Marvel Comics in the 1980s Preview by TwoMorrows Publishing

Marvel Comics in the 1980s:

An Issue by Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon by Pierre Comtois

TwoMorrows Publishing Raleigh, North Carolina

Contents Introduction

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Dark Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Creator Spotlights: Roy Thomas

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Gene Colan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Stan Lee

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Mike Zeck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Herb Trimpe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 John Buscema

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Don Heck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223

Key Marvel Moments: The New Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 The Wedding of Spidey and Mary Jane . . . . . . . . . . . . .187

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Author’s Note

never planned to write a Marvel Comics in the 1980s book. In fact, I never planned to write a Marvel Comics in the 1970s book either. Originally, all four phases of Marvel’s history (the Early Years, Years of Consolidation, Grandiose Years, and Twilight Years) were all supposed to be included in a single volume, but due to the exigencies of the publishing world, it was decided to split the book in two. All well and good...until the question from readers began to come in both to myself and my publisher asking if there was going to be a volume covering the 1980s (each decade, it seems, is someone’s favorite). When I replied to those queries that I’d not planned on writing such a book, the questions soon became demands, forcing me to actually give the idea serious thought. Right off, however, I knew that my approach to a Marvel Comics in the 1980s book would have to differ somewhat from the first two volumes. The problem was twofold: the number of titles released by Marvel in the Eighties was enormous when compared to past decades and unfortunately, much of it wasn’t very good. I say that with much reluctance as I realize art is subjective: what might be one person’s dross could be another’s favorite. In these volumes, I make no attempt to speak definitively for every reader but only myself. In doing so, however, I’ve tried to at least give what I hope are convincing arguments for my conclusions. That said, it was easy to be less critical in the Early Years and through the Grandiose Years and Years of Consolidation when almost all the work discussed was written by a handful of good writers and drawn by a few solid professionals under the direction of a single editor. It became less so in the 1970s when Marvel began to expand its line of comics and hired many new but often inexperienced writers and artists to pick up the slack. Luckily, many of those quickly developed into exciting creators in their own right. Others, unfortunately, became stuck in second gear. My philosophy

early on had been that if I couldn’t say anything nice about someone, I wouldn’t say anything at all. But as time went on and the project passed among different prospective publishers, I was asked to add to the entries to the Twilight Years in order to form a more complete picture of the era. As a result, I ended up including entries on books I didn’t feel measured up and was forced to be more critical about them than I’d preferred. In short, I ended by saying those not nice things that I’d tried to avoid. Which brings us to the 1980s, that I’ve attempted to separate from the 1970s as the earlier and later Twilight Years. When I began to write the earlier books, I’d never intended to cover the 1980s as I thought there just wouldn’t be enough quality material there to fill up a book (at least not if I wanted it to consist of issues from more than three or four titles). But in proceeding to write the entries, I was pleased to rediscover that there was much more to like about Marvel in those years than I remembered. However, the sheer amount of uninteresting material was still enough to stagger a reviewer with any idea of drawing a complete picture of the era. And so, in order to provide that balance, I arrived at the difficult decision to include far more of the product that I felt just did not measure up to the level of quality and even greatness of earlier years. That meant there would be more critical commentary in this volume than in previous ones and if some readers don’t like that, so be it. There is always room for more books analyzing the whys and wherefores of Marvel comics in every era and every opinion is equally valuable. In short, if you disagree with the opinions expressed in this and previous volumes, consider writing your own books making the case for the comics I didn’t care for. I’ll be the first in line to buy a copy! Pierre V. Comtois April 2014 The Dark Ages

Conan the Barbarian #114 “The Shadow of the Beast” Roy Thomas (script); John Buscema (pencils); Ernie Chan (inks) Was it only coincidence that the year 1980 marked the divide between the first and second halves of the Twilight Years? That was the year when Roy Thomas, longtime writer and former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, finally called it quits with his longtime employer. By then, Stan Lee had ceased being a dayto-day presence in the bullpen, and Thomas himself had moved 3,000 miles away to California after having given up the editor-in-chief’s chair to Len Wein back in 1974. Since then, the position had been passed along to a number of people before Archie Goodwin in 1978. But over the years, the position of editor-in-chief had become less distinct with a number of former holders granted semi-independence and designated as “writer/editors.” Such was the case with Thomas as the fateful year 1978 rolled around. “One day late in 1977 it suddenly occurred to me that Archie (Goodwin) had been editor-in-chief for a year and a half, and I just felt he wasn’t likely to stick around much longer,” recalled Thomas in an interview with Jim Amash. “Since they’d always promoted the next-in-line assistant editor to the editor-in-chief job, that meant Jim Shooter would be taking over.” For years, Thomas had enjoyed near independence as his own editor on books such as Conan the Barbarian. And why not? After being the sole guide of the battling Cimmerian’s career since 1970, both in the color comics and the black-and-white magazines, as well as being

The literary works of Conan creator Robert E. Howard provided an alternative to super-heroes and had propelled Marvel’s successful foray into outright fantasy through the 1970s. They would continue to do so, offering fertile ground for writers in the 1980s.

editor-in-chief himself, Thomas knew the character, as well as the rules of the game, better than anyone. But after colleagues, such as Marv Wolfman, who also enjoyed the status of writer/editor, were relieved of their privileges, Thomas became justifiably concerned about his own. For his part, Shooter was determined to bring every area of comics production under one roof and that was the roof over the bullpen at Marvel’s New York City headquarters. For years, the company had been too loosely led, resulting in many missed deadlines and haphazard production methods. As part of his mandate, Shooter felt he needed to consolidate all editorial responsibilities where he could properly oversee them. Unfortunately, there was a failure to communicate, culminating with Thomas feeling that Shooter had not lived up to a verbal assurance that he could continue as his own writer/editor; the upshot being that an angry Thomas immediately turned to rival DC Comics, signing an exclusive three-year contract with them. And so, after an association with Marvel Comics of 15 years and being responsible for writing any number of classic titles, inventing scores of characters, and developing whole lines of new titles, Thomas was gone. In some ways, however, his departure may have been for the best. After 114 issues of Conan the Barbarian and any number of issues of Savage Sword of Conan, even the stellar team of Thomas and John Buscema were growing somewhat stale. Take Conan the Barbarian #114 (Sept. 1980) for instance. Although the art team of Buscema and Ernie Chan was still on the job (the latter had been inking Buscema’s power-packed pencils since issue #26 and in the process helping to create some of the most beautiful swordand-sorcery comics ever), their work was definitely beginning to look tired. Buscema’s panels could still pack a wallop here and there, but as with most artists as the end of their career approached, his powers were beginning to wane. More was left to Chan to firm up, perhaps explaining the two men’s co-credit this issue as “illustrators” rather than penciler and inker. In many places, Buscema’s figure work took all too familiar poses and details were dropped from backgrounds, with Chan picking up the slack. For his part, Thomas too seemed to be mailing it in as the script (though apparently based on a short story by Conan creator Robert E. Howard) was solid but overly familiar to longtime readers. After so many issues, there were no new supernatural menaces with which to challenge Conan, so that this time, readers are left with only a big talking dog that walks on its hind legs like a man. As things turn out, the dog’s body has been inhabited by the spirit of an evil sorcerer (naturally!) who wants to keep Conan and his latest squeeze around for puppy chow. Naturally Conan handles the Introduction

Roy Thomas

hen Roy Thomas left Marvel in 1981, he signed a three-year contract with DC Comics for whom he scripted many different titles from Wonder Woman to Legion of Super-Heroes. But his greatest claim to fame, and the feature that was closest to his heart, was All-Star Squadron, where he was able to continue the adventures of the Golden Age characters he loved. Other strips he created for DC included Arak, Son of Thunder; Capt. Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew; and Infinity, Inc. At the same time, Thomas made various attempts to break into screenwriting, collaborating with Gerry Conway on the script for Conan the Destroyer starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. By the late ’80s, Thomas returned to Marvel for a time before doing work for other, independent publishers. Finally, in 1999, he revived his old fan magazine Alter Ego on a regular basis and has been editing it ever since. As the new century progressed, Thomas returned to regular comics from time to time penning such features as Dracula and new adventures of Conan and Red Sonja.

situation after a little bit of running around and all’s well that ends well. Yeah, it all looked and read well, but...there was nothing new here. Thomas’ final issue would be #115, promised as a double-sized edition but by this time, neither his nor Buscema’s hearts seemed to be in it. With Thomas’ departure, the Conan book would go on under other writers and other artists, but never again would it electrify readers as did those first few issues, or so thoroughly entertain as it continued to do through its 100th issue. Thomas’ leave-taking marked the end of an era, just as Stan Lee’s did in the previous decade. With the loss of talent that had produced or grown up reading Marvel comics of the Early to Grandiose Years, and who had produced their most memorable successors in the first half of the Twilight Years, there would be no institutional memory left in the bullpen to advise and perhaps halt the slide into the Dark Age to come. All of it formed an inauspicious beginning to Marvel Comics in the 1980s.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #14 Denny O’Neil (script); Frank Miller (pencils); Tom Palmer (inks) Now here’s something you don’t see every day: Frank Miller being inked by Tom Palmer! It was a once-in-alifetime pairing and if it had to happen, then what better place than Amazing Spider-Man Annual #14 (1980)? And what better artist to draw a 40-page blockbuster story starring Spider-Man and Dr. Strange than Frank Miller? Actually, at the time this book came out, Miller 10

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wasn’t such a strange choice to pencil it, as early in his career, elements of his art style were noted for their similarity in places to that of Steve Ditko, co-creator of this issue’s two stars. In fact, even after Miller’s name had become synonymous with Daredevil later in the decade, when it was announced at one point that he would be taking over the art chores on the Dr. Strange strip, fans sat up and took notice remembering the work he did here as well as Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15. In that case, all Miller ended up doing was a full-page ad heralding his imminent arrival on the Dr. Strange feature, something that didn’t end up happening. Still, the reason for the initial excitement can be traced back to this issue where Miller unabashedly channels the spirit of Ditko in a story ripped from the pages of the Book of the Vishanti! In it, Dr. Doom, sometime dabbler in the mystic arts, and Dormammu, ruler of the Dark Dimension, team-up to create the “bend sinister,” an interface between science and sorcery. Using a hapless dupe as their tool, the two masters of menace create a robotic thing that attacks Strange in his sanctum sanctorum, leaving him only enough time to summon Spidey for help before being captured. Then things really get weird as writer Denny O’Neil and Miller add a rock ’n’ roll group into the mix whose music is used to whip the inhabitants of New York into a frenzy. All that was needed to complete the spell and create the bend sinister was for Dr. Strange to be sacrificed; something Spidey manages to avoid at the last minute of course. Looked at too closely, the plot turned out to be rather

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #14, pages 16-17: Miller does Ditko... and how! Art on display in the spectacular upper panel almost makes the rest of the story superfluous! This is why fans stood up and took notice when Miller burst onto the scene as the ’70s became the ’80s.

simple with the attendant action filling out the majority of the pages, but what pages! Again and again, Miller comes through with incredible shots and vistas more than worthy of Ditko himself while not sacrificing his own style in the process. From its splash page done in the style of a medieval woodcut, to opening pages presaging Miller’s future work on DC’s Ronin as well as old issues of Strange Tales, this issue serves up pure eye candy for the comics connoisseur. Why, pages 8 and 9, panel 1 alone is worth the 75¢ price of admission! There, Miller perfectly captures the midnight moodiness of the early Ditko with a view from beneath a rain-soaked cornice looking over to Dr. Strange’s Bleeker Street residence with its distinctive Ditko designed skylight. Fast forward to pages 14 and 15 where Miller breaks the

pages down into nine-panel grids, a favorite of Ditko, and proceeds to give a tour of rain-swept cityscapes and a night-time rendezvous between Peter Parker and his date by way of angering Dean Jastrow. Cut to a doublepage spread across pages 16 and 17 with a spectacular action shot of Spider-Man in full-bore Ditkoesque style limned against a background of skyscrapers and lightning bolts! Whew! But there’s no rest for the stunned reader as the POV shifts to a series of panels at the bottom of the same two pages showing Spidey among rooftops suddenly infested with creeping gargoyles. Pages 18 and 19 is action all the way with inker Tom Palmer not shy at all in spotting blacks and laying down shadows that give weight to Miller’s figures that sometimes came off as a little light. The whole sequence ends in a nice coda on page 20 as a final panel shows Spider-Man catching his breath and posing with his hand, middle fingers bent inward in Ditko’s signature style. From there, Miller’s layouts become more his own with lots and lots of the long, narrow panels that he’d employ on much of his later work. The whole issue was a tour de force and a heck of a way to open the Twilight Years. It held the promise of more of the same great stuff that readers had The Dark Ages

gotten used to over the previous decade with no indication that it represented just the opposite, the last hurrah of the way traditional comics were produced and the opening act in the industry’s looming implosion. Fun Fact: Did you know that the rock band featured in this issue’s story was for real? It’s true! Apparently Shrapnel was a punk band of some kind. Their shtick circa early 1980s was to wear plastic helmets, dress in khaki uniforms, and combat boots à la American troops of the time and sing such questionable dirges as “Combat Love!” An advertisement whose art was provided by Miller himself (Hey, he initialed it!) urged readers to send $3 to “Salute Records” for a copy of their song.

X-Men #129 “God Spare the Child...” Chris Claremont (script); John Byrne (pencils); Terry Austin (inks) By X-Men #129 (Jan. 1980), it was obvious that Marvel had a hit on its hands. After being revived in 1975 as part of a wave of new team books that also included The Champions, Defenders, and Invaders, the new X-book had a slow start as a bi-monthly under writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum. At the time, the two tried to balance the book between breaking new ground with added members and Marvel Girl being changed to Phoenix, as well as bringing back old characters from the original series such as Magneto, the Sentinels, even the Eric the Red! No doubt some excitement had been generated with Claremont’s characterizations and art by Cockrum that was somewhat improved from earlier work at DC, but the real potential of the strip had never really been tapped. Something was holding it back; something that proved to be a more acute awareness of the title’s history and how to reintegrate that with a modern artistic sensibility that Cockrum’s stodgy work could not capture. Then lightning struck. The art chores on the X-Men suddenly opened up and John Byrne, who’d been busy putting in his bona fides on a zillion other books (including a team-up with Claremont on Iron Fist that served as a warm-up for the main course), jumped in. “I had begun making it known that if ever Dave left the book, I would love to take over the penciling,” Byrne said in an interview. With plans to increase the book’s frequency to monthly, it was found that Cockrum could not keep up with the new schedule so initially, it was Byrne’s speed that got him the job rather than any skill or familiarity with the characters. That soon changed, however, as the artist’s love for the original series came to the fore and invested his work. “There was something about the X-Men that spoke to me from the first issue,” said Byrne of his love affair with the characters. “I was already a die-hard 12

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Chugging along under writer Chris Claremont (left) and artist Dave Cockrum, it was only after the latter was replaced by John Byrne (right) that the X-Men really took off going from a successful relaunch to genuine pop culture phenomenon.

Marvel fan, but reading X-Men #1, the book was not yet called Uncanny X-Men, I was turned into a permanent addict.” Byrne’s affection for the characters was such that eventually, he couldn’t help but begin putting his two cents’ worth into the stories. Soon, his relationship with Claremont became more of a true partnership with the two often at odds over the direction the book should go. According to Byrne, because editor Roger Stern sided with him more often, he won most of those battles. Such an outcome ought not to have been a surprise, as both he and Stern shared an interest in Marvel history and continuity as their subsequent writings were to show. Likely then, stories during Byrne’s tenure on the book that brought back Angel and Beast and starred the likes of Sauron and the Savage Land, Magneto and Mesmero, the Sentinels, Alpha Flight, or Mastermind as featured this issue, came about due to his influence. Need more proof? After Byrne left the book, the wheels came off Claremont’s cart as the X-Men faced off against a succession of inappropriate menaces including Alienlike monsters, space pirates, and an army of sewerdwelling mutants while undergoing oddball transformations such as Storm turning into a punk rock princess, Prof. X leaving Earth to become the “consort” of a space queen, and marrying off Cyclops to an alternative/future timeline version of the presumed dead Marvel Girl. Ugh! If the X-franchise continued on its upward trajectory after all those missteps, it was likely due only to the huge boost given the X-Men by Byrne’s near classic turn on the characters. That began in issue #108 when he came on board having to finish one of

Ditko. But at the time, no one could predict the depths to which the movement would go, and so, Shooter’s lead (preceded somewhat by David Michelinie on Iron Man) would be followed in later years by Frank Miller’s “Born Again” arc on Daredevil. But for now, no character had ever been put through the kind of wringer that Hank Pym was. Now, behind bars, his final degradation awaits as newspaper reports filter in telling of former wife Jan/Wasp’s flirtation/affair with millionaire Tony Stark. But what the frustrated Pym doesn’t know is that he’s been further betrayed in that Stark is his former teammate Iron Man! Outside prison, we see Tony and Jan conduct their affair in a public way, even as Captain America realizes the irreparable harm that the affair could do if Hank and Jan ever found out that their emotions were trifled with by someone they thought they could trust. With growing concern, he lectures Stark about the danger. “Tony,” Cap tells Iron Man. “She’s...Hank’s wife...” Stark rationalizes his actions by reminding Cap that the two are divorced and that he’s paying all the bills for Pym’s lawyers, psychiatrists, and detectives. “But it’s not more than a month, man!” insists Cap. “How can you do this to him...Where’s your sense of responsibility? This...affair...it’s just plain cruel to a longtime friend like Hank.” Shamed into acting, when next Stark meets Jan, he tells her that he’s Iron Man and the affair is ended. “Oh, Tony, this isn’t what I needed... not a member of the team. Not Hank’s friend...” The final scene in the issue (that features barely a single panel of action) is a close-up of Pym’s face behind bars as another prisoner taunts him from off panel: “Looks like Stark chewed up yer lady friend an’ spit ‘er out, eh, Pym?” Things did not bode well for the future both for Pym and for comics, but it can’t be denied that all these developments—Yellowjacket’s breakdown and expulsion and how it ends up affecting all the other Avengers—made for extremely interesting, if ultimately disappointing, reading for long-time Ant-Man/ Yellowjacket fans. Throughout, guest writer Alan Zelenetz does a good job with the dialogue, spoiled only by yet another lackluster penciling job, this time by Mark Bright. With the vastly increased number of titles that were being churned out by Marvel in the 1980s, many more pencilers were needed to fill up all those thousands of pages with art. Unfortunately, that meant hiring many that were not up to the standards that fans had grown to expect over the years. Each may have had different strengths, but many titles nevertheless suffered as the quality of visuals failed to keep up with the dramatic demands of stories (not that a lot of the stories were so hot either...the same problem of needing to fill pages plagued Marvel’s stable of writers too). Meanwhile, back in jail, Pym refuses an opportunity to 64

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bust out and prove his innocence. “I’m not going to make any more mistakes,” he declares; but how long can he resist while his world continued to crumble around him? Stay tuned!

Marvel Graphic Novel #1 “The Death of Captain Marvel;” Jim Starlin (script, pencils, inks) After a swift rise in popularity during the 1970s working on such features as Warlock and Master of Kung Fu, Jim Starlin left Marvel, dissatisfied in dealings with the latter and creative frustrations with the former. Moving over to DC, he picked up work here and there, most notably on a handful of Batman stories he wrote and a short string of tales for DC Comics Presents, teaming Superman up with various of the company’s heroes. There, he continued to explore the same themes he addressed in his Marvel work, peaking with issue #36 in which he repeated the successful formula used for Captain Marvel, turning Starman, a minor spacefaring hero, into a cosmically aware being. Lured back to Marvel with promises of retaining control of his creations by way of Epic, the company’s new creatorowned line of comics, Starlin came up with Dreadstar, a series that he would continue to work on intermittently for different publishers as the years went by. Unlike Dreadstar, however, which revisited the same tired themes Starlin had by now run into the ground, the artist’s concurrent project would prove far more interesting and immediate. Titled “The Death of Captain Marvel” and featured in Marvel Graphic

By the time Jim Starlin (left) capped his early career at Marvel with its first graphic novel, he’d already begun to moonlight at rival DC writing and penciling a short run of memorable issues for DC Comics Presents before becoming a scripter only on a number of other less memorable features.

battle with Thanos after Marvel loses consciousness for the final time. There, he struggles against the inevitable until finally, accepting death, he and Thanos together walk into eternity. At that point, Starlin the iconoclast, seems to soften his position regarding faith and presents the possibility of there being something more. “...this is not the end,” Thanos tells Marvel,

Novel #1 (1982), the project involved Starlin’s return to his fan-preferred roots working with the character that had first gained him recognition. According to Starlin, he was asked to end the good captain’s career because plans were afoot to introduce a new female version with the same name. Be that as it may, exciting fans even further about the project was the new format in which the 63-page story would be presented, what Marvel dubbed a “graphic novel.” Priced at $5.95 when regular comics were still only 60¢, the book was squarebound and oversized, and featured high-quality, glossy paper that accentuated the four-color medium. What’s more, unlike many later graphic novels, Starlin’s story was worthy of the format! In it, Captain Marvel, through his cosmic senses, discovers that he is dying of cancer contracted from exposure to nerve gas following an encounter with Nitro in the final issue Starlin produced in the character’s regular series. In the graphic novel, a somber tone of inevitability pervades the story even as every effort to find a cure is made by the likes of Reed Richards and Dr. Strange. Interludes in which Marvel meets with long-time friends and associates in effect to say goodbye effectively convey a sense of loss and failed opportunities even as his health begins to sink. Finally, with Earth’s heroes gathered at his bedside, the sickened Marvel, just like any other mortal, dies. So well-crafted is the story that the reader is genuinely moved, finding himself actually caring for this fictional character that spent much of his career in red and blue tights. To be sure, the book has its quota of action, including a representational

Marvel Graphic Novel #1, page 59: Writer/artist Jim Starlin does what he does best: giving readers a slam-bang fight sequence that’s actually representational of the hero’s inner turmoil! Starlin enjoyed putting his characters through their philosophical/selfdiscovery/internal angst/what have you paces, a trick he would use often through the 1980s and beyond.

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Hobgoblin was born, and even better, Stern managed to restore the air of mystery that surrounded the original villain by keeping his identity from readers. From that point on, the Hobgoblin’s identity became a popular pastime with readers even to this issue’s letters’ page where fans were still trying to guess who he was. And although this issue ends the career of the Hobgoblin for a while, it still keeps his identity under

Amazing Spider-Man #276, page 21: In a scene somewhat reminiscent of the classic Amazing Spider-Man #40, Spidey is seen amid smoke filled rubble following a battle with the Green Goblin inspired Hobgoblin. But is the threat of the Hobgoblin ended? If you’ll recall, issue 40 didn’t end up being the last word on the Green Goblin either!

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wraps. But writer Tom DeFalco does manage to throw readers a bone by eliminating at least one of the suspects: Flash Thompson! Now, admittedly Thompson was a longshot candidate for the role but DeFalco does a neat job here having the Hobgoblin frame him for the role, fooling everyone including Spidey himself who now must deal with the fact that his oldest friend has apparently been trying to kill him for months! The rest of the issue is padded out with vignettes such as Spidey bad guy the Human Fly being bumped off by Scourge (a mysterious villain who wandered the Marvel Universe in those days killing off minor superpowered characters), Spidey kept from getting into his apartment by women hanging around his rooftop, Flash Thompson being on the outs with girlfriend Sha Shan (they’ve apparently been living together with the blessing of the Comics Code), and Spidey switching from his new black costume to his classic red and blue duds midway through the story with no explanation. The art is ably handled by Ron Frenz but with a noticeable lack of the ole Ditko pizazz that he put in his work in earlier issues resulting in visuals that were nothing to write home about. As for the real identity of the Hobgoblin, it would seem that readers were eventually given a choice, they could either accept Ned Leeds as the villain (revealed in later issues of the regular continuity) or Roderick Kingsley (as originator Roger Stern had it in a special 1997 mini-series, which postulated that as with Flash, the Hobgoblin had also framed Leeds). Hoo boy!

Daredevil #230

“Born Again” Frank Miller (script); David Mazzucchelli (pencils/inks) The action heats up in Daredevil #230 (May 1986) as the various plot threads begin to come together beginning with a new wrinkle that has an injured Matt Murdock picked off the street by a nun and taken to a clinic (Miller hints that the nun may or may not be Murdock’s mother!) Next, Karen Page, after selling her body for protection and safe passage from Mexico, gets closer to delivering her warning to Murdock that his secret

Daredevil #230, page 10: Ben Urich is ripped a new one by J. Jonah Jameson in this atmospheric scene. Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli expand on a mostly unseen side of the Daily Bugle publisher first hinted at in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15, which, not coincidentally, also involved Miller.

ID has been blown. The Kingpin, once so confident that he’d finally destroyed Daredevil, is plagued by growing doubts after losing track of him. Foggy Nelson and Murdock’s former girlfriend Glori O’Breen continue to move toward becoming an item. And finally, reporter Ben Urich, after having his fingers broken by a nurse “the size of your average truck” as a warning to lay off his search for Murdock, recuperates at home, forcing himself to not even THINK the name of...you know who! But far from marking time until next issue’s shattering climax, Miller continues to twist the screws on his characters as Urich is lectured by J. Jonah Jameson about what it means to be a reporter: “There are things you just don’t let happen in this racket,” Jameson says. “Number one is you never get scared away from a story. Not while you’ve got the most powerful weapon in the world on your side. This is five million readers worth of power. It can depose mayors, it can destroy presidents. And it’s been due to get aimed at the Kingpin for years now. But it needs you to do it.” But Urich is thoroughly frightened. He refuses to live up to Jameson’s stirring words. Then, leaving the office, he’s addressed by the janitor who congratulates him on not having more of his fingers broken. Meanwhile, Karen is being beat up by her john who threatens to kill her if she deserts him. Back to Urich on the phone, talking to Lt. Manolis (in traction after the same nurse who attacked Urich got through with him, except she’s not finished yet...) and listens as the bed-ridden man is murdered by the nurse. (“My employer would like you to hear this, Mr. Urich.”) The Dark Ages

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Writer/artist Frank Miller often touched upon Catholic imagery and themes in his work (particularly on Daredevil) while avoiding getting into specifics. Despite his influence on the genre, however, many comics creators have chosen to emulate the violence in his work rather than his infusion of religion into his characters’ lives.

Then, even as the nun who rescued him prays for Murdock’s recovery, Urich finds new courage and speaks the name...Matt Murdock! The level of violence, tension, degradation, and redemption in this issue alone was like nothing ever seen in comics before as Miller expertly blends all the elements of cinematic film noir into a brew so potent that nothing in comics since has ever been able to come close to it, not even the writer’s own later work on Batman. Something about the character of Matt Murdoch managed to touch Miller in ways no other could, drawing out not only his artistic influences but influences of his own Catholic upbringing that most other writers might find embarrassing or feel uncomfortable in putting on display. By making Murdock’s religious faith explicit (though it’s not clear if he is a practicing Catholic), Miller is clearly walking in the footsteps of Stan Lee, who broke similar religious barriers in comics back in the Grandiose Years when he had Captain America refer to Jesus and the Watcher to God in general. Unfortunately, his example was not one that was generally pursued by comics writers after him who preferred to follow Miller’s lead on violence instead with results that left their stories significantly less informed of meaning and sub-text.

Avengers #267 “Time...And Time Again!” Roger Stern (script); John Buscema (breakdowns); Tom Palmer (finished art) 156

Mar vel Comics in the 1980s

After the last few issues that seemed to mark time between major story arcs, the Stern/Buscema/Palmer team must have figured that readers had had the opportunity to catch their breaths because now it was time to launch the second major storyline of the run. And what a follow-up to the Skrull Civil War it was! While that earlier story began in fits and starts and then seemed to chug along with its own ups and downs, culminating in both Avengers and FF annuals, this new arc would be shorter and more concise but strike with more impact, focused as it was on a single villain that Stern managed to rehabilitate in a single stroke! We speak of Kang the Conqueror of course, the Avengers’ archenemy (yes, surpassing even Ultron, whose animosity after all was primarily driven by hatred of Henry Pym rather than the Avengers in particular). After a strong start in Avengers #8 under Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Kang’s story expanded in issue #s 23 and 24 but stumbled a bit with the introduction of a lost love in the form of the lady Ravonna. It was the same set-up that Lee would later use for the Silver Surfer, whose own Shalla-Bal managed to soften the character’s harder edges. So too with Kang. However, following those two issues, Kang appeared only in issue #s 69-71 before being revisited well into the Twilight Years where he was not as well served. And so, by the time of Avengers #267 (May 1986), the villain was ready for a rehabilitation and scripter Roger Stern supplied that in spades with this issue’s story! Here, we discover that over the years, Kang’s time traveling has created numberless alternative timelines, each occupied with inferior versions of himself. Insulted at their reckless stupidity, the real Kang becomes a member of a triumvirate called the Council of Cross-Time Kangs, made up of three other Kangs from different timelines. Their goal is to eliminate all the inferior Kangs until only they remain. But one member, acting independently, kills off his colleagues. Is he the original Kang? Who knows? It’s an element of mystery that only adds to the arc’s twists and turns. But Stern isn’t through! Adding to the brain twisting goings on, he sends the Avengers into limbo where they encounter versions of the original Avengers as they appeared in issue #2! It seems that time has no meaning in limbo, and so the team has arrived concurrently with events in that previous story and readers are treated with renditions of GiantMan, Iron Man (still in his original robotic looking armor), and the Hulk (still in the tight-fitting purple shorts he wore through the original six issue run of his own book way back in 1962)! In a plan to maneuver the Avengers into killing off his one remaining rival, this issue ends with Kang explaining to Ravonna that if all goes accordingly, he’ll finally become the continuum’s one and only Kang the Conqueror!

The New Universe

t was supposed to depict what super-heroes would be like in the real world but creator Jim Shooter forgot that the real world holds dangers undreamed of even by super-heroes. In the case of the New Universe, which was supposed to have been part of a celebration of Marvel’s 25th anniversary, those dangers came in the form of the powers that were at Marvel who lost interest in the project and decided to focus the company’s efforts elsewhere. With promised funding cut, Shooter’s ambitious plans for the line were shortcircuited and the New Universe stumbled out of the gate. Not long after, it suffered its first casualties when half the line was canceled and the Shooter-scripted Star Brand was demoted to bi-monthly status. Radical surgery failed to save what was left and the New U experiment ended in 1989.

Star Brand #1 “The Star Brand” Jim Shooter (script); John Romita, Jr. (pencils); Al Williamson (inks) Intentional or not, Ken Connell’s origin story is uncomfortably close to that of the Silver Age Green Lantern (a dying alien on the run from unspecified enemies, escapes to Earth and, finding Connell worthy, bestows on him an object that grants him great powers), scenes from which open Star Brand #1 (Oct. 1986) and at the same time launches Marvel’s New Universe. The brainchild of editor-in-chief Jim Shooter (aided and abetted by editors Archie Goodwin, Tom DeFalco, and Mark Gruenwald among others), the New Universe was conceived as the start of a line of comics completely separate from the established Marvel Universe, arriving full-blown at local newsstands and comic shops. The conceit behind them being that they would take the idea first popularized by Stan Lee in Marvel’s Early Years of super-heroes living in the real world and taking it to the next level. In the New Universe, events would take place in real time and most heroes would not have any “super” powers. They would face everyday issues arising from their heroic careers in a realistic fashion, and for the most part, never encounter aliens, magic, super science, or living myths. The obvious exception to the rule was Star Brand, Shooter’s own creation and the one he would script himself, setting the pace for the rest of the new line which included Mark Hazzard: Merc, Kickers, Inc., and Nightmask among others. But beyond the comics themselves, the New Universe was emblematic of Shooter’s sometimes controversial

career at Marvel, which on a professional level was quite successful in getting the editorially troubled company back on its feet and the trains to run on time. In doing so, he made the company more profitable than ever before, but to do it, he had to step on some toes incurring the enmity of creators. Outside editorial, he also knocked heads with upper management to effect such policy changes as granting royalty payments for creators on best-selling books, allowing creators to retain ownership of characters and concepts under the Epic Comics imprint, and the return of original artwork. Along the way, he just happened to write Secret Wars, the best-selling comics series of the 1980s, a success that enabled him to persuade management to back his plan to create the New Universe. Timed to coincide with Marvel’s 25th anniversary, the new line of books was to have boasted top creators but when management got cold feet, the budget was cut, forcing Shooter to make do with lesser lights. As a result, when it finally debuted, the line as a whole was a good deal less than impressive with the sole exception being Star Brand. There, Shooter showed how a wellwritten comic book should be done (something he constantly tried to drum into his writers during his tenure as editor-in-chief and one of the things that veteran scripters resented him for) as it became far and away the best-produced entry of the line. Penciled by John Romita, Jr. fresh off assignments on the X-Men and Daredevil where his style had continued to improve, and inked by comics great Al Williamson, the book immediately established itself not only as the best in the New Universe lineup but The Dark Ages

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Mar vel Comics in the 1980s

balloons, an important tool soon to be abandoned by the industry. Nice little touches thrown into the story that subtly bolster the New Universe premise that the stories take place in a real-world environment is the scene where Connell rolls his motorbike through the sliding doors of his apartment and standing it up on some pieces of cardboard on the living room floor. Others include Connell’s taking down the alien menace in a

one of the best comics being produced by the whole industry. Moving past the familiar origin, the book diverges quickly from its source material and immediately establishes Shooter’s criteria for this new environment: how Ken Connell deals with his newfound powers. At first unsure of what to do, he confides in a psychiatrist friend named Myron and together they decide to keep his power a secret for the time being. Just then, one of the aliens that had been chasing the Old Man who gave him his powers (in the form of a Star Brand imprinted in the palm of Connell’s hand) attacks and in defeating him, our hero begins to realize just how powerful he is. The incident prompts thoughts on the responsibility of the proper use of such power, a theme that will dominate the first few issues of the title. In the meantime, readers are introduced to such supporting characters as wouldbe girlfriend Debbie the Duck (the two have a charming and down-to-Earth relationship characterized by a shtick in which they end every other comment to each other with a “quack”); girlfriend of the moment, single mother Barbara Petrovic; and John, a fellow worker at the auto reconditioning joint Connell is employed at. Throughout, Romita provides clean but forceful imagery quietly confined in a traditional panel-to-panel layout that never intrudes on Shooter’s storytelling. For his part, Shooter displays his mastery of natural sounding dialogue as he moves Connell from one supporting cast member to another while at the same time showing how character development can be accomplished with the artful use of thought

This unused cover for Star Brand #1 amply demonstrates the eclecticism of artist John Romita, Jr.’s evolving style. Why it was rejected in favor of the image chosen is a mystery... well, except for those feet!

Avengers #297

“Futures Imperfect!” Walter Simonson (script); John Buscema (breakdowns); Tom Palmer (finished art) Although Simonson had been a distinct letdown following Roger Stern’s long and successful run on the title, the writer/artist did manage an

Professionals to the end, penciler John Buscema and inker Tom Palmer maintained the same level of quality to their work after Stern and Macchio left the Avengers strip as they did before. While Buscema would soon drop out, Palmer soldiered on, lending continuity to the art as other pencilers took over.

interesting extension of the Nebula/ Kang storylines of earlier issues that culminate here in Avengers #297 (Nov 1988) (with a title that ominously predicts the coming Dark Ages). Further confusing the identity of the real Kang, Simonson proceeds with a tale of cosmic proportions (while littering his script with such evocative phrases as “existential probabilities stabilizing,” “alternate probability nodes,” and “variable locus generator”) as Nebula takes control of the Avengers and forces them to help her steal a weapon that will supposedly make her mistress of the universe! Meanwhile, as the Avengers pierce a time bubble in space and observe alternative versions of themselves all racing to the same goal, Buscema and Palmer provide their last great joint effort on the art front, interpreting the space/ time action in appropriate yet awe-inspiring visuals (doing their own version of the “Kirby Krackle” effect!). Our tale ends with a shattered team of Avengers, including Dr. Druid who disappears into the time flux; the Black Knight laboring under the curse of his ebony blade; SheHulk, unable to bear having revealed what she really thought of her teammates, choosing to leave (good riddance!); and Thor deciding that he has better things to do in Asgard. Inadvertently perhaps, it turned out to be as good a place to call it quits as any. From this point on, the Avengers title would continue its long slide into ultimate obscurity, just as every other book in the Marvel stable would do as the effects of entropy became more and more obvious as the years rolled on. Nothing lasts forever after all. For the Avengers in particular, the end would be somewhat protracted at first thanks to a succession of lesser artists than Buscema/Palmer and lesser writers than Roger Stern (even a brief stint by John Byrne as writer and Tom Palmer’s continued inking The Dark Ages

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