Volume 1, Number 160
July 2025
EDITOR EMERITUS
Michael Eury
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Roger Ash
PUBLISHER
John Morrow
DESIGNER
Rich Fowlks
COVER ARTIST
Jackson “Butch” Guice (Detail of pin-up art originally published in Marvel Fanfare #45. Scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions.)
COVER COLORIST
Glenn Whitmore
COVER DESIGNER
Michael Kronenberg
PROOFREADER
Kevin Sharp
SPECIAL THANKS
Tom DeFalco
Ron Frenz
Michael Gallagher
Grand Comics Database
Robert Greenberger
Heritage Auctions
Adam Hughes
Ed Lute
Howard Mackie
Wayne Markley
Matt Merante
John Morrow
Andrew Pepoy
Bob Rozakis
Scott Shaw!
Evan Skolnick
Roy Thomas
Gregory Wright
BACK ISSUE™ issue 160, July 2025 (ISSN 1932-6904) is published monthly (except Jan., March, May, and Nov.) by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Back Issue, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614.
Michael Eury, Editor Emeritus. Roger Ash, Editor-In-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Roger Ash, Editor, 2715 Birchwood Pass, Apt. 7, Cross Plains, WI 53528. Email: rogerash@ hotmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $102 Economy US, $127.60 International, $39 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All editorial matter © 2025 TwoMorrows and Roger Ash , except Prince Street News © Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING
by Alissa Marmol-Cernat
The early 1970s were an exciting period at DC Comics: genre books weren’t just running alongside the superheroes they had at one time nearly replaced in the immediate post-war years—they were flourishing, too. ‘The Daring and the Different’ is what Comic Book Artist #5 (June 1999) had called the stretch of time between 1967-1974, and there’s certainly no better moniker for an era so fervently experimental and so delightfully offbeat that it’s remained one of the medium’s shining moments to this very day.
The usual suspects were war, western, horror, and romance comics or intersections and combinations of two or more of the above. However, there were also outliers. Strange Sports Stories and Champion Sports were the only sports comics of 1973; and in fact, the only sports comics the industry had seen and would see for a very long time as currents were clearly shifting away from such material. It’s a perplexing thing, not one but two Bronze Age sports comics appearing on shelves within the same year, and BACK ISSUE is on the trail of a mystery that’s baffled generations of readers.
STRANGE AVENUES
To begin with, Champion Sports and Strange Sports Stories couldn’t have been more different. They shared a genre, they were both anthologies, and they both ended up remarkably short-lived but that’s just about where the similarities stopped; the former revolved around feelgood stories about underdogs—the kind that have since become a staple of sports films—but the latter hailed from a much older comic book tradition, that of science-fiction titles like Strange Adventures (1950). In fact, the 1973 Strange Sports Stories was a revival of an identically titled feature that had run in The Brave and the Bold #45-49 (Jan.-Sept. 1963), which made its reappearance ten years later all that, well, stranger.
Original art for Nick Cardy’s oddball cover to Strange Sports Stories #1. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com). (inset) Playing a headless baseball team would be pretty disconcerting. The cover to The Brave and the Bold #45.
Considering editor Julius Schwartz’s interest in sci-fi and his background as a literary agent for many of the big names of the genre’s early years, it stands to reason that Strange Sports Stories was a passion project that never quite made it off the launching pad. That five-issue tryout that ran in The Brave and the Bold was a clear offshoot of anthology books like Mystery in Space (1951) and the aforementioned Strange Adventures, up to and including the fact that its primary creators were none other than the all-star team of Gardner Fox, John Broome, and Carmine Infantino. Like most of their work of the era, Strange Sports was a trailblazing effort—you’d be hardpressed to find a similar comic, or even similar tales in a different medium. The closest cinematic ‘strange sports story’ might very well be the 1958 musical Damn Yankees but even then, its Faustian bargain is not the stuff of sci-fi, and it is certainly not the inspiration behind “The Challenge of the Headless Baseball Team” that had inaugurated The Brave and the Bold’s most innovative feature.
Nevertheless, Strange Sports Stories faded into obscurity for almost a decade, initially only remembered through the reprints in DC Special #7, #9, and #13 (June 1970-
(left) Bob Rozakis’ first work on Strange Sports Stories was the letters page, like this missive from issue #5. (right) Darn leprechauns, always ruining my shots!
Curt Swan and Bob Oksner original art from Strange Sports Stories #1.
Aug. 1971) until the direction the industry started heading at the dawn of the Bronze Age showed Schwartz might have simply been ahead of his time. While sports stories by themselves were certainly not all the rage, the market looked surprisingly favorable for a revival at a time when books like Weird War Tales (1971) and Weird Western Tales (1972) were proving that there was an audience for anthology books featuring a combination of unrelated genres—that must have been the primary reason behind the series’ perplexing return to life, however brief it was.
Discussing Strange Sports Stories with BACK ISSUE , longtime DC Comics writer Bob Rozakis tends to agree: “Though many people think superheroes took over comics completely by the mid-‘60s, if you look at DC’s output in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, there was quite a bit of experimentation with different genres. Strange Sports was an idea that Julie felt was viable and he pushed for it. Certainly, there was a market for anthology titles— war books and ‘mystery’ titles (Witching Hour, Ghosts, House of Secrets, etc.)—were a big part of the DC lineup through the ‘70s. Unfortunately, the niche titles—like sports, gothic romances,
sword & sorcery—did not attract enough readers to keep them going.”
Strange Sports Stories (1973) lasted a grand total of six issues, generally featuring two stories per issue—with the exception of the second one, which had three—showcasing a variety of young talent and old pros, often Frank Robbins in his capacity as the book’s most prolific writer.
Bob Rozakis, on the other hand, did not contribute stories to this particular book—his own strange sports tale, set in the mainline DC Universe, would come three years later in DC Super-Stars #10 (Dec. 1976). Instead, his letters appear in issues #2 and #5 of SSS , and by #6 he was actually answering the letter column himself— called a “player substitution” in that final column, with Rozakis replacing Martin Pasko.
“I was hired in the early summer of 1973 as an editorial assistant. Marty Pasko joined about a month later as part of the Junior Bullpen Program, a pet project of Sol Harrison’s to bring in some new talent,” explains Rozakis. “At about the same time, I was put on another of Sol’s projects, the Comicmobile, and was out of the
by Bob Rozakis
When asked about my memories of the DC Bullets, DC’s softball team, my first thought is how often I quoted legendary baseball manager Casey Stengel. Managing the first season of the New York Mets, who lost a Major League Baseball record 120 games, the Old Perfessor asked, “Can’t anybody here play this game?”
I can’t recall—gee, it’s been almost fifty years—who was involved in the decision to start a team, but it was probably a lunch group that included editor Jack C, Harris, colorist/production artist Anthony Tollin, and yours truly. We knew that Marvel had a team and thought it would be a great idea to challenge them to a game. I found out who was running the Marvel team, called him, and we picked a date. Now what I needed to do was put together a team… not an easy task given that very few of my co-workers had ever played before.
I recruited Tony Isabella, then working at DC as an editor, to join Jack and Anthony as the staff members on the team. Then I had to reach out to freelancers. Writer David Michelinie, artists Trevor von Eeden, Bob Smith, Carl Potts, Tom Sciacca, and colorist Adrienne Roy Tollin answered the call. Steve Snapinn, the son of letterer and head of DC’s foreign department Milt Snapinn, was recruited. And I also brought in my brother Jim and his friend Mark Hogan to round out the team. (Confession time: I needed Jim and Mark because the rest of the team had virtually no experience playing the game. =Gasp!= Ringers, Bob? Really!? Yup!)
In the summer of 1976 (and quite a few other years), both DC and Marvel worked half-days on Fridays, getting out of work at 1:00. It was on one of those summer Fridays, probably in early August, that the DC Softball Super-Stars made their way up to Central Park for our first-ever game. We did not expect to do very well against the more-seasoned Marvelites, but were hoping to make a game of it.
by John Morrow
This handy checklist will help you collect all sixty cups. Make sure you pay attention to the dishwasher warning (unlike this article’s author). (inset) Who better to hold your chilly beverage than Captain Cold?
Dave Cockrum’s costume redesign art for Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and other Legionnaires is featured on the 1973 Slurpee cups. Characters TM & © DC Comics.
In the Summer of ’73, my collecting obsession took a short side-trip away from comic books —or maybe not so short, considering how far my home was from the nearest convenience store. As much as I loved comic books at age 10, my fixation that summer became acquiring a complete collection of the sixty 1973 DC Comics Slurpee cups.
When I first got handed that frozen sugary concoction in a DC super-hero cup that June, comics immediately took a backseat to finding them all. If that meant consuming sixty Slurpees, I was willing to make that ultimate sacrifice! (By my calculations, I spent approximately 14% of my summer vacation with a bright red or blue tongue.)
The images on these plastic wonders were of varying quality and allure. The best of the batch were iconic Dave Cockrum illos of members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, taken from his 1973 redesigns of the Legionnaires’ uniforms. These drawings would also appear a little later in “The Lore of the Legion” features in Superboy Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #202 (June 1974) and #205 (December 1974).
Cockrum had been working as Murphy Anderson’s assistant in the early 1970s when the opportunity arose to tackle the Legion back-up strip, then appearing in Superboy under the editorship of Murray Boltinoff. “I actually had done three sample pages of Legion stuff,” he recounted in Glen Cadigan’s book The Life & Art of
Before the superhero swimsuit issue, before even Sport Illustrated , there were the ultimate girls of summer—Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge. Since the 1940s, they’ve been enjoying fun in the sun, much to the delight of their many fans, including Archie and Reggie. Here’s a look at some of their Bronze Age romps in the good ol’ summertime.
Here comes the fun! Archie’s day just got a lot brighter in the Stan Goldberg original art to the Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals #144 cover.
TM & © Archie Comics Publications, Inc.
“I grew up in a beach town, going to the beach with my friends and, eventually, girlfriends, but it never lived up to the summer shenanigans of Betty and Veronica. They set a high bar!”
—Andrew Pepoy, Archie writer/artist
Betty and Veronica are the two sides of America personified. The girl next door and the glamorous movie star, the poor and the rich, the blond and the brunette. And in the middle is the everyman (who could be any of us), Archie!
—Wayne Markley, comic veteran who has worked for DC, CCD, FM & other initials
by Scott Shaw!
(top) SDCC’s costume contest’s women pose for the San Diego Union-Tribune in 1974. (bottom left) Kids searching for comics their allowances can afford in the Dealers’ Room. (bottom right, left to right) Garbage Pail Kids creator John Pound, physics professor Roger “Dr. Raoul Duke” Freedman, and cartoonist Scott Shaw! going Gonzo.
From Wednesday, July 24th through Sunday, July 28th, I and the city of San Diego are once again exhausted after the 2024 Comic-Con International. Over the years, I’ve read and overheard a number of accounts relating how the annual event—once known as the “San Diego Comic-Con”—came into existence in the first place.
I was one of the small group of people who were there at the very beginning and now, one of the only remaining original co-originators. So, to the best of my memory—and the recollections of many of those who were there in the early days of the 1970s—here are the actual events as we experienced them, which led to the formation of what has become the nation’s biggest annual geek-gathering of its type.
What’s even more fascinating, like the classic Japanese film Rashomon (1950), very few of our experiences and opinions match!
Here’s how I got involved in co-creating America’s biggest fan event. Growing up in San Diego, I was lucky to become friends with a few similarly inclined young weirdos during my junior high and high schools in the 1960s. They included: Greg Bear (8/20/5111/19/22) (who became a Hugo Award-winning science fiction writer); John Pound (who’s become a well-known fantasy painter and humorous illustrator who’s created hundreds of images for Topps Cards’ infamous Garbage Pail Kids trading cards); and Roger Freedman (who became an award-winning physics professor and textbook author who teaches college courses on Science Fiction for Scientists). Other members of our oddball gang were professional sommelier/poet/drafted soldier David Clark and non-Crawfordite actor/ horror movie maven/wildman “Bilzo” Richardson. I wound up as a pro cartoonist, producer of animated TV series, and advertising art director. While attending San Diego’s Will C. Crawford High School, we formed our own “Underground Film Society.” (We realized that naming it “Comics, Sci-fi & Monsters Club” would get us harassed... and worse.) We also published hand-lettered mimeographed fanzines with goofy titles like Worlds of Wow and Fan Attic. We even occasionally ventured northward (initially driven by one of our mothers) to Los Angeles to visit Forrest J Ackerman’s fabled “Ackermansion.” It was there that we first met “big name” fans like Donald F. Glut and Bill and Beverly Warren, their names already familiar to us through
(top, left to right) San Diego’s Will C. Crawford High School’s Dave Clark, Scott Shaw!, and Greg Bear at the 1968 World Science Fiction Convention AKA “Baycon” in Berkeley, California. (gag inserts throughout by Scott Shaw!) (middle) William “Bilzo” Richardson, Roger Freedman, Jan Tonnesen, and Scott Shaw! at the 1982 SDCC. (bottom) Actor Kirk Alyn signs a serial Superman still for Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J Ackerman.
Forry’s classic Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. They introduced us to full-blown fandom.
“The Ackermansion was just jammed full of books and original art, all the greats of the science fiction/fantasy field. Actually, you’d get sensory overload after being there for a couple of hours. There would be so much coming into your brain. He had a little anteroom before his office, and the wallpaper in the anteroom was designed to look like a bookcase. It was all book spines with no titles on them. And he let people add judicious titles to the otherwise unnamed books in the wallpaper. And so John Pound and myself and Scott Shaw! and probably Greg Bear all added humorous parodies of science fiction book titles. Forry loved puns especially. He was like a pun-meister. So, he let us literally write all over his walls.”
— David “Dave” Clark
David had already been at a San Diego sci-fi convention in 1966, WesterCon, held in Mission Valley, but he, Greg, and I attended my first major fandom experience, the 1968 World Science Fiction Convention—known as “BayCon”—held in Berkeley, California. There, my pals Greg and Dave and I met fellow fans (some soon to become pros) like Larry Ivie, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Rob and Jeff Gluckson, and Keith Tucker. Remember, this was 1968 Berkeley; I can’t imagine a more mind-blowing introduction to fandom-at-large and hippie culture all at once. I’ll never forget watching—with a bunch of long-haired fans—a TV set that was broadcasting the Republican Convention in Chicago, with live footage of police bashing Yippies in their heads for daring to protest.
And after BayCon ’68, nothing seemed the same to our little fan contingent from San Diego.
(top left) SDCC co-creator Dave Clark in the early 1970s. (top right, left to right) John Pound, Roger Freedman, Mike Towry, William Carrone, Richard Alf, and Scott Shaw! at 1974’s SDCC. Photo by Mark Evanier. (bottom left) Forrest J Ackerman flashing his Dracula ring. (bottom right) “Uncle Forry” and a fraction of his massive collection.
by Ed Lute
Are you ready for some summer fun, Impossible Man style? Get packed because BACK ISSUE takes you on a summer vacation you’ll never forget! So come along with the Impossible Man and family until your daddy takes your Fantasti-Car away.
The Impossible Man, aka Impy, first appeared in Fantastic Four #11 (Feb. 1963) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby but wasn’t seen again until the 1970s after which he made a few sporadic appearances. During that decade and the following one, the greenskinned Popuppian returned and with his family in tow. The Impossible Woman, aka Impette, debuted in Marvel Two-inOne #60 (Feb. 1980) and the Impossible Kids followed the next year in Marvel Two-inOne #86 (Dec. 1981).
gregory wright tripwiremagazine.co.uk
However, it wasn’t until 1990 that he finally got his own special. In fact, he got two Summer Vacation Spectaculars . So, with only a few appearances, just how did the Impossible Man and his family get these specials? According to writer Gregory Wright, “I believe the idea came from Editor Craig Anderson or possibly Mark Gruenwald. Craig’s Dad was [comic strip character] Marmaduke creator Brad Anderson. Craig used to write the strip for his dad sometimes, so Craig was familiar with and really enjoyed humor comics. We were already doing What The? and a lot of people were interested in doing humor stories. I had done an Impossible Man story the year before with the great [artist] Hilary Barta in Fantastic Four Annual #22 (Nov. 1989) called “Mission: Impossibleman” which co-starred Stan Lee. Stan really liked our funny story, as did Craig and Mark Gruenwald. That may have given Craig the idea to maybe try a summer special.” These specials featured work by a host of talented creators such as writers Michael Gallagher, Roy Thomas, Gregory Wright, Peter David, Howard Mackie, and Mark Gruenwald along with artists Barry Crain, Greg Capullo, Tom Morgan, Jackson “Butch” Guice, Luke McDonnell, and Rurik Tyler among others who were given the opportunity to showcase their humorous side. While this article doesn’t examine every story in the specials, it will discuss many of them to showcase just why these one-shots were spectacular.
The cover to The Impossible Man Summer Vacation Spectacular #1. (inset) Impy makes his debut in Fantastic Four #11.
TM & © Marvel Comics
(top) Impy gets a wife in Marvel Two-in-One #60. (bottom) The “Mission Impossibleman” story in Fantastic Four Annual #22 could have led to the Impossible Man specials. Or maybe not. It’s impossible to know for certain.
IMPOSSIBLE MAN SUMMER VACATION SPECTACULAR #1 (Aug. 1990)
Each issue began with an “Improlog” and ended with an “Epilog.” According to Michael Gallagher who wrote them, “Invoking the old rule that ‘every comic book is someone’s first comic book,’ the ‘Improlog’ takes care of the necessary exposition and history concerning The Impossible Man. It also sets up his family’s decision to visit Earth, which opens the door for all the subsequent stories.”
In “How Green was My Villain?” by writer Michael Gallagher and artist Barry Crain, Impy came across Spider-Man and thought that he looked a little down, so the Popuppian wanted to cheer him up by making him think he was facing his most fearsome foes. According to Gallagher, “The first Marvel comic book I ever bought was Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964) off a spin rack in Surf City on Long Beach Island, NJ. That issue featured the initial appearance of the Green Goblin. From that day on, Spidey became my favorite superhero, demoting Superman and Batman, who I’d grown up on. Twenty-six years later, given the opportunity to write the first story in the Summer Spectacular , I couldn’t wait to use those two characters who had such a profound impact on me.”
Gallagher continues, “The hook I came up with had to do with the coloring of comics back then. The ‘four color’ palette led to lots of characters wearing and/or being green and purple. That’s why Spider-Man sees nothing unusual about the appearances of Gobby, The Lizard or the Scorpion. It’s only when Impy rapidly pops into green and purple versions of Kraven, Doc Ock, The Rhino, and The Black Cat that Spidey figures out what’s going on and desperately tries to shake off the Popuppian.”
Gregory Wright wrote “Fashion Victims” with Jackson “Butch” Guice on artwork. The story centered around the Impossible Woman entering a fashion show run by Janet van Dyne (aka the Winsome Wasp). She-Hulk and the Invisible Woman also got in on the maniac
total sales revenue. According to CNBC.com (Jan. 27, 2010: The Business Behind The SI Swimsuit Issue), “The Swimsuit issue....is the single bestselling print issue in Time Inc.’s stable. On average, it sells more than one million copies at newsstands... it has made more than $1 billion for parent company Time...”.
(above) The first swimsuit issue from Marvel was a direct parody of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues. (right) The X-Men lounge by the pool in this pinup from X-Men #1. (opposite page, top) Marc Silvestri and Terry Austin’s original art of the women of the X-Men. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions. (www.ha.com). (opposite page, bottom left) A stunning Scarlet Witch by Mike Mignola. (opposite page, bottom right) The Fantastic Four channel Gilligan’s Island in this piece by Walter Simonson. TM & © Marvel Comics.
The Marvel Illustrated project was a strategic one meant to enhance the bottom line while expanding the audience buying Marvel products. It worked to some extent, as Marvel Comics released one swimsuit issue per year from 1991-1995, and some other companies followed “suit.” However, it did not launch without its flaws and criticism. Some felt this was rushed, and others viewed it as a cynical money grab in an era when Marvel Comics was facing severe financial strain.
Tom DeFalco recollects Marvel’s fragile position at the time with regards to licensing and overall profitability, “We were trying a little bit of everything as we wanted to be more than just a comic book publisher…back in those days publishing was the only aspect of the company making money and we couldn’t give our licenses away. Today Marvel is everywhere. In those days we were nowhere.” The Marvel Swimsuit Special was not only a form of flirty fan service or potential collector’s item. It was a lucrative way to help keep Marvel’s lights on as the company faced strenuous financial insecurity.
Whether you were a fan of television shows such as Baywatch, Beverly Hills 90210, Saved by the Bell, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, popular rock bands like The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Green Day, and Weezer, or hit films including Point Break and Speed, the
summer energy of Southern California could not be ignored in early 1990s popular culture. Was this tidal wave of beachy energy capturing America’s collective imagination organically, or simply a matter of basic economics? Tom DeFalco indicated his thoughts, “The reason so many things were set up in California was that’s where the studios were.” Either way you look at it, SoCal’s sunny culture was prominently featured on the radio airwaves, movie screens, television broadcasts, and magazine shelves—including the Marvel swimsuit editions. “The magazines [swimsuit specials] were displayed with other magazines [on the stands]. A lot of times basic civilians were picking them up…we were expanding the audience,” recalled DeFalco.
Another timely consideration relevant to the fanfare of the Marvel swimsuit magazines was the undeniable success of X-Men # 1 (Oct. 1991), featuring pencils by superstar artist and future DC Comics President, Publisher, & CCO Jim Lee. Inserted in the back of the issue was a fun, silly, pinup featuring the primary X-Men players hanging out by the X-Mansion swimming pool. In it, Archangel wears skimpy trunks while flying above the team. Cyclops casually spins a volleyball on his forefinger as Rogue hangs out nearby in protective gloves. Psylocke is in the forefront lounging in the sun, and poor Wolverine is wearing, dare I say it… “jorts” (kids, ask your parents)! This image was published nine months after the initial swimsuit issue. By including key X-Men characters in every issue of the annual swimsuit specials, these magazines were able to leverage X-Mania in order to boost interest and sales. Mix in the soon-to-be X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997) fandom and you had two overlapping Marvel properties
spurring interest beyond the range of the spinner rack. The first two characters featured in the original swimsuit magazine were the mutants Storm and Psylocke by, you guessed it, Jim Lee!
PARODIES IN PARADISE: WELCOME TO THE SAVAGE LAND OLYMPICS!
A common thread for each Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue was traveling to an exoticlocale. Marvel made good on this expectation in their versions which took place in some of the most remote and striking areas of the Marvel Universe: The Savage Land, Wakanda, Monster Island, The Blue Area of the Moon, and Madripoor. Let’s begin with the original and take a closer look at how the specials evolved over the course of five years.
Marvel Illustrated: The Swimsuit Issue (Jan. 1991) parodied the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue phenomenon remarkably well. Featuring a painted cover with She-Hulk by Brian Stelfreeze, it includes several written faux interviews and updates that imitated the distinct format of SI. Additionally, it contains multiple ingenious advertisements including: “Macho” deodorant for Wolverine (Mike Zeck); “Ultra-X” Shampoo/ Conditioner for Beast (George Pérez); “Spike” sneakers worn by Quicksilver (Tom Morgan); “Underware” briefs with Wonder Man (Paul Ryan); and “Flic” disposable shavers for immortals (the “before” image of a bearded Thor drawn by Walter Simonson, and the clean shaven “after” side provided by Ron Frenz). The variety of feature articles offer much to choose from, including a few spoof interviews: Northstar discussing the possible use of his superpowers to gain an unfair advantage in an olympic event (Fabian
(left) Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott pay tribute to Jack Kirby. (right) An ad parody by George Pérez.
Nicieza), She-Hulk on her workout routine (Jack Morelli), and Ben Grimm on his wrestling history (Michael Rockwitz). In addition to the Jim Lee drawn Storm & Psylocke pinups, other featured characters in the first issue were: Howard the Duck & Beverly (Steve Leialoha); Mary Jane Watson (Joe Jusko); Wolverine, Thing, Beast, & Hulk (Kevin Nowlan); Boom-Boom, Cannonball, Rictor, & Cable (Rob Liefeld); Captain America & Diamondback (Michael Golden); Namor & Namorita (Jackson Guice); Wasp & She-Hulk (George Pérez); Boom-Boom, Cable, & Jubliee (Whilce Portacio/ Scott Williams); X-Women (Marc Silvestri/ Terry Austin); Thor, Sif, & Loki (Ron Frenz/Joe Sinnot); Villainesses (Steve Geiger); Wonder Man (John Romita Jr.); Tigra (Rick Leonardi/ Al Williamson); Fantastic Four (Walter Simonson); Avengers (Paul Ryan/Joe Rubinstein); Crystal & Medusa (Bret Blevins); and The Scarlet Witch (Mike Mignola).
Ron Frenz considered “The King” when deciding how to approach his Asgardian pinup, “I wanted what Sif was wearing to be what Jack Kirby would have put her in.” All in all, 63 characters are depicted with over forty percent being male. The debut issue was a success, establishing the foundation for a new summer tradition and promoting one of the most eclectic collections of 1990s comic book artistry!
WADING IN WAKANDAN WATERS!
The title changed slightly, as the Marvel Swimsuit Special (June 1992) hit the stands. Storm takes control on the cover with a Scarlet Macaw on her shoulder (Mark Silvestri). Bobbie Chase was back for editorial duties, along with Chris Cooper to assist. The inside cover advertisement features the Punisher, using a roach spray called “Death Con” (Kevin Kobasic/Jimmy Palmiotti). There is a minor plotline running throughout this issue, highlighting the wedding announcement of King T’Challa to activist and songstress Monica Lynn. This message brought all of the heroes to Wakanda for a week-long engagement party.
This edition differs from the previous version because there are no true faux interviews, or satirical articles poking fun at the Sports Illustrated format. It’s chiefly pin-up pages with a few funny advertisements interspersed. In addition to the Punisher’s bug-spray, some of the other noteworthy ads include: The Watcher promoting sunglasses called “Ozones” (Paul Ryan & Bud LaRosa); Volstagg selling “Super Slim-Down” health shakes (Ron Frenz & Joe Sinnott); Cable boosting “401” zipper jeans, a take on Levi’s famous 501 campaign (Mark Pacella & Brad Vancata); and the Hulk influencing insurance sales for “Mutual WideState” on the back cover (Dale Keown & Joe Rubinstein). A couple of bizarrely entertaining “What The?!” moments in the pinups occur: wary Nomad poses purposefully in a skimpy thong while overseeing young toddler Bucky (not the first time Nomad challenged fatherhood norms), Ghost Rider’s head appears to be snorkeling (does he require both oxygen and eye protection?), and a gleaming Colossus reveals a surprising affinity for leopard print (who knew?!).
Another “Murderer’s Row” of incredible talent fills up the pages, again achieving a reasonably fair male-tofemale character ratio. Some of the more memorable were: Hulk & Friends (Dale Keown/Mark Farmer); Val Cooper & Domino (Brian Stelfreeze); Namorita (Steve Geiger); Thunderstrike (P. Craig Russell); X-Men (Whilce Portacio/Scott Williams); She-Hulk (John Romita, Jr.); Fantastic Four (Walter Simonson); Nomad & Bucky (S. Clarke Hawbaker); Psylocke (Jim Lee); Jamie Madrox & Val Cooper (George Pérez); Rachel Summers (Alan Davis); Johnny Blaze & Ghost Rider (Joe Quesada/Klaus Janson); Polaris (Larry Stroman); Excalibur (Adam Hughes); Quasar (Greg Capullo); Diamondback & Viper (Jackson Guice/Terry Austin); Beast, Wolverine, & Sasquatch (Mike Mignola); Nick Fury & Tony Stark (John Romita, Jr.); Rogue (Mark Silvestri); Namor (Jae Lee); and Colossus (Joe Jusko). The final two pages feature a good-bye splash page with 14 characters (Adam Hughes) and a scrapbook (Andrew Wildman). As to why the creative and humorous articles and interviews may have not appeared in this and all subsequent issues, Tom DeFalco provided a rather practical reason, “The articles were a lot more work to put together.” Ultimately, the 1992 magazine sold rather well, so Marvel continued the saga in 1993.
(top) A clever faux ad featuring the Watcher hawking sunglasses. (inset) Marc Silvestri’s cover to Marvel Swimsuit Special #1. (bottom) Jim Lee’s amazing Psylocke catches some rays.
continued on page 61
(opposite page) There’s plenty of beefcake in this original art by John Romita Jr. of Nick Fury and Tony Stark. From Marvel Illustrated Swimsuit Special #1. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions. (www.ha.com) TM & © Marvel Comics.
continued from page 55
MAKING WAVES ON MONSTER ISLAND
The next Marvel Swimsuit Special (June 1993) provides a painting of Rogue posing in front of a large monstrous foot on the cover (Joe Jusko). It continued the concept of having a steady plotline run throughout the issue. This round was written by future Marvel superstar Dan Slott, who at the time was writing Ren & Stimpy; and edited by Evan Skolnick who joined following his successful work on the Time Magazine parody Marvel: Year-inReview. In the storyline, Pip the Troll wins a poker game against other members of the Infinity Watch. With his powerful prize, the Infinity gems, he decides to transport a multitude of characters to a giant beach party (clearly Pip is no Thanos).
Slott provides Pip’s “cheeky” commentary about the featured characters for each pinup. There are only two advertisements this time around: Nomad’s “Berger’’ baby carrier to haul infant Bucky safely through tumultuous situations (Manny Galan), and Dr. Doom’s “The Klanger”’ (a parody of “The Clapper”) utilized to attack the Fantastic Four from his throne room (Rick Mays). Multiple amazing artists left their imprint on a swimsuit pinup or two as top tier talent continued to answer the call. In regards to recruiting artists to provide the material, editor Evan Skolnick had this to share, “A lot of artists who may have said no to doing a cover said yes to doing a swimsuit issue…it was kind of prestigious and a chance to stretch…”.
One artist widely recognized for his distinct cover style, thick brush line, and phenomenal figure building is Adam Hughes, who left an indelible mark on the series.
His take on Black Widow is spectacular, and not only demonstrates his drawing chops, but also his supreme skill in terms of composition. With regards to his development as an artist during this time, Adam said via email, “I was learning and growing with each gig, actively trying to improve. Also, never underestimate the power of mild self-loathing… thinking I could have done better has always propelled me to greater and greater heights…”.
Joe
(top left) Mucha inspired Silver Sable by Adam Hughes. (top right) You can’t have a swimsuit special without Namor. (inset) Greg and Tim Hildebrandt provide the cover for issue #4. (bottom) Bret Blevins provides another look at The Wasp. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions. (www.ha.com)
MADRIPOOR OR BUST!
The final Marvel Swimsuit Special (Sept. 1995) takes place on the tropical island of Madripoor in Southeast Asia. Joining us are editor Chris Cooper and designer Dawn Geiger. The primary plot has something to do with boosting the local tourism of Madripoor with a strong superhero presence. Again we have only one advertisement, on the inside front cover, featuring Typhoid Mary selling triple strength “Tylenaid—The Only pain reliever strong enough. Period” (Darick Robertson/Ralph Cabreera/Sean Tiffany). This is a clever use of a character and the headshot is very well drawn. Many artists from previous magazines have returned, and few new contributors appear as well. Here are some standouts: Wolverine & Tyger Tyger (Salvador Larocca/Sergio Melia/Tom Smith); Venom (Angel Medina/Tom Smith); Rick & Marlo Jones (Carlos Pacheco/Cam Smith/Tom Smith); Cage (James Fry/Harry Candelerio/Tom Smith); Silver Sable (Adam Hughes); Storm & Shadowcat (Gary Frank/Cam Smith/Tom Smith); Scarlet Spider (Christopher Hawkes); Wasp (Bret Blevins/Tom Smith); Dr. Strange (P. Craig Russell/Tom Smith); Iceman (Joe Phillips); Black Cat (Joe Jusko); Black Panther (Tom Mandrake/Tom Smith); Polaris (Pat Broderick/ Sean Tiffany); Black Widow (Mike Deodato/Tom Smith); Captain America (Adam Hughes/Sean Tiffany); Typhoid Mary (Scott McDaniel/Sean Tiffany); Colossus (Rick Leonardi/P. Craig Russell/ Tom Smith); New Warriors (Darick Robertson/Ralph Cabrera/ Paul Mounts); Psylocke (Roger Cruz/Ralph Cabrera/Sean Tiffany); Sub-Mariner (Joe Quesada/Tom Palmer/Tom Smith); Diamondback (Joyce Chin/Ralph Cabrera/Sean Tiffany); Doc Samson (Douglas T. Wheatley/Steve Moncuse/Sean Tiffany); and Cloak & Dagger (Joe Phillips/John Dell/John Cebolero). They may not have been aware of it at the time, but these artists were the final hands to create a Marvel Swimsuit Special. The quirky image awards go to the following: Venom fishing while wearing Spider-Man boxers (Nuff Said!); Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider sleeping while reading about spiders (vaguely meta); Iceman “moonbathing”; Typhoid Mary skewering weights; and Namor’s swimsuit being a…seashell?!
For his sublime Silver Sable pinup, which references the legendary artist Alphonse Mucha, Adam Hughes described his inspiration and process to BI, “Inker Karl Story had introduced me to Mucha’s work just before I started on Ghost for Dark Horse Comics a few years prior. I fell in love with Art Nouveau, and wanted to give it a try any chance I could…I colored that piece utilizing a now-dead technique called blue-line coloring. A copy of the line art is on a clear sheet of Mylar and laid over a piece of art board where the exact same line art has been printed photochemically, in light blue. Then, you just color over the light blue version on the artboard in any medium you like! You lay the black line art version on the clear Mylar on top of the colored version and you have a finished piece of full-color art with line art, ready to print!”.
Once upon a time, a kid could find comic books everywhere: spinner racks at the drug or grocery store, racked next to magazines and newspapers in card and stationery stores, and sometimes even in toy stores. If you were looking for something specific, you had many options, and sometimes, the hunt would reveal treasures you didn’t even know existed.
As the 1970s dawned, things were changing. Thanks to high school teacher and convention impresario Phil Seuling, the direct sales market was introduced, which gave rise to comic shops. Dedicated readers now had fanzines to guide them when DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Charlton, and other publishers released their books, and collectors frequented these new shops, which seemed to get the comics faster than the newsstands.
There was another way to find comics, something that wasn’t written about in the zines, which were the primary place for fans to discuss matters, since the first online bulletin boards were over a decade away. Going into toy stores or fiveand-dime stores, low-end chains like K-Mart and Woolworth, children would see two or three
by Robert Greenberger
comics in a polybag, priced at some low rate, below cover price for the contents. Some carried Gold Key’s licensed books, others had DC’s, and others packed Marvel’s. And slapped on the cover, either aside from the familiar DC bullet or M for Marvel, was the word Whitman.
Whitman Publishing was founded in 1915 as a subsidiary of Western Printing & Lithographing Company, based in Racine, Wisconsin. It became known for its children’s book publishing and low-cost offerings. During comics’ Golden Age, they were best known for their Big Little Books followed by their canny licensing of Walt Disney’s popular animated characters.
Later, they became comic book packagers, letting Dell Comics print and distribute countless comic book titles. Finally, in 1962, they took the business in-house and rebranded themselves as Gold Key Comics. By 1967, they took their experimenting in formats further with the introduction of packaged comics under the name Top Comics, and sold these through participating gas stations, offering five titles within each bag.
Three comics bagged together for a discount? How could any kid on a budget resist?
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As comic book readers aged up and tastes changed, Gold Key found their formula for child-friendly, familiar licensed works dwindling in popularity. According to Mark Evanier, Gold Key supported themselves through the three-in-bag program, selling them to toy and department stores, gas stations, airports, and bus/train stations, “as well as other outlets that weren’t conducive to conventional comic racks.”
The traditional distribution market allowed retailers to strip off the covers from unsold copies and return them for credit. To prevent fraud, the polybagged titles were printed under the Whitman Comics logo, beginning a variant market. So successful was the program that they made deals with DC and Marvel to carry their titles in the same way, reaching audiences the licensed books failed to do. The program lasted until around 1979 when Gold Key, purchased by Mattel, canceled it.
DC President Sol Harrison is credited with cutting the deal for the DC titles. Paul Levitz said in a February 2024 email, “So the Whitman packs were done by Western Publishing as part of their mass-market distribution. DC had done their packs back to the early ‘60s, but by the ‘70s the IDs had gotten in the habit of slicing open the unsold bags (whether or not they’d actually distributed them) and returning them against the loose issue’s code. There was a tiny arbitrage profit in that for the ID [Independent Distribution] and equal hit to DC. It also had the effect of making the issues involved seem to sell worse, confusing data.”
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Whitman was selective about which titles they wanted. Bob Rozakis, who was assistant production manager at the time, noted in an email, “If I recall, the Whitman people wanted to stay away from the war and mystery titles, at least as far as showing them, so books like House of Mystery or Sgt. Rock ended up sandwiched between two out-facing superhero titles. Somebody picked which books were going to be used, but I don’t know for sure who it was. Maybe Sol after talking to the editors. I do remember that they wanted to keep away from books with continued stories since there was no guarantee that the buyers could get follow-up issues.”
Levitz confirmed, “The issues were part of the regular print run, just with a cover variant that was a simple plate change which removed the theoretic ability for those copies to be counted as
Harrison, who is credited with accepting Seuling’s pitch to create the direct sales market with deeper discounts in exchange for non-returnability, negotiated a different discount structure for these bagged books. “Western bought the copies at a deep discount, deeper than the one offered to the direct market, while both bought non-returnabilitly.”
BACK ISSUE #160
SUMMER FUN ISSUE! Marvel’s Superhero Swimsuit Editions, Betty and Veronica swimsuit gallery, DC’s Strange Sports Stories, the DC/Marvel softball rivalry, San Diego Comic-Con history, Impossible Man Summer Vacation Specials, DC Slurpee cups, DC/Whitman variants, and more! Featuring BATES, DeCARLO, HUGHES, JIM LEE, LOPRESTI, MAGGIN, ROZAKIS, STELFREEZE, and more! GUICE cover.
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(top left) The Whitman logo and slash through the UPC are common markers of a Whitman variant. (top right) The only issue of Sgt. Rock with a Whitman variant. (bottom) The Whitman variant for issue of Batman # 307 features a potential color variation on the cover.
TM & © DC Comics.