Back Issue #115 by TwoMorrows Publishing

He is the law: a JUDGE DREDD history! ber 20

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SCI-FI SUPERHEROES ISSUE!

with JIM STARLIN & friends

Septem

Relive The Pop Culture You Grew Up With!

Remember when Saturday morning television was our domain, and ours alone? When tattoos came from bubble gum packs, Slurpees came in superhero cups, and TV heroes taught us to be nice to each other? Those were the happy days of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties— our childhood—and that is the era of TwoMorrows’ new magazine RETROFAN!

#5: Interviews with MARK HAMILL and Greatest American Hero’s WILLIAM KATT! Blast off with JASON OF STAR COMMAND! Stop by the MUSEUM OF POPULAR CULTURE! Poke fun at a campy BATMAN COMIC BOOK! Plus: “The First Time I Met Tarzan,” MAJOR MATT MASON, Moon Landing Mania, SNUFFY SMITH at 100 with cartoonist JOHN ROSE, TV Dinners, Celebrity Crushes, and more fun, fab features! NOW SHIPPING! #6: Interviews with crazy creepster SVENGOOLIE and Eddie Munster himself, BUTCH PATRICK! Call on the original Saturday Morning Ghost Busters, with BOB BURNS! Uncover the nutty Naugas! Plus: “My Life in the Twilight Zone,” “I Was a Teenage James Bond,” “My Letters to Famous People,” the ARCHIEDOBIE GILLIS connection, the PINBALL Hall of Fame, Super Collector DAVID MANDEL’s comic art collection, Alien action figures, the RUBIK’S CUBE fad, and more fun, fab features! SHIPS SEPTEMBER 2019! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazines) $8.95 (Digital Editions) $4.95 Edited by Back Issue’s MICHAEL EURY!

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THE CRAZY, COOL CULTURE WE GREW UP WITH! LOU FERRIGNO interview, The Phantom in Hollywood, Filmation’s Star Trek cartoon, “How I Met Lon Chaney, Jr.”, goofy comic Zody the Mod Rob, Mego’s rare Elastic Hulk toy, RetroTravel to Mount Airy, NC (the real-life Mayberry), interview with BETTY LYNN (“Thelma Lou” of The Andy Griffith Show), TOM STEWART’s eclectic House of Collectibles, and Mr. Microphone!

HALLOWEEN! Horror-hosts ZACHERLEY, VAMPIRA, SEYMOUR, MARVIN, and an interview with our cover-featured ELVIRA! THE GROOVIE GOOLIES, BEWITCHED, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, and THE MUNSTERS! The long-buried Dinosaur Land amusement park! History of BEN COOPER HALLOWEEN COSTUMES, character lunchboxes, superhero VIEW-MASTERS, SINDY (the British Barbie), and more!

40th Anniversary interview with SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE director RICHARD DONNER, IRWIN ALLEN’s sci-fi universe, Saturday morning’s undersea adventures of Aquaman, horror and sci-fi zines of the Sixties and Seventies, Spider-Man and Hulk toilet paper, RetroTravel to METROPOLIS, IL (home of the Superman Celebration), SEAMONKEYS®, FUNNY FACE beverages, Superman and Batman memorabilia, & more!

Interviews with the SHAZAM! TV show’s JOHN (Captain Marvel) DAVEY and MICHAEL (Billy Batson) Gray, the GREEN HORNET in Hollywood, remembering monster maker RAY HARRYHAUSEN, the wayout Santa Monica Pacific Ocean Amusement Park, a Star Trek Set Tour, SAM J. JONES on the Spirit movie pilot, British sci-fi TV classic THUNDERBIRDS, Casper & Richie Rich museum, the KING TUT fad, and more!

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Volume 1, Number 115 September 2019 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Jim Starlin COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Bob McLeod Richard J. Arndt Angel Medina Mark Bagley Robert Menzies Roy Batty Ian Millsted Tom Brevoort Fabian Nicieza Jarrod Buttery Luigi Novi Robert V. Conte John Ostrander Gerry Conway Portsmouth Peter David Comic Con Bill Davis, Sr. Darick Robertson Tom DeFalco Bob Rozakis Jo Duffy Cavan Scott Jay Faerber Danny Fingeroth Walter Simonson Evan Skolnick Ron Frenz Doug Smith Ian Gibson Anthony Snyder Grand Comics Jim Starlin Database Heritage Comics Joshua Thayer Mikaal Tomas Auctions Gerry Turnbull Klaus Janson Mike Vosburg Dan Jurgens James Heath Lantz John Wagner Rob Williams Erik Larsen Chuck Wojtkiewicz Paul Levitz Michael Zeno Alan Light Ron Lim DEDICATED TO THE Ed Lute MEMORY OF Chris Marrinan Carlos Ezquerra Val Mayerik Luke McDonnell

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ONE-HIT WONDERS: The Starman of ’76! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Gerry Conway and Mike Vosburg discuss their man who fell to Earth BEYOND CAPES: Judge Dredd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 From 2000AD to your metroplex, Mega-City One’s one-man cop, judge, and executioner UNKNOWN MARVEL: Walt Simonson’s Homage to Judge Dredd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Justice Peace, from Thor to Fantastic Four… plus the scoop on Thug Thatcher FLASHBACK: Adventure Star: Starman Prince Gavyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Paul Levitz remembers his sci-fi collaboration with Steve Ditko BEYOND CAPES: Dreadstar: Jim Starlin’s Odyssey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 A comprehensive look back at Starlin’s (and friends’) space opera ROUGH STUFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Pencil art by Swan, Kirby, Williamson, Lim, and Jurgens FLASHBACK: Jemm, Son of Mars Saturn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Martian Manhunter’s almost-cousin and his troubled DC history FLASHBACK: Nova: The Human Rocket Returns! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 The Man Called Nova’s comeback in New Warriors and beyond BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Reader reactions to BI #109, our Superman: The Movie tribute… featuring rare Superman images! BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $82 Economy US, $128 International, $32 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Jim Starlin. Dreadstar and Company TM & © Jim Starlin. Judge Dredd © Rebellion A/S. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2019 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

Mikaal Tomas, DC Comics’ new Starman, circa 1976, actually debuted in December 1975, in the pages of 1st Issue Special #12 (Mar. 1976). Under a dynamite cover by Joe Kubert, the story was edited and written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by Mike Vosburg and Mike Royer. Mind you, this Starman wasn’t the 1940s Gardner Fox/Jack Burnley version of the character. This was a totally new version.

FRIEND OR FOE?

The origin tale opens with a bang, as Tomas’ spaceship crashes in the wetlands off the North Bronx. In the midst of 18 heavily plotted pages, he is attacked by thugs, knifed, learns English, and is stalked and finally confronted by an alien “guardsman.” We learn that his commander and the commander’s paramour, in a hidden base on the dark side of the Moon, have sent the guardsman to track down Tomas and kill him for treason. In a flashback, gerry conway we learn the reason for the treason is that his lady love, Lyysa, wanted to warn Earth of her people’s intent to commit genocide of all humanity. Her mission ended when she was killed in her attempt. A furious Tomas kills her assassin and decides to complete her attempted mission to warn Earth. The issue ends with a cliffhanger as Mikaal and the guardsman, one Turran Kha, face off in the streets of the Bronx. There would be no second issue to show the fight. As Gerry Conway explains, “1st Issue Special was one of Carmine Infantino’s concepts. Carmine had noticed that the first issue of a series always seemed to sell well. So [laughs], he came up with this idea of a monthly book that was going to be all first issues. That was the logic that we were operating under. “At the time, I was the new editor in town, so I was thrown a lot of the responsibility to come up with those first-issue concepts. One character that I always liked, although I didn’t think it was modern enough for an audience of the 1970s, was Starman. I liked the revival of the 1940s characters, especially Hourman, who was teamed up with Dr. Fate in either Showcase or The Brave and the Bold in the 1960s. It was done by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson. [Editor’s note: Gerry is referring to the two-part Dr. Fate/Hourman team-up in Showcase #55–56, and the two-part Starman/ Black Canary team-up in Brave and Bold #61–62, both in 1965.] I don’t think it led to a series for either one of them, but I really liked that as a kid.” Conway continues, “I wanted to revive Starman, but by the mid-1970s I knew that kind of character would be considered old-fashioned and wouldn’t get a lot of fan traction at the time. I thought we could

Feeling Blue Readers’ first glimpse of the new Starman, on the Joe Kubert cover of 1st Issue Special #12 (Mar. 1976). TM & © DC Comics.

2 • BACK ISSUE • Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue

by R

ichard Arndt

Old Time Revival (top) Aside from Justice Society appearances in Justice League of America, the Golden Age Starman got a tryout team-up with Black Canary in 1965. Brave and Bold #61 cover by Murphy Anderson. (bottom) The other “Starman” of the ’70s, David Bowie’s single, had no influence on the FIS character, says creator Gerry Conway. Comic and characters TM & © DC Comics. Record © 1972 RCA Records.

do something like what Julie Schwartz had accomplished with Green Lantern and the Flash. Present, or rather update, totally new characters with much the same powers, using the old names. I just liked the names. “So I hashed out this premise of an alien crashing to Earth. He would have a mysterious background that we could explore in future issues. So that was basically the story for the one-shot, done under the necessity of having to create a new concept every month for a one-shot appearance, combined with my own liking of the character’s name.” Conway takes exception to an online myth linking 1st Issue Special’s Starman to a legendary rocker. “Contrary to Wikipedia, my concept had no inspiration from the song by David Bowie,” Gerry asserts. “I have listened to Bowie’s ‘Starman,’ and I can’t come up with any common link between his song and my version of Starman. I wasn’t a particular fan of Bowie at the time. During that period, my tastes ran more towards Credence Clearwater Revival or Cream. Bowie was more avant-garde than I was at the time.” When asked if the name Mikaal Tomas (a.k.a. Michael Thomas) had any significance, Conway tells BACK ISSUE, “only in the sense of striking a parallel between Tomas and J’onn J’onzz (John Jones), that if he used an Earthly alter ego he wouldn’t have to change how his name sounded. As it was, he could easily pass as ‘Michael Thomas.’ It was really playing off those things that DC had done before. “At DC at that time, I was really trying to embrace the things I loved about those DC comics that I’d read in the early 1960s,” Conway explains. “That was really why I wrote or edited stories about the Metal Men, Dr. Fate, Codename: Assassin, the New Gods, and Kobra. That last one was a new [Jack] Kirby book, but we had to rewrite and partially redraw it. In that case, Carmine didn’t like what Kirby had done with the character. I was trying to operate, in a way, as a separate unit within the DC Universe, trying to claim some of the Earth-Two characters for myself without having to step over into the mainstream characters and books.”

STARMAN’S ILLUSTRATORS

Conway, as editor, also chose the artistic team for the one-shot and picked Mike Vosburg as penciler and Mike Royer as inker. Assessing his choice of Royer, Conway says, “I really liked his work on Jack Kirby for DC and on Russ Manning on Tarzan at Gold Key. Two more different types of artists would be hard to find, and he did great work on both. He was also a great letterer, which was

Stars in His Eyes Mike “Voz” Vosburg and his beloved wife, Anna, dubbed “she who must be obeyed” on Voz’s online gallery, www.vozart.com.

Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

“He is the Law! And you’d better believe it!” TM

by I a n

Millsted

The above quote is the text that accompanied the illustration of Judge Dredd in the first issue (Feb. 26, 1977) of the long-running British science-fiction anthology comic 2000AD. That picture was the only sight of Dredd in that premiere issue, serving as a house advertisement for the second issue, in which Judge Dredd would join the other five features that made the cut for the launch. From such humble beginnings, the character of Judge Dredd has gone on to become a phenomenon, not only in comics but across the range of media. As of January 2019, 2000AD has been published continually for 42 years on a mostly weekly basis. Judge Dredd has appeared in all but four issues. The companion monthly title Judge Dredd Megazine was launched in 1990 and is now past 400 issues. Both titles have also had numerous annuals and specials with Dredd front and center. A third title, Judge Dredd: Lawman of the Future, ran for 23 issues from 1995 to 1996. Judge Dredd also had an extensive run as a strip in the British newspaper The Daily Star from 1981 until 1998. The Daily Star was, and remains, a lousy newspaper, and Judge Dredd was easily the best thing in it, but those strips also represent the highest circulation, and therefore visibility, that Dredd achieved in comic form. DC Comics licensed Judge Dredd in 1994 and produced 31 comics under two separate titles over the next two years. More recently, comics publisher IDW has issued a range of Dredd series. Then there are the appearances the character made in heavy-metal music magazine Rock Power and the crossover titles with Batman and Lobo. There have been 18 novels featuring the character as well as, in e-book format, shorter novellas. Dredd has been utilized in video games, role-playing games, boardgames, card games, and, oh, yes, a couple of movies. But who, and what, is Judge Dredd? How did this character rise to become Britain’s most culturally significant comics character? The origins of Judge Dredd are rooted in the era in which he first appeared.

THE ROOTS OF JUDGE DREDD

Britain in 1977 was a country in transition. Politically, the Labour government had lost its majority and was struggling with a range of economic and social challenges. The postwar consensus was being challenged by the rise to the leadership of the Conservative Party of new-rightinfluenced Margaret Thatcher. Unemployment was on the rise and inflation seemed to rise irrespective of whatever was tried to halt it. In sports, the England football (soccer) team failed again to qualify for the World Cup tournament, while the national cricket team had been beaten badly by Australia and the West Indies in successive years. Culturally, punk rock was challenging the establishment (though most of the bands eagerly signed up to the established music labels and took

Lethal Lawman Detail from Brian Bolland’s cover to Eagle Comics’ reprint title Judge Dredd #1 (Nov. 1983), many US readers’ first exposure to 2000AD’s breakout star. TM & © Rebellion A/S.

Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue • BACK ISSUE • 7

pat mills Wordpress.com.

Earthmen Wanted! From 1977, early editions of 2000AD, issues #2 and 7. TM & © Rebellion A/S.

8 • BACK ISSUE • Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue

the cash). And in comics there was the arrival of 2000AD and Judge Dredd. Up until the mid-1970s, British comics tended to be fairly conservative in both tone and content (with some notable exceptions such as The Beano, which produced anarchic humor aimed at seven- to ten-year-olds). The most popular boys’ stories in the 1950s and 1960s had been the likes of science-fiction serial Dan Dare (in The Eagle from 1950 to 1967) and soccer strip Roy of the Rovers (in Tiger from 1954 until 1977, and in Roy of the Rovers from 1976 to 1995). Both were clean-cut goodguys that were unlikely to shock or offend any parent that might idly pick up their kid’s comics to glance at. That was already starting to change by the time that the Judge Dredd concept was being developed. The revolution started in comics being produced for girls. The British comics industry, and it was an industry then, of the 1970s was dominated by two large companies. In Dundee, Scotland, was DC Thomson. Thomson’s was a family-owned publisher with conservative management and a reputation for paying lower freelance rates than their rivals. The likes of Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, and Grant Morrison all cut their teeth with work at DC Thomson. Their rival was IPC (also known, at times, as Fleetway) in London. IPC had four main divisions producing comics. There was a nursery department publishing titles aimed at preschool children, a humor department with titles for seven- to 11-year olds, and departments for both boys’ and girls’ adventure comics. The boys’ comics tended to be quite staid and appeared to be aimed at a middle-class readership, although there were good stories that rose above the average. BACK ISSUE readers may be aware of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel’s work on The Spider in the comic Lion. The management of the girls’ comics department had a different outlook. In 1971 Fleetway launched a new anthology title Tammy. Tammy immediately overtook DC Thomson’s Bunty as the top-selling comic for girls. Steve MacManus, who worked for IPC from the early 1970s, explained in his 2016 book The Mighty One: My life inside the nerve center, “Tammy was not a clone of Bunty. Bright and sassy, Tammy knew exactly which entertainment dramas its readers were watching on television and actively sought to emulate them. Tammy’s downtrodden yet gutsy protagonists were also put through darker, nastier trials than those endured by the heroines in Bunty. True, the traditional Cinderella plot principle was still evident, but that was no guarantee each serial would have a happy ending. This editorial ethos saw sales of Tammy soar to 200,000 copies a week. Reality fiction had become the name of the game and the girls’ comics were targeting this new sweet spot with unerring accuracy, leaving the boys’ adventure titles looking increasingly out of touch.” Tammy had been created by Gerry Finley-Day. Among the freelance writers from whom Finley-Day commissioned stories were Pat Mills and John Wagner. Tammy was followed by Jinty in 1974. Jinty also sold well and gradually started to include a range of science-fiction serials among its stories. The overall management of IPC realized that the john wagner future of boys’ comics required the approach that had been taken in the Emperor. girls’ comics department. Meanwhile, DC Thomson had enjoyed a big success with a new comic for boys, Warlord (which had nothing to do with DC Comics’ The Warlord, created by Mike Grell). Warlord was a war-themed anthology title.

IPC planned to launch its own war comic in response, The development of Judge Dredd had not been but the publisher took the unusual step of freezing out straightforward. There had been a quite different concept the team in charge of boys’ comics. Editor David developed by Pat Mills before the one we now know Hunt recruited Steve MacManus as sub-editor came to fruition. Mills explained further in his for a new title, to be called Battle Picture memoir Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave! (2017 Weekly. MacManus related, “He told me from Millsverse Books): “I had taken the that two freelance writers had been name from a popular reggae band at brought in to be the creative force the time. The hero was a kind of occult behind the new title, which would be Doctor Who, with the visual image of produced under the auspices of the Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee.” girls’ department… David took me The character quickly evolved into somealong the corridor to meet the two thing more futuristic. “I brought in John men. We slipped discreetly into a room Wagner… and he agreed to create a future no larger than a broom cupboard and cop story for me,” Mills wrote. “John needed David introduced me to its occupants: a title for his cop story and I gave him Judge Dread. Later, I would change their names were Pat Mills and John Wagner. Both were in their middle it to Judge Dredd in case the reggae carlos ezquerra twenties.” The pattern developed on band [of the same name] complained.” Tammy and Jinty was applied to Battle Caricature by Robin Smith. Mills and Wagner Picture Weekly: emulate popular films and television continued to develop the concept, shows, use more working-class characters, and increase with each contributing key ideas. the use of anti-heroes. A good example of this was The There were other contributions, too. Rat Pack, which was, essentially, The Dirty Dozen with Doug Church, who worked for mainly British working-class anti-heroes instead of the IPC as an art director, developed Americans in the original film. It was originally written the idea of the city setting by Gerry Finley-Day and drawn by Carlos Ezquerra. stretching the entire length of Battle Picture Weekly proved to be a success, and plans the American eastern seaboard. were soon put in place to launch a new, contemporary title using the same approach. Pat Mills was asked to develop Action. Action (again, no relation to the DC Comics title Action Comics) ramped up the threepronged formula even more with an increased pace of storytelling. Stories in this new anthology included Hookjaw, which was a blatant Jaws rip-off; Dredger, a British Dirty Harry; Hellman of Hammer Force, a rather good World War II serial with a German protagonist as per Sam Peckinpah’s Cross of Iron; and Death Game 1999, which borrowed freely from the concept of Rollerball. Action was a sales success. Kids loved its violence and anti-authoritarian take. Unfortunately, it fell foul of wider tastes after a story that featured children beating up a policeman. However, by that time, the go-ahead had already been given for a new project applying the Finley-Day/Mills/Wagner approach to a sciencefiction anthology: 2000AD. 2000AD launched in February 1977, with six strips intended to share the pages: • Dan Dare was a new version of the classic British science-fiction hero, included for the name recognition factor and to get dads to buy the comic for their sons. • Invasion featured, some years before the film Red Dawn, a Russian (renamed “Volgan,” but nobody was fooled) invasion of Britain in which they are defied by a resistance led by Londoner Bill Savage. • Flesh, which had modern-day cowboys going back in time to harvest dinosaurs for meat, was the one that I remember the other boys in my school talking about most. • Harlem Heroes was a futuristic sports drama with great Dave Gibbons artwork. • M.A.C.H. 1 was a Six Million Dollar Man clone that proved to be the most popular story in the first few weeks of the comic. • It had been intended that Judge Dredd was also included in the starting lineup, but the first episode was deemed unsuitable and the pages were used for promotion and competitions instead.

Drawing from His Past Judge Dredd’s brutal, authoritarian appearance was established by Spanish artist Carlos Ezquerra, who was raised during the dictatorship of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Ezquerra died on October 1, 2018, at the age of 70. TM & © Rebellion A/S.

Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue • BACK ISSUE • 9

Box Office Brutality (top) Posters for Judge Dredd (1995), starring Sylvester Stallone, and Dredd (2012), starring Karl Urban. (bottom) From Heritage’s archives, original cover art by Brian Bolland featuring the artist on the wrong side of the Law. Produced for David Anthony Kraft’s Comics Interview #19 in 1984. Judge Dredd TM & © Rebellion A/S. Comics Interview © David Anthony Kraft.

The main cast is very good. Karl Urban clearly enjoyed and respected the role he was playing, and Lena Headley got it just right as a maniacal matriarch figure. She could have been straight out of the comic version. Indeed, the film seemed like a seven-page John Wagner story stretched out over an hour and a half. While the Stallone film tried to shoehorn too much into one film, the 2012 movie felt a bit thin. In addition, the depiction of Judge Anderson (played by Olivia Thirlby) being raped, albeit in a psychic vision rather than in actuality, is open to accusations of gratuity. If it’s unthinkable that the male lead would be depicted in such a way, then it should be equally unthinkable that the female lead should be shown in that way. The purpose of the scene, plot-wise, could have been achieved in many different ways. At this writing, a TV series, Judge Dredd: Mega-City One, is still shrouded in secrecy, but by the time of publication we should know more. The ongoing television format would seem to be an ideal format for the world of Dredd, allowing space for the rich supporting cast and bizarre future culture to unfold as they have over so many years in comic format. Both 2000AD and Judge Dredd: The Megazine continue to be published weekly and monthly, respectively. Most of the back catalog of Judge Dredd comics stories are available in collected editions. Publisher Rebellion seems to be confident about future prospects. In one form or another, it appears, Judge Dredd will be with us for a while yet. Whether our world is becoming more like Mega-City One, I’ll leave to discerning BACK ISSUE readers to decide for themselves. With thanks to Ian Gibson, Rob Williams, and Cavan Scott. IAN MILLSTED is a writer and teacher based in Bristol, England. He thinks there’s not enough cricket in Mega-City One. Ian is the author of the critical Doctor Who study Black Archive 8: Black Orchid, as well as the Western Silence Rides Alone.

22 • BACK ISSUE • Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue

by R o b e r t

Menzies

Give Peace a Chance Justice Peace and his Hopsikle, on the cover of Thor #371 (Sept. 1986). Art by Walter Simonson. All scans and photos accompanying this article are courtesy of Robert Menzies, unless otherwise noted. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Under the gazes of the incongruous combination of Charles Dickens and a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters, Walter and Louise (“Weezie”) Simonson were the headline guests at the inaugural Portsmouth Comic Con. Taking place over the sunny bank holiday weekend of May 4–5, 2018, in the city’s grandiose Victorian Guildhall, I had the great thrill of finally meeting these two giants of the comics biz. It was also an opportunity, an invitation, even, to ask Walt about the creation of Justice Peace, an obvious homage to the most popular British comic character of them all, Judge Dredd. The 1980s was a period where many 2000AD alumni like Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Alan Grant, Neil Gaiman, Dave Gibbons, and others were headhunted by US publishers, usually DC, resulting in what is sometimes called “The British Invasion.” This influx led to Watchmen and The Killing Joke, to name but two milestones, and has been reported on in great detail [including BACK ISSUE #63, our “British Invasion” issue—ed.]. However, what has never been investigated, to my knowledge, is how 2000AD’s characters influenced the American comics, and that’s what I was keen to speak to Walt about. What Walt told me was surprising, as I don’t believe many appreciate just how deep his and Weezie’s connections to the UK and 2000AD are. First, however, a little scene setting. As noted in detail elsewhere in this issue, Judge Joe Dredd shot his first perp in the pages of 2000AD #2, cover-dated March 5, 1977. Although Pat Mills—often referred to as the “godfather” of British comics—and editor Kelvin Gosnell had input into the creation of Dredd, his two core creators are John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. Wagner was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 but moved to Scotland at age 12. Most of his career has been devoted to British comics, where he has written an incredible amount of classic storylines, with a brief foray into Gotham City, when he co-wrote some Batman stories, including the Dredd/Batman crossovers. Spaniard Carlos Ezquerra was one of the great visionaries of European comics and also co-created Strontium Dog with Wagner, generally acknowledged as the most popular 2000AD character after Dredd. Ezquerra also found a welcome at DC, collaborating on numerous projects with Garth Ennis, including two Preacher specials. To the continuing delight of many, both Wagner and Ezquerra continued to create Dredd stories. The character of Judge Dredd is a combination of leather-clad biker, Dirty Harry, and Frankenstein from Death Race 2000 filtered through Ezquerra’s unique design sense and Wagner’s singular imagination. Mega-City One’s top lawman inhabits a dystopian future metropolis that is overcrowded and lawless and where the police force has been given sentencing and execution powers. It was and is a highly political strip, packed with social commentary and violent black humor. While in interviews Wagner has described Dredd as a “good guy and a bad ass,” even he would concede that the judge system that Dredd represents is repressive and that Dredd himself, often referred to as “Old Stoney Face” even by his fellow judges, is thoroughly unsympathetic and unlikeable. Unexpectedly, in the pages of Thor #371 (Sept. 1986), writer Walter Simonson, in concert with artists Sal Buscema, Bret Blevins, and Al Williamson, introduced a character called Justice Peace, who bears more than a passing familiarity to Dredd. Mega-City One is a post-atomic area roughly equivalent to the Eastern seaboard of the USA; Peace operates in Brooklynopolis. Dredd’s multi-function handgun is called his Lawgiver; Peace has his Peacemaker (a nice play on the nickname of the famous Colt .45, “The Gun that Won the West”). All judges in Mega-City One ride a Lawmaster motorcycle; Peace rides a flying bike he calls his Hopsikle. Dredd wears his name on a badge; Peace has his on his uniform’s chest emblem. Both have their faux obscenities. Even in profile, Peace’s jutting lip resembles Dredd’s. After a Thor two-parter, Justice Peace reappeared during Simonson’s amazing and all-too-brief tenure as writer and (usually) the artist on Fantastic Four #334–354 (Dec. 1989–July 1991). In issues #352–354, Peace reappears, with his employers at the Time Variance Authority (TVA) now playing a prominent role. Walter Simonson kindly revisits those stories in the interview that follows. – Robert Menzies Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue • BACK ISSUE • 23

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JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

In cooperation with DC COMICS, TwoMorrows compiles a tempestuous trio of never-seen 1970s Kirby projects! These are the final complete, unpublished Jack Kirby stories in existence, presented here for the first time! Included are: Two unused DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales (Kirby’s final Kid Gang group, inked by MIKE ROYER and D. BRUCE BERRY, and newly colored for this book)! TRUE-LIFE DIVORCE, the abandoned newsstand magazine that was too hot for its time (reproduced from Jack’s pencil art—and as a bonus, we’ve commissioned MIKE ROYER to ink one of the stories)! And SOUL LOVE, the unseen ’70s romance book so funky, even a jive turkey will dig the unretouched inks by VINCE COLLETTA and TONY DeZUNIGA. PLUS: There’s Kirby historian JOHN MORROW’s in-depth examination of why these projects got left back, concept art and uninked pencils from DINGBATS, and a Foreword by former 1970s Kirby assistant MARK EVANIER! SHIPS OCT. 2019! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5

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In the latest volume, KURT MITCHELL and ROY THOMAS document the 1940-44 “Golden Age” of comics, a period that featured the earliest adventures of BATMAN, CAPTAIN MARVEL, SUPERMAN, and WONDER WOMAN. It was a time when America’s entry into World War II was presaged Look for the 1945-49 volume by the arrival of such patriotic do-gooders as WILL EISNER’s Uncle Sam, HARRY SHORTEN and in 2020! IRV NOVICK’s The Shield, and JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY’s Captain America—and teenage culture found expression in a fumbling red-haired high school student named Archie Andrews. But most of all, it was the age of “packagers” like HARRY A CHESLER, and EISNER and JERRY IGER, who churned out material for the entire gamut of genres, from funny animal stories and crime tales, to jungle sagas and science-fiction adventures. Watch the history of comics begin! NOW SHIPPING!

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MAC RABOY Master of the Comics

Beginning with his WPA etchings during the 1930s, MAC RABOY struggled to survive the Great Depression and eventually found his way into the comic book sweatshops of America. In that world of four-color panels, he perfected his art style on such creations as DR. VOODOO, ZORO the MYSTERY MAN, BULLETMAN, SPY SMASHER, GREEN LAMA, and his crowning achievement, CAPTAIN MARVEL JR. Raboy went on to illustrate the FLASH GORDON Sunday newspaper strip, and left behind a legacy of meticulous perfection. Through extensive research and interviews with son DAVID RABOY, and assistants who worked with the artist during the Golden Age of Comics, author ROGER HILL brings Mac Raboy, the man and the artist, into focus for historians to savor and enjoy. This FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER includes never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of a true Master of the Comics! Introduction by ROY THOMAS! ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8 • SHIPS AUG. 2019! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.95 Roger Hill’s 2017 biography of REED CRANDALL sold out just months after its release—don’t let this one pass you by!Pre-order now!

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“There’s a starman waiting in the sky. He’d like to come and meet us, but he thinks he’d blow our minds. There’s a starman waiting in the sky. He’s told us not to blow it ’cause he knows it’s all worthwhile.” – David Bowie Like David Bowie, Paul Levitz and Steve Ditko had become legends in their field by the time 1979 rolled around. Levitz had Legion of Super-Heroes, Aquaman, and Justice Society stories under his writing belt, and Ditko had drawn Amazing Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Blue Beetle, and the Question. The pair also collaborated in 1975 on the sword-and-sorcery series Stalker before co-creating the alien Prince Gavyn—the latest (but not the last) DC hero to be called Starman— in Adventure Comics #467 (Jan. 1980). BACK ISSUE will go to the stars and back to look at the life and creation of this Starman in our salute to sci-fi superheroes.

A STARMAN IS BORN

by J a m e s

Heath Lantz

Political intrigue, Shakespearean treachery, and science-fiction adventure combined in a new serial that debuted in the same year that The Blues Brothers and the Friday the 13th franchise came to cinemas. Adventure Comics #467, like The Empire Strikes Back some months later, took us to far-away galaxies. The opening chapter of “Starman” began as the anthology comic book’s second feature, after a story starring Plastic Man, who at the time was the star of a Saturday morning cartoon series. Titled “First Encounter,” the story, written by creator Levitz, drawn by character designer Ditko, and inked by soon-to-be New Teen Titans embellisher Romeo Tanghal, sees Starman save a spaceship from being hurtled into a sun. After our hero redirects the craft with stellar energy bolts emitted from his wristbands, its commander, Lord Protector Oswin—Guardian of the Galactic paul levitz Rift and Elect of the Empire—wishes to thank Starman… or so we and he believe at first. In reality, © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. Oswin wants to learn Starman’s secrets, like how he can move and breathe in space without a ship, force-field, or spacesuit. This chapter begins to combine space opera with a political thriller as Starman discovers that Oswin is holding Imperial Security Officer Jediah Rikane prisoner. All of this is part of the lord protector’s plan to usurp Throneworld’s sovereignty and become emperor. Starman helps Rikane escape Oswin’s torturous cell, and with the aid of his mentor, the enigmatic alien appropriately named Mn’Torr, Starman sets out to stop an insurrection. “Len Wein was the editor responsible for offering the assignments,” Paul Levitz tells BACK ISSUE. “He asked me to come up with a series to fit a slot in Adventure Comics. I had just read a history of the Ottoman Empire, which talked about a period when it was the practice to kill off all rival claimants to the throne when a new sultan was named. I twisted that into a science-fiction background, and was lucky enough to get Steve and Romeo as the artists.” BACK ISSUE readers may be asking why the character was named Starman when other characters had used that moniker in the past, much like the reuse of the names Flash, Sandman, and Green Lantern. The answer is a simple one. “I’m not a great namer,” Levitz admits, “and it was a great name we weren’t using at the time and suitable for a very different incarnation.”

Lost in Space The coming of creator/writer Paul Levitz’s Starman, from Adventure Comics #467 (Jan. 1980). Art by Steve Ditko and Romeo Tanghal. TM & © DC Comics.

Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue • BACK ISSUE • 29

CRISIS ON EARTH C(OVER) Adventure Comics #467 is not only known for premiering the title’s new Starman and Plastic Man features… its cover is an oddity that has befuddled or amused DC fans. Dave Cockrum originally drew this split cover (art courtesy of Heritage) featuring Adam Strange and Plastic Man, for a comic book—possibly called Strange Adventures, as the artist top-lined the page—headlining DC’s resident spaceman alongside the Pliable Pretzel, who was looking for a home since he was becoming the star of a Saturday morning cartoon show. Cockrum’s pose for Adam Strange pays homage to the Carmine Infantino/Murphy Anderson cover from Mystery in Space #90, from late 1963. Then the decision was made to change Adventure from its extra-length “Dollar Comic” format to a regular 32-page title, with Plastic Man starring in half the book. Adam Strange was Zeta-beamed out of the title, leading editor Len Wein with a slot to fill in Adventure—hence his request of Paul Levitz to create a new series for that half of the book. And thus Starman was born, with series artist Steve Ditko penciling (and Dick Giordano inking) the other half of Adventure #467’s published cover, the one many of you are familiar with. Yet that wasn’t the end of Cockrum’s Adam Strange illo! Not long thereafter, editor Jack C. Harris cannibalized its main figure (albeit flopped) for the montage cover of Green Lantern #136 (Jan. 1981) to promote the issue’s Adam Strange backup. – Michael Eury Thanks to Heritage Comics Auctions and The Comic Reader #170 for information.

The Covers You Know (left) The published version of Adventure #467. (middle) The Mystery in Space cover that inspired Cockrum’s Adam Strange pose. (right) Where’s Adam? On the grab-bag cover of Green Lantern #136! TM & © DC Comics.

34 • BACK ISSUE • Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue

by J a r r o d

Buttery

Valiant Vanth Jim Starlin’s epic swashbuckler, Vanth Dreadstar, from the back cover of Dreadstar #2 (Jan. 1983), from Marvel’s Epic Comics imprint. Unless otherwise noted, scans accompanying this article are courtesy of its writer, Jarrod Buttery. TM & © Jim Starlin.

BACK ISSUE celebrates comics’ Bronze Age, and the Bronze Age has established favorites: Batman: The Dark Knight; Watchmen; Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s Uncanny X-Men; Walt Simonson’s Thor; Frank Miller’s Daredevil; David Michelinie, Bob Layton, and John Romita, Jr.’s Iron Man, amongst others. But the Bronze Age also holds personal favorites—smaller titles that are treasured by fans, and are waiting to be discovered by others. Inordinately simplistically, Dreadstar is a space opera. But in the hands of creator Jim Starlin it is much more than that. As Starlin himself described, “The real theme behind the series is: ‘Anything you believe you can do, you can do. You can change

the universe—one person. Things can be better than they are right now.’ “The other theme is humanity. I don’t want to have perfect characters. All my heroes have clay feet. Maybe I’m trying to say that our leaders don’t have to be perfect, they have to be human.” (Quotes courtesy of “Starlin” by David Anthony Kraft, Comics Interview #4, June 1983.) Also—importantly—the series explores the choices that we make and the prices for those decisions. From the beginning Starlin was playing the long game, telling us, “I’ve got about a thousand pages of material sort-of plotted in my head” (“After the Galaxy Dies” by Archie Goodwin, Epic Illustrated #9, Dec. 1981). Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue • BACK ISSUE • 35

Science-fiction Fairy Tale “The Meeting of Slayers,” featuring Vanth’s first encounter with Aknaton. One of six full-color plates produced by Jim Starlin for his Metamorphosis Odyssey Portfolio, published in 1980 by S. Q. Productions. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Jim Starlin.

METAMORPHOSIS ODYSSEY

to end the Zygotean threat. Aknaton was appointed the Having illustrated some paperback covers, in The Art of Horn’s guardian and, in his preparations, Aknaton introduced Jim Starlin: A Life in Words and Pictures (IDW Publishing, potential on four disparate planets. Centuries later, as the Zygoteans finally overrun the 2010), Starlin wrote that, “The idea of painting an entire comic book seemed like the next logical step. I had this Orsirosians, Aknaton sets his plan into motion. He recruits vague notion that I’d like to do something along Za from the planet Tyjor, Whis’par from the World the lines of a science-fiction fairy-tale. It would of the Woods, and Juliet from the doomed planbe a sweet and gentle little story, full of et Earth. Juliet is saved as the Zygoteans fairies and furry critters. I decided to call utterly destroy Earth (and this only in it the ‘Metamorphosis Odyssey’.” Chapter III!). These three—the fruits of Marvel published the Spring 1980 Aknaton’s seeds—possess the ability cover-dated first issue of Epic Illustrated— to sound the Horn but, until then, a magazine promising: “A new expethey need protection. In Chapter V, Akrience in adult fantasy and sciencenaton returns to the frozen world of fiction adventure.” Its first serial was Byfrexia whereupon he left a mystical Jim Starlin’s “Metamorphosis Odyssey.” Sword of Power centuries before. The Starlin was working on this in 1979, sword is now wielded by Vanth, who is and so BACK ISSUE is proud to celebrate known as the Cold Man—a warrior who a 40th Anniversary retrospective! has forestalled Zygotean advances. Chapter I introduces Aknaton, last Aknaton perceives Vanth to be an jim starlin survivor of the Orsirosians—the most unstoppable, destructive, one-man army. ancient and powerful race in the galaxy Pat Loika. The sword can cut through anything and the root of all humanoid life throughout the Milky and is capable of absorbing energy, conferring superWay. Aknaton’s narration tells us of the Zygoteans: human abilities upon Vanth, and—at Vanth’s discretion— unstoppable alien conquerors and enslavers, spreading releasing said energy as destructive force. Aknaton remarks through the galaxy like a cancerous wave. The people that he did not initially see Vanth carrying the sword. of Orsiros foresaw the inevitable and thus used their vast Vanth replies, “The sword was not hidden… it is part of mystical and technological power to create the Infinity Horn me. When I need it, I simply call it forth.”

36 • BACK ISSUE • Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue

With Vanth protecting them from Zygotean forces, Aknaton spirits the team to a planet called Dreamsend. As Za, Whis’par, and Juliet sound the Infinity Horn, the Milky Way is obliterated—euthanised—to spare the galaxy a slow, inevitable, Zygotean death. Za, Whis’par, and Juliet are transformed into new beings of pure energy, and depart. At the last, Aknaton conjures a mystical sphere of protection and sleep, which allows himself and Vanth to ride the shockwave—in suspended animation for a million years—to a whole new galaxy, and a planet named Caldor. Consumed with guilt and rage at what they’d done, Vanth kills Aknaton—which was Aknaton’s intention. Fatally wounded, Aknaton explains that this Empirical Galaxy is very similar to the Milky Way, and it faces a crossroads. It is Vanth’s destiny to show its people the way; to prevent the Milky Way’s mistakes; to be their savior or—if they can’t be saved—their destroyer. The story played out across the first nine issues of Epic Illustrated. At its conclusion, Starlin stated, “Most of what I write comes from things that happened to me in my past. What I was trying to do with the ‘Metamorphosis Odyssey’ was sort of bring out some of the stuff that was in my psyche from the Vietnam War. I had this stuff in my head that I wanted to work out, but I knew a Vietnam story was not the way to do it.” Jim Starlin very kindly agreed to answer some questions for BACK ISSUE. Expanding on the above, Starlin explains, “It was sort of a combination of wanting to do a fairy-tale and sort of an indirect Vietnam story. I was very young at the time—I was in my 20s— and the whole idea of something being so wrong that you had to rip everything down and start over fresh seemed like the best idea, as it does for most young folks. I had been working at Ralph Bakshi’s studio with Mike Ploog on the movie Wizards and I felt like I wanted to do something along those lines. Of course, I’m not a fairy-tale person, and that part of the story sort of got jettisoned pretty quickly once I got down to do the story itself [laughs]. “I started out sharing a studio [Upstart] with Walt Simonson, Howard Chaykin, and—at the beginning—Val Mayerik, and we were all artists trying to expand our palettes at that point. Howard was doing his adaptation of Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination; Walt was working on the Alien comic-book adaptation; and so it was a pretty creative little atmosphere. I decided I was going to do my own little paint thing—starting off with graytones and working my way up to full color, once the editor, Archie Goodwin, realized he didn’t have enough color pieces to fill up Epic Illustrated properly [laughs]. I’d started with black and white because I figured, ‘Well, they’ll always need black and white.’ And Archie very quickly sat down and said, ‘Y’know, it looks like you’re going to be the most popular thing in here—let’s get you into colors,’ so we did so!” In his book, The Art of Jim Starlin, he wrote, “This may well have been my favorite period in the business. Like many of my contemporaries, I consider Archie Goodwin to be the best editor I ever worked for. His assistant editor, Jo Duffy, was also a gem, always positive and extremely helpful. Between the two of them, they managed the Epic line like a family-run business.” For its first year, Epic Illustrated was a quarterly magazine. Issue #5 (Apr. 1981) heralded a change to bimonthly publication and the official arrival of associate editor Jo Duffy. “I was already very aware of Dreadstar,” recalls Duffy to BACK ISSUE. “In order to be on board as of the fifth issue, I was brought onto the magazine when maybe two issues were out. Back then, publishing had a much longer lead time than it does now.

Epic Editors (top) Editor Archie Goodwin receiving an Inkpot Award from Shel Dorf at the San Diego Comic-Con of 1982. (middle top left) Epic Illustrated #1 (Spring 1980), premiering Starlin’s Metamorphosis Odyssey. Cover by Frank Frazetta. (middle top right) Goodwin’s Epic assistant editor Jo Duffy at the 1982 San Diego con. Both photos by and courtesy of Alan Light. (middle bottom) Self-caricature of a muzzled editor Goodwin, from Dreadstar #18. (bottom) The Epic Comics masthead. Epic Illustrated, Epic Comics, and Goodwin cartoon TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue • BACK ISSUE • 37

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comics-based media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

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MERCS AND ANTIHEROES! Deadpool’s ROB LIEFELD and FABIAN NICIEZA interviewed! Histories of Cable, Taskmaster, Deathstroke the Terminator, the Vigilante, and Wild Dog, plus… Archie meets the Punisher?? Featuring TERRY BEATTY, MAX ALLAN COLLINS, PAUL KUPPERBERG, BATTON LASH, JEPH LOEB, DAVID MICHELINIE, MARV WOLFMAN, KEITH POLLARD, and others! Deadpool vs. Cable cover by LIEFELD!

ALL-STAR EDITORS ISSUE! Past and present editors reveal “How I Beat the Dreaded Deadline Doom”! Plus: ARCHIE GOODWIN and MARK GRUENWALD retrospectives, E. NELSON BRIDWELL interview, DIANA SCHUTZ interview, ALLAN ASHERMAN revisits DC’s ’70s editorial department, Marvel Assistant Editors’ Month, and a history of PERRY WHITE! With an unpublished 1981 Captain America cover by MIKE ZECK!

FOURTH WORLD AFTER KIRBY! Return(s) of the New Gods, Why Can’t Mister Miracle Escape Cancellation?, the Forever People, MIKE MIGNOLA’s unrealized New Gods animated movie, Fourth World in Hollywood, and an all-star lineup, including the work of JOHN BYRNE, PARIS CULLINS, J. M. DeMATTEIS, MARK EVANIER, MICHAEL GOLDEN, RICK HOBERG, WALTER SIMONSON, and more. STEVE RUDE cover!

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DEADLY HANDS ISSUE! Histories of Iron Fist, Master of Kung Fu, Yang, the Bronze Tiger, Hands of the Dragon, NEAL ADAMS’ Armor, Marvel’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu mag, & Hong Kong Phooey! Plus Muhammad Ali in toons and toys. Featuring JOHN BYRNE, CHRIS CLAREMONT, STEVE ENGLEHART, PAUL GULACY, LARRY HAMA, DOUG MOENCH, DENNY O’NEIL, JIM STARLIN, & others. Classic EARL NOREM cover!

ARCHIE COMICS IN THE BRONZE AGE! STAN GOLDBERG and GEORGE GLADIR interviews, Archie knock-offs, Archie on TV, histories of Sabrina, That Wilkin Boy, Cheryl Blossom, and Red Circle Comics. With JACK ABEL, JON D’AGOSTINO, DAN DeCARLO, FRANK DOYLE, GRAY MORROW, DAN PARENT, HENRY SCARPELLI, ALEX SEGURA, LOU SCHEIMER, ALEX TOTH, and more! DAN DeCARLO cover.

BRONZE AGE AQUAMAN! Team-ups and merchandise, post-Crisis Aquaman, Aqualad: From Titan to Tempest, Black Manta history, DAVID and MAROTO’s Atlantis Chronicles, the original unseen Aquaman #57, and the unproduced Aquaman animated movie. With APARO, CALAFIORE, MARTIN EGELAND, GIFFEN, GIORDANO, ROBERT LOREN FLEMING, CRAIG HAMILTON, JURGENS, SWAN, and more. ERIC SHANOWER cover!

SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE 40th ANNIVERSARY! CARY BATES’ plans for unfilmed Superman V, ELLIOT S. MAGGIN’s Superman novels, 1975 CARMINE INFANTINO interview about the movie, plus interviews: JACK O’HALLORAN (Non), AARON SMOLINSKI (baby Clark), JEFF EAST (young Clark), DIANE SHERRY CASE (teenage Lana Lang), and Superman Movie Contest winner ED FINNERAN. Chris Reeve Superman cover by GARY FRANK!

MAKE MINE MARVEL! ENGLEHART’s “lost” issues of West Coast Avengers, O’NEIL and INFANTINO’s Marvel work, a WAID/ NOCENTI Daredevil Pro2Pro interview, British Bronze Age Marvel fandom, Pizzazz Magazine, Speedball, Marvel Comics Presents, and backstage at Marvel Comicon ’75 and ’76! With DeFALCO, EDELMAN, KAVANAGH, McDONNELL, WOLFMAN, and cover by MILGROM and MACHLAN.

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ALTERNATE REALITIES! Cover-featuring the 20th anniversary of ALEX ROSS and JIM KRUEGER’s Marvel Earth X! Plus: What If?, Bronze Age DC Imaginary Stories, Elseworlds, Marvel 2099, and PETER DAVID and GEORGE PÉREZ’s senses-shattering Hulk: Future Imperfect. Featuring TOM DeFALCO, CHUCK DIXON, PETER B. GILLIS, PAT MILLS, ROY THOMAS, and many more! With an Earth X cover by ALEX ROSS.

NUCLEAR ISSUE! Firestorm, Dr. Manhattan, DAVE GIBBONS Marvel UK Hulk interview, villain histories of Radioactive Man and Microwave Man, Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy, and the one-shot Holo-Man! With PAT BRODERICK, GERRY CONWAY, JOE GIELLA, TOM GRINDBERG, RAFAEL KAYANAN, TOM MANDRAKE, BILL MORRISON, JOHN OSTRANDER, STEVE VANCE, and more! PAT BRODERICK cover!

BATMAN MOVIE 30th ANNIVERSARY! Producer MICHAEL USLAN and screenwriter SAM HAMM interviewed, a chat with BILLY DEE WILLIAMS (who was almost Two-Face), plus DENNY O’NEIL and JERRY ORDWAY’s Batman movie adaptation, MINDY NEWELL’s Catwoman, GRANT MORRISON and DAVE McKEAN’s Arkham Asylum, MAX ALLAN COLLINS’ Batman newspaper strip, and JOEY CAVALIERI & JOE STATON’s Huntress!

BLACK SUPERHEROES OF THE 1970s! History of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire! A retrospective of artist BILLY GRAHAM, a TONY ISABELLA interview, Black Lightning, Black Panther in the UK, Black Goliath, the Teen Titans’ Mal and Bumblebee, DON McGREGOR and PAUL GULACY’s Sabre, and… Black Bomber (who?). Featuring TREVOR VON EEDEN, STEVE ENGLEHART, ROY THOMAS, & a BILLY GRAHAM cover!

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Comic books are a family affair. Some of the best storylines in comics feature characters that are related to each other: the Summers brothers (Scott, Alex, and Gabriel) as well as Scott’s son Cable, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch (along with their daddy Magneto), Batman and his son Damian Wayne… and don’t forget the first family of Marvel Comics, the Fantastic Four, whose adventures usually feature family-related drama. These relationships help to create some of the most dynamic stories in comic-book history, such as Grant Morrison’s Batman and Son and the classic story from Fantastic Four #237 by writer/artist John Byrne in which Sue Richards miscarried, to name just two. However, a potential addition to comic-book familial relationships that was supposed to happen was changed at the 11th hour. DC Comics’ Jemm, Son of Saturn was supposed to be a cousin of J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Their looks and powers are very similar, so this relationship seems like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, this familial connection never materialized. But why didn’t it happen, and was Jemm better served with a later-established connection with J’onn? Let’s take a look at Jemm’s solo maxiseries, the original idea for Jemm, why this family idea wasn’t allowed, and how a new relationship with J’onn was eventually created.

MARTIAN ORIGINS

by E

d Lute

Jemm first appeared in Jemm, Son of Saturn #1 (Sept. 1984). Jemm, pronounced “Jim,” according to the series, was co-created by writer Greg Potter and the late, great artist Gene Colan (1926–2011). Attempts to arrange an interview with Greg Potter proved unsuccessful, so we’ll flip through Jemm, Son of Saturn’s “Saturnian Salutations” letters columns for some greg potter background. In issue #1, Potter recounted, “Back in Amazon.com. the ‘old days’ (circa 1979), I’d written a few stories for DC’s House of Mystery and Secrets of Haunted House under Paul [Levitz]’s able editorship. So I wrote to Paul, telling him I was on the freelance circuit and asking about the chances of doing more scripting for the DC line. To my unbounded joy, Paul wrote back that DC was actually looking for more writers and I should come down and talk with Executive Editor Dick Giordano… Dick sent me back home with this edict: ‘Create a new super-hero character. Plot the first story of that character. If what we see is good… well, we’ll see.’ I knew that whatever I came up with had to be different from any other concept on the market today.” So how did Potter come up with a concept that was different? In the same column, he told of his inspirations: “I began thinking about the fantasy concepts that had really captured my imagination over the past few years—including Steven Spielberg’s E.T., Frank Miller’s Daredevil, George Lucas’ Star Wars, and all the others… Somehow, some way, all that came together one day (and in a sudden, exhilarating rush of creativity) in the form of Jemm. Like Miller’s Daredevil, Jemm would be a larger-than-life hero operating in the mostly stark, gritty environs of urban life. Like Spielberg’s E.T., Jemm would be alone, a stranger in a strange land, and as frightened of Earthlings as Earthlings are of him. Finally, like Lucas’ Star Wars, I decided that the saga of Jemm would eventually open up on a grand scale.” Potter used these influences to develop Jemm, Son of Saturn. In the spirit of Spielberg’s E.T., Jemm was an alien from Saturn who crash-landed on Earth and developed a deep friendship with an Earth boy. Most of the action on Earth took place in a dark urban setting, like Miller’s Daredevil. Finally, after leaving Earth, Jemm’s travels took him into outer space. Potter used three diverse influences and melded them into one.

Close Encounter Jemm drops in… no not from Mars, but from Saturn. Cover to Jemm, Son of Saturn #1 (Sept. 1984) by Gene Colan and Klaus Janson. TM & © DC Comics.

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The 1980s saw a number of successful and characterchanging comics published with great fanfare, including Crisis on Infinite Earths, Secret Wars, and The Dark Knight. However, one character conspicuously absent from the shelves at that time was Marvel’s “ultimate superhero,” Nova, the space-faring teenage hero who starred in his own comic book from 1976 through 1979.

FROM NOVA TO NEBULA

After relinquishing his powers in ROM #24 (Nov. 1981), the former Nova, Richard Rider, had been returned to Earth and wasn’t seen for most of the decade outside of a couple of in-continuity pages in What If? #36 (Dec. 1982). That’s not to say his legacy was completely forgotten. In Avengers #260 (Oct. 1985), the domed world Xandar was destroyed by the space pirate Nebula while she was in possession of Thanos’ warship Sanctuary II. This event continued in “The SuperNova Saga” in Avengers #301–303 (Mar.–May 1989) with the arrival of a new character named SuperNova, who possessed the entire Nova Force, insanely seeking vengeance on Nebula. Nova’s legacy was on the verge of collapsing into a black hole. Fortunately, the ’80s also saw the rise of teenagehero groups. This trend was largely due to the success of DC Comics’ The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. Indirectly, Wolfman, Nova’s creator, was responsible for blazing the return path for one of his favorite creations. In an instance of serendipity, another Nova appearance during this period was in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe series. In the late 1980s, writer of The Mighty Thor and Marvel’s editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco was forming a new team of teen heroes for Marvel Comics. He discovered Nova in the handbook while selecting characters for the team. “I sat down with [Marvel editor] Mark Gruenwald when I first became editor-in-chief of Marvel and worked out a three-year publishing plan,” DeFalco explains to BACK ISSUE. “We decided that we wanted to introduce a new team of teenage superheroes, with the idea of eventually spinning off one or more members into their own books. I went through a list of Marvel’s teenage characters and Nova seemed a likely choice.” Rich Rider blazed back to the comic pages in Mighty Thor #411 and 412 (Dec. 1989) as part of the New Warriors (originally to be called “Young Warriors”). However, there were two unexpected changes revealed to longtime fans of The Man Called Nova series [which this same author covered back in BACK ISSUE #33—ed.]. While the helmet was the same, the costume was no longer the blue-and-yellow bodysuit with three starbursts on the chest. Nova was now wearing a red bomber-style sleeveless jacket. What led to such a drastic change? “To my memory it had most to do with a variety of

StarLost Hero Wow! This attention-grabbing original cover art by Darick Robertson and Larry Mahlstedt would make a Nova fan out of a diehard DC Comics reader. New Warriors #40 (Oct. 1993) cover art from the collection of Doug Smith. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Big Doings for Nova (top left) The Human Rocket first blasted off in Nova #1 (Sept. 1976). Cover by Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott. (top right) Nova with the New Champions in ROM #24 (Nov. 1981). Cover by Al Milgrom. (bottom) Super-Nova gets a grip on Hawkeye in Avengers #303 (May 1989). Written by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, drawn by Buckler and Tom Palmer. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc., except ROM © Hasbro.

color in the design of the team,” according to Thor artist Ron Frenz. “There was a lot of blue already and some red needed.” As for the design itself, Frenz recalls, “the main influences were [Jonny Quest’s] Race Bannon and the original [Fawcett Comics] Captain Marvel.” The other major change to Rich Rider came in the name of the character. Readers browsing #412’s cover noticed that he was now called Kid Nova! Tom DeFalco reveals, “We did go with Kid Nova because we already had a character called Nova at that time [Frankie Raye]. I thought it would lead to all sorts of confusion to have two characters with the same name, not to mention trademark issues.” Following the team-up with Thor against the Juggernaut, the New Warriors began the process of launching into their own monthly title. With the new title came a new creative team including writer Fabian Nicieza, artist Mark Bagley, and editor Danny Fingeroth. DeFalco explains it was all part of the publishing plan from the beginning: “The plan was always to launch the New Warriors in their own title. Danny Fingeroth was named the editor of the title and he chose Fabian and Mark—and I am so glad he did because they did a terrific job!” Fingeroth elaborates on the selection of his team: “Fabian handed in the best proposal for the series. He was bursting with ideas. I’d worked with Mark as writer and editor on other projects and knew he was a terrific, creative artist and also great with deadlines.” Mark Bagley also recalls, “[The] interesting thing about Nova, Fabian wanted me to draw him as a really scrawny loser (after losing the Nova Force), working in a pizza place or some such. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the ‘scrawny’ part, so I came up with the idea that he was jacked from lifting weights to compensate for his loss of power, and the ensuing loss of self-esteem. Fabian really liked that idea.”

NOVA BECOMES A STAR

With the team in place, New Warriors #1 (July 1990) hit the shelves. The story takes place prior to the events of Thor #411 and begins with the mysterious depths is a tried and true story arc for sequential team founder Night Thrasher holding a powerless Rich publishing, and that gave me a chance to do that for Rich.” Rider from a rooftop! Was he worried about the reaction of Nova fans? After confirming his captive’s identity, Night “Worried? No,” Nicieza says. “I knew it was a bit risky, tom defalco Thrasher unceremoniously drops Rich Rider towards but I had benchmarks in place in my mind already— the street and certain death. However, during roughly issue #12 to restore his name and costume, issues © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. the fall, Rider’s once-lost powers reactivate and #30–40 in my mind to restore the Nova Corps, etc. Nova is reborn! “I expected Nova fans would see his gradual progression and not Rider is at first grateful and then angry at Night Thrasher when he only enjoy it, but feel their complaints were being validated, when the learns that his kidnapper had no guarantee of his stunt’s success truth was that was the plan all along.” in restoring the powers. Night Thrasher dismisses Nova’s attack The New Warriors became extremely popular, with Nova being but clarifies that he restored the powers and now wants the Human a fan-favorite. As the series progressed, Nova’s new personality Rocket to be part of his team in return. changes included growth as a leader. Driven by his distrust of Night Along with a new costume, Rich Rider had also been given a new Thrasher, Rich Rider would question the team founder’s decisions attitude. He had become a more cynical, angrier person than he had on many occasions. been portrayed in his previous series. According to Nicieza, it was all Along with the internal conflict came battles with a variety part of his long-range plans for the character: “The way we open with of villains ranging from the street level up to the cosmic kind. Rich was purposeful for three reasons: 1) to create a differentiator that Nova’s role throughout this time was generally as a teammate and would show he had changed—for the worse—since his series had ended; counterpoint to Night Thrasher. However, a subplot running through the title’s first year was very 2) to piss off his fans just enough they would be talking about his return but not piss them off so much they wouldn’t be curious to see what Nova-centric. Readers followed a mysterious Egyptian woman as she would come next; and 3) because building a character up from the recovered an ancient artifact called the Scepter of Ka. She uses advanced Sci-Fi Superheroes Issue • BACK ISSUE • 67