Volume 1, Number 37 December 2009 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, '90s, and Today!
The Retro Comics Experience!
EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks
BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FLASHBACK: Sgt. Rock of Easy Company in “The Longer Shadow” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 How the controversies of the Vietnam War shaped the adventures of DC’s Top Sergeant
COVER ARTIST Joe Kubert
INTERVIEW: Comics 101: Joe Kubert and His School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. . . . 9 The master illustrator/teacher/editor in an exclusive interview
COVER COLORISTS Glenn Whitmore and Jason Geyer
GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Stan Lee’s “Kubert School”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Didja know that Marvel once considered opening its own comics school? OFF MY CHEST: In Search of “True Bios” of Comic-Book Creators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 In a guest editorial, Man of Rock’s Bill Schelly discusses what makes a “true” biography
PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington SPECIAL THANKS G. K. Abraham Mark Arnold Michael Aushenker Dick Ayers Jerry Boyd Alan Brennert Pete Carlsson Catholic Digest Gerry Conway DC Comics Tony DeZuniga Mark DiFruscio Bill DuBay Michael Dunne Mark Evanier Gary Friedrich Father Roy Gasnick Don Glut Grand Comic-Book Database Larry Hama Jack C. Harris Heritage Comics Auctions Ice Cream Soldier Carmine Infantino Dan Johnson Dave Karlen
Jim Kingman Joe Kubert Don Lomax David Michelinie Ian Millsted The National Archives Nightscream Martin Pasko George Pratt John Romita, Sr. Alan Rutledge Bill Schelly Joe Sinnott Mark Sinnott Anthony Snyder Dan Spiegle Gerry Talaoc Roy Thomas John Wells
PRO2PRO: Mark Evanier and Dan Spiegle Fly with Blackhawk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The unbeatable writer/artist duo look back at their fondly remembered Blackhawk collaboration GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Blackhawk Declassified: The Story of the Lost Miniseries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Bill DuBay and Carmine Infantino’s unpublished series, with never-before-seen art FLASHBACK: Stop a Bullet Cold, Make the Axis Fold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Wonder Woman went back to the ’40s in the ’70s, thanks to the popular TV show BEYOND CAPES: Kiss Me “Deadly”: Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen. . . . . . . . . . 34 Despite its brutally short run, this comic-book casualty breathed fresh life into the war genre BEYOND CAPES: From Parts “Unknown”!: The Unknown Soldier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Joe Kubert’s other World War II hero battled Axis forces for a dozen years INTERVIEW: Soaring to New Heights: George Pratt’s Enemy Ace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 An art-loaded look at the master painter’s War Idyll graphic novel FLASHBACK: The Invaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Marvel Comics’ Golden Age heroes in their Bronze Age series WHAT THE--?!: Saints and Superheroes: The Brief Union of Marvel Comics and the Catholic Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 When Saint Francis of Assisi, Pope John Paul II, and Mother Teresa blessed the House of Ideas FLASHBACK: The Annotated Vietnam Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 A review of Don Lomax’s seminal work INTERVIEW: Don Lomax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 The writer/artist of Vietnam Journal takes us into the trenches FLASHBACK: Sad Sack During the Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 War isn’t always hell, at least not in this funny favorite BACK TALK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Reader feedback on “Villains” issue #35 BACK ISSUE™ is published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $44 Standard US, $60 First Class US, $70 Canada, $105 First Class Mail International, $115 Priority Mail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Joe Kubert. Sgt. Rock TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2009 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING. Comics Go to War Issue
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A 2005 Sgt. Rock watercolored sketch by Russ Heath, from the collection of Jerry Boyd. TM & © DC Comics.
COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg