venom, and his army of android B.A.T.S. G.I. Joe #45 (Mar. 1986) reveals the Hard Master’s killer as none other than Zartan, causing Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow to invade COBRA Island for Zartan’s head. Ironically, the chameleon-like Zartan switches places with Rip-Cord, who had gone to the island to find his girlfriend Candy, unaware of her death. Storm Shadow is shot and killed by the Baroness during their escape to the arriving G.I. Joe group, and Zartan infiltrates the Pit as Rip-Cord.

As a result of the COBRA Island mess, Hawk is brought before the Jugglers in #48 . . . a secretive cabal of generals who pull the strings and take the blame when the politicians don’t want to. Their order to Hawk: keep the Joes away from COBRA Island. Also, introduced in #48, foiling Zartan’s escape attempt from the Pit II, is Sgt. Slaughter—a professional wrestler who had licensed his likeness to Hasbro to become part of the G.I. Joe team. To his credit, Hama’s focus on Slaughter as a tough Marine drill sergeant made the character readable.

G.I. Joe #49–50 (July–Aug. 1986) were, perhaps, the most anticipated of the book’s run. Issue #49 was advertised in an animated commercial for introducing Serpentor, the COBRA Emperor. Collecting the remnants of history’s most powerful warriors—Genghis Khan, nine other unnamed warriors (although Leonidas and Napoleon are mentioned), and the recently deceased Storm Shadow—Dr. Mindbender creates a genetic simulacrum from the dead tissue and DNA. In the meantime, Rip-Cord (posing as Zartan) relays the location of Springfield to the Joes, with Hawk then leading an impromptu invasion of the COBRA-run

town. Not only does the newly born Serpentor take lead of a COBRA army, but he also masterminds the COBRA evacuation. In the process of Serpentor’s birth, Storm Shadow is brought back to life, and leaves Springfield with the Dreadnoks.

SPECIAL MISSIONS

The second half of #50 (Jan. 1987) features a “sneak preview” of a G.I. Joe spin-off title: Special Missions.

Written by Hama, #50’s story of a plane hijacking foiled by a special group of Joes is drawn by the returning Herb Trimpe.

It was stated that this new Special Missions book would feature select Joes on the missions that are “. . . so secret, so sensitive, that even the Joes who go on them are told only the bare minimum, on a strict need-to-know basis.” Special Missions featured Trimpe at his best, and gave G.I. Joe more of a Mission: Impossible feel. Not weighed down with the soap-opera quality of character storylines like the main book, Special Missions (in this writer’s mind) returned G.I. Joe to the real world—without robot troopers and genetic simulacrums.

“I think that was, undoubtedly, one of those periods where I was on quota from the company, still not getting any work,” Trimpe recalls of his return to Joe. “I was scrounging around and then they did the G.I. Joe offshoot and asked if I wanted to do it. I said yes, because there probably wasn’t anything else going on at the time. I actually liked doing the Special Missions better than the regular one.”

G.I. Joe #51 starts the next story arc, where Zartan is busted out of the Pit by his siblings Zartana and Zandar; Serpentor arrives on COBRA Island and foils an assassination plot by Cobra Commander; SnakeEyes gives Storm Shadow the key to his mountain cabin; and the Jugglers close the Pit until a full investigation can be made of the Springfield “debacle” (COBRA had removed any incriminating evidence in their escape). COBRA invades the Pit in #53, killing two of the Jugglers there on inspection. By issue’s end, Lady Jaye has begun to acknowledge her feelings for Flint, and the Joes are reinstated as a nomadic unit.

Serpentor leaves Destro and Cobra Commander for dead after an explosion is set off in the Pit by Juggler General Ryan.

Serpentor uses his new position as COBRA Emperor to sell pre-fabricated launch bases called “Terror Dromes” to foreign countries . . . starting with a demo model in the country of Sierra Gordo.

The next few issues detail Snake-Eyes’ intentional capture by COBRA for the sake of infiltrating the Terror Drome, and the Joes’ failed rescue.

Also, Cobra Commander and Destro escape the

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Storm Shadow by Mike Zeck.

Courtesy of the artist.

Art © 2006 Mike Zeck. Storm Shadow © 2006 Hasbro.

wreckage of the Pit. Some of Hama’s best characterization is done in the framework of this storyline, specifically in #55 (June 1987). Stalker, carried away on a gurney, is relieved of command as the rescued Snake-Eyes goes back to hold COBRA troopers off singlehandedly; “It’s not fair at all,” Stalker says as tears begin to stream down his face. In the next issue, Hawk offers Scarlett a chance of “going in after” Snake-Eyes, one that is fulfilled in G.I. Joe Yearbook #3. Scarlett and Storm Shadow infiltrate the COBRA Consulate Building in New York in more silent-issue action by Hama and artists Ron Wagner and Kim DeMulder.

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Going to Crimson Guardsmen sleeper agent Fred VII for a cyberFirefly by Mike Zeck. Courtesy of netic limb for the still-comatose Billy, Cobra Commander is fitted the artist. with a special armor the inventive Fred VII created specifically for him (a clever way for Hama to explain Hasbro’s new armored blue-and-silver Cobra Commander Art © 2006 Mike Zeck. Firefly © 2006 Hasbro. figure). Billy awakens with amnesia—and a fresh start for Cobra Commander and his son.

A pre-Spider-Man Todd McFarlane does the pencils on #60, a fill-in issue complete with fill-in guest Joes: Chuckles, MP Law and his dog Order, Fastdraw, and Lt. Falcon. The value in McFarlane’s artwork as a Spidey artist hadn’t yet been developed; matched with Law and Falcon using walkie-talkies to converse a distance of only about ten feet, it is not one of McFarlane’s better forays in storytelling.

G.I. Joe #61 features the apparent death of Cobra Commander at Fred VII’s hand, shot when the enemy leader walks out on his life with COBRA. Another significant event is the capture of Stalker, Quick Kick, and Snow Job in the communist country Borovia.

This would be the first crossover with Special Missions, following Outback’s escape from Borovia, through G.I. Joe #66 (Dec. 1987).

Ron Wagner takes over penciling duties with G.I. Joe #63, where Snake-Eyes and Scarlett fake their deaths to follow the ninja Blind Master and rescue the captive Joes. As Fred VII poses as Cobra Commander and journeys to COBRA Island, he finds an unlikely ally in the power-hungry Baroness in #64, featuring Russ Heath’s finishes over Wagner’s pencils.

REVELATIONS G.I. Joe #65 is taken over by Hasbro marketing, Meanwhile, the incognito Cobra Commander discovers as the Joes and COBRA battle in space. It’s back to his son Billy in a hospital, comatose and missing a leg reality next issue, as Storm Shadow, Billy, and another from Scrap-Iron’s rocket in #43. Breaking down in Arashikage ninja Jinx join Scarlett, Snake-Eyes, and tears by the boy’s bedside, the Commander vows to the Blind Master in their rescue of Stalker and crew. be a better father. “I should have loved him better . . .

Marshall Rogers takes over penciling in time to How can he ever forgive me?” he reflects. reintroduce Destro, and get the ball rolling on the “You can’t change the past . . . Do something “COBRA Civil War.” Erupting in #73 (July 1988), about the future,” Destro says as he saunters off in Baroness and the Fred VII Cobra Commander face the last panel. off against Serpentor and Dr. Mindbender for With the help of Lady Jaye and Flint, Destro control of COBRA Island. The war ends when reclaims his birthright in #57. Returning to Castle Zartan shoots Serpentor between the eyes with a Destro in Scotland, we see Destro in his role of single arrow, and Mindbender reconciles with the Scottish nobleman. By the issue’s end, Destro shows Fred VII Cobra Commander. The Joes leave the Major Bludd up as a Destro imposter, and after takisland as Destro comes just to retrieve the ing his castle back, grants Lady Jaye the boon of the Baroness. The COBRA Civil War’s end marks a Terror Drome plans. focus on self-contained issues and a flirtation with After having Ron Wagner draw the previous few a biweekly schedule. issues, Rod Whigham’s last would be #58 (Apr. G.I. Joe #84 (Mar. 1989) is a sure doozy in the 1987), which reveals Cobra Commander’s fate.

!(

Cover © Marvel Characters, Inc. G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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Art © 2006 Ron Wagner. G.I. Joe © & ™ Hasbro.

(left) Ron Wagner’s effective use of backlighting makes the cover to G.I. Joe Special Missions #21 a standout.

Courtesy of Bob McLeod, the “B.M” in the artists’ credit box. (bottom left) Dave Cockrum’s pencils to the cover of Special Missions #24, courtesy of Bob McLeod. (bottom right) Paul Ryan draws bead on the cover to G.I. Joe #85, from the McLeod archives.

Art © 2006 Paul Ryan.

Art © 2006 Dave Cockrum. G.I. Joe

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G.I. Joe © & ™ Hasbro

© & ™ Hasbro.

G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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Michael Golden’s G.I. Joe Yearbook #2 art might not have been kid’s stuff, but we like it fine!

G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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Cover pencils to G.I. Joe #63.

Pencils by Zeck; McLeod archives.

JUST ANOTHER GUY NAMED JOE

G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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revelation department, on par with the Snake-Eyes origin issues. Billy’s mother finds him living with Storm Shadow and Jinx and recounts COBRA’s origins to him. Determined to best the government and big business bent on “stamping out the little guys,” Cobra Commander had taken the young Billy on the road with him years earlier, building COBRA from its humble beginnings as a pyramid scheme. Meanwhile, on COBRA Island, Zartan reveals his connection to the original Commander to the new one. Zartan had been hired during COBRA’s beginnings to infiltrate the Arashikage clan and kill Snake-Eyes, but mistakenly killed the Hard Master instead.

Remember the death of Snake-Eyes’ family in a car wreck? The drunk driver was none other than Cobra Commander’s brother, and he wanted Zartan to exact his revenge. The following, silent issue follows Zartan’s attempt to kill Storm Shadow and his apparent death at the hands of the ninja.

According to Hama, this final reveal tying up numerous loose threads had not been planned from the outset: “I never knew how one issue was going to end when I started to write it,” Hama admits. “I never had any idea how any of these storylines ended, it was that Charles Dickens school of, ‘We’ll figure it out when we get to that page.’ I figured that, if I could surprise myself, I could surprise the readers. The problem I find with most comic-book writing is that A + B = C almost all the time. It’s so formulaic that you can spot it coming. I like to have that surprise. In fact, I plotted the stories page by page, which meant that I wanted to control what was in the first and last panel of each page, and I tried to work whatever comic I did with a little cliffhanger at the end of every page.

“People assumed that I have some long-range thing, and it was all schemed, but I had no idea that certain characters would stick around for a long time. You send them up like balloons and see how people would react, and how much life they have once you start writing them. Certain characters just wrote themselves.”

The Joe team meet their predecessor in #86 (May 1989)—Joseph Colton, G.I. Joe from the 1960s—in the S t o r i e s

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G.I. JOE’S MARVEL COMICS TOUR OF DUTY

issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe. Mark Bright and Tony Salmons come in the next few issues and set further storylines in order, including an update on Oktober Guard, the brainwashing of original Joes Clutch and Rock ’N’ Roll, and Zartan’s return. Bright would become the new regular penciler in time for the next big Joe storyline.

Snake-Eyes finally decides to pursue plastic surgery in G.I. Joe #93 (mid–Nov. 1989), the prelude to the “Snake-Eyes Trilogy.” Readers finally see Snake-Eyes’ deformed appearance which, truth be told, wasn’t as “inhuman” as they’d been led to believe for the past six years.

The next three issues are a solid treat for long-time readers, as even more connections were established in Hama’s Dickensian web of continuity. Baroness realizes Snake-Eyes is the man she’d always blamed for the death of her philanthropic brother, the Baron DeCobray, in Vietnam years ago. Baroness interrupts the plastic surgery, shoots Scarlett in the head, and transports Snake-Eyes to be tortured in the dungeon of the COBRA Consulate Building in New York. Within the next two issues, Snake-Eyes single-handedly takes down the COBRA Consulate Building, and Destro clears Baroness up on her brother’s death—it wasn’t really Snake-Eyes who killed him, but the Vietcong.

Destro, it turns out, was there and saw the evidence himself.

G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero #1 (June 1982) – #155 (Dec. 1994) G.I. Joe Special Treasury Edition #1 (1982) G.I. Joe Yearbook #1 (Oct. 1986) – #28 (Dec. 1989) G.I. Joe Special Missions #1 (Oct. 1986) – #28 (Dec. 1989) G.I. Joe Comics Magazine (digest) #1 (Dec. 1986) – #13 (1988) The G.I. Joe Order of Battle #1 (Dec. 1986) – #4 (Mar. 1987) G.I. Joe and the Transformers #1 (Jan. 1987) – #4 (Apr. 1987) Tales of G.I. Joe #1 (Jan. 1988) – #15 (Mar. 1989) G.I. Joe European Missions (Marvel U.K.) #1 (June 1988) – #15 (Dec. 1989) G.I. Joe Special #1 (Feb. 1995) G.I. Joe Trade Paperbacks Vol. 1 – Vol. 5 (2002)

The real Cobra Commander makes a comeback in issue #100 (May 1990), in time to trap a freighter full of characters that include Zartan, Raptor, Firefly, Dr. Mindbender, and Billy underneath rubble. Mutt and Spirit find out the town of Millville is COBRA’s next Springfield, while Scarlett lays comatose from the Baroness’ bullet.

G.I. Joe becomes progressively darker over the next few issues, with Snake-Eyes going on a ninjainduced killing trance to save his late sister’s fiancee, and the Joes becoming

(&%* Wagner/McLeod cover art for G.I. Joe #86, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the release of Hasbro’s Joe toy.

G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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embroiled in a Middle Eastern war in the country of Abysmia. Over the next eight issues, upwards of a dozen Joes are killed in battle . . . from early members like Breaker and Doc to newer characters like Battle Force 2000. With the toy line becoming more space-age than militaristic, one can guess the Abysmian war was one way for Hama to balance the unrealistic costume and vehicle designs laid out by Hasbro with a more realistic portrayal of combat.

G.I. Joe continued into the early ’90s with the return of artist Rod Whigham for a three-issue arc, and Herb Trimpe even wrote, penciled, inked, and colored the excellent self-contained #119 (Dec. 1991).

THE JOES WITHDRAW FROM MARVEL

ever been before. When debuting in the early ’80s, the fantastic elements of G.I. Joe worked because the characters and vehicles seemed more rooted in reality.

By the early ’90s, things had become so unrealistic that it turned off many old-time Joe fans. From the revelation of mercenary saboteur Firefly as a “ninja master” (dressed like a Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger, nonetheless) to another crossover with the Transformers to COBRA’s attacking the Pit yet again . . . the book just seemed tired, reading more like an X-Men book than a paramilitary super-spy team title.

Editors changed on a regular basis, and it’s amazing that the title managed to hold on until G.I. Joe #155 (Dec. 1994).

G.I. Joe’s final issue features Snake-Eyes’ letter to the son of an old ’Nam buddy, Wade Collins (who was revealed over 100 issues back as a Fred agent), who is thinking of enlisting. It was a clever way for Hama to wrap-up the series, as it finally let the readers in on Snake-Eyes’ thoughts. G.I. Joe #155 ends with the Joes folding their American flag and mothballing the Pit. Warts and all, G.I. Joe is perhaps one of the most influential comics of the 1980s; not only did it bring a level of sophistication to a licensed book, but it brought legions of new readers into comics.

Andrew Wildman becomes the new penciler with issue #120. The series turns its focus to Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow’s Ninja Force, a trio of brightly garbed Arashikage ninjas, as they storm Destro’s hidden fortress. Having come off of writer Simon Furman’s recently cancelled Transformers, Wildman was no stranger to licensed books.

“Larry’s scripts are far more, um, ‘entertaining’ in that they use a lot of jargon,” Wildman observes of Hama’s writing. “They also seem less predictable. He takes you into areas you would not see coming.

Quite surreal sometimes [and] great fun. Some of that crazy stuff around the Silent Citadel was enormous fun.

IF YOU LOVE COMICBOOKS, THEN YOU “MUST” CHECK OUT ONE Some of the jargon was challenging.

OF THE LARGEST INTERNET WEBSITES FOR COMIC BOOK ART “Larry has a huge amount of AND COMIC STRIP ART EVER PRODUCED! THIS MAY BE YOUR experience and knowledge of army and BEST ARTWORK INTERNET SOURCE! martial arts. He put them together well CHECK OUT which created a nice marriage between OVER 1000+ full-on hardcore military no nonsense “PICTURED” PIECES OF COMICaction, and a more subtle creative spiritual BOOK AND COMIC sense of deadly beauty. A Yin and Yang STRIP ART FOR thing, maybe.”

SALE OR TRADE. ALSO Between Wildman’s trendy artwork CHECK OUT (as opposed to the more classic THE WORLD’S styles of Trimpe, Whigham, or “LARGEST” Wagner) and the infusion of charSPIDER-MAN ORIGINAL ART acters like the GALLERY! Eco-Warriors I BUY/SELL/AND with their TRADE “ALL” Adam Hughes’ unfinished helicopter COMICBOOK/ rendition of Scarlett, circa the packs, by this STRIP ARTWORK FROM THE 1930S TO PRESENT. SO LET ME KNOW YOUR WANTS, OR time G.I. Joe early 1990s and contributed by WHAT YOU HAVE FOR SALE OR TRADE! had become Jerry Boyd. less grounded than it had Art © 2006 Adam Hughes. Scarlett © 2006 Hasbro.

ROMITAMAN ORIGINAL COMIC ART

www.romitaman.com

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A Mike Zeck-illustrated cover recreation of G.I. Joe, substituting the Punisher for Snake-Eyes.

Art © 2006 Mike Zeck. Storm Shadow © 2006 Hasbro.

Punisher © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Cover © Marvel Characters, Inc. G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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THE KING’S LAST STAND: by

Tom “The Comics Savant” Stewart

JACK KIRBY’S FINAL SERIES

Bring on the Bad Guys!

Kirby’s pencils to the first issue of the first Super Powers miniseries, courtesy of The Jack Kirby Collector. © 2006 DC Comics.

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In 1984, DC and Kenner Toys entered into an agreement to produce a line of toys based on DC’s characters. The Justice League of America (or the Super Friends, depending on how and where you look at it) was coming to toy shelves everywhere to stand alongside Kenner’s cash cow Star Wars line. Kenner tapped into DC’s history, bringing to plastic life heroes and villains that had never felt the joy of gathering dust on a collector’s shelf, of the pain of being lost in the dirt pile in the backyard. Only one problem.

Some of the best villains, the most savage, wickedest bad guys ever to infest a comics universe, were over at Marvel. The Joker may be a dangerous homicidal manic, but he looks like he could be handing out balloons at a birthday party.

Even a Lex Luthor with his robot super-suit (you know, the one that didn’t allow him to turn his head) really wasn’t, well, evil-looking enough.

Kenner wanted more. They might not have known it, but they wanted Jack Kirby.

Or at least, the Kirby villains and heroes of the New Gods: Orion, Mister Miracle, Mantis, Lightray, the Para-Demons, Kalibak, and of course, the ruler of Apokolips, Darkseid. Jack Kirby had spent his life in conjunction with Joe Simon and Stan Lee coming up with some of the most important and culturally pervasive characters in the newly recognized (okay, barely recognized) field of pop art. It was this record that caused DC to ask him to make the jump from Marvel back in the ’70s, and it was this power and imagination that attracted DC heads Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz to renew ties with Kirby. Jack had left DC in 1975 and returned to Marvel after plans with the former [DC Publisher Carmine] Infantino regime ground

to an unsatisfying end [see BI #14’s Kamandi article]. Jack wanted out of comics, his heart no longer in it, but his need for work and his Depression Era take-any-job-to-feed-your-family ethic wouldn’t let him walk away. He escaped into animation, first with Hanna-Barbera, then doing concept drawings for Ruby-Spears. He had the first health-care plan of his life. He was out of Marvel, out of DC. He started doing independent comics, Captain Victory and Silver Star for Pacific Comics, concepts and characters that he’d be kicking around, sometimes for years. He was essentially working two fulltime jobs, doing the huge detailed presentation and character drawings at Ruby-Spears during the day and working late into the night, with the sound of Spanish television in the background, on his own comics. Why would he want to go back to doing Marvel’s or even DC’s version of comics?

To super-heroes? Jack had moved on and he didn’t like to go backwards.

Kirby’s Powers In 1984, Captain Victory and Silver Star came to an end along with their publisher, Pacific Comics. Jack had been there as usual, on the cutting edge of the new independent comics movement, trying out more ideas in one 20page comic than most creators can fit into an entire 50-issue run. Now DC was calling. They had just started a new royalty agreement, the first in the business, and had grandfathered Jack’s New Gods into the agreement. Kahn and Levitz respected Jack and his creations, appreciated the value that Kirby’s ideas could have in DC’s future, and wanted to maintain a good relationship with him. At this time, Jack was involved in a bitter battle with Marvel over the ownership of thousands of pages of his old artwork. He saw that artwork as his legacy to his family, and nobody messed with his family. The fight was taking physical and mental tolls on the nearly 70-year-old Kirby, a distraction from his drawing and earning a living. Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz had signed a petition calling for the artwork to be returned to Jack. A big comics company being nice to him must have come as a very welcome relief. They wanted ideas for Super Powers? Jack gladly did new concept drawings for the toy line, earning some extra money and qualifying some of his

New Gods characters for royalties. He might have felt a bit beholden to DC when it was proposed he do the Super Powers miniseries as a tie-in. He was busy with the DC proposed “ending” to the New Gods saga, and the follow-up, the aborted, barely published Hunger Dogs graphic novel. Jack plotted the first four issues of Super Powers (with Joey Cavalieri scripting), then wrote and drew the final issue, with Greg Theakston inking. It was Greg’s first time inking a full Kirby issue, getting the job after impressing Editorial Director Dick Giordano with his inking on the cover to #4.

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Greg Theakston lightbox-inked Kirby’s second Super Powers miniseries, preserving the King’s pencils. This is page 14 of issue #2, courtesy of Heritage Comics. © 2006 DC Comics.

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Super Powers vol. 2, #2’s splash, penciled

by Jack Kirby and inked by Greg Theakston, courtesy of Heritage Comics. © 2006 DC Comics.

Kirby’s pencils for page 21 of vol. 2’s #3 showcases Wonder Woman, Dr. Fate, and Green Lantern. Courtesy of Heritage Comics. © 2006 DC Comics.

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Right, Greg? “He really liked what I did with Aquaman’s shirt, with the texture to the scales. I got the job at the San Diego Con, and for some reason, it was behind schedule even then!”

Greg spent as much time as he could inking figures, while his then wife inked the machinery. “[She] could use a radius and compass. She really didn’t know what she was letting herself in for, all that Kirby machinery . . .”

With Super Powers #5, the miniseries ended, but with that issue, something was becoming apparent in Jack’s art. Always firmly embedded in the exaggerate-for-effect school, Jack’s art now veered into more openly cartoony, simple territory, missing some of the detail and sweep of previous work. Greg’s inking unfairly took some of the blame, but it became more pronounced in the next set of Super Powers issues, this time all drawn by Kirby. Jack’s old inker, Mike Royer, had been correcting Jack’s art for years, minor stuff like costume details, sometimes eye alignment, little stuff. Now the deterioration had become pronounced.

Greg: “I would get the pages in bundles of 3–4 pages. Jack would start off strong on the first page, the stuff would get thinner on the next page, then even thinner on the next. Usually the last page would be pretty weak. His lines also now had a tremble.”

Kirby was a guy who had made a reputation on his vast imagination, which was still as great and undisciplined as it ever was. But he’d also founded his reputation partly on his stamina, his ability to turn out stacks of pages a day, nearly a book a week and make it look easy. Jack was now finding it hard to control his hand.

In the first Super Powers mini, Jack had plotted the story and penciled the covers. In the new one, he would just draw, the plotting and scripting were to be done by Paul Kupperberg and editor Andy Helfer. Jack had little input besides sending his pages to Greg, who would then ink it on overlays, trying his best to bring out the Kirby in pages that sometimes looked like Jack trying to do Jack. Kirby regretted making the commitment, and struggled against his failing health to complete it.

His Final Bow When he finished the last page of the last issue, #6 in 1985, Jack declared it would be his last monthly book. He just couldn’t do it anymore. People were coming to him, piles of cash in their hands for him to do cover and page recreations, even limited signings for things like the shopping channels, but Jack had trouble even signing his name, but he hated to disappoint anyone. His beloved wife Roz would help him sort out what offers he could do, and he would struggle to fulfill them.

But what of Super Powers, the last series Jack drew himself? It was a toy tie-in, and it reads like one. In the series, Darkseid is the villain, his plan to destroy the world advanced and thwarted throughout the six issues by the heroes of Earth. A long JLA story, at times poorly printed and oddly colored, aimed more at the kids who would buy the toys rather the fans that might be interested in new work by the co-creator of the Fantastic Four.

It’s fun, silly stuff. The true hero the series is Jack Kirby, taking his unheralded final turn, the curtain held by Greg Theakston. It was a fairly quiet exit. Kirby’s concepts would return many times in other forms, but mostly without Jack.

Some say when he left, he took comics with him.

Thanks to Greg Theakston and Mark Evanier for their time and talent.

We sign off with Jack’s pencils to the cover of Super Powers I #2’s cover, shared with us by The Jack Kirby Collector. © 2006 DC Comics.

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Dewey Cassell

by

He’s Got the Power!

A Masters of the Universe mini-comic cover drawn by Mark Texiera and Tod Smith. Unless otherwise noted, images in this article are courtesy of its writer, Dewey Cassell.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe TM & © Mattel.

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In 1980 Mattel already had successful, established toy lines with Barbie and Hot Wheels, but rival companies Hasbro and Kenner had virtually cornered the male action figure market with G.I. Joe and Star Wars, respectively.

Mattel had yet to come up with a worthy competitor.

In his book Mastering the Universe: He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea (Emmis Books, 2005), former Mattel product designer Roger Sweet (with co-author David Wecker) reveals that the company considered military and space-related action figures, but ultimately selected a barbarian-type character called “He-Man.” Sweet notes that he was influenced by the illustrations of Frank Frazetta in creating the character.

Sweet also confirms that Mattel had obtained the license for an action figure based on the movie Conan the Barbarian, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, but decided against it after screening the violent film.

However, the barbarian theme prevailed, with a unique backstory. Adam Tyner, co-creator of the he-man.org website, describes the fundamental concepts behind He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (MOTU): “The basic premise revolves around the mystical power of Castle Grayskull, home of a being known as the Sorceress. A villain named Skeletor wants to claim the power of Grayskull for himself, with universal domination as his end goal. Grayskull has a guardian in the form of He-Man. He-Man’s alter ego is Adam, the seemingly shiftless prince of Eternia, but when he’s needed, he raises his magic sword to the sky, shouts ‘By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!’ and is transformed. The story is basically a struggle between He-Man and Skeletor, each with their own factions of warriors.”

The He-Man toy line was extremely successful.

During the six years of initial production (1982–1987), He-Man and his companions brought in sales of $1.2 billion globally for Mattel.

In addition, Mattel contracted with Filmation Associates, the well-known animation company, to produce television advertising as well as the first of four successful cartoon series, beginning in 1983. A live-action movie starring Dolph Lundgren in the lead role and Frank Langella as his nemesis Skeletor was released in 1987.

From the beginning, comic books were also a key element of the Mattel sales strategy. Each action figure was packaged with a mini-comic. Mattel awarded the license to produce both the mini-comics and a full-size comic book series to DC Comics. The first 11 minicomics were published by DC and illustrated by Mark Texiera. (Subsequent mini-comics were produced by Mattel and featured the artwork of artists like Bruce Timm.) DC also released a He-Man crossover with Superman in issue #47 (July 1982) of DC Comics Presents (DCCP), followed by a 16-page insert that was included in 11 different DC titles, both illustrated

by Curt Swan. Then, beginning in late 1982, DC published a three-issue Masters of the Universe miniseries, which further expanded the He-Man canon.

Paul Levitz, President and Publisher of DC Comics, provides some insight into how DC got involved with Mattel:

DEWEY CASSELL: How did DC Comics get started with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe?

PAUL LEVITZ: My foggy memory is that we did or bid on a few “custom comics” projects for Mattel in that period, with He-Man as the largest.

Paul Cleveland at Mattel may have been the instigator. [Cleveland was then marketing manager at Mattel.]

CASSELL: A preview insert appeared in numerous DC comics in the months preceding the He-Man miniseries. Why did DC put on such a major campaign for He-Man? LEVITZ: In custom-comic deals, we charge a fee for producing comics to support other people’s properties or marketing programs. The He-Man preview was basically an “advertorial” for Mattel.

DC Comics’ Paul Levitz.

Paul Kupperberg wrote the DC Comics Presents story and the insert, as well as the DC He-Man miniseries. Paul is now an editor for DC Comics and he shared his recollection of He-Man:

(below) The original He-Man comics writer, Paul Kupperberg.

CASSELL: What kind of reference did you have to work with prior to writing the He-Man comics?

PAUL KUPPERBERG: Mattel didn’t come in with that much reference, as I recall. They had created the characters— He-Man/Prince Adam, Teela, Skeletor, Man-At-Arms, etc.—and had this swordand-sorcery world they called Eternia to set it in, but the actual backstory was pretty sparse. What they did do, which was cool, was send a Mattel representative named Mark Ellis with a couple of cartons full of the production models for us to check out at DC, so we—being myself and the editor of the MOTU project, Dave Manak—could at least get a feel for the characters. I remember the three of us sitting on the floor of a conference room in DC’s 75 Rockefeller Center offices like a bunch of seven-year-olds playing with these action figures. Mark would fill us in on what Mattel did know and Dave and I spit-balled ideas to fill in the bald spots in their concept. It impresses my nine-year-old that I was one of the first people in the world to get to play with a then brand-new toy line.

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(left) The powerful plastic paragon, He-Man. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe TM & © Mattel.

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A Filmation Studios pencil drawing of Teela and He-Man. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe TM & © Mattel.

The cover to the He-Man insert comic published by DC. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe TM & © Mattel.

CASSELL: Did Mattel dictate the storyline or was it entirely your creation?

KUPPERBERG: Mattel left the storyline up to us. This was around 1982, before it was common to adapt toy lines into comic books (or animated TV shows for that matter), so we were pretty much playing it by ear. Mattel allowed us to flesh out some of the back story and to come up with the plots for the insert preview, the DC Comics Presents issue, and the miniseries.

CASSELL: When He-Man appeared in DC Comics Presents and the preview insert, he encountered Superman. Why did DC decide to incorporate He-Man into their comics’ continuity?

KUPPERBERG: As I remember, those were the orders when I got the gig. I assume part of the deal between DC and Mattel called for costarring him with Superman in the insert story to lend the character legitimacy. You threw a newbie hero into a comic book with Superman in those days and it gave him instant credibility. I seem to remember the DC Comics Presents story as being an afterthought, though, and not part of the original deal; a case of giving Mattel a little something extra in an ongoing DC title, which led into the

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special insert. I don’t know that you can say we incorporated He-Man into the DC continuity as much as we kind of brushed the character up against it. Superman had to pass through some sort of magical portal to get from Earth to Eternia so it was all clearly set on a different dimensional plane . . . something way easier to do pre-1985, before the Crisis.

CASSELL: Curt Swan illustrated the two He-Man stories that featured Superman (which is logical). How were George Tuska and Alfredo Alcala chosen to illustrate the miniseries?

KUPPERBERG: Yes, it made sense that Curt would have done the DCCP issue since he was one of the regular artists on that title for Julie Schwartz (who served as the Consulting Editor on the issue of DCCP, which Manak officially edited). Curt was also a go-to guy for special projects and custom comics that came through DC. My guess is that Curt wasn’t available for the MOTU miniseries because of his commitments to Superman, Action Comics, and DCCP, so Dave turned to one of his regular crew, who happened to be George. As a lifelong fan of Tuska’s, I was happy with that. I was already working with George on the syndicated Superman newspaper strip, which I started writing around the same time I got the MOTU assignment. My guess on why Alcala was chosen to ink was that he gave it a nice dark, almost engraved look. I think those were a couple of really good-looking comics, with George’s superior layouts and storytelling backed by Alcala’s solid, lush inks. I suppose it was a scheduling conflict that lead to Rodin Rodriguez having to ink the third and last issue of the mini, which, while good work, didn’t look as good as the Alcala issues.

George Tuska was well known for illustrating strong characters, most notably Iron Man. Tuska discussed his involvement with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe:

A George Tuska-drawn sketch of He-Man

CASSELL: Do you recall how you got assigned to do the DC Masters of the Universe miniseries?

GEORGE TUSKA: Dave Manak, the editor, called me asking if I would be willing to take it.

CASSELL: Since the comic books were based on Mattel toys, did they give you toys as reference or perhaps the mini-comics that were included with the toys?

TUSKA: I remember three toys in particular—He-Man, Teela, and Man-At-Arms.

CASSELL: You have mentioned that you enjoyed drawing He-Man. Why is that?

TUSKA: It was a break from the other heroes that I’d been doing. Also, I enjoyed drawing the characters and the costumes. [Tuska penciled the covers and stories for the He-Man miniseries.]

CASSELL: I realize you worked mostly from your home. Did you ever meet Alfredo Alcala or Paul Kupperberg?

Art © 2006 George Tuska.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe TM & © Mattel.

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He-Man’s arch-foe is spotlighted in this mini-comic splash page courtesy of Heritage Comics.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe TM & © Mattel.

(below) Alfredo Alcala’s intricate line work added lush density to this mini-comic splash page.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe TM & © Mattel.

TUSKA: I met Paul Kupperberg. He also wrote the Superman newspaper strip [I drew].

CASSELL: Is it true that you have received a lot of commission requests for He-Man over the years?

TUSKA: Yes. It must have been about 18 years since I’ve drawn He-Man. Alfredo Alcala was famous for his detailed fantasy illustrations, such as his work on Conan with John Buscema. Alcala passed away in 2000 at the age of 74. His son, Christian Voltar Alcala, discussed his father’s work on He-Man: CASSELL: Your father was an exceptional artist. Did he enjoy drawing fantasy stories like Masters of the Universe?

CHRISTIAN ALCALA: I remember him telling me that he enjoyed making Masters of the Universe. He-Man’s hairstyle was similar to Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant, which my father deeply respected. He loved fantasy stories and Voltar was one of his first fantasy novels, which won several awards.

CASSELL: Do you know how your father got involved with DC’s Masters of the Universe comics?

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ALCALA: Basically, he got his assignments from DC Comics when they first came to the Philippines and my father showed them his artwork. Since then, he was one of the Filipino pioneers in American comics. He worked on the DC comic books for Masters of the Universe and he made several minicomics for Mattel, which were included with the toys. The Masters of the Universe that my father did was highly compared to Frank Frazetta’s art styles.

CASSELL: Did you have any Masters of the Universe action figures when you were growing up?

ALCALA: The Masters of the Universe were my favorite toys when I was growing up, especially He-Man, Teela, Mekaneck, and Battle Cat. I remember that I was the first one to have those toys in the Philippines, for which I am grateful to my dad.

Finally, Paul Kupperberg speculates on the end of He-Man at DC: CASSELL: Do you have any idea why there were no other DC He-Man comics after the three-issue miniseries?

KUPPERBERG: There’d been talk at the time about continuing the comic after the miniseries, but it never came about. Since I was strictly a freelancer in those days, I wasn’t privy to any behind-the-scenes reasoning, but I would guess that either the miniseries didn’t sell well enough to justify DC’s continued interest in the property or that Mattel and DC just couldn’t come to terms. In retrospect, to have had a hand so early on in shaping what would become something of a 1980s cultural icon is pretty cool.

Among He-Man fans, the DC comics— both the comic books as well as the mini-comics that DC produced as toy inserts—are widely regarded as the best comic-book renditions of the character. However, they were not the only graphic interpretations of He-Man. Marvel Comics produced a He-Man title under its Star Comics imprint, starting in 1986 and lasting for 12 issues. Marvel also published the comic-book adaptation of the Masters of the Universe live-action movie, ironically illustrated by George Tuska. More recently, Image and MVCreations published their own versions of He-Man comics as well. After all these years, He-Man still has the power.

Sincere appreciation goes to Messrs. Levitz, Kupperberg, Tuska, Alcala, and Tyner for their insight, as well as DC Comics’ Adam Philips, Mike Gartland, and Val Staples for their assistance. Roger Sweet’s book, Mastering the Universe, and the he-man.org website are recommended. And Phil Yeh has written a book about Alfredo Alcala called Secret Teachings of a Comic Book Master.

A head-bangin’ page from issue #7 of Marvel Comics’ Masters of the Universe series, from its Star Comics line. Courtesy of Heritage Comics.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe TM & © Mattel.

Dewey Cassell is a regular contributor to BACK ISSUE as well as author of the book The Art of George Tuska, available from TwoMorrows Publishing.

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by

Michael Eury

on DVD

(above) Adam Hughes’ rough for his art card from The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Art © 2005 Adam Hughes. He-Man TM & © Mattel.

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© 2005 Entertainment Rights PLC.

Why am I devoting a “Back in Print” column, which normally covers reprints of comic books, to DVD collections? Because BCI Eclipse’s collection of Filmation’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoons—which, as of this writing, contains two 6-disk sets collecting the first season’s 65 episodes, a 2-disk The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe set featuring the top ten fan-selected episodes, and the rarely seen He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special—sizzle with extras specially designed to attract the eye of the comic-book fan.

Comic-art collectors take note: Each of BCI Eclipse’s He-Man DVDs features two exclusive, 4" x 6" full-color art cards featuring He-Man characters rendered by some of comics’ most popular artists. In addition to Adam Hughes and Alex Ross, whose He-Man roughs are shown here, Bruce Timm, Bill Sienkiewicz, Earl Norem, Gilbert Hernandez, Phil Jimenez, and David Mack provide card art, with Frank Cho and Emiliano Santalucia on tap for Season Two, Volume One, scheduled for release on June 6, 2006.

I’ll admit that I originally wasn’t a He-Man fan—I was in my twenties when the show debuted in ’83 and considerably older than its target audience—but I’m becoming a convert, thanks to these DVDs’ other noteworthy bonus features, behind-the-scenes documentaries scripted and directed by Andy Mangels. As he displays in his Wonder Woman and the Star Riders “Greatest Stories Never Told” article on page 74 of this issue, Andy is a whiz at digging into the development of media projects and crafting scintillating histories, and his skills translate perfectly to video. (Fan favorites such as J. Michael Straczynski and Paul Dini, both of whom worked on He-Man, are among the creators interviewed.) And I’ve discovered that the He-Man cartoons themselves sparkle with “Filmation-isms”—familiar sound effects, voice actors, and music beds—that will prove all warm and fuzzy for those of us who tuned in to Filmation’s ’70s fare. Whether you’re a diehard He-Man aficionado or a comic-book collector, you should give the BCI Eclipse He-Man collections a look-see.

© 1983/1984 Entertainment Rights PLC. All rights reserved. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe TM & © Mattel.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – Season One, Volume One

Thanks to Kristen Palmer of BCI and Andy Mangels.

From the Season One, Volume One set, the sketch and line art for Alex Ross’ exclusive He-Man art card.

Episodes 1–33 Two 4" x 6" art cards by Alex Ross and Bill Sienkiewicz Two brand-new documentaries: “The Secret Origins of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” “The Stories of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” Full-length animated storyboard for episode #30, “The Taking of Grayskull” Deleted Scenes, Trivia Facts, 50 Character Profiles 710 mins., $49.98

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – Season One, Volume Two Episodes 34–65 Two 4" x 6" art cards by Earl Norem and Gilbert Hernandez Two brand-new documentaries: “The Stories of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Season 1, Part 2” “He-Man Invades the San Diego Comic-Con” Full-length animated storyboard for episode #40, “House of Shokoti, Part 1” Deleted Scenes, Trivia Facts, 50 Character Profiles 688 mins., $49.98

The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe The top ten all-time best episodes as voted for by fans on the www.he-man.org website Two 4" x 6" art cards by Bruce Timm and Adam Hughes Two brand-new documentaries: “Behind the Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – Season 1” “Behind the Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – Season 2”

Art © 2005 Alex Ross. He-Man TM & © Mattel.

Scripts in PDF format, Trivia Facts, commercial spots, and more 215 mins., $24.98

He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special The rarely seen Christmas Special, fully restored for optimum audio and video quality Two 4" x 6" art cards by Phil Jimenez and David Mack Two brand-new documentaries: “The Holidays and Morals of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” “The Heroes and Villains of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” “I Have the Power" music video featurette Montage of Morals, Character Profiles, the complete script in PDF format, Trivia, and more 45 mins., $19.98

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I’ve always done fairly finished preliminary sketches before moving on to final pencils, and I still work © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

the same way today. This is an early example (1979) of a cover prelim. I was a Bruce Lee fan and a fan of kung-fu cinema in general at that time, and that influenced my handling of the character and the series. I tried to inject a little

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© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Bruce Lee into Shang-Chi whenever possible.

Master of Kung Fu was my first series work at Marvel, and

Issue #101 was my final issue before moving on

looking back, I still see an artist learning his craft. On the

to take over the Captain America penciling chores.

plus side, Doug Moench’s plots were highly detailed and

I didn’t figure I had a whole lot more to bring to

descriptive, even to the point of describing mood and

the martial-arts table, so after three years of jump

character emotion in most instances. The thick plots

kicks and elbow punches, I was ready to jump

were daunting at first, but in retrospect a very good

into the super-hero ring to experience a new type

writer for a developing talent to be teamed with.

of storyline and a different style of action.

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MASTER OF KUNG FU #86 (1979) and 101 (1981)

Art and captions by Mike Zeck

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS (1984)

This was the first art produced for Secret Wars, and I rendered it twice-up knowing that it was also going to be used as an advertising poster. Shortly after, it was decided that a couple of the mutants wouldn’t be part of the series, and they were dropped from the art [see inset for published version]. The rest of the cast made it to the poster, but the top tier of characters were deleted for cover art purposes in order to make room for the logo.

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PUNISHER #1 (1986) © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Steven Grant and I set the first Punisher issue inside a prison, so the Punisher costume would be a near “no-show” for that story. We made the title splash a projected slide image to sneak the costume in, so I made every effort to make that the “money shot” of the issue. I wonder if the guy who took the “photo” is still alive??

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© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

PUNISHER #1 (1986) Prison is not a safe place for the Punisher. The entire population would like nothing better than to see him dead.

Jigsaw’s attempt to make that happen ends badly for him. A new set of scars. I tried to be conscious of the Punisher’s “intimidation factor” as a key element in keeping him alive in the “big house” when seemingly outnumbered.

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popularity peak when it

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© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN INDEX #5 (1986)

wraparound covers.

cover. One of my few

asked to pencil the

cover with Spidey, and

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that he should share the

index, so it was decided

cover for this Spider-Man

came time to render a

The Punisher was at a

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© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #326 (1987)

Captain America was a favorite character of mine as a reader, and I enjoyed a three-year run as penciler. After my final issue (#289), I didn’t entirely abandon the character, coming back to pencil an Annual and a bunch more covers. I think some of my best Cap covers came after my monthly gig.

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G.I. JOE #61 (1987) © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

How many times do we see heroes with their backs to the wall, in a hail of bullets, no means of escape, and fighting to their last breath? “Not enough,” I always say! I didn’t always have interior art to refer to when creating the Joe covers. Most often I huddled with series editor Larry Hama, who was great at coming up with an idea, either by word or by sketch. Then I’d turn it into that month’s cover.

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© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

MARK HAZZARD: MERC #9 (1987)

If you think Arab extremists executing captives is a recent phenomenon, just ask Merc! He was staring at the wrong end of a couple of AK-47s as far back as 1987. A timely cover then, and timely today— and unfortunately it’s probable to remain timely for years to come.

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Written.” I felt, too, that it would stand as one of the better Spider-Man stories in his long history. In my excitement, I sketched ideas for all of the covers, then sat down and rendered all six back to back.

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AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #293 (1987)

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

After reading the plots for the six-part “Kraven’s Last Hunt” saga, I dubbed it “the Finest Kraven Story Ever

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #293 (1987)

“Kraven’s Last Hunt” was dark in art, and dark in story—nights, rainy skies, smoke-filled dimly lit interiors, and Vermin’s inclusion allowed for some dark and shadowy sewer scenes. I attempted to match the art to the dark tone of the story. Marc DeMatteis and I had already created the Vermin character during our run on Captain America, and saw this series as an opportunity to further explore the character.

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WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #32 (1987)

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

One of the more popular covers from the “Kraven’s Last Hunt” story arc, and thank you, Marc DeMatteis, for writing a scene with the hero crawling out of his own muddy grave. This was a “no brainer” pick for a cover, and the first one I conceptualized when I sat down to plan all six covers.

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© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #32 COVER RE-CREATION

One of my re-creations, and another example of a cleverly inspired collector request. If the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents gave birth to Batman, then bringing the Batman and Wayne tombstone elements into the Web #32 cover illustrates that idea nicely. Works well as a Batman cover.

[Editor’s note: Visit www.mikezeck.com for more of Mike’s art!]

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by

Looking to Buy a Used Car?

Allan Harvey

Benz, Rovers, Chevrolets, come send me your rears.

agency Carter & Lombardo. They wanted Spidey to build

Ha-ha, your rear fenders, that is!

a car to endorse Corona Motors’ new non-polluting

Welcome, one and all, to Alabaster Al’s Used Car

engine. Unfortunately, having built it, Spider-Man

Catalogue—your one-stop shop for all your second-

suddenly remembered he couldn’t drive! However,

hand car needs. Every one a winner, and all have

following a few lessons from Johnny Storm, he took to the

been previously enjoyed.

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

York. Sadly, Spidey ended up accidentally dunking the

First up is our star item. At first glance, it may look

Spider-Mobile in the depths of the Hudson River (The

like a heap of debris, and, I’ll be the first to admit,

Amazing Spider-Man #126–141, Nov. 1973–Feb. 1975).

this car isn’t in the . . . ahem . . . mint-est of conditions.

Chief mechanic Gerry Conway can elaborate

However, a closer examination will reveal the fine

further: “I didn’t create the Spider-Mobile idea, and

curved forms of a classic dune buggy. Blue-and-red

thought it was pretty foolish. Marvel was approached

body with web-style detailing and a chrome roll bar.

by a toy company which told us they could market a

I’ll even throw in the optional signal lamp and web-

vehicle for Spider-Man if one existed in the comics.

shooters. Come now, ladies and gentlemen, haven’t

Stan [Lee] approved the idea. Roy [Thomas] may

you always wanted to drive a car that can climb

have objected, but not too strenuously, and I was left

walls? Well, now you can—with just a little mechan-

to point out that giving a vehicle to a guy who

ical work and a re-spray.

swings by web from building to building was a little

Still not convinced? Well, here at Alabaster Al’s we pride ourselves on a full and frank disclosure of our vehicles’ histories.

liked. So that’s what I did. I played the story for laughs because, frankly, the idea seemed so silly I couldn’t

Mobile was originally the brainchild of advertising

imagine a way to do it seriously.

wheels in Amazing SpiderMan #130 (Mar. 1974). © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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“Roy told me to do whatever I liked with the car; I could introduce it and get rid of it immediately if I

Designed by Spider-Man himself, and built with help

The Wall-Crawler gets

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like tying an anvil to a butterfly.

from Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, the Spider-

What Were They Dune?!

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road, quickly becoming a menace to all road users in New

You are invited to bid on a wide range of vehicles.

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“I think Ross [Andru] came up with the notion of making the Spider-Mobile a dune buggy. At least we didn’t give it an ejector seat. (Though, come to think of it, that might have been the icing on the cake.)”

Months later, the soggy dune buggy was plucked from the Hudson by the Terrible Tinkerer, who was revealed not to be an alien as previously believed, and modified by him for use as a weapon against Spider-Man. The modifications meant the car could now— forgive me—do whatever a spider can (Amazing Head engineer Len Wein takes up the story: “[There were no plot suggestions] from Gerry.

[The Spider-Mobile loose end] just needed to be dealt with. It was absolutely a joke. Something some potential licenser was pushing. Gerry dealt with it as it deserved to be dealt with. alien. At that point, all of Spidey’s villains were human, and an alien seemed totally out of place. So I fixed it.”

And fix it he did: following the fracas with Spider-Man, the Spider-Mobile was reduced to a pile of wreckage and delivered back to Carter & Lombardo. Their comments went unrecorded, sadly, though the ad pair did bear a passing resemblance to Stan Lee and Roy Thomas.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the resemblance to Stan and me of the two characters [see panel above] was deliberate on Andru’s part,” admits Thomas.

So there you go, Alabaster Al’s offers you the chance to own a piece of comics history. Bid high, bid often.

The next item for your perusal, ladies and gentlemen, is a beauty. One careful owner; driven just the once. This is in pristine condition having been kept in sub-zero temperatures for nearly three decades. It’s blue, with chrome detailing and a red/yellow “S” insignia on the hood. If you’ve always had a hankering to take home a personal flying craft equipped with giant steel fists, this is the auction for you!

When Superman found himself without superpowers thanks to a cloud of red radiation that swept through the solar system, the only means he had to defeat the super android Amazo was to build himself a Supermobile. With a body made from the invulnerable metal Supermanium, Superman’s new car duplicated all of his incredible powers. Flight, super-vision, and super-breath all came as standard, while a pair of large mechanical hands were able to pluck Lois Lane out of danger, or pound a bad guy into the dust. Once

the

radiation

Superman

passed,

packed

the

Supermobile in mothballs (Action Comics #480-483, Feb.–May 1978).

Assistant junior chief under mechanic, Bob Rozakis: “The Supermobile was, as I recall, specifically created for a toy licensing deal. I remember being in Julie Schwartz’s office when Sol Harrison came in and told him it had to be used in a story. Julie was not thrilled with the concept, but business is business.

“As far as the design, I’m not sure whether the toy licensee had a basic idea that was given to Curt Swan, but I would presume that was the case. They would have to have some idea of what they were going to manufacture and

wouldn’t

want

the

comic-book counterpart to be too far off.”

That’s all for this catalogue, but be sure to check out next month’s when we’ll have available that all-time classic, the Flying Batcave! Plus, your chance

to

test-drive

the

Captain Americar!

© 2006 DC Comics.

“I always hated that the Tinkerer was an

© 2006 DC Comics.

© 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Spider-Man #157–160, June–Sept. 1976)!

Full satisfaction or your money back. And that’s an Alabaster Al guarantee!

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guest editorial by milton knight 5 8

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Hugo: The Gathering, a line-up done for a prospective publisher and illustrated by Milton Knight (then 18) in 1981, more than a year before Hugo’s Fantagraphics debut. Pictured at opposite ends: Aloysius and Buttox (the Anarchist Brothers); between the fiends: King Adolph the Eleventeenth, Leonard the Stable Boy, Hugo; Princess Trish, Nan Marley (the Lady-in-Waiting). © 2006 Milton Knight.

I am a comic-book artist who has always favored humor comics. Rebellion has always been an important part of my artistic sensibilities, and I feel that the best humor comics, in their twisted, clownish way, boldly get to life’s truths, and freely put the lie to the false values traditionally sold by society . . . and “serious” comics.

I began my career in 1979 writing scripts for Harvey Comics, then illustrating for Marvel’s Crazy magazine.

Hugo, the star of my first independent comic book in

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1982, was around a long time before that. I began developing the character before I was a teenager in the early 1970s; he grew out of my lifetime love of the medieval “mystique.” As a youngster I was quite driven; I knew I wanted to tell stories with medieval animals. The narrative and graphic possibilities were heady to me, and I filled sketchbooks with experiments with a number of kings, knights, princesses, and scullery maids before arriving at the cast of characters in its present state. The

cast development proved to be very organic, with each character being originated to fill a need and then growing . . . like a human being. King Adolph, for instance, began life as a typical corpulent Beginnings: cartoon king; becoming more frank about allowing my life to Richie Rich Dollars & Cents “He Loves Me influence my art, Adolph changed into a frank caricature of my Not” script (1978) alcoholic father. As the character developed, he has become more Milestones: complex and human. He started life as a plainly functional caricature Illustrator-cartoonist for The Village Voice, of authority and has blossomed into being his own presence, as Family Weekly, Nickelodeon Magazine, communicative of my own thoughts as Hugo himself.

The Electric Company Magazine, National Lampoon, Heavy Metal, and others / Hugo / My chosen inspirations were numerous and some seemingly Midnite the Rebel Skunk / Mighty Mouse / unrelated, but most obvious and lasting were the influence of Slug ’n’ Ginger / animation design for Cool World, Terrytoons (with their lively, springy animation, their lusty antiquarian The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat sensibilities, and, sometimes, their sexuality) and the 1940s “funny animal” comic books (then called “animation” comics) Works in Progress: Graphic Classics / drawn by some people who played a part in the making of those serigraphs prints for films. Chief among them, in comics like Giggle and Cookie, was an Idavid Graficks ex-animation director named Dan Gordon, whose linework tended Cyberspace: to be somewhat heavy, as harsh and sarcastic as his characters. www.miltonknight.net Gordon’s comic work, although sometimes rushed and sometimes racist in the fashion of the day, inspired me with its comic honesty, and stood in the greatest contrast to the “accepted masters” of the genre (Barks, etc.) whose work was, to me, the palest shade of whitebread. Gordon and his New York peers seemed rebels to me, and I wanted to be one, too.

My epic dreams came true at Fantagraphics, and while their printing of the book was mostly satisfactory, and the distribution better than average, it was always clear that the most influential members of the staff had a problem regarding funny animal books.

“Why talking animals?” was a constant question, and I had no answer beyond their charm, elasticity, history (they were being used by storytellers centuries before comic books), and “camp” value. This was the first time I had experienced anyone having nervousness about a cartoon simply because it featured talking animals, and it soon became obvious that the publishers’ agenda was directed toward the more “realistic” (or, more accurately, less “fantastic”), confessional sensibility that they are now known for. It is hard for me to say where the Hugo series would have gone if I had continued at Fantagraphics, because the poverty I was experiencing and Fantagraphics’ laxness in promoting the book to make it more profitable made doing it a painful experience.

Looking back on the four initial Hugo books, I am pleased with their achievement, but certainly see them as achievements of an immature sort. At the time, I was impatient to convey the stories and gags; attention to rendering the art consequentially received short shrift. Many challenges I gave myself both in art and story were “solved” in too facile a manner. I was looking too much at comic books, and learning too many shortcuts from them. In addition, many of the visual interpretations of Trish seem especially gauche to me. But I was a horny kid. And, to the present day, that’s who comics tend to be for.

Also typical of a kid at this time was my lack of self-doubt. It was 1986, during the “boom” period for small black-and-white comics publishers, and I knew it was probable that I could improve my former working conditions elsewhere. I did, at least monetarily, with Blackthorne Publishing, an outrageous,

MILTON KNIGHT

© 2006 Milton Knight.

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glorified fly-by-night outfit that, in its bid for survival, was spewing out as much “product” as possible.

But they preferred that it be of a certain type, and Hugo was rejected by them. The publisher asked if I could create an “action-adventure” comic to compete in the “hot-hot-hot” Ninja Turtles arena.

Actually making a sojourn to a comic shop and buying some books to “research,” I wrote and drew a concept package for Midnite the Rebel Skunk over the next week. It was accepted, but I suspect that anything would have been.

I seem to have a gift in that I can be assigned any genre and, if allowed, find something to make it an enjoyable creative experience. Here was a new kind of challenge for me; I was none too wild about the

“Big City Blues.” Ginger plays wallflower at a New York loft party in this splash panel from a nine-page unpublished strip. Done as an exercise for the artist. © 2006 Milton Knight.

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“action-adventure” school of the time, and had to tailor it to my own tastes. In attempting to do so, life entered art once again. At the time, I was living in Brooklyn, still in poverty, getting treated lousily by my landlord and hanging with artists who were bringing me my first tastes of political semi-consciousness.

What better way to protest than to create a hero valid in deed as well as concept, who, instead of challenging a fabled, generic “evil,” battles the status quo known to us all? This is why Midnite proved to be an experience that liberated me even beyond Hugo. Consciously patterned on a mix of the considerable charms of singers Chaka Khan and Freda Payne, the character grew with experience, and I was in the process of shedding some of the more stereotypical trappings of the series (brainy friend, brawny friend) as her own presence developed. In the course of three issues, Midnite was becoming a (very) cult heroine, and I was fairly devastated when good ol’ Blackthorne made the decision to specialize in standard color super-hero books (which the company never survived to publish) and to throw all its B&W artists into the cold.

That ended my most concentrated period of bucking the independent comics system. It had been frustrating creating characters and starting series only having to stop them. There was little chance of “building” a book so that the royalty payment system employed by the publishers could be profitable, and their advance payments were abysmal. It was an amateur industry, a market for young artists with very few options, or those so bitten by the comic-book bug and so eager that they could withstand the abuse.

I had other options. Besides, 1987 was coming; the “boom” for black-and-white comics would soon end. It had been driven, artificially, by speculators looking to “invest” in “hot” books of the Ninja Turtles type; “funny animals” were okay again. This was regardless of any book’s content, and, while these conditions made (money-hungry) publishers open to a wider variety of material, few books were done with any degree of sincerity.

Little was produced that would serve to reinforce the artistic worth of humor comics. The publishers, still unwilling to put a genuine “media push” behind the genre, found it easy to drop it almost entirely when the “boom” turned out to be a falsehood. “These things don’t sell” became the common line again.

I still did comic-book work when it came to me: Labor on Marvel’s late ’80s incarnation of Mighty Mouse paid a lot better than the independents, but was typical of the publisher’s policy in that I was restricted to penciling, and in that the book was so doggedly devoted to parodying “serious” comics that I wasn’t even aware of the sources of humor. It was the kind of work I do to finance the work I really enjoy.

Comic books was only one thing I was doing in order to survive. Record covers, greeting cards, and magazine illustrations were also part of my schedule, as well as a variety of comic strips for said magazines.

Heavy Metal was always nervous about carrying my humorous material, but bought three strips during the ’80s. I was a contributing artist at High Times during the same period; and did many strips for “adult” (read: porno) periodicals. Carrying cartoons

and other “legit” material was still a custom for them, and my most ubiquitous series, Slug ’n’ Ginger, was appearing regularly in Screw and other magazines. “Sex” humor to me has always been “psychological” humor as well, and this was (comparatively) good-paying work I always enjoyed, with very minimal editorial influence.

Work on the color Ninja Turtles came in the early ’90s, and its saving grace was that the creators did not have a Marvel complex. The freedom and money were great. It was fun work but minor; simply financial.

By this point, I had moved to LA and work in animation had supplanted my work in comic books.

The latter market was changing, and it now bears little resemblance to the forum I enjoyed years ago. It caters solely to “comics readers.” The publishers, in their unintelligent effort to please those readers and to print

King Adolph is drunk again in this set of unpublished panels from what was to be the third issue of Hugo (third series) from MU Press (2003). © 2006 Milton Knight.

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what “sells,” have severely limited their fare, losing the larger market of “regular folks” not so devoted to these clichés. The clumsy efforts to “mature” and “reinvent” comics have resulted in a lot of pretentious, navel-gazing product pleasing connoisseurs of the medium and boring the rest of the public. Comic books have shrunken in importance to a point of being at best an ill-defined presence, at worst a total joke, to the non-devotees or lifestylers. Comic books, and not just the independent ones, are going the way of the poetry journal: An edition of 1500 is something to be thankful for, 5000 to be celebrated. And all of this has happened under the current policy to print only what “sells” or seems to be a potential movie deal.

I do still make occasional returns to the comics medium. At its editor’s request, my most recent contribution to Eureka Productions’ series, Graphic Classics, was a revival of the Hugo characters, in an adaptation of a Rafael Sabatini story. While drawing Hugo is proving to be a lifetime (if not a fulltime) job, I have little reason to believe that Hugo or Midnite could find a place with today’s independent comics publishers. I do believe there is still a public that would readily buy humor or “funny animal” books for entertainment, but the people behind the scenes, even as they rely on reprints of classic humor comics to survive, cannot entertain the thought of nurturing new ones.

On my most recent (early 2000s) junket to see what the market would bear, I faced several editors who would wring their hands, tug at their collars, and say “I like this, but. . .”

Time was when their liking a comic was enough reason to give it a try.

I see comics, as well as all popular media, as currently lost in a land of “How Much is that Doggie in the Window?” sterility. Time to throw some R&B frivolity into the mix!

(above) Initial splash page for Midnite #1, unused because Knight did it at his preferred larger size (about 13" x 19") before learning that publisher Blackthorne expected a standard size of about 10" x 15". The original was then given to a friend, from whom it was recently stolen. Bevare! © 2006 Milton Knight.

Special thanks to Jerry Boyd for his assistance with this article.

Milton Knight does commissions at very reasonable prices of any and all subject matters. He can be reached by e-mail at miltonknight@earthlink.net. Check out more of his artwork, interviews, etc. at his website: www.miltonknight.net.

Midnite goes to work on the government (Mayor Krudd) in this drawing for the (unpublished) fifth issue of Midnite the Rebel Skunk (1987). © 2006 Milton Knight.

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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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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics.

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Marvel’s Toy Story: ’s Sal Buscema and

Interview

by

Dan Johnson

13, 2005 conducted December

’ Jackson Guice Attempting to spin off a successful comic-book series from any line of toys is never child’s play. Still, Marvel Comics managed to do quite well with two titles, Rom: Spaceknight (which ran 75 issues from 1979–1986, with four Annuals) and The Micronauts (which originally enjoyed a 59-issue run from 1979–1984, with various continuations in later years).

Recently BACK ISSUE sat down with two of the men who helped make these books wildly popular with comics fans: Sal Buscema, the artist who lent a hand in giving Rom a proper launch, and Jackson “Butch” Guice, the artist who came on board in time to help bring the original adventures of the Micronauts to a conclusion.

—Dan Johnson DAN JOHNSON: Tell our readers how you each came to work on your respective books.

JACKSON GUICE: Actually, Micronauts is my first credited work in the industry. Ironically enough, a year prior to that, I had ghosted a chapter on Rom Annual #1 for Pat Broderick. Both were breaking points for me getting into comics. I had been doing a little bit of fanzine work, and at the time I was designing patches and emblems for a small company in North Carolina.

[One day] I came home from work and there was a phone call from Al Milgrom. I guess Bill Mantlo, who had written the Rom Annual, had seen some of my

And you thought The Graduate’s Dustin Hoffman knew how to bust up a wedding . . .

Page 19 of Rom #15, penciled and inked

by Sal Buscema. From the collection of Michael Romanenko.

Rom TM & © Parker Brothers.

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Beginnings:

Beginnings:

Inker on 10-page Gunhawk story

Penciler on Micronauts #48

Milestones:

Milestones:

Works in Progress:

Works in Progress:

ctor / Micronauts / New Mutants / X-Fa on Flash / Doctor Strange / Badger/ Acti X-O / rior War nal Comics / Eter s of Manowar / Resurrection Man / Bird d sifie Clas JLA / Prey / Ruse

The Avengers / Sub-Mariner / Captain America / The Incredible Hulk / The Defenders / Rom / Iron Man / The Amazing Spider-Man / Peter Park er: The Spectacular Spider-Man / Fantastic Four

ng Artist for various Humanoid Publishi / ket) Mar an ope projects (Eur Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis

Inker for Spider-Girl / Artist for The Official Handbook of the Marvel Univ erse covers

Cyberspace:

Cyberspace:

theartistschoice.com/guice.htm

Spider-Girl message board at comicsboards.com

JACKSON “BUTCH” GUICE

SAL BUSCEMA fanzine work as well, asked Al to track me down. When I spoke with Al, he told me there was an opening on Micronauts and they were going to try out several different artists over the course of the next three or four issues and he asked if I would be interested in doing one. I jumped at the chance and immediately went out roller skating that night, fell and broke the elbow on my drawing arm. Thankfully when they put the cast on, they had the arm bent, so it was more a case of drawing from the shoulder. It was quite a baptism of fire to start off my career.

SAL BUSCEMA: It just shows you what us comic-book guys are capable of.

JOHNSON: How about you, Sal? Tell us how you started on Rom. BUSCEMA: The reason I started doing Rom from issue number one was because no one else wanted to do it. Several other people were asked to illustrate the book and they didn’t want to because they didn’t think it was going to fly. As a matter of fact, the Rom action figure was given the nickname “the Toaster.” Everybody thought he looked like a human toaster. I took on the book and it turned out to be reasonably successful, but the toy bombed completely. The toy was gone after one year, but I we did the book for five years.

JOHNSON: Rom and Micronauts both managed to outlive the toy lines that spawned them. Indeed, there are comics fans today who aren’t even aware of the toys. I read that Bill Mantlo, who wrote both books, had seen the promotional video that had been presented to Marvel about Rom. This was the same video that had been used to promote the toy line at various toy fairs. I was wondering, did you gentlemen ever get any feedback from the toy companies about your work on the comics?

BUSCEMA: I didn’t get any feedback. The only thing I got from Parker Brothers was a Rom action figure. My children were very young at the time and they were thrilled with it. I thought it was kind of silly myself because it really didn’t do anything. That was about the extent of my involvement with the parent company.

JOHNSON: As I recall, Rom was Parker Brothers’ only attempt to put out an action figure.

BUSCEMA: Probably. They should have stuck to board games. I did admire them for going to Marvel and saying, “Hey, we would like to do a comic based on this character. What can you do for us?” Marvel came up with a very interesting concept and it was a fun book to do.

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Micronauts figures weren’t the only things available in toy stores in 1979— Whitman bundled three issues of Marvel’s Micronauts for toy-market sales.

Micronauts TM & © Mego Corporation.

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JOHNSON: How about you, Butch? By the time you came onto Micronauts, the toy line may have already been history.

GUICE: Yeah, the toys had probably already bombed by the time I started on the book. I can’t recall ever having heard anything from the toy company itself, and by that time there wasn’t really any thought process towards connecting the comic to the toys. When I started on Micronauts, Bill was essentially wrapping up his run on it.

We spent the next ten or eleven issues wrapping up his stories and then the title was cancelled. We were one of the first three Marvel direct sales books and after it was cancelled, it was relaunched a year later with Peter Gillis writing it and Kelley Jones, who had inked my pencils on the book, was penciling it then. I know that Bill was pulling his whole storyline together, and he wanted the heroes to have a final showdown with Baron Karza, the main villain, and sort of pull the cast back together.

A killer Butch Guice splash page (inked by Danny Bulanadi) from his first Micronauts issue, #50. Courtesy of Mike Blanchard.

Micronauts TM & © Mego Corporation.

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JOHNSON: Speaking of Bill Mantlo, you each had the chance to work with him while on these books. What can you tell us about him?

BUSCEMA: Bill and I worked together fine. I thought Bill was a very talented writer. We did have a bit of a falling out at the end of my run on Rom. That was simply because of a misunderstanding between us. I think Bill wanted to exercise more control over the illustration part of the book, and if I prided myself on anything, it was that I was a good storyteller. I didn’t consider myself the greatest draftsman in the industry by any stretch of the imagination, and I felt I was competent, but my greatest strength was storytelling and we were butting heads too much. Bill was asking me to do things that I knew, in my experience, would not work. We were on the book for a long time, and I worked with Bill on other books, and I thought we had a very successful and amiable relationship. It was just at that particular time, for some unknown reason, that happened. I was getting tired of doing the book anyway, and I wanted to go on to other things, so it worked out well.

GUICE: My own experience [with Bill], just getting into the industry, it was the first time I had worked with a writer for any period of time. I had a great time working with Bill. In fact, after Micronauts was cancelled, we went on to do Swords of the Swashbucklers for Epic. Gradually, I left that title and then I don’t think Bill and I ever had the chance to work together again.

At one time, while I was at DC, he contacted me and he was briefly talking about wanting to get back into comics. That was after he had left the industry for a little while.

BUSCEMA: He studied law, didn’t he?

GUICE: Yeah, he went to law school and he became an attorney. He just called me up out of the blue one day and said that he missed comics and he was thinking about getting back into the business. We talked about some possible projects and it never really came together.

We didn’t get our heads together fast enough and I believe it was just a couple of months later that he had his accident. [Editor’s note: See Tony Isabella’s sidebar.]

BUSCEMA: Was it really?

GUICE: It was fairly close, right prior to his accident. As far as working with Bill, I do remember giving him a hard time about [some of the plots I was] getting, via the Marvel method of plotting which was still popular at the time. As a new artist, I was somewhat taken aback the first time I got a plot that said, “Pages 5 through 15, the Micronauts fight.”

BUSCEMA: I can see where that could be a little disconcerting for someone that’s just breaking into the business. You really feel like you need a little bit of guidance. It was no problem for me because I had been working like that for so many years. If you think that was bad, you should have experienced what Stan Lee would give you.

GUICE: Oh? BUSCEMA: Stan would call you up on the phone and say, “This terrible super-villain is trying to take over the country and Captain America beats him.”

And that was what you got! So, essentially, you told the story! But you know, it worked. Personally speaking, I think it was a marvelous concept because it gave us so much freedom to flesh things out as we saw fit.

JOHNSON: Given that you were working under the Marvel method, what influences do you think you each brought to your book? What is there in Rom and Micronauts that you can point to and say, “That’s what I brought to the table”?

BUSCEMA: Oh, wow . . . Jackson, you want to tackle this one? Let me pass the buck along to you.

GUICE: If anything, I was striving to get back towards that sense of fun that the book had when it first launched. I remember when it initially came out, and Michael Golden was doing the artwork, and there was a lot of energy in the book. After Michael left, and as the book continued along, it got a little more darker, a little more serious, and even though we were wrapping up the story at the end with all these fights, I did try to bring back some of the fun. There was one issue in particular that we worked on where we took the entire Micronauts gang to our version of the Kirby Prison Planet from the Fantastic Four run. [We had the Micronauts] dressed in pinstripe suits and hats and I was drawing some of these characters like Bug as gangsters, and we had these other creatures running around, so I got to do an Edward G. Robinson type and a James Cagney type. It was funny, and that was what I was aiming for. That and I was just trying to figure out how to do the job properly.

Both Bill and Al were a lot of help in those early days. Every time I would mess up some storytelling sequence, they would call me on it [and tell what I could do to make it right]. [Previously,] I had never really had to draw for anybody other than myself, so you fall into certain bad habits early on. When you’re actually in the industry, you start to realize that there is a lot more to this storytelling thing than just sticking something in the panel.

BUSCEMA: Oh, absolutely. If I may relate a quick anecdote to emphasize that point, Jackson, up until just a few years ago, I would have a weekly lunch with some very good friends of mine who were in the art business. I was a commercial illustrator for 15 years before I got into comics and these gentlemen were from that period of my career, and they were very gifted guys. One day, one of them told me, “Sal, I’ve just been asked by a client to do a comic book. Could you give me a couple of your books so I can see how you go about storytelling?” I brought him a couple of Spectacular Spider-Mans I had done and about two or three weeks later, at this weekly lunch that we had, he gave me the books back and said he had dropped the project. I asked him why, and he said, “I can’t do this stuff! I’m okay when I have to do an

This 1979 Marvel Comics ad heralded the coming of Rom. Rom TM & © Parker Brothers.

A 1982 watercolor illo of Princess Mari, aka Marionette, by Butch Guice. From the Mitch Wilson collection.

Art © 2006 Jackson Guice.

Micronauts TM & © Mego Corporation.

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Rom #9’s splash page,

illustration for an ad, but this is just unbelievably difficult! I’m drawing panel after panel and it’s all crap!”

I just shrugged and said, “I’m sorry you lost the job.”

He said, “No, [I didn’t lose it,] I gave it up. I spent so much time on it, I lost my shirt on it!” This was a guy with 35 or 40 years’ worth of experience as a commercial illustrator, but he could not tell a comicbook story. I think it renewed his respect for the business, if he ever had any respect for comics. I don’t know if you would agree with this, Jackson, but there was a time when we comic-book artists were really looked down upon by the rest of the commercial art industry— GUICE: Oh, yeah. Yes. BUSCEMA: —with this I sort of inwardly smiled because I used to get a lot of ribbing that I was a comic-book guy and that wasn’t [looked upon as being] serious. When he revealed that he was unable to tell this story, I felt kind of good about it.

GUICE: There is so much that goes on than just the choice of the shot and the decisions that you have to make as an artist. It is really hard to sit down and just explain in brief to anyone [what all goes into this

courtesy of Joshua Mossing, and that issue’s page 12, courtesy of Mike Burkey (www.romitaman.com).

Rom TM & © Parker Brothers.

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task]. The more you learn about it, the more you realize how much more there is left to learn, and how difficult it is and [you understand] just what a genius someone like Jack Kirby was.

BUSCEMA: Dan, to answer your question about what I may or may not have brought to Rom, I have a theater background. Over the past 20 years, I have done a lot of community theater and my wife tells me I’m a natural born ham. That really was a big help to me in all the books I did, but in particular Rom because of the fact that the character had no facial expressions.

Everything you do [with Rom] is body language, and the theater experience was a big help for me.

JOHNSON: Well, I have always thought that being a comic-book artist meant you had to wear many hats, especially if you worked under the Marvel method. You had to not only be an illustrator, but you had to know how to be a writer, a director, and an editor. It’s not just about drawing pretty pictures.

BUSCEMA: That was one of the disagreements Bill Mantlo and I had. He revealed to me that his feeling was, relating this to movies, he was the director and

I was the cinematographer. I very simply told him, “No, Bill, you’re the writer and I’m the illustrator.” We used to butt heads about that for quite a period of time.

GUICE: I think that argument’s still going on in comics.

JOHNSON: Comic books are a visual medium, and I think that most times it pays for the writer to defer to the artist. I think that nine times out of ten, a good artist will know how to approach telling the story.

BUSCEMA: I agree with that completely, but I also feel that it is the illustrator’s responsibility, especially if he happens to be working with a good writer, which certainly Bill Mantlo was, to give the writer what he wants. I have heard stories about artists saying [about their writers], “I don’t like his concept on this particular scene here, so I’m going to do it my way.” Even if I disagreed with [certain ideas], I figured I would give it my best shot to do it the way the writer wanted it done. It was just a matter of me getting into it, and trying to put my prejudices aside and trying to do it the way the writer conceived it.

JOHNSON: Butch, what Sal described in regard to working with Bill, did you ever get that feeling while you were on Micronauts?

GUICE: Actually, no. I don’t think I ever had the movie analogy put forth to me while I was working with Bill. To be honest, I was still green. If he had, I probably would have done a lot of nodding and tried to understand the point he was trying to make. I found in the first year or two in the industry that one of the things I really had to get a grasp of is that there is a lot of shorthand talk within the industry. We, as writers and artists, start tossing out little phrases here and there, and we use a lot of film terms. I was always quick to ask questions if I didn’t understand [what was being asked of me], and I would give it my best shot. If I felt I still wasn’t on the mark, I would Rom TM & © Parker Brothers. pester the writer with questions until I did understand.

BUSCEMA: When you follow that rule, when you try to inject The Spaceknight was a card-carrying denizen of the Marvel that into your work, that is what gives books so much energy Universe, as issue #14’s splash, with the Mad Thinker and his and what makes them so dynamic. This is what is marvelous Awesome Android, reminds us. Original art drawn and autographed about the Marvel method of illustrating a comic book and

by Sal Buscema. From the collection of Rick Shurgin. leaving so much up to the artist. It just worked so beautifully.

Rom TM & © Parker Brothers Mad Thinker and Awesome Android © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc. When writers were working with guys like Jack Kirby, John Buscema, and John Romita, and people of that caliber, you just want to give them their head and say, “Here, just do it and have fun and make it dynamic and powerful and enjoy yourself.”

For me, the results spoke for themselves.

JOHNSON: Butch, I wanted to ask you about Marvel’s decision to make Micronauts one of their first three direct sales market books. What was it about the comic that made Marvel think it would do well for them in that outlet?

GUICE: It was somewhat removed from the Marvel Universe, so they might have been more comfortable moving it to direct sales. If it didn’t do well, they didn’t have other titles tied into it. It was pretty much sink or swim on its own. Everyone was watching it and the other direct sales books to see what was going to happen and it was this whole new world [that was opening up]. It’s hard to think of it now when the Diamond catalog comes in and it’s the size of a phone book every month, but back then you didn’t run off to your comic shop [for your books]. I had never been to a comic shop at that time, you went to the newsstand to buy your comics.

JOHNSON: Sal, we’ve discussed why you left Rom. Butch, what prompted you to leave Micronauts when Bill did?

GUICE: Well, [the series’ end] was set in place and in talking with Bill I knew he had a definite ending in mind, and he had already worked it out with Marvel that he would ride this

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story out up to a certain point and that would wrap up his run. In theory, I probably could have switched over to another Marvel title somewhere at that point, but the book was definitely ending. Bill and I, as we were wrapping the run up, started talking about pirates one day on the phone. Bill was very quick with the ideas and sometimes all it took was a word. I think I said the word “swashbuckler” at some point and the next day I got back a three or four page outline for Swords of the Swashbucklers.

We quickly hammered out the idea for the Swashbucklers comic and pitched it to Archie Goodwin at Epic. That series was gearing up right at the same time [Micronauts was ending], and that was exciting to explore that new series.

JOHNSON: We’ve mentioned that these comics long outlasted the toy lines that inspired them. I wanted to get your thoughts on why the comics endured while the toys didn’t.

Guice’s original art for a 1983 Micronauts promotional poster.

Courtesy of Heritage Comics.

Micronauts TM & © Mego Corporation.

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BUSCEMA: In the case of Rom, the story they developed around him was very well conceived and I think that was why the book was met with a certain amount of success. Aside from being a big, powerful super-hero, [Rom] was also a very sympathetic character, and you had this kind of dichotomy there and it worked very well. With the toy, it did nothing. Once a couple of lights blinked, and the batteries wore out, it was just a hunk of plastic. It was the beginning of the era of action-figure heroes, and Parker Brothers’ contribution was just not that well conceived.

JOHNSON: This was around the time that the original Star Wars toys were selling like hotcakes, and everyone was trying to cash in. I heard that Mego, the company that put out the Micronauts line, had passed on the license to do Star Wars toys, and after that they never passed on anything offered to them for fear they would again be missing out on the next big thing.

GUICE: To be honest, I can’t recall ever seeing the Micronauts toys myself. The fact that the comic outlived the toys doesn’t surprise me. Like Sal was saying, there is so much more backstory you can build on with the fans and [let them] build some identification with. I liked the characters I was working with on the comic, and Michael Golden initially laid out a very solid, workable framework that you could keep straight while you were drawing them.

JOHNSON: Bill also created actual characters for Micronauts as well. The toys in the Micronauts line were rather generic.

GUICE: A lot of the motivation for these characters came from Bill early on. I’m sure he hammered out a lot of the history for each one of these different races and in that respect, Bill could have just run off and created The Micronauts without having to have had the toys. It just turned out they were the springboard that created a need for a comic book.

JOHNSON: Based on the background information that was given to Bill for the Rom toy, he wasn’t given a lot to work with there, either. In both cases, his ideas were just so much richer than the material the toy companies had cooked up.

To wrap up, both Rom and Micronauts are fondly remembered today by fans that grew up with them. These days do you encounter a lot of fans who bring these books up to be signed at shows?

BUSCEMA: I do frequently. I just did a show a couple of months ago in New York, and earlier in the year I did a Pittsburgh convention. At these conventions, I do very quick head sketches of

anybody that the fans want, and because of that, I really get a lot of input from fans about what I have done and Rom is mentioned more frequently than I could have imagined. With some people, it was a very popular book.

GUICE: It is the same with me. I’m always surprised when someone walks up to me at a convention and says, “I loved your Micronauts.” I look at them, and some of them couldn’t have even been born at the time I was doing the book, or Heaven forbid they look middle-aged and I think, “I can’t be that old!” But, yeah, Micronauts gets mentioned a lot and I get asked, “If Marvel started publishing Micronauts comics again, would you come back and work on it?” For people who remember it, it’s great nostalgia and I’m sure if I went back and drew Micronauts, I would enjoy it for a few issues, but I’m not sure it would meet with the fans expectations because I don’t draw like I did back then.

BUSCEMA: You’ve been there and done that. That’s essentially what it comes down to. I know exactly how you feel, Jackson.

Remembering Bill Mantlo © 2006 Tony Isabella.

If you were a Marvel Comics reader in the 1970s/1980s, you would’ve read dozens, nay, hundreds of stories by Bill Mantlo. He was one of Marvel’s most prolific writers, distinguishing himself as both the go-to-guy when fill-ins were needed and on series he made his own. When I was a Marvel editor, canny judge of talent that I was, I gave him his first writing assignments.

As a reader, I enjoyed his work on Rom, which outlasted the toy on which it was based by years, and Spectacular Spider-Man. Others might cite Alpha Flight, Champions, Incredible Hulk, Marvel Team-Up, or Micronauts.

Mantlo left comics in the late 1980s and started a second career as a lawyer, a public defender always eager to lend his abilities and time to help others. In 1992, Bill was struck by a hit-and-run driver and suffered a “closed-head traumatic brain injury” from which he has never recovered.

Aside from visits from family, he has no contact with the outside world.

Cards and letters of support for Bill are always welcomed by his family. These are read to him and he does appear to enjoy them. If you’re a fan of Bill’s or one of his industry pals, you can send cards and letters to: Bill Mantlo, c/o Michael Mantlo 425 Riverside Drive, Apt. 12-5 New York, NY 10025 A while back, I met Michael, Bill’s brother and legal guardian, for the first time. It was a real honor to meet him. His love for and devotion to his brother is inspiring. He is as much a hero as those Bill used to write about.

Bill’s birthday is November 9. That would be an excellent time to let him and his family know we still remember a good guy who wrote lots of swell comics.

From Stuart Neft’s collection comes this Butch Guice/Bob

– Tony Isabella TONY’S ONLINE TIPS www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony

Wiacek-drawn Micronauts 1983 convention sketch.

Art © 2006 Jackson Guice and Bob Wiacek. Micronauts TM & © Mego Corporation.

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Rom TM & © Parker Brothers.

Solid Gold(en) Micronauts helped make Michael Golden a star; this final page of 1979’s issue #2 (inked by Joe Rubinstein) is courtesy of Heritage Comics. Golden also illoed the cover to Rom #9; its original art comes to us via Mitch Wilson. And Michael Golden fans, take note—the talented man with the Golden drawing arm will be interviewed in BACK ISSUE very soon!

Micronauts TM & © Mego Corporation. Rom TM & © Parker Brothers.

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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?

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by

“Five Young Women, unbelievably strong and mesmerizingly beautiful, must defend the universe! Solara, child of the blazing sun! Starlily, gentle champion whose touch makes deserts blossom! Wonder Woman, Amazon Princess! Dolphin, denizen of the deep blue seas! Ice, ruler of frost and snow! Together they are . . . Wonder Woman and the Star Riders.”

So pronounced a catalog headline in 1993, when an exciting new line of toys was announced by Mattel. With DC Comics also creating mini-comics, and Warner prepping an animated special, Wonder Woman and the Star Riders appeared to be destined for success. But along the path to saving the universe, the Star Riders stumbled and fell, and Wonder Woman was forced to face the truth as the project was cancelled on every level. But history would not disappear, and like the shadows of DC’s multiple Earths, neither would this Greatest Story Never Told.

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(left and below) José Luis GarcíaLópez’s roughs for presentation art. © 2006 DC Comics.

THE TOYS The origins of the Star Riders project (hereafter referred to as WWSR) are unclear even to some participants, but accounts seem to indicate that DC President Jenette Kahn approached Mattel about doing a girls’ line of dolls based on the DC heroines. A set of presentation art was completed, through DC editor Joe Orlando’s “Special Projects” division. Colorist Rick Taylor recalls, “Jim McCaan or Janice Walker called me to color some super-heroine drawings that one of Joe’s students had done. I remember being asked to color drawings of Dr. Light, Arisia (the Green Lantern), the Bumblebee, and a few others, overnight.”

The eventual group of characters would include Wonder Woman as its only familiar face and costume. Ice and Dolphin were substantially altered in appearance, and JLA member Fire’s name was changed to Solara so as not to teach little girls to “play with Fire.” Taylor notes that fifth teammate Starlily (sometimes StarLily and Star Lily), an African-American character, “was invented to add diversity, as none of the DC AfricanAmerican heroines resonated with the folks at Mattel.” Although Wonder Woman had her own cat villainess in Cheetah, a new cat-based villainess was created in Purrsia.

“Once the heroine lineup had been ‘cut’ to Wonder Woman, Dolphin, Starlily, Solara, Ice, and Purrsia, José Luis García-López did full pencils of each character,” Taylor says. “I was asked to ink, color, and make them presentation quality. I bought silver and gold markers and glitter, then inked the drawings, colored them and ‘finished’ them with glitter and metallic markers.”

García-López says, “I just adapted the dolls’ photos I got from licensing to a drawing style suited for young girls. My bet is that the dolls were designed at Mattel, because if they came from

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DC, I’d be provided with sketches and other art related to the project. I did the six characters, sketch, pencil, and ink, each one as a pin-up, and then the pencils for the mini-comic. Besides that, I did an illustration as a poster-like presentation of the characters. The only thing I saw published was the poster, [which is a] very common practice in licensing; most of the time you don’t see the final product.”

As Mattel continued work on the prototype dolls of the characters, they had one other heroine in mind. “I know for a fact Supergirl was discussed and developed,” Taylor says, providing BACK ISSUE readers with photographic proof of the strangely dressed Maid of Steel. “It was decided she would be a ‘year two’ figure. I think the overall costume alteration [for the characters] was to make their bodies a little more ‘covered up.’ I get the impression Mattel was a little more than turned off at the wardrobe size of the average DC heroine.”

In all, the WWSR heroines went through three prototype versions before final designs were chosen. Those dolls were then photographed for catalog usage, as the February 1993 Toy Fair was looming, and Mattel wanted the line to get a huge splash. In addition to multi-page advertising (featuring a double-page García-López spread colored by Tom McCraw) in toy-retailing magazines, Mattel produced a variety of materials.

Among them: A whopping ten pages of the official Mattel 1993 catalogue, including a two-page comic story by García-López; A color double-sided sales card, also featuring the García-López art; A 12-page brochure with a pop-up centerfold, each page featuring García-López art of the characters colored by Rick Taylor. The back of the brochure featured the lyrics to the WWSR theme song by composer John Dorff and lyricist John Bettis; and An invitation to a special showroom viewing of the toys, featuring the García-López art again, plus a special “Intergalactic Tours Boarding Pass,” which led to a special surprise . . .

The Boarding Pass admitted attendees to a special display in Mattel’s showroom set up as a spaceship set, complete with lights and sound. On a monitor, they saw a message from Wonder Woman (a live actress), which was interrupted by the evil villainess Purrsia (another actress). The line of dolls was then introduced with early CGI animation.

As for the dolls shown, each doll came with a special belt-jewel that focused their powers; the belt could be removed and used as a child’s ring. The dolls were jointed at the shoulders, legs, waist, and neck. The dolls featured painted and cloth costumes and lengthy rooted hair. Mini-comics were intended to be included with each doll. There were five heroines, one villainess, three animals, and a playset offered. They were: Wonder Woman, who came with a cape and a magic “wonder wand”; Ice, who froze her enemies with a magical “ice sceptre” that had a ringing sound; Dolphin, who championed the oceans and came with a “bubble wand”; Starlily, who protected plants and trees and was a scented figure with a pop-out backpack; Solara, who protected the sun and who could shine light from a jewel in her torso; Purrsia, the villainess, who came with five detachable jewels and a glittery mask; Glorious García-López pinups of the WWSR cast. This page (top to bottom): Wonder Woman, Dolphin, and Purrsia; next page (top to bottom): Ice, Solara, and Starlily. © 2006 DC Comics.

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Nightshine, Wonder Woman’s flying unicorn (a slightly altered mold from SheRa, Princess of Power line’s Swiftwind); Cloudlancer, a winged horse (also altered Swiftwind); Pantha, Purrsia’s purple tiger (a reused mold from She-Ra’s Clawdeen); and The Starlight Castle, which was a playset and home base for the Star Riders, and which came with glow-in-the-dark star stickers.

About the toy line, Jenette Kahn promised, “Wonder Woman and the Star Riders is the only property that sends an important message directly to girls. Each character uses her powers to be the best person she can be. Together, the Star Riders use their powers to make the world the best place it can be.” Jill Barad, the President of Mattel Toys, was only slightly less operatic in her praise. “This toy line offer new, powerful role models for girls . . . Wonder Woman and the Star Riders will continue Mattel’s tradition of providing positive and empowering toys.” [Shockingly, it would be years before the empowering “Math is hard” Barbie was developed.]

An article in the Wall Street Journal on February 5, 2003 spotlighted the toy line. It noted that “Mattel Inc. will try to bridge the gender gap with an ‘action doll’ for girls . . . It’s an unusual venture ‘into a rather untested category that has traditionally appealed to boys,’ says Jill Krutick, an analyst for Salomon Brothers Inc. Unrelated to the Wonder Woman TV show of a few years ago, Mattel’s action dolls freeze opponents in bubbles and stun them with sprays of sweet scents. A Mattel spokeswoman adds that the new Wonder Woman super heroine will be nonviolent and have lots of hair to comb.”

Apparently, nothing says excitement for girls like nonviolence and lots of hair to comb.

THE COMICS The packaging for each of the dolls was supposed to include mini-comics for each character, a “pack-in” made popular by the Super Powers and He-Man toy lines. The job for creating those comics fell to DC’s Special Projects division again. Laura Hitchcock was one of the editors who oversaw the project, and she called upon some industry veterans who got a good paycheck drawing the simplified tiny comics.

Of the comics, few specifics are known. It’s possible that Louise Simonson wrote some of them, but though she recalls working on the project in some fashion, Simonson doesn’t recall many details. Mike Vosburg and Steve Mitchell illustrated the 12-page Starlily comic. Ron

Says Rick Taylor of this Cinnamon Mini Buns mini-comic: “The Kellogg’s books were done with vegetable inks and glued, not stapled, so if kids ate them they wouldn’t choke on the staples or die from the ink poisoning.” © 2006 DC Comics.

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Randall and Karl Kesel illustrated another. Rick Taylor colored two of the comics (Wonder Woman and Starlily), and did the “press check/OK” at the printing plant in Delaware, where the comics were printed.

One mini-comic was released far ahead of the toy line. In 1993, a 11⁄ 4 " x 4 1⁄ 4 " mini-comic of WWSR was packed in as part of a special promotion with Kellogg’s Cinnamon Mini Buns cereal. The comic was promoted on the back and side of the box, alongside books for Superman, Justice League (oddly, featuring the traditionally garbed Wonder Woman as a cover character), and Flash.

The 16-page story established the basics behind the WWSR toy line, and was drawn by José Luis García-López and colored by Rick Taylor (Taylor also colored Kellogg’s Justice League comic).

Although all of the comics were produced, it’s unknown how many were printed, outside of the Mini Buns comic. Taylor notes that he does own a printed Wonder Woman comic that would have come with that figure had they been released.

“They seemed to have needed those early. What happened to all the others I don’t know.”

A Mattel catalogue spread revealing the Star Riders dolls. © 2006 Mattel.

Characters © 2006 DC Comics.

Supergirl was planned as a “year two” addition to the toy line. © 2006 Mattel.

Supergirl © 2006 DC Comics.

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THE ANIMATION Even as the toy line and comics were being developed, work had begun in earnest at Warner Bros. animation for an animated WWSR television special, to debut in September alongside the toys. Producer Boyd Kirkland recalls that Louise Simonson had written a character “bible” for the toys. “I got involved with it as we were just kind of wrapping up the initial Batman: The Animated Series run,” Kirkland says. “This project, I guess, had been kind of kicking around the studio that had one or two other guys messing with it a little bit. And they brought it to me and asked me to produce and direct it.”

Kirkland brought aboard a past comic author, Marty Pasko, to work with him. “We had a big kind of pow-wow meeting at which Marty was involved with. And Marty started writing a story based on the premise that they had developed. I was working with him, coming up with the story, and in the meantime, started doing artwork, character designs and model sheets, all of which had to go through both DC and Mattel. And Mattel was really calling the shots, I mean to a large extent on all of this stuff, on how they want it to look, and that sort of thing, even to the point of color keying. Like most of these kinds of toy-motivated projects, they want stuff to look as much like their actual product as they can get, and colored the same way.”

Unhappy with Pasko’s script, Kirkland wrote his own. “I wrote another script, and showed it to all the powers that be on the project, and they decided to go with mine. And we went to production, had the whole thing all storyboarded and recorded, we cast it and shipped it overseas. It was being animated in Japan at Studio Junio, I think. I flew

over there to Tokyo and handed the show out, and it was in production over there for probably a good eight weeks or so. In the meantime, I think, from what I’ve heard, Mattel was out pitching the show at various toy shows.”

Like the toy line, the WWSR pilot was very girly.

“The whole toy line, and approach to the project, was to appeal to girls of a certain age group, which is why it incorporated things like flying ponies with the long manes and tails, and all centered around magic jewelry, emblems of jewels, and that sort of thing,” Kirland says. “So the girls would have that kind of stuff to play with. And there was a sort of a headquarters, like a floating castle in the sky. It was going to be a playset that these heroes operated from. So the Wonder Woman thing, essentially, was just kind of borrowing—from my perspective, at least—a well-known character and tacking her on to this whole scenario, and she was going to be leader of the group.

A page from the Mike Vosburg-drawn Starlily mini-comic. © 2006 DC Comics.

Wonder Woman’s new mode of transportation, and its completed version in animation form. (A kid-friendly show might have been the perfect place for an invisible plane, don’t you think?) © 2006 Warner Bros. Wonder Woman © 2006 DC Comics.

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Each of them had different powers and it was connected with a particular jewel. These were all, essentially, young, teenaged girls who needed a leader, and Wonder Woman became the leader of the group.

“It was going to look different. They came up with a specific look for her that was sort of reminiscent of the Wonder Woman, but it was different when she was functioning in this show.

She had a skirt on and had a little more pink in her costume than red. I ran out of variations of pink, color-keying this show. [laughs] That was all at Mattel’s request. You know, they’d done all the focus-group testing with the little girls and decided that pink was the color for a lot of this stuff.”

Ex-Disney artist Steve Gordon designed the show’s character sheets and models.

Kirkland notes that, “it’s very nice, a classic-looking kind of stuff.” The show itself was “either going to be released as a half-hour special on television and/or a directto-video release. So ideally, I think they would have done them both. They would have tried to get it on-air as a special, after-school special, or something like that, and then release it as a videotape.”

Boyd Kirkland’s 1994 presentation art for a proposed Wonder Woman animated series. © 2006 Warner Bros.

Wonder Woman © 2006 DC Comics.

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THE END OF THE LINE But in the midst of the excitement and work—on the toys, the comics, and the animation—Wonder Woman and the Star Riders fell prey to an enemy they couldn’t defeat with all the jewel-powers at their disposal: disinterest.

“I guess they were just getting kind of a lukewarm response from the retailers who were antsy about a female action-oriented kind of product,” Kirkland says. “I guess they had a lot of leftover inventory, or hadn’t had a good experience with She-Ra and some of the earlier attempts at this sort of thing.”

Rick Taylor notes that few people at DC Comics were sad to see the show end. “I remember what negative feedback the DCU [DC Universe] editors had about the project.

They thought it ‘made no sense’ and ‘didn’t fit the Wonder Woman they were selling.’ My feeling was that they were trying to cross She-Ra with Wonder Woman by way of Barbie. Since Mattel had the girls toy market all wrapped up, it seemed like they had a handle on it.”

Rather than disinterest in the toys, Taylor says that a more legal deathtrap killed the project.

“Ultimately it fell apart over who owned the animation. Whether the toys would have been successful remains to be seen. All I remember is how dead-set against it the DCU boys were and all I could think was ‘you don’t own Wonder Woman and what’s the worst that could happen, DC could make a fortune off this?’”

Kirkland notes that the animation on the WWSR Special was well underway when the axe fell. “[It] was practically all animated. They were about to the point, overseas, of starting to paint cels on the show. So they were within, probably, a month of production overseas, of having a finished show, when Mattel made the decision to not move ahead with the toy line and stopped the production. It was never shot. Overseas, they usually don’t go to the expense of shooting a pencil test of just the line art. They wait until the whole thing’s in color before they shoot it.”

The only actual color animation done for the WWSR show was a 30-second promo, which shows a caped Wonder Woman jumping off the top of the Starlight Palace and landing astride Nightshine, then flying off into the candy-colored clouds. The animation has been shown publicly only once, at a San Diego Comic-Con panel hosted by this author.

Since 1993, the prototype dolls have disappeared, but the molds used to make them were reused

by Mattel. Most directly, they showed up in 1995’s short-lived “Princess Tenko and the Guardians of Magic” toy line which featured six dolls and two animals, all of them outrageously dressed and featuring gemstone-oriented powers.

The doll molds were later used as part of the “Disney Princess” line as well.

The Cinnamon Mini Buns comic is highly sought after on eBay, and none of the other WWSR comics have ever surfaced, though private collectors own some of the original art.

Mattel has revisited Wonder Woman several times since the failed 1993 toy line, with three different versions of “Barbie as Wonder Woman,” and a half-dozen variant editions of the Wonder Woman figure in the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited action figure lines. And if no one at the company was aware of the irony, several of the variant JL editions feature Star Rider-like accouterments, from leggings to multicolored capes.

Over the decade following WWSR’s cancellation, Boyd Kirkland continued trying to get Wonder Woman into animation. He pitched a comics-faithful Wonder Woman to Kids’ WB three times in the late 1990s, but they “just always passed on it, never interested in it. But Jean McCurdy [head of WB animation] really wanted it to happen. I mean, she wanted a female action hero on the air for girls. The one that I was developing was more of just the

hardline, hardcore action-adventure-type approach.

A WWSR model sheet; It wasn’t completely the old Wonder Woman, it art by Steve Gordon. wasn’t completely George Pérez or even John Byrne. © 2006 Warner Bros. Characters © 2006 DC Comics.

I wanted to take it back a little bit, kind of like with Lynda Carter where she was powerful, and strong, and could jump long distances, and all of that, but couldn’t launch and fly like Superman.”

Kirkland is convinced that Wonder Woman herself can appeal to the masses again. “The logic is Special thanks to Rick Taylor, José Luis that it’s boys who García-López, Boyd Kirkland, and Louise watch this actionSimonson, plus Brian K. Morris for the Kirkland adventure stuff. transcription. Art courtesy of Taylor, GarcíaThey think that López, Kirkland, Sam Hatmaker, Eric Nolenboys who are in Weathington, and www.artworld.com. the age bracket that they’re trying to reach with Saturdaymorning programming . . . the feeling is that the boys wouldn’t be caught dead watching a girl character. [laughs] But I don’t think that philosophy is true, you know. If it’s done well, and if it’s done right . . . it’s good.”

So, could Wonder Woman and the Star Riders have been successful?

Most doubt that it would have had long-term appeal, but the world will never know. For now, fans at least can content themselves with this new knowledge shedding light on the strange and very colorful history behind this particular Greatest Story Never Told. © 2006 DC Comics.

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Tom “The Comics Savant” Stewart

The 9-Lives-In-One Super-Hero!

The Original Super-Hero Action Figure This Kurt Schaffenberger-drawn ad appeared in many DC titles in 1966. © 1966 Ideal Toys. All characters TM & © the respective copyright holders.

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Captain Action was the world’s coolest action figure, a comics lover’s dream of a figure that could change into Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Aquaman, the Phantom, the Lone Ranger (and Tonto, but you’d need two Caps to have the set!), Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Sgt. Fury, Steve Canyon, and the Green Hornet (whew!). Cap was Ideal Toys’ answer to G.I. Joe, and in fact, had the same guy behind him, an idea man named Stan Weston. It was Stan who first came to Hasbro’s Creative Director Don Levine in 1963 with the idea of an articulated soldier. Don and his Hasbro team took the concept and ran with it, making a huge splash in the toy pool with G.I. Joe. Merrill Hassenfeld offered Stan a choice: he could take a lump sum of $75,000 up front, or a 1% royalty on the Joe line. At this time, the life of the average toy line was only a few years, then it was off to the warehouses, basements, and attics of forgotten amusements. Weston thought $75,000 was an odd figure. $100,000? Done deal. Turns out, Stan missed out on millions.

Stan Weston took his settlement and started his own licensing company, representing DC Comics (then known as National Periodical Publications—sounded more “classy” without “comics” in the title), Marvel Comics, and King Features.

Weston’s company Leisure Concepts took the idea of a new 12-inch articulated action figure (not a doll, thank you) to Ideal Toys, which was looking for an answer to G.I. Joe. Stan proposed “Captain Magic,” a many-in-one hero that could adopt the guise of several characters (which, it just so happened to turn out, were represented by Leisure Concepts!). The name was changed to Captain Action (to point out the potential action inherent in the toy). The figure hit the market in 1966, part of a wave trying to get some of that “Joe” magic.

The figure itself had a rather sad and worried expression (looking a little like George H. W. Bush) and more detailed musculature than Joe. The original wave included Cap in his blue-and-black uniform, with a lightning sword and ray gun, and Superman, Batman, Lone Ranger (red shirt and black pants), Phantom, Flash Gordon, Captain America, Sgt. Fury, Steve Canyon, and Aquaman costumes (with assorted accessories), each sold separately. The next wave in 1967 added Buck Rogers, Green Hornet, and Tonto, with a blue-suited Lone Ranger variation (collect them all!).

(left) A page from DC’s Captain Action #5 (June-July 1969), written and penciled

by Gil Kane and inked by Wally Wood. © 1969 DC Comics.

Cap proved popular enough to come back the next year in an expanded line, this time with a sidekick, Action Boy, and a mortal enemy, the blue-skinned, exposed-brain, Chinese pajamawearing, bug-eyed alien Dr. Evil. Also he picked up sweet ride in the Silver Streak, a two-foot long amphibian car with missile launchers! Added to the line as well were several sets meant to be used by Captain Action in his, well, Captain Action identity: Cap got a four-foot working parachute, a jet mortar, a jet pack, weapons arsenal, and other accessories, plus a Chic Stonedrawn promo comic. This signaled an attempt by Ideal to focus on Cap as a hero in his own right, rather than a base figure for other heroes.

DC Comics also caught the wave, putting out five issues of Captain Action, by Jim Shooter, Gil Kane, and Wally Wood. Shooter named Cap’s secret identity “Clive Arno” (one of the more unusual alter-ego names) and dropped the many-in-one concept. It was a fun, well drawn and written book (Gil Kane was very proud of his work on it).

The toy line declined in sales in 1968, so Ideal shut it down. For only a two-and-a-halfyear run (not that bad in the world of toys),

© 1966 Ideal Toys. All characters TM & © the respective copyright holders.

Captain Action, Action Boy, and the evil Dr. Evil are among the most fondly remembered (and expensive, as contemporary collectibles!) boys’ toys of the 1960s.

Funny, though, you could still find the good Captain popping up all through the ’70s. The leftover uniforms and boots would turn up on cheap knockoff figures from China (where the original Cap was cast and assembled) and Ideal used the original body molds once again to rush a Star Wars-“inspired” toy to the market, the Knight of Darkness. Cap collectors bought the Knight figure (cast in black plastic) and used the hands to replace the often-missing hands of the vintage figures . . . and complained about what a rip-off the new figure was.

(George Lucas sued, BTW, but lost, because the Knight figure was made up of previously released parts.)

Captain Action was revived in 1998 by retro toy company Playing Mantis.

Captain Action as the Lone Ranger, Flash Gordon, Green Hornet, and (finally joining the line!) Kato hit the shelves as well as Dr. Evil, as, well, Dr. Evil (and Ming the Merciless). The line met lackluster sales, and a retooling had the costumes issued separately, along with a revived Action Boy (now called “Kid Action”) and the addition of retro long-box packaging. It made little difference. The second coming of Captain Action went in 2000.

The Captain marches on in this 2001 sketch by Steve Rude, courtesy of Jerry Boyd.

Art © 2006 Steve Rude. Captain Action TM & © 2006 Playing Mantis.

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Send your comments to: Email: euryman@msn.com (subject: BACK ISSUE) No attachm ents, please!

Postal mail: Michael Eury, Editor • BACK ISSUE 5060A Foothills Drive • Lake Oswego, OR 97034

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Dragon © 2006 Erik Larsen.

I have just read half of [BI #14] so far, but as always much to enjoy. Just two things: 1) I’m not sure why Mike Grell’s “The Alien Among Us” was called unpublished. It was actually published twice, in The Amazing World of DC Comics as captioned, but if that doesn’t count it was eventually printed in color in Weird War Tales #67 (Sept. 1978).

2) Secondly, the Legion was hardly an occasional backup feature in Action Comics after it was booted out of Adventure Comics.

It ran in every issue, from #377–392, without interruption. I suspect the “occasional” reference was intended for the Legion backups in Superboy, which were much more random, and the whole thing just got mixed up somewhere along the way.

I hate to only nitpick, but I have run out of ways to say how much I enjoy BACK ISSUE. And I can’t wait until the next issue with more José Luis García-López!

– Jim Van Dore

© 2006 Big Bang Comics. Savage

Thank you for the fine job on BACK ISSUE #14 (and every issue, actually; it’s probably my favorite comics-related magazine). Issue #14’s “Pro2Pro” feature with Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell, though was very special to me, as both of those artists drove me to wanting to become a comic artist many years ago thanks to their work on Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Years later, I realized my dream by working for publishers like AC Comics, NOW Comics, and Malibu Graphics. My most recent work though was published through Image Comics and Gary Carlson’s Big Bang Comics, which is a bit of an homage book to all sorts of periods of comic history. I was fortunate that Gary had a team of characters called the Pantheon of Heroes, which was, of course, and homage to the Legion. Gary and I both wanted me to draw the Dave Cockrum/Mike Grell period of that group, and Big Bang Comics #18 was the result of that. The story was a multi-parter featuring Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon crossing over with Big Bang Comics, and one of the chapters had the Dragon being flung into the future and meeting the Pantheon. I designed many of the characters for the group, in Dave Cockrum-mode, and had a ball doing it, too.

My biggest thrill from that issue though came with the cover. Gary Carlson got Dave Cockrum to actually draw the cover for that issue, and as a result Cockrum drew a few characters that I actually designed! What a thrill! So BACK ISSUE #14 was indeed special.

Now with that said, though, I have to play the anal-retentive Legion fan for a bit.

There was one point during the interview where Mike Grell said that he never changed any of Dave Cockrum’s costumes, and that’s not exactly true—oh sure, it’s been many years since this happened and both men have gone on to do so much, it’s an easily forgivable thing to forget, no doubt about that, but I still thought I’d bring it up. Back in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #215, the issue where Grell gave Cosmic Boy his infamous costume (I liked it, by the way), Grell also changed Colossal Boy’s costume to one that showed more skin; elements of Cockrum’s costume were still there, but essentially it was a new look for the character (Cockrum himself changed the character’s look twice during the run, the first time in Superboy #195 and then again in #198). Just thought I’d bring it up, and I could easily imagine both gentlemen saying “that’s a die-hard Legion fan for you.”

Again, thank you for the wonderful issue and my compliments to Philip Schweier for the great interview.

– Darren Goodhart

Nitpicking is allowed here, Jim, because it helps us keep the record straight. I just flat-out goofed on the “Alien” caption (as Michael Browning also pointed out), and your suspicion re the Legion backups is correct (although one might argue that the LSH backups in Action suffered from editorial and creative neglect, making the Cary Bates/Dave Cockrum “resuscitation” in Superboy all the sweeter).

– M.E.

BACK ISSUE #14 had some great art, and more of the interesting articles I’ve come to expect from your magazine. Bob McLeod’s “Rough Stuff” was a real highlight this issue, since often the roles of penciler/layouts person and inker can be unclear. I am familiar with Bob’s work, although I only recall him as a generally solid inker (didn’t mess up anyone’s work). I hadn’t really appreciated that he put so much work into inking. Seeing some of his work and the original pencils have given me a greater respect for inkers, especially in those days.

I’ve often wondered about the same thing with writers’ roles, titles like plotter, dialog, script, etc., and the writer/editor position some have held. Perhaps a future issue you could find some writers somewhere who could share their insights into who does what, and how they relate to each other and the editors, and their styles, and their opinions on being writer/editor on something. Is it good, bad, or not much different? How do they handle having the different roles on a story?

– Paul Green

Paul, that would make an excellent magazine—and it already is, TwoMorrows’ own WRITE NOW!, from Danny Fingeroth. And coming next month is our first BACK ISSUE spin-off, ROUGH STUFF #1. See the ad in this issue for more details.

It’s likely due to my comic appreciating age (heading towards my middle 40s), that I pick up copies of BACK ISSUE without consulting the contents page.

I do this because (a) BACK ISSUE is so well written and so well researched, I know there’s never going to be a duff issue, and (b) I find comic history enthralling, regardless of whether I have read the comics in question or admired their creators. I see so much that I missed that I find myself on eBay playing catch up.

And then, in the case of issue #14, BACK ISSUE touches a raw nerve: Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction.

I have always flipped through magazines, from cover to cover, before I start reading them.

But when I stumbled across the feature on UWOSF, my flipping stopped. I even went to my bookshelf and pulled down my professionally hardback-bound (that kind of says where this is going), complete run of UWOSF. I flipped to the first issue I ever brought, way back in the mid-’70s. That was issue #6, the last regular issue: Frank Brunner cover, and my first introduction to the underrated artist, Alex Nino, on Michael Moorcook’s “Behold the Man.” I tracked down every other issue in a matter of months, although the first issue eluded me.

But when I finally found that first issue, after plowing through a box of comics on a dealer’s table, I can still feel the pleasure of that discovery to this day. The genuine smile on my face not only startled the friend I was with at the time but I suspected I even made the dealer feel he was in a worthwhile career.

Even today, 31 years later, I wish UWOSF was still being published. I think about the SF authors that have come to prominence in those last three decades that it could have featured.

But spandex-toting super-heroes ruled the roost as much then as they do today. But, maybe, with genres like war and the Western encroaching (a welcome return) on the industry again there’s hope that a less moribund publisher will rise to the challenge and an SF anthology will return.

It would have to be in black-and-white and magazine-sized, though; not for nostalgic reasons, but because it worked! ’Nuff said! Thank you again.

– Steve Hooker

© TwoMorrows Publishi ng.

Just finished the newest BI; another enjoyable issue. The interview between Grell and Cockrum even made a concept always pretty uninteresting to me, the Legion of SuperHeroes, just the opposite. I’d love to see another Legion interview with Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen somewhere down the line.

Also, the article on Marvel’s Unknown Worlds of Sci-Fi was great; I know I wanna pick these issues up before prices start to rise. The Hex piece was good, if a little short (any chance of an all-Western issue?), and Bob McLeod’s comments in “Rough Stuff” were a great glimpse into the daily reality of being a comic-book inker.

–Rob Kelly A Levitz/Giffen Legion “Pro2Pro” is on our “to-do” list, as soon as schedules allow such an interview. An all-Western issue? Probably not, but we may examine other Western comics in future issues.

Next issue: Super Girls! With Supergirl, Tigra, Spider-Woman, Flare, Diana Prince Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, a female comics-pro roundtable, Saturday morning’s super-chicks, Batwoman, and a Bruce Timm color art gallery featuring gobs of gloriously rendered superheroines! See you in sixty!

– Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor

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SION S I M B U S INES GUIDEL 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

Advertise In BACK ISSUE! FULL-PAGE: 7.5" Wide x 10" Tall • $300 HALF-PAGE: 7.5" Wide x 4.875" Tall • $175 QUARTER-PAGE: 3.75" Wide x 4.875" Tall • $100 Prepay for two ads in Alter Ego, DRAW!, Write Now!, Back Issue, or any combination and save: TWO FULL-PAGE ADS: $500 ($100 savings) TWO HALF-PAGE ADS: $300 ($50 savings) TWO QUARTER-PAGE ADS: $175 ($25 savings) These rates are for black-&-white ads, supplied on-disk (TIF, EPS, or Quark Xpress files acceptable) or as cameraready art. Typesetting service available at 20% mark-up.

Due to our already low ad rates, no agency discounts apply.

Sorry, display ads not available for the Jack Kirby Collector.

Send ad copy and check/money order (US funds), Visa, or Mastercard to: TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 Phone: 919/449-0344 • FAX 919/449-0327 E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com

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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.

15

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

E

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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships May 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships June 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships July 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships August 2009

(80-page magazine) $6.95 US FINAL ISSUE! Ships February 2009 Diamond Order Code: DEC084398

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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships May 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Ships July 2009

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US Diamond Order Code: JAN094556 Ships March 2009

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 US Diamond Order Code: DEC084397 Ships February 2009

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 US Ships May 2009

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

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (120-page TPB with COLOR) $14.95 ISBN: 9781605490083 Diamond Order Code: SEP084305 Ships February 2009

by Eric Nolen-Weathington & Todd DeZago (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 97801605490137 Diamond Order Code: NOV084298 Ships March 2008

by Eric Nolen-Weathington (128-page trade paperback) $14.95 ISBN: 9781605490144 Diamond Order Code: JUL088519 Ships May 2008

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)

$50

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BACK ISSUE! (6 issues)

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$115

DRAW! (4 issues)

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ALTER EGO (12 issues) Six-issue subs are half-price!

$88

$120

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$210

$230

BRICKJOURNAL (4 issues)

$38

$48

$55

$78

$85

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!

SHIPPING COSTS: Order online for exact weight-based postage, or ADD $2 PER MAGAZINE OR DVD/$4 PER BOOK IN THE US for Media Mail shipping.

OUTSIDE THE US, PLEASE ORDER ONLINE TO CALCULATE YOUR EXACT POSTAGE COSTS & SAVE!

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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: AUG063714

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ROUGH STUFF #5

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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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: NOV073966

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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!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 Diamond Order Code: FEB084188

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

4-ISSUE SUBSCRIPTIONS: $26 US Postpaid by Media Mail ($36 First Class, $44 Canada, $60 Surface, $72 Airmail).

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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

BACK ISSUE #3

“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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BACK ISSUE #4

BACK ISSUE #5

BACK ISSUE #6

BACK ISSUE #7

BACK ISSUE #8

“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!

(100-page magazine) $5.95 Diamond Order Code: MAR042973

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BACK ISSUE #9

BACK ISSUE #10

BACK ISSUE #11

BACK ISSUE #12

BACK ISSUE #13

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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BACK ISSUE #14

BACK ISSUE #15

BACK ISSUE #16

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BACK ISSUE #18

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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“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!

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“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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NEW STUFF FROM TWOMORROWS!

ALTER EGO #85

WRITE NOW! #20

ROUGH STUFF #12

DRAW! #17

BRICKJOURNAL #5

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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(80-page magazine with COLOR) $6.95 US • (Digital Edition) $2.95 Diamond Order Code: DEC084377 Now shipping!

(80-page COLOR magazine) $8.95 US (Digital Edition) $3.95 Diamond Order Code: DEC084408 Now shipping!

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!

(84-page tabloid magazine) $9.95 US Diamond Order Code: DEC084397 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Now shipping!

COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR VOL. 7 Reprints KIRBY COLLECTOR #27-30 plus over 30 pieces of Kirby art never published!

(288-page trade paperback) $29.95 ISBN: 9781605490120 Now shipping!

GRAILPAGES

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.

(240-page trade paperback) $29.95 US ISBN: 9781605490090 Diamond Order Code: JAN088702 Now shipping!

(224-page trade paperback) $26.95 US ISBN: 9781893905788 Diamond Order Code: NOV068368 Now shipping!

Indispensable Edition

Go to www.twomorrows.com for FULL-COLOR downloadable PDF versions of our magazines for only $2.95! Subscribers to the print edition get the digital edition FREE, weeks before it hits stores!

2009 SUBSCRIPTION RATES:

Media Mail

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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JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR (4 issues)

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