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DC: The Lost 1970s • FRANK THORNE’s Red Sonja prelims • LARRY HAMA’s Fury Force • MIKE GRELL’s Batman/Jon Sable • CLAREMONT & SIM’s X-Men/Cerebus • CURT SWAN’s lost pages for ED HANNIGAN’s Skull and Bones • ENGLEHART & VON EEDEN’s Batman/ Mad Hatter • AUGUSTYN & PAROBECK’s Target • the ill-fated Impact reboot by PAUL KUPPERBERG • with unpublished art by CALNAN, COCKRUM, HA, NETZER & more!

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

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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!

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.

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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!

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.

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!

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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!

SCI-FI SUPERHEROES! In-depth looks at JIM STARLIN’s Dreadstar and Company, and the dystopian lawman Judge Dredd. Also: Nova, GERRY CONWAY & MIKE VOSBURG’s Starman, PAUL LEVITZ & STEVE DITKO’s Starman, WALTER SIMONSON’s Justice Peace (from the pages of Thor), and GREG POTTER & GENE COLAN’s Jemm, Son of Saturn! With a Dreadstar and Company cover by STARLIN and ALAN WEISS!

SUPERHEROES VS. MONSTERS! Monsters in Metropolis, Batman and the Horror Genre, DOUG MOENCH and KELLEY JONES’ Batman: Vampire, Marvel Scream-Up, Dracula and Godzilla vs. Marvel, DC/Dark Horse Hero/Monster crossovers, and a Baron Blood villain history. With CLAREMONT, CONWAY, DIXON, GIBBONS, GRELL, GULACY, JURGENS, THOMAS, WOLFMAN, and a cover by MICHAEL GOLDEN.

SUPERHERO STAND-INS! John Stewart as Green Lantern, James Rhodes as Iron Man, Beta Ray Bill as Thor, Captain America substitute U.S. Agent, new Batman Azrael, and Superman’s Hollywood proxy Gregory Reed! Featuring NEAL ADAMS, CARY BATES, DAVE GIBBONS, RON MARZ, DAVID MICHELINIE, DENNIS O’NEIL, WALTER SIMONSON, ROY THOMAS, and more, under a cover by SIMONSON.

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Volume 1, Number 118 February 2020 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Alex Ross COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Brian Augustyn Alex Ross Mike W. Barr Jim Shooter Dewey Cassell Dave Sim Ed Catto Jim Simon Chris Claremont Anthony Snyder Comic Book Artist Bryan Stroud Steve Englehart Roy Thomas Tim Finn Frank Thorne Paul Fricke J. C. Vaughn Mike Gold Trevor Von Eeden Grand Comics John Wells Database Mike Grell Larry Hama Ed Hannigan Jack C. Harris Heritage Comics Auctions Paul Kupperberg Paul Levitz Ed Lute Marvel Comics Michael Netzer Joe Norton Luigi Novi Mike Parobeck Appreciation Society

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GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Alex Ross and the Fantastic Four That Wasn’t. . . . . . .2 An exclusive interview with the comics visionary about his pop art Kirby homage ART GALLERY: Marvel Goes Day-Glo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Inspired by our cover feature, a collection of posters from the House of Psychedelic Ideas GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: The “Lost” DC Stories of the 1970s . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 From All-Out War to Zany, DC’s line was in a state of flux throughout the decade ROUGH STUFF: Unseen Sonja . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 The Red Sonja prelims of Frank Thorne GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Cancelled Crossover Cavalcade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Remember the Cerebus/X-Men and Batman/Jon Sable crossovers that weren’t? GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Larry Hama’s Fury Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 The journey from Nick Fury, Jr. to a Real American Hero GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: The Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Guest columnist Brian Augustyn recalls his unpublished project with the late, great Mike Parobeck OFF MY CHEST: Steve Englehart and the Batman Movie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 The superstar writer reveals his involvement with THE movie of 1989 in a guest editorial GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Impact Comics: The Little Imprint That Was Left Out in the Cold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Guest writer Paul Kupperberg’s behind-the-scenes exploration of DC’s attempts to revitalize the Archie Comics superheroes GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: The Lost Curt Swan Pages of Skull & Bones. . . . . . . .66 Behold, unpublished art by the Superman artist supreme for Ed Hannigan’s Cold War series GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: ‘Top Hat and Nails’: An Untold Story of the Batman . . . .73 Steve Englehart and Trevor Von Eeden’s unpublished Mad Hatter tale BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Reader reactions PLEASE NOTE: Due to ongoing international trade issues, to remain economically viable, we were forced to raise the cover price of Back Issue. Thanks for your understanding, and continued support of this magazine!

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: $89 Economy US, $135 International, $36 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Alex Ross. Fantastic Four TM & © Marvel. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2020 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

Fantastic Four TM & © Marvel. Art © Alex Ross.

2 • BACK ISSUE • Greatest Stories Never Told Issue

interview by M i c h a e l

Eury

conducted by phone on April 25, 2019, and transcribed by Rose Rummel-Eury

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine.” For most BACK ISSUE readers, Fantastic Four was just that, one of the first Marvel superhero titles we read during our youth and one we followed loyally for years, even decades. Yet in the mid-2010s, what was once the flagship title of the Marvel Universe fell out of favor with many readers, and after a conga line of creative teams paraded through the book and its reboots, Fantastic Four was cancelled. Enter Alex Ross. The superstar creator known for Marvels, Kingdom Come, Earth X, and photorealistic cover art had an idea of how to move the FF forward by looking backward, to the explosive artwork of the World’s Greatest Comic Magazine’s original artist and co-creator, Jack “King” Kirby. Yet Alex Ross’ imaginative version of Fantastic Four was not meant to be. Why? Alex—one of BI’s most dedicated readers, we’re proud to say—sits down with ye ed to share the details behind this colorful, heartfelt “Greatest Story Never Told.” – Michael Eury

I was picturing the best way to depict the FF for a modern generation was to translate Kirby’s work into a ’60s pop-art graphic, combined with my realistic rendering, thinking that it’s impossible to fully de-code Kirby, especially with my style, but you could apply abstract elements like the coloring being flat and vibrant like black-light posters with an interpretation of his faces that matches. With that, you could hopefully find the spirit of Jack’s FF in there. EURY: I think you can. Yours is certainly an out-of-the-ordinary perspective, but it circles back to the era in which Jack and Stan co-created these characters. It certainly has that “retro” feel to it. ROSS: The thing is, “retro” can feel like a negative unless you come up with a way to make it fresh and new to modern eyes so it’s not just about an aesthetic of clothing and retro styles. It’s about something intellectually from that ’60s era that you can identify and sort of pull out and getting to the soul of what was the ’60s, what was there, going on. EURY: Things that come to mind that were going on in the ’60s were the Cold War and the Space Race— at least when I think of the Fantastic Four. ROSS: Right, in terms of the topics of the stories and MICHAEL EURY: Where did your FF concept start? narratives. The key thing is, what will work for people ALEX ROSS: For me, it started in early 2017, and I today that will hold on to an almost subliminal had two key influences from where I was drawing aspect of the ’60s that people will be entranced with? alex ross this Fantastic Four pitch. It wasn’t called a “pitch,” That’s where I felt this artist Aco had really connected Courtesy of Alex Ross. because it didn’t have a storyline attached to it. If [the that successfully, which, by the way, is about the Sam FF] were coming back in the near future, in what way could I represent Jackson version of Nick Fury, not the old one we grew up with. it graphically that would be kind of a bold new take or something that EURY: Let’s talk about the casting of your Fantastic Four… would link back to this original type of comic? ROSS: Basically, it’s one of the biggest influences on the whole idea in So, two people have credits I’d like to give here: a friend of mine, getting it going. The original way I did it for several years was to use the Ron Murphy, had sent me a Fantastic Four full-color comic album, likeness of Russell Johnson from Gilligan’s Island as Reed Richards. Certainly printed in England, which was made in the late ’60s. It was recolored as a child, I thought the Professor on Gilligan’s Island reminded me of Mister with these bizarre Day-Glo colors and it created a whole impression in Fantastic. And now that I was an adult, nobody was telling me “no” when my mind of how you could sort of break up the pop iconography of I was doing it in Marvel Comics, probably because he also wasn’t having the ’60s comic with this incredibly weird representation. his face plastered on covers. I got to do it within the issues of Marvels. Then there was an artist named Aco, who was doing a pop-art But, some years ago, a fellow TwoMorrows’ contributor, George retro-’60s Nick Fury series. This series, which came out in 2017, was a Khoury, had given me a book on science-fiction television where I first prototype for the way I thought you could do the FF. saw a picture of Gary Conway, from the Land of the Giants TV series.

Color Me Spy One of Ross’ influences for his Fantastic Four palette was Marvel’s 2017 Nick Fury: Deep-Cover Capers six-issue limited series, written by James Robinson, illustrated by Aco and Hugo Petrus, and colored by Rachelle Robinson. TM & © Marvel.

Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

Giant-Size Reed and Sue (above and opposite) Alex was inspired by Land of the Giants actors Gary Conway and Deanna Lund for his interpretations of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. Fantastic Four TM & © Marvel. Land of the Giants © Irwin Allen Properties, LLC/20th Century Fox.

EURY: …Which was one of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid! When I saw your drawings, it was clear to me that your Reed Richards was based upon Gary Conway. ROSS: Well, I think that Gary’s resemblance to Kirby’s face of Reed was a revelation. It’s the face. I had previously thought of Jack’s leading men as ciphers… and the women in many cases, too. That’s true of other artists. The male and female leads have repeated facial structures that are of a certain type. But the thing is, it wasn’t true. As an example, the way Jack drew Ikaris from the Eternals is different from his other blond, long-haired heroes. His unaltered Superman faces didn’t look like anything he had been drawing at Marvel. Looking at Gary Conway, I felt like I understood Reed as a very specific person with distinctive, intense features, and this inspired me to think I could capture the real guy as Kirby had designed him. EURY: You did, from what I’ve seen from these illustrations. It’s not a generic face. It’s a face with intelligence and integrity, and Conway did have that as well. On Land of the Giants, even though the special effects one-upped the actors, Gary Conway was the anchor of the show; he was the glue and certainly embodied the characteristics of a strong leader. I think you captured that pretty well. ROSS: Thank you. EURY: You’re welcome. If you were going to cast Reed today because Gary Conway wasn’t an inspiration for whatever reason, whom would you cast? ROSS: I’d say Anson Mount, who has been playing Captain Pike on Star Trek: Discovery. He would be perfect. Even though he would possibly be discounted because he played Black Bolt on the Inhumans show. But that same situation didn’t prevent Chris Evans from going

4 • BACK ISSUE • Greatest Stories Never Told Issue

into playing Captain America after playing the Human Torch in separate films… EURY: Evans was in a third comic-inspired movie, The Losers, based on the Vertigo version. ROSS: Yes. And Josh Brolin, who’s now Cable and Thanos. He got held back because he was Jonah Hex in a movie that didn’t do well. We’ve got Affleck with Daredevil and Batman… EURY: …And Superman, as far as Hollywoodland is concerned. ROSS: Right! [chuckles] EURY: Essentially, he can fight himself if you combine footage from Hollywoodland and Batman v Superman for an “all-Affleck” version. I’ll let someone else spend time putting that together. [laughs] Back to FF, what were your inspirations for the other characters? ROSS: Ironically, from even the same book and the same photo of Gary Conway, I looked at the actors next to him and thought, “That’s the facial structure of Kirby females.” Since going to back to Marvels as well, I’ve always tried to draw the Jack Kirby prototype face where it’s Sue Richard’s. Since I saw the pictures from Land of the Giants, I’ve been using Deanna Lund as the basis for my Sue Storm. EURY: That’s very clear to me, too. Deanna Lund… a lot of boys had crushes on her back in the day. Have you had a chance to actually watch Land of the Giants since you discovered it in that book? ROSS: Oh, yeah. EURY: Did you ever see Land of the Giants reruns when you were a kid? ROSS: No, and there are a lot of series like that and Time Tunnel that just did not get featured in syndication across the United States.

EURY: Time Tunnel ran only one season. Those poor guys were just left out there, time-looping around without a resolution! ROSS: [chuckles] EURY: The producer behind those shows, Irwin Allen, was another visionary who piqued the curiosity and imagination of viewers in the ’60s. His stuff was great. But you’re right; they were not heavily syndicated. It was only later, when cable networks like SyFy would occasionally run them, that post-’60s kids discovered them. Aren’t those shows currently on MeTV? ROSS: Land of the Giants is currently on MeTV. I have a connection to that station because they’re operating out of here—out of Chicago. My friend, Rich Koz, is the horror host on Svengoolie. EURY: He was interviewed and is cover-featured in RetroFan #6. Really nice and funny guy. ROSS: Actually, an aside thing… A couple of weeks ago, when George Pérez was in town for his last con visit in Chicago, with his retirement, he wanted to see a taping of the show, and through Rich’s benevolence— I’ve been on the show before—I was able to come in and meet my hero for essentially one last time. After this year, George won’t be going to conventions anymore because he’s retiring, but I was able to pass on one of my new [Marvelocity] books to him and give him my gratitude for helping to make me the artist I am today, as one of my formative influences.

EURY: It’s nice that you had that opportunity. ROSS: Those are rare things, to meet your heroes. I’ve had a chance to meet the majority of my heroes, which is weird. I’ve had dinner with the majority of my heroes, which is odd, too! [chuckles] Intimate times spent. It’s enough for me that I have a photo of myself—at age 22— with Jack Kirby! That’s kind of a miracle. EURY: One of the magical things about comics is the intimacy of the creators. I mean, you can’t just meet Mick Jagger if he influenced you! As a comics fan, when you’re up and coming, you have an opportunity to approach creators at conventions and connect with them, and be inspired directly by them, not just inspired indirectly by their work. ROSS: Oh, yeah. Even, weirdly enough, for the eccentric tastes of who are my favorite actors. I’ve spent time with Sam Jones or Jackson Bostwick… and even Mark Hamill. I’ve met all these men and had real conversations with them. People get to stand in line to speak with them, but I’ve had unique, very fortunate circumstances to connect with those people who had such a seminal influence in my life. EURY: Wonderful experiences for you, I’m sure. Let’s spin back to Fantastic Four. I’m curious about your Johnny Storm. Is he based upon anyone specific?

Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

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 DEC. 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 • NOW SHIPPING! (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! Get yours now!

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by J o h n

Wells

Superman had to prove himself. Batman did, too. For over three decades, DC Comics exercised caution in giving an action hero their own book. Only after Superman, Batman, and even backup characters like Congo Bill had established themselves in anthology titles were they awarded their own titles. Although there were several humor and media tie-in first issues released during DC’s first decades, only five non-licensed adventure characters (and one group) were awarded their own books without preliminaries. The Adventures of Rex, the Wonder Dog (1952), Capt. Storm (1964), Secret Six (1968), and Brother Power, the Geek (1968) featured original characters, while Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen (1954) marked the first spotlight on the Superman supporting cast member and Plastic Man (1966) revived the Golden Age Quality Comics hero. In 1956, DC introduced Showcase, a comic book that made it possible for DC to avoid the expense of producing several issues of an ongoing title before sales figures came in. In Showcase, DC produced mock issues of new titles and, if the character or concept was a dud, the publisher had risked little. The idea worked so well that The Brave and the Bold was converted to a companion tryout title from 1959 to the early 1960s.

KIRBY IS COMING… AND SIMON, TOO

By 1968, an appearance in Showcase had become a mere formality. Characters like the Creeper and Bat Lash, whom DC had already committed to releasing in ongoing titles, first made token appearances in the tryout book. Such was the case with Jack Kirby’s New Gods in 1970. DC fully intended to release the title and its companions as ongoing series, but nonetheless began to go through the motions of preparing Showcase #94 to introduce the series. At some point, DC came to realize that, if they weren’t going to use Showcase to gauge a title’s sales potential, they might as well not use it as all. joe simon Consequently, Kirby’s New Gods and Forever People became the first © Kendall Whitehouse. un-established superheroes in DC’s history to win titles without any kind of preview. The downside of Showcase’s cancellation was that it had eliminated DC’s early warning system for unsuccessful concepts. The end result was a succession of short-run titles from the 1970s to the present, comic books that were often cancelled so abruptly that completed issues were left unpublished. The proliferation

This One Flew Away Uninked cover for Guardian Angel, via Joe Simon’s archives. Artist unknown. Original art courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Most art scans accompanying this article are courtesy of John Wells. © Joe Simon estate.

Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15

of comics news-zines during the same period made it possible for readers to confirm that a title had been cancelled and, in many cases, to learn where its inventory would end up. Even then, some projects remain a mystery. Case in point: Joe Simon’s Guardian Angel. Amidst the legendary comics creator’s archives was a DC cover mock-up that featured the aforementioned hero emerging as a woman summoned a demon. Simon’s son Jim tells BACK ISSUE, “Guardian Angel was a concept I wrote up and gave to Joe, who liked it and had a cover drawn. Not sure if this is his art [but] it’s his

handwriting. It was probably late ’60s, early 1970s. I assume Joe kept the artwork and put the copyright on it in 2005.” Unlike the mysterious Guardian Angel, considerably more information exists about the “lost” Aquaman #57, continuing threads from its last published issue in January 1971. As covered in more detail in BACK ISSUE #108, the issue was meant to launch a four-part story wherein its title character lost his signature aquatic powers, joined forces with Green Arrow, and fought a new menace called the Marine Marauder.

No Case for Showcase (top left) Jack Kirby’s first issue of New Gods might have been trotted out as a Showcase “trial” prior to its series launch. A Showcase #94 mock-up, via Amazing World of DC Comics #10. (top right) This house ad introduced many DC readers to Mattel’s Major Matt Mason space figure line. DC’s pilot for a Mason spin-off comic was cannibalized to become (bottom) “Commander Glenn Merritt” in From Beyond the Unknown #7, which continued into issue #8. (To learn more about Matt Mason, see ye ed’s other TwoMorrows mag, RetroFan #5.) Major Matt Mason © Mattel. New Gods and Glenn Merritt TM & © DC Comics.

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Wasting no time, Aquaman writer Steve Skeates adapted his plots for Warren Publications via a new character called Prince Targo. Stories in Eerie #36 and 37 were built around plots meant for the teenage Aqualad, but issue #40’s episode reworked the material intended for Aquaman #57. In the revision, Prince Targo’s powers were attributed to an enchanted ring that had been stolen by a surfacedwelling lover. She, in turn, passed the object on to a villain who became a whale-controlling thief. In 1976, Skeates returned to the plot one last time with the character it was original meant for when Aquaman fought the Marine Marauder in Adventure Comics #449. (In between, Skeates penned a sly sequel to the published Aquaman #56 in Marvel’s Sub-Mariner #72, 1974, itself the final issue.) Meanwhile, a complete Aqualad short story by Skeates and Jim Aparo—also meant for Aquaman #57— was belatedly inserted into 1971’s Teen Titans #36. The notion of changing a character’s name to salvage a story also came into play in 1970’s From Beyond the Unknown #7 and 8. Amidst science-fiction reprints from the 1950s and 1960s, those issues featured a new space hero with a genesis that began on toy-store shelves. Soon after the 1969 cancellation of Captain Action, based on the Ideal action figure of the same name, DC made plans for a title based on Mattel’s Major Matt Mason line of figures. The deal fell through, but not before Denny O’Neil and Murphy Anderson had completed a 23-page pilot. Rather than junk the story, editor Julius Schwartz split it in two for FBTU. Mason became Commander Glenn Merritt, in honor of astronaut John Glenn and Cape Kennedy’s launch site, Merritt Island. Mason’s companions, Sgt. Storm and Capt. Lazer, were changed to Sgt. Kevin Tempest and Capt. Quazar. On sale just a few weeks after FBTU #7, Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 marked the hugely anticipated DC premiere of superstar Jack Kirby. Before the comics giant’s split with Marvel earlier in 1970, editor Murray Boltinoff had been poised to take over JO but had yet to do any work on the book. He did, however, inherit one unpublished Olsen story by Leo Dorfman and Pete Constanza that was wholly incompatible with Kirby’s new direction. Forgotten for decades, “The Invaders from Space?” (complete with an appearance by Richard Nixon) was finally published in Silver Age 80-Page Giant #1 in May of 2000.

MAGAZINES AND DIGESTS

Kirby progressively accumulated his own share of unpublished and postponed material, starting with ambitious plans for a line of slick, color magazines aimed at an adult audience and racked accordingly. He faced immediate pushback from DC head Carmine Infantino, who would only authorize black-and-white magazines on newsprint. Beyond the format, Kirby was also frustrated in his intended return to the romance genre that he and Joe Simon pioneered in 1947. His initial proposal of True-Life Divorce transitioned into the African-American-themed Soul Love before DC abandoned the title altogether. In the Days of the Mob and Spirit World at least made it into print, but DC’s ongoing bout of cold feet ensured that their second issues were never published. With its chronicles of 1930s gangsters, the material meant for Mob #2 didn’t readily fit into any DC anthology title and mostly sat unused save for stories published in the fan-targeted Amazing World of DC Comics #1 (1974) and 10 (1976), as well as Robin Snyder’s The Comics vol. 6 #6 (1995). Spirit World #2’s inventory fared better thanks to the popularity of DC’s horror comics in the early 1970s.

Indeed, veteran cartoonist Howard Purcell had also been asked to write and draw his own supernatural title for editor Mort Weisinger in 1969. “I turned the whole book out from cover to cover and I have a beautiful cover on it,” he told Joe Mosca in Fantastic Fanzine #13 (1971). “[DC is] a little concerned about the reproduction of it because I used the fine-screen Craftint [art paper for special effects] and they’re hoping that it won’t lose [anything in print].” After Purcell’s project was killed, its contents and that of Spirit World #2 were handed off to editor E. Nelson Bridwell with the intent of using their collective inventory in the first three issues of a new color comic book entitled Weird Mystery Tales (starting in May 1972). Another Kirby story was used in Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #6 (1972) while the cover that Purcell was so proud of appeared on Weird Mystery #2. Ultimately, all the content meant for the two Kirby second issues was assembled in one place in a pair of DC hardbacks: Spirit World (2012) and In the Days of the Mob (2013).

Calling Superman! Title page from Silver Age 80-Page Giant #1, intended for Jimmy Olsen #133. This was, incidentally, the last known story ever drawn by Pete Costanza. TM & © DC Comics.

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likes of Louis L’Amour. Unfortunately, Jonah Hex and Other Western Tales was an evident flop, yanked from the schedule so quickly that there wasn’t time to pull an ad for its never-published fourth issue in November. Its contents would have consisted of “Showdown with the Dangling Man” (reprinted from Weird Western Tales #25), “The Killer’s Last Wish” (WWT #13), “Gunfight At Wolverine” (WWT #31), “Death Stalk” (WWT #42), “Call Him Satan—Call Him Saint” and “Death Deals the Cards” (both from All-Star Western #3), “The Replacement” (WWT #14), and a filler, “The Outlaw Trail” (by Bob Rozakis and Joe Orlando). The issue’s exterior painting was subsequently used as the cover of The Comics Journal #56 while its back-cover art appeared (in black and white) in TCJ #59. Meanwhile, a prospective new Western title collapsed for a different reason. Tentatively titled “Dakota,” the feature was meant to depart from the unconventional Jonah Hex and Scalphunter with a classic “white hat” hero named Marshal Jeremiah D. Hart. Editor Len Wein had another idea that he preferred to develop, though, and pitched it to Jenette Kahn alongside Marv Wolfman. DC’s publisher was skeptical until Wolfman floated the possibility of Marvel artist George Pérez jumping ship to join them. Suddenly, The New Teen Titans was a going concern and “Dakota” was abandoned. After guest-starring in 1980’s Jonah Hex #42–44, J. D. Hart returned to limbo with no series of his own to move into. The character returned as a supporting-cast member in Jonah Hex #78 (1983) before ultimately being killed off in issue #90 (1985).

Let’s Not Do the Time Warp (top left) Michael Kaluta’s cover art for Time Warp #6, as published in issue #5’s letters column. (top middle) Luis Dominguez’s cover for the unpublished Jonah Hex and Other Western Tales #4, instead used on The Comics Journal #56. (top right) Mystery in Space #118’s unpublished cover. (bottom) A panel of Conway and Infantino’s unpublished Space Museum story intended for Mystery in Space, via The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino. Jonah Hex TM & © DC Comics. The Comics Journal © Fantagraphics.

1980 became something of a do-over for DC. The line expansion that was cut short two years earlier finally went forward without interruption. The New Teen Titans was critical to reshaping fan opinion of DC’s potential and fresh projects proliferated in the years that followed. “Lost” stories and abandoned series didn’t stop in the decade ahead, but those are stories for another time. This one has come to an end. JOHN WELLS is a comics historian specializing in DC Comics who has served as resource for projects ranging from Kurt Busiek’s The Power Company to Greg Weisman’s Young Justice animated series. He is the author of the TwoMorrows books American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960–1964 and 1965– 1969, and co-author (with Keith Dallas) of the book Comic Book Implosion.

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by D

ewey Cassell

For most of us, when it comes to our jobs, we wouldn’t think of doing the same thing twice. You might check over a spreadsheet or a report to make sure it was correct, but you wouldn’t do the same spreadsheet or report more than once, unless you lost it. But people in creative professions often do the same thing more than once. Painters frequently do a preliminary sketch (a.k.a. “prelim”) or even a rough painted version before rendering the final painting. Writers typically go through multiple drafts and revisions before submitting the final manuscript. The creative process is an evolutionary one. However, the process of creating comic books doesn’t always allow for much evolution. In the early days, the production of comic books was often more like an assembly line, with less concern over quality than quantity. Deadlines are frequently the enemy of creativity. Even in the Silver Age of Comics, the only aspect of a comic book that might have required a prelim was the cover, ensuring it had sufficient eye appeal to compel the reader to pull it from the crowded rack. Add to this the fact that comic books were typically illustrated based on a full script, which described panel by panel what the artist should draw. What creativity existed in the comic-book process lie primarily with the writer. That is, until the advent of the “Marvel Method.” At one time, Stan Lee was writing most, if not all, of the comic books produced by Marvel. To handle the workload, Lee switched from writing full scripts to plot outlines or synopses. He was working with a stable of talented, experienced artists who were more than capable of fleshing out the details of the stories. The end result was a more collaborative effort in which the artist exercised greater creative control. For years it was the de facto method of writing Marvel comics, even after other writers joined the Bullpen. Some artists did not enjoy working under the Marvel Method. Why should they do the writer’s job? Other artists reveled in it, including Jack Kirby, John Buscema, Herb Trimpe, and a host of others, including Frank Thorne. But Thorne took it one step further. In 1973, Marvel introduced Red Sonja in the pages of Conan the Barbarian #23. Created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith, the character was loosely based on Red Sonya of Rogatino from the 1934 Robert E. Howard short story “The Shadow of the Vulture.” After being well received, Red Sonja began headlining the comic book Marvel Feature in 1975. After seven issues, Sonja received her own title, which ran until mid-1979. Thorne recalls how he became involved with the fiery redhead: “Archie Goodwin, newly at Marvel after years at DC, gave me Sonja in 1975. [I] loved REH’s work for years before landing Sonja. It was my first and my only series at Marvel.” Thorne wasn’t the first artist to draw Red Sonja, nor the first to draw her in the famous scale-mail bikini armor. (That was Esteban Maroto.) But Thorne is arguably the artist who made Red Sonja and her costume famous. His version of Sonja is considered by many fans to be the definitive one, setting the standard for all the artists who have followed. Thorne was new to Marvel, but he certainly wasn’t new to comics, as he explains: “My youth—I was 45 years old when I took on Sonja— was the vital element. I was ready, having paid my dues with a small number of stories for DC and several other lesser publishers.” Thorne took over drawing the adventures of Red Sonja with issue #2 of Marvel Feature, written initially by Bruce Jones and later by Roy Thomas and

A Thorne We Welcome Marvelites’ first look at Frank Thorne’s Red Sonja (albeit with a John Romita, Sr. face alteration), on the cover of Marvel Feature vol. 2 #2 (Jan. 1976). And just wait’ll you get a look at Frank’s work, unplugged, in this article! Red Sonja © Red Sonja LLC.

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Wanted: More Panels When laying out this page from Red Sonja #5 (Sept. 1977), Frank Thorne at first imagined fewer, larger images, but this scan from the published comic book shows, he opted for multi-panels and accelerated pacing. © Red Sonja LLC.

page is paramount. The Sonja stories were well written by gifted storytellers, but I hold to the theory that the best in comic-book creation is by one craftsman having total control of story and art.” Thorne submitted the prelims to Marvel for review. Thomas recalls, “He submitted pencils… probably rough ones, since he was going to ink. Clair wrote from those, and I went over and retyped her script. I’m not sure I ever saw (or wanted to see) finished pencils on Red Sonja from Frank… it was the same with other artists who inked their own roughs. For the most part, I only needed to see the storytelling. I knew the artists could draw finished pencils.” The Red Sonja prelims created by Thorne can be described in four basic categories: 1) Prelims that closely matched the finished art. At least half of the prelims fall into this category. Thorne wasn’t given free reign when it came to Red Sonja, but there was an editorial appreciation of his vision and interpretation of the character, so many pages were unchanged. 2) Prelims that vary from the finished art due to editorial changes. Sometimes, Noto or Thomas would make comments in the margins of the prelims. It might be a simple comment, such as “no smile” on the prelim for page 2 of Red Sonja #8, referring to a single character in one panel. Other times, the changes would be more significant, including striking through panels and asking for them to be redrawn. In some cases, the editorial changes were corrections to a drawing that did not match the plot. In other cases, the editorial changes were simply the result of a different interpretation of the material. It is worth noting that on rare occasion, Thorne ignored the editorial comments when drawing the final version. 3) Prelims that vary from the finished art due to artistic changes. Sometimes, the finished art varied from the prelim, even though there were no editorial comments. In one case, Thorne redesigned the layout of the splash page to the story “Vengeance of the Golden Circle,” from Red Sonja #8. More often, Thorne made subtle changes in perspective, frequently highlighting Sonja, as he notes, “Important is the closeup. I tried to place one on every page.” Thomas was largely accepting of this artistic license, reflecting, “I didn’t mind if he made some changes… as long as the end story worked and it wasn’t meant to undercut what Clair (or Clair and I) had done. If he went too far with alterations, I could get the work redone… and he never had anything like carte blanche over the scripts, certainly. Occasionally, I seem to recall, he wanted to go in a somewhat different direction than Clair and I, and I had to say no. But I trusted him to do a good job within his lights.”

4) Prelims that were not used or bear no resemblance to the finished art. This is the least common category. In one case—page 2 of Red Sonja #4—Thorne drew two different prelims for the same page. In other cases, select panels were simply omitted from the final version of a page. The Red Sonja prelims offer fascinating insight into Thorne’s creative process. Many of the prelims are quite detailed and offer a glimpse at an unseen Sonja. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I believe that the prelim drawings were sometimes superior to the finished versions. For example, the prelim for page 15 of Red Sonja #5 is simpler in design with fewer panels than the published page. Issue #11 of Red Sonja would be Thorne’s last, as he notes, “The reason I left Sonja after some 18 issues is that the Marvel editors wanted me to surrender my inking, lettering, and coloring to make the series look like all the others in the lineup.” So much for creativity. While the prelims are rarely seen, the classic Red Sonja comics by Thorne have been collected in a variety of formats, including a three-volume Artist Edition reproducing the original artwork in actual size. Dynamite Entertainment, which obtained the publication rights in 2005, recently celebrated Red Sonja’s 45th anniversary, and the character continues to appear in comics today. [Editor’s note: For more on the relationship between Frank Thorne and Red Sonja, read author Dewey Cassell’s article “(Red) Sonja Con” in BACK ISSUE #43, available in digital format.] Thorne was certainly not the only artist to draw prelims, nor the only one to exert such influence over their work. In fact, it ultimately spawned a new era of creator-owned comic properties by pioneers like Howard Chaykin and Mike Grell. Thorne’s desire for creative control took him away from mainstream comics and into other formats, including success with new female characters like Lann, Moonshine McJugs, and Danger Rangerette, appearing in Heavy Metal, Playboy, National Lampoon, and other adult-oriented publications. Still, nothing can quite compare to Thorne’s rendition of the “she-devil with a sword.” Many thanks to Roy Thomas and Frank Thorne for their invaluable insight. DEWEY CASSELL is the Eisner Award-nominated author of over 40 articles and four books, including Mike Grell: Life is Drawing Without An Eraser.

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by E d

Lute

In 1975, rival comic-book publishers DC Comics and Marvel Comics did something unexpected: The Big Two got together to produce their first intercompany (or cross-company) comic book. However, the comic they published didn’t feature any of their iconic superheroes. It was instead the treasurysized adaptation of MGM’s Marvelous Wizard of Oz. Both companies had been working on their own adaptions of the story, with Marvel using L. Frank Baum’s first Wizard of Oz novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, as the basis for their comic, and DC basing their version on the classic 1939 film. Then, Marvel publisher and editor Stan Lee and DC publisher Carmine Infantino got together and decided the two companies should collaborate on an adaption. The comic, written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by John Buscema, was a well-regarded adaption of the movie… but this initial Marvel/DC collaboration is what has made this edition a lasting comic-book legacy. Soon, the two companies were collaborating again, using some of the most popular and beloved comics of the Bronze Age. One year later, their most popular characters faced off in Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (Jan. 1976). This “Battle of the Century” was written by Gerry Conway, penciled by Ross Andru, and inked by Dick Giordano, with some uncredited assistance from pencilers Neal Adams and John Romita, Sr. and inkers Terry Austin and Bob Wiacek [as revealed way back in BACK ISSUE #13—ed.]. While this was the first superhero intercompany crossover of the Bronze Age, it wasn’t the first intercompany crossover featuring superheroes. That distinction goes to All-American Publications’ All Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940), which featured All-American Comics’ Hawkman, the dave sim Flash, the Atom, and Green Lantern alongside National Allied Publications’ the Sandman, Hour-Man (later Hourman), Doctor Fate, and the Spectre, teaming up for the first appearance of the Justice Society of America. These two companies would later merge to become DC Comics. During the early 1980s, there were several other outstanding cross-company crossovers, such as a repeat meeting between DC’s big blue boy scout and Marvel’s web-headed superhero in Marvel Treasury Edition #28’s Superman and Spider-Man (July 1981), a Batman and Hulk crossover in DC Special Series #27 (Fall 1981), and Marvel’s

Hey, Bub! Dave Sim’s “Wolveroach” lampoon in the pages of his long-running opus Cerebus the Aardvark led to a brainstorming session about a Cerebus/X-Men crossover that went south. Original art scan of Sim’s autographed 2005 recreation of his cover for Cerebus #55 (Oct. 1983), courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Cerebus © Dave Sim.

Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 35

him his name is Bruce Wayne and he lives in Gotham City. The man tells Sable that’s all well and good, but what about this? The man then opens his shirt and shows Sable a Batman suit underneath. Sable tells Wayne maybe you were going to a comic-con or costume party. Wayne says, ‘Maybe, but what if I’m really Batman?’” Grell wanted the story to be a fun adventure story. He tells BACK ISSUE, “The story was going to be an action/adventure/comedy with them conducting a mutual investigation. Wayne was trying to prove he was Batman and Sable was trying to prove otherwise. Sable thought that Bruce Wayne just couldn’t remember why he was wearing the costume because he had suffered a traumatic brain injury. Sable keeps mentioning that someone would have to be nuts to dress up like a bat and fight crime as Batman. At one point they get into Sable’s car, which was a ’53 Studebaker. That’s the car I’ve always wanted. I’ve always lived vicariously through my work. Bruce Wayne continuously referred to Sable’s car as the ‘Sablemobile’ during their adventure together. It was going to be a very fun crossover to do.” First Comics co-founder Mike Gold was involved in plotting the crossover with Grell and would have served as its editor. Gold tells BI, “That Sable/Batman crossover would have been a hoot. Mike and I plotted some of that out. It would have been great fun to happen. I’ve been pining for that one for about a third of a century!” The end of the story would have revealed that there was a villain behind the whole plot. Batman has one of the best rogues’ galleries in all of comics. So, who did Grell pick as the crossover’s antagonist? “I was undecided who the major villain was going to be at the time,” Grell admits. “I was leaning towards the Joker being behind everything.” Beginning in the 1990s and beyond, intercompany crossovers became common between major and mike gold independent publishers. However, during the mid- to late 1980s they weren’t very common. In fact, if this crossover had seen publication when planned, it would have been the first one. “Yes, this would have been the first intercompany crossover between a major publisher and an independent one,” states Grell. “This would have been an historic pairing. Unfortunately, sometimes higher-ups don’t see the historic significance. I feel I’ve pulled editors and publishers into the 20th Century. I think I got them up to about 1897,” Grell laughs. While best known during this time as the creator behind Jon Sable, Freelance, and earlier, for his fan-favorite DC work (Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, and The Warlord), Grell was no stranger in Gotham City. He had penciled Detective Comics #455 (Jan. 1976) and Batman #287–290 (May–Aug. 1977). With a great concept for the crossover and a popular creator who had experience working on both characters, why didn’t the crossover see print? Grell recalls, “In short, because of the lawyers. Both publishers wanted to do it. It was during negotiations that the idea broke down. It just wasn’t going to be fun anymore. “Independent comics and comic shops were new at the time, so DC had the luxury of putting a book on the schedule any time it wanted. First [Comics] didn’t have that luxury,” Grell explains. “First wanted it done quickly. The time frame was about 60 days. DC wanted a 30-day approval at every stage of the process. So if pencils took two weeks you add 30 days to that, and then another two weeks for inks plus the 30 days for approvals, and then two weeks for colors plus the 30 days, you were looking at more like six months than 60 days to get the book out. Our counterproposal was ten days for approvals at each stage, and if we hadn’t heard back from them we would assume it was approved. DC came back with everything was disapproved until we heard back from them. So you can see why it just wasn’t fun anymore.” Unfortunately, it seems that the chances of this crossover ever taking place are slim to none. Grell states, “This will likely never be revisited. Only if Warner Bros. picked up Jon Sable as a movie would the crossover be possible. Or if Jim Lee would phone me today and say, ‘Let’s do this.’ I’d jump on it in a minute.”

Night Stalkers Decades later, we’re still jonesing for that planned Batman/Jon Sable crossover! Shown here are Iron Mike’s original cover art for Jon Sable, Freelance #41 and the Batman pinup from Batman #400. Both, courtesy of Heritage. Jon Sable © Mike Grell. Batman TM & © DC Comics.

It is unfortunate that these outstanding proposals never happened, and probably never will. They join the cavalcade of cancelled comic proposals that have never seen print. The author would like to thank Mike Grell and Mike Gold for their invaluable assistance with this article. Thanks also go out to Chris Claremont, who replied to a query for this article but was unable to assist with it. ED LUTE loves intercompany crossovers and wished he lived in an alternate universe in which these two crossovers actually saw print.

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by E

d Lute

In the early 1980s, then-Marvel Comics editor Larry Hama FURY FORCE presented then-Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter While Hama is now known primarily for writing comics, with a proposal for a new series set within the Marvel his first work for Marvel was as an artist. Iron Fist debuted Universe. Hama’s proposal dealt with a Special Forces in Marvel Premiere #15 (May 1974), illustrated by co-creator team with each member having a codename and a Gil Kane. Hama penciled the second appearance of specialty. The team would operate from a headIron Fist, in Marvel Premiere #16 (July 1974). He also quarters under the motor pool of a military base. penciled Iron Fist’s next two appearances in The proposed series, called Fury Force, Marvel Premiere #17 and 18. would feature Nick Fury, Jr. as the leader When asked about how he came to work of the Fury Force team… but the series for Marvel in the first place, Hama tells was never to see print. However, with so BACK ISSUE, “This would take a hundred many excellent ideas in the pitch, pages. Here’s the condensed version: some of the concepts from the proposal Before coming to Marvel, I worked would be repurposed in another comicfor DC. [Hama penciled the Steve book series—G.I. Joe: A Real American Skeates-written story “Losing His Head” from DC’s Secrets of the Sinister House Hero. Based on Hasbro’s toy line, G.I. Joe would be one of the most popular comic#10, Mar. 1973, with inks by Neal Adams.] book series ever. Hama would even go Shortly after that, I came over to Marvel on to write the new series. and did Iron Fist in Marvel Premiere.” So, why didn’t Fury Force materialize? Hama eventually became an editor larry hama Read on as BACK ISSUE takes a look at at Marvel. “Marvel offered me an editor Hama’s proposal for Fury Force, why it Alex Lozupone. position. [First,] I was an editor at DC didn’t see print, how some of the elements from the until the [DC] Implosion. I had edited Mister Miracle, proposal made it into G.I. Joe, and how Hama remained Super Friends, and a few others for them.” a part of the toy-based comic-book series, helping it to It was after his return to Marvel that he originally came become a fan-favorite bestseller. up with the concept of Fury Force. Hama tells BI, “It was

A Prototypical American Hero Larry Hama’s Fury Force proposal for Marvel had concepts that were soon repurposed for the publisher’s licensed G.I. Joe series. This sketch, which originally was published in BACK ISSUE #16, is courtesy of Tim Finn. Art © Larry Hama. Fury Force © Marvel.

Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

“Introducing the Pulse-Pounding Penciling of Larry Hama!” That’s what the credits of Marvel Premiere #16 (July 1974), starring Iron Fist, proclaimed, and we agree, as this dynamic page from that issue shows! Inks by Dick Giordano. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel.

1980 or 1981? I can’t remember exactly. I was editor of Crazy at the time.” Crazy was Marvel Comics’ entry into the satire and humor magazine realm popularized by MAD magazine. It ran for ten years, from 1973 until 1983. When asked how he originally came up with the concept of Fury Force, Hama states, “Really? Another hundred pages! It was a secret elite military team like Delta Force that has its HQ under the Chaplain’s Assistants motor pool in Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island. I did all the concept art, designed the characters, and made a diagram of the Pit. I’ve forgotten the rest.” With a series named Fury Force set in the Marvel Universe, you would think it would feature super-spy Nick Fury. However, this wasn’t going to be the case. The Fury Force team was going to be led by Sgt. Nick Fury, Jr. At the time of Hama’s proposal, the senior Nick Fury wasn’t currently starring in a comic-book series and would have been available for Fury Force. Hama no longer recalls the exact reason why the famous Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was replaced with his son in the lead. When asked if Fury, Sr. would have made cameo appearances, Hama says, “I didn’t think about having him in the series. I try not to get too far ahead of myself when I’m working on something. I thought about the basic concept, but didn’t get much further than that at the time.” Hama also created new characters to fill out the rest of the roster as well. The team would feature Shadow, Spook, Jelly, and Louie Louie. “I based all of the characters

40 • BACK ISSUE • Greatest Stories Never Told Issue

on people I knew,” he tells BACK ISSUE. “Some of them were based on my Army buddies; some on other people I knew. And before you ask—no, I’m not going to tell you who specifically they were based on.” One of the most engaging aspects of the proposal was that the team would have operated in the regular Marvel Universe, interacting with the Marvel superheroes and their supporting casts. Hama also had in mind some worthy adversaries for Fury Force, “generic terrorists or some vaguely fascist paramilitary organization like Hydra.” Hydra, with its unending supply of masked followers and its global reach, would have made an interesting adversary for the Marvel Universe-based paramilitary team. Despite his background in illustrating comics and having drawn the concept art for the proposal, Hama

Go, Fury! Some of Larry Hama’s developmental art for Fury Force, and his altered concepts’ eventual home: G.I. Joe #1 (June 1982, cover by Herb Trimpe and Bob McLeod). Fury Force scans courtesy of Ed Lute. Art © Larry Hama. Fury Force © Marvel. G.I. Joe © Hasbro.

A Hit for Marvel (inset) Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter at the 1982 San Diego Comic-Con. Photo by and courtesy of Alan Light. That same year, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero went on to be a smash for Marvel, including in mail subscriptions. Document © Marvel.

had no intention in drawing Fury Force. He tells BI, “I wanted to write the series. I didn’t want to pencil it.” After creating the proposal and completing the concept art, Hama pitched it to Marvel. The idea of an elite Special Forces team operating from a hidden base in the Marvel Universe sounds like an amazing idea. So Marvel jumped on it right away, right? “I pitched it to Jim Shooter, and he rejected it,” Hama recalls. According to Shooter on his blog, “Editor Larry Hama had been working on a reactivation of Nick Fury. He had a lot of ideas. Fury as the head of a top secret, elite strike force, a headquarters in sub-basements below the Chaplain’s quarters, I think. Anyway, he had a lot of stuff going. At some point, he’d told me what he was working on. But I don’t think it was ready to go yet, and we hadn’t yet committed to it—that is, I hadn’t circulated a new project memo and scheduled the thing.” So Hama’s outstanding proposal was rejected and never turned into a series. However, this wasn’t the end of Fury Force.

AMERICA’S MOVEABLE FIGHTING MAN

Marvel Comics feature some of the most recognized characters in pop culture. The Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Iron Man, and many others grace the pages of their comic books, toy aisles, and movie theatres. These Marvel characters and many others have become pop culture icons known around the world. With many popular characters in their pantheon, you would think they wouldn’t need to produce comics based on licensed properties. However, Marvel Comics has also produced some of the most popular and well-received comic books based on licensed toy properties, including Micronauts and ROM: Spaceknight. Both of these series took the basic concept of the toy lines and developed them into a tapestry of great storytelling and fantastic artwork that went well beyond the concept of the toys. Some of these comic books are better remembered than the toys themselves. In the early 1980s, Marvel was always looking for more licensed properties to add to its comic-book line. One day, Jim Shooter went to a meeting with Hasbro executives regarding a new toy line they were developing based on an inactive action-figure brand. Hasbro’s original G.I. Joe toy line, featuring “America’s Moveable Fighting Man,” first appeared in 1964. These articulated action figures were 12 inches in size and featured various branches of the United States military including the Army. The original line was rechristened G.I. Joe Adventure Team in 1969 before being discontinued in the late 1970s. During the early 1980s, Hasbro made plans to relaunch the toy line in a 3 ¾-inch size that was popularized by Kenner’s Star Wars action figures. On Shooter’s blog he recalled, “A few days after his fateful meeting with [Hasbro Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steven] Hassenfeld, [Marvel Comics Group President James] Galton asked me to accompany him to a meeting with Hasbro. It was downtown somewhere. Not at Hasbro’s toy district office. Way downtown. I don’t remember exactly. Their lawyers’ offices? I don’t know. Anyway, there were a few people from Hasbro present, boys’ toys execs. [Hasbro Marketing Vice President] Bob Prupis was there I think. Could be wrong. I don’t think anyone from Griffin-Bacal was there. Could be wrong. They were all eager to meet the editor-in-chief that Galton had apparently highly touted.” Griffin-Bacal was an advertising firm formed by Tom Griffin and Joe Bacal in 1978. Hasbro was one of the advertising firm’s clients. “They showed me what they had,” Shooter continued. “A logo: ‘G.I. JOE, a Real American Hero.’ That was about it. They didn’t want to revive the big doll. Yes, I know it was verboten to use the word ‘doll.’ and I didn’t in front of them. They were thinking about three-andthree-quarters-inch figures, like the Star Wars figures, but they hadn’t even settled on that yet. And they wanted a line of figures, not just

one. Someone said, ‘So, besides G.I. JOE, do we have G.I. George, G.I. Fred…?’ I said how about if ‘G.I. JOE’ is the code name for the unit? Call in ‘G.I. JOE?’ They liked that. I also said it should be an anti-terrorist team. Not a ‘war’ toy. That was obvious to everyone, I guess. They were sold. They wanted us to proceed and develop a concept. Everybody shook hands and Galton and I took a cab back uptown. Later, Marvel’s licensing and business affairs people worked out the deal.” You are probably wondering why an article about Hama’s Fury Force concept is discussing Hasbro’s G.I. Joe line. Well, stand by, the connection is coming soon.

G.I. FURY

Shooter realized he already had the perfect idea for Hasbro concerning their rebooted G.I. Joe series in Larry Hama’s Fury Force proposal. On Shooter’s blog he wrote, “Back at Marvel, I went straight to Larry’s office. He, with his military background, was the obvious choice to do the heavy lifting. I told him what happened. He thought, and I agreed, that much of what he’d already cooked up for Nick Fury could be adapted to the project.” So, was Fury Force simply rebranded as G.I. Joe? “I get asked this all the time and people always get it wrong,” Hama states. “It wasn’t changed into G.I. Joe. I just used elements of it in the new project.” In an interview on QKTheatre.com, Hama discussed the origins of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero: “There were a lot of holdovers from the ‘Fury Force’ concept that I had been developing for Marvel at the time. The whole idea of a secret base under a motor pool, for instance. I even had a ‘Snake-Eyes’ type character who didn’t speak, had his face covered with a cowl and was a mysterious assassin type [Fury Force’s Spook]. He carried a pump shotgun and a commando knife in his boot and was actually inspired by the Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah (Wolf Who Stands in Water) character in the old Yancy Derringer TV show.” Yancy Derringer was a 1958–1959 Western TV series starring Jock Mahoney that ran for one season of 34 episodes on CBS. Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah was portrayed by the actor Jay X. Brands (also known as X Brands); his character was silent, just like G.I. Joe’s Snake-Eyes.

Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 41

From WOODSTOCK to THE BANANA SPLITS, from SGT. PEPPER to H.R. PUFNSTUF, from ALTAMONT to THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, GROOVY is a far-out trip to the era of lava lamps and love beads. This profusely illustrated HARDCOVER BOOK, in PSYCHEDELIC COLOR, features interviews with icons of grooviness such as PETER MAX, BRIAN WILSON, PETER FONDA, MELANIE, DAVID CASSIDY, members of the JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, CREAM, THE DOORS, THE COWSILLS and VANILLA FUDGE; and cast members of groovy TV shows like THE MONKEES, LAUGH-IN and THE BRADY BUNCH. GROOVY revisits the era’s ROCK FESTIVALS, MOVIES, ART—even COMICS and CARTOONS, from the 1968 ‘mod’ WONDER WOMAN to R. CRUMB. A color-saturated pop-culture history written and designed by MARK VOGER (author of the acclaimed book MONSTER MASH), GROOVY is one trip that doesn’t require dangerous chemicals! (192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • Digital Edition: $13.95 • ISBN: 9781605490809 Diamond Comic Distributors Order Code: JUL172227

LOU SCHEIMER

CREATING THE FILMATION GENERATION Hailed as one of the fathers of Saturday morning television, LOU SCHEIMER was the co-founder of FILMATION STUDIOS, which for over 25 years provided animated excitement for TV and film. Always at the forefront, Scheimer’s company created the first DC cartoons with SUPERMAN, BATMAN, and AQUAMAN, ruled the song charts with THE ARCHIES, kept Trekkie hope alive with the Emmy-winning STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES, taught morals with FAT ALBERT AND THE COSBY KIDS, and swung into high adventure with TARZAN, THE LONE RANGER, ZORRO, HE-MAN, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, live-action shows SHAZAM!, THE SECRETS OF ISIS, JASON OF STAR COMMAND and others. Now, LOU SCHEIMER tells the entire story to bestselling author (and RETROFAN columnist) ANDY MANGELS, including how his father decked ADOLF HITLER, memories of the comics of the Golden Age, schooling with ANDY WARHOL, and what it meant to lead the last all-American animation company through nearly thirty years of innovation and fun! Profusely illustrated with PHOTOS, MODEL SHEETS, STORYBOARDS, PRESENTATION ART, looks at RARE AND UNPRODUCED SERIES, and more—plus stories from TOP ANIMATION INSIDERS about Scheimer and the story behind Filmation!

By RetroFan’s ANDY MANGELS!

(288-page trade paperback with COLOR) $29.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.95 • ISBN: 9781605490441 Diamond Comic Distributors Order Code: JUL121245

HERO-A-GO-GO!

Welcome to the CAMP AGE, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, good guys beat bad guys with a pun and a punch, and Batman shook a mean cape. HERO-A-GO-GO celebrates the camp craze of the Swinging Sixties, when just about everyone—the teens of Riverdale, an ant and a squirrel, even the President of the United States—was a super-hero or a secret agent. BACK ISSUE magazine and former DC Comics editor MICHAEL EURY takes you through that coolest cultural phenomenon with this all-new collection of nostalgic essays, histories, and theme song lyrics of classic 1960s characters like CAPTAIN ACTION, HERBIE THE FAT FURY, CAPTAIN NICE, ATOM ANT, SCOOTER, ACG’s NEMESIS, DELL’S SUPER-FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA, the “Split!” CAPTAIN MARVEL, and others! Featuring interviews with BILL MUMY (Lost in Space), BOB HOLIDAY (It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman), RALPH BAKSHI (The Mighty Heroes, Spider-Man), DEAN TORRENCE (Jan and Dean Meet Batman), RAMONA FRADON (Metamorpho), DICK DeBARTOLO (Captain Klutz), TONY TALLARICO (The Great Society Comic Book), VINCE GARGIULO (Palisades Park historian), JOE SINNOTT (The Beatles comic book), JOSE DELBO (The Monkees comic book), & more! (272-page FULL-COLOR TRADE PAPERBACK) $36.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.95 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1 Diamond Comic Distributors Order Code: JAN172100

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

By M EURY ICHAEL , edito r of

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com

by P a u l

Kupperberg

Archie Heroes in Crisis In late 1992 the once-hopeful Impact! Comics imprint attempted a dramatic reinvention including this six-issue miniseries, Crucible. Cover art by Joe Quesada and Joe Rubinstein (#1–2) and Dick Giordano (#3–6). Unless otherwise stated, all images accompanying this article are courtesy of Paul Kupperberg. Characters © Archie Comic Publications, Inc. DC logo and Crucible TM & © DC Comics.

[Editor’s note: Paul Kupperberg originally pitched this Impact Comics article as a two-part feature, serialized in two consecutive editions of BACK ISSUE. Once this issue’s “Greatest Stories Never Told” theme availed itself as the perfect vehicle for this feature, I opted to bundle both parts into one issue, but have maintained Paul’s two-part story structure. Enjoy this insider’s view of a relaunch that could have been.]

major commercial hit. The industry as it presently exists will not support efforts with as many negatives as [this project has].” Posing such questions and making bold statements of defeat right off the bat aren’t usually the way to a project go-ahead. But in the case of DC Comics editor Jim Owsley’s proposal for the relaunch of the revamped Impact Comics line, he knew he was dealing with a hostile audience and couldn’t afford to be accused of “Why bother?” “wishful thinking” in his pitch for The American Shield, The Let me start by offering this Pro Tip: When you’re Mark of the Black Hood, and The Wrath of the Comet by an editor writing a proposal to pitch a new multi-title confidently predicting great, or even moderate, sales success. project to your publisher, it’s usually not a good idea The need for a relaunch after only about a year and a half of the original six Impact! titles made that to lead with “Why bother?” You should also avoid CHRISTOPHER PRIEST such information, even buried in the proposal’s sixth claim impossible. He mentions some of the reasons (JAMES OWSLEY) paragraph, that the project “…isn’t going to sell. Let me he believed the line failed, including the lack of “a consistent editorial point of view and voice” that say that again. [It] will not, even in the long term, be a Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons. Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 53

Owsley made an official request to “go to first issue,” i.e., start work on Crucible #1 on March 24, and the next day, according to the timeline, “Dick [Giordano] stops Paul Kupperberg in the hall and says, sure it’s okay to go to first issue.” The next step was to lock in a penciler to finished Quesada’s layouts, but as with most steps on the road to the Impact Comics relaunch, this one met with its own share of stumbles. The editor wanted to give the assignment to Chuck Wojtkiewicz, a solid, dependable artist and storyteller who had more than earned his place at the relaunch table for his hard work on the original line. But according to Owsley’s timeline, Joe Rubinstein, who was already onboard to ink the miniseries, “won’t do it” if Wojtkiewicz was chosen. The inker and Quesada had suggested Steve Carr, but as of April 16, “Steve Carr refuses to do Crucible unless his partner, Daryl Skelton, is [also] credited. Rubinstein reminds me he won’t do it unless Carr does. I speak to Paul [Levitz], who grabs his head and sighs loudly, but agrees to Daryl’s inclusion.” By mid-June, the plots for the first four issues of Crucible were approved and Quesada had delivered the first of his layouts, which were passed to Steve Carr. Meanwhile, the editor had submitted a “second request for official paper on our ‘go to first issue’ for the relaunch titles” since, without paperwork, no matter who says what to whom in the hall, nothing was actually official; the wheels of administration finally, slowly ground it out by September 1.

THINGS FALL APART SOME MORE

In the meantime, the drama surrounding the creation of the miniseries continued to be every bit as tense as the storyline itself. On August 4, Steve Carr’s first five pages arrive, but they are, according to Owsley, “out of sequence, and he’s modified my design specs for one of the characters. I ask him for corrections, and Steve demands to be paid. He also refuses to work in sequence.” After more give and take, Owsley is “at an impasse. I remove Steve and Daryl from the Crucible project.” The following day, Owsley shared his decision with Giordano, reminding him that Carr and Rubinstein had come to the miniseries as a package. “Dick sez you’re the editor,” Owsley wrote, “but goes down to talk to Paul. Paul agrees to let Dick handle it.” Dick, as was his practice, backed the decision of his editor. “Chuck is in. Rubinstein walks. Jimmy Palmiotti comes aboard as inker.”

On August 10, a memo from editorial administration reminded the editor that as “no paperwork exists for a ‘go to first issue’ for the relaunch titles… none of my creative people can be paid.” Even while that was being straightened out, the question of kill fees and new deals and payments for the replacement talent had to be addressed, rising the temperature inside the Crucible between editorial and administration. The marketing of the miniseries was also proving problematic. Their plan was to price the first issue at 99¢ and go with the slogan, “Great New Story! Great Low Price!” As Owsley noted on September 22, “The morale of everyone involved takes a major hit.” Owsley countered with a house ad of his own “the Quesada sales book piece modified somewhat,” but marketing felt it was too “quiet” and wanted to take a more traditional superhero approach. I resisted the suggestion, explaining that superheroes—no matter how well drawn—will look much the same. The Quesada piece involves “puzzlement as to what we’re up to.” Nonetheless, his house ad “vanishes from circulation, replaced by the superhero one. My morale takes another hit.” The last hit comes on February 2, 1993, when Owsley notes, “citing over-commitment and delays on our end (true), Joe Quesada reluctantly resigns from doing Crucible layouts, although he will remain on covers.” It’s left in Chuck Wojtkiewicz’s able hands to provide his own layouts for the final two issues of Crucible. All the body blows aside, momentum, perseverance, and luck kept the Impact Comics team moving forward and, in the first week of January 1993, Crucible: The Final Impact #1 (priced at 99¢) landed in comic shops across the country. Three weeks later, on January 28, Owsley noted that a member of the marketing group “is seen, by me, wandering the halls grinning as he recounts the lack of reorder activity on Crucible.” In “Is Impact Dead?” Owsley expressed his hope “that Impact may exist as three or four titles, off in a corner somewhere, existing quietly and without hype.” But to accomplish that, he first had to get the first issues of the three relaunch titles finished in order to prove he had the goods. The nightmare-on-wheels rolled on.

For more on the Impact line, read TwoMorrows’ MLJ COMPANION! 56 • BACK ISSUE • Greatest Stories Never Told Issue

by P

aul Kupperberg

On the face of it, it didn’t seem that complicated: revamp and relaunch DC Comics’ failed Impact! Comics imprint. In fact, considering all the individual elements of the relaunch, it probably should have been a slam-dunk. It was being overseen by James Owsley (who now goes by the name Christopher J. Priest), an experienced editor and talented writer in his own right, plotted and written by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn, and featured art by veterans Steve Carr, Chuck Wojtkiewicz, newcomer Gene Ha, and industry legend Dave Cockrum, creating what Owsley had earlier described in a project memo as “three or four titles, off in a corner somewhere, existing quietly and without hype” starring a lineup of known and beloved characters. DC’s first attempt at the Impact! Comics line (distinguished here by the exclamation point in the name) had been exhaustively researched and methodically planned to appeal to younger, entry-level readers who would grow into readers of the more “mature” DC Comics line. Impact! launched in July of 1991, but the seven titles (The Fly, The Comet, The Legend of the Shield, Jaguar, The Web, The Black Hood, and The Crusaders) struggled to find a place in the marketplace and by the end of 1992 were on their way to cancellation, as detailed in Part 1 of this feature. The superheroes anchoring the Impact! line were, in effect, rentals, on license from their owners, Archie Comics. In the years before the red-headed, freckle-faced teen icon took over the company’s corporate and public identity, Archie Comics had been known as MLJ Comics and, like the rest of the industry in the early 1940s, focused its publishing efforts on superheroes like the Shield (whose first appearance in Pep #1 in January 1940 pre-dated Timely’ Captain America as comics’ first star-spangled hero by almost a year), the Hangman, the Black Hood, the Comet, the Web, and others; the Fly and Jaguar debuted in the 1950s, during one of Archie’s several attempts at reviving the superhero characters. DC still had time to left on its contract with Archie, so it was agreed that editor Owsley would relaunch a reduced line of titles following the six-issue Crucible miniseries that would reset the Impact Comics universe. But the initial reception of Impact! Comics had somewhat soured the company’s administrative and marketing sides on the imprint, which, coupled with creative and personnel difficulties, made the entire year and a half experience an ordeal for almost everyone involved.

EARNING ITS PLACE ON THE RACKS

Direct Currents Retailer sell-sheet for Wrath of the Comet, featuring art by Michael Netzer. Characters © Archie Comics Publications, Inc.

“I’m saddened by the overall lack of confidence exhibited from nearly every quarter of DC with regard to Impact. It seems most everyone around here remains predisposed towards regarding Impact as substandard work and a commercial failure,” Owsley wrote in a February 9, 1993 memo outlining the troubled relaunch timeline. “Certainly the failure of Impact has created inestimable negatives within DC, as well as in the marketplace. My experience, however, is the market has high hopes DC will improve its entry-level line, while, within DC, Impact is typically the subject of ridicule.”

Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 57

What happened to Ed Hannigan’s 1992 magnum opus, Skull & Bones? Why do some readers love it? Why is it only a ’90s comics trivia question for so many others? And what if there was a sequel planned to make everything right? The solution may lie in these mysterious Curt Swan pages accompanying this article, which have surfaced in recent years on Heritage Auctions and with art dealer Anthony Snyder. It all begins with the simple, and obvious, observation: these pages are gorgeous. But the full story behind these enthralling pages involve a hot Bronze Age artist (fresh off two big, successful comics), a specialized format that signaled “big hit” to the industry, one of the most prolific artists to ever work in American comics, and an international thriller that a sales department left to fizzle with retailers. But could these pages have been the spark that would have lit an explosive sequel? Might these pages have been the next adventure for a character that deserved a second chance? We all love a mystery! Let’s investigate these mysterious Curt Swan Skull & Bones pages.

by E

d Catto

MAKE NO BONES ABOUT IT

Skull & Bones was a short-lived, three-issue series (coverdated May–July 1992) that still lingers in the minds of fans who were able to find it and read it. “Ed Hannigan’s Skull & Bones was one of my favorite comic projects from that era,” explains J.C. Vaughn, Vice-President of Publishing at Gemstone Publishing. “Although steeped in the political realities of that time, its story, storytelling, and craft are timeless. The brilliant pacing and captivating design serve the story in compelling fashion, and a healthy dose of Russian fatalism gives the right feel. It’s infused with the despair, hope, corruption, change, and tumult that surrounded the fall of the Soviet Union.” Vaughn’s reaction is not atypical. “Rather than being dated by an era that has passed, Skull & Bones stands the test of time,” he adds. “There are lessons still be learned from this miniseries.” Surprisingly, Skull & Bones landed with a thud. The work is strong, and the excellent story is well regarded. How could it have failed? In Sherlock Holmes fashion, let’s (metaphorically) trot out our magnifying glass and deerstalker hat to solve this mystery. But before we do… a bit of setting the stage. One must really understand the forces that led to Skull & Bones, especially the successes that creator Ed Hannigan enjoyed just before it, and the tragic shuffling offstage of another beloved artist.

Superman (Artist) to the Rescue! The unpublished Curt Swan pencil art to page 1 of Skull & Bones #3 and (inset) Ed Hannigan’s published version of same. Pencil scan courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). Skull & Bones © Ed Hannigan.

66 • BACK ISSUE • Greatest Stories Never Told Issue

ON TARGET

In the 1980s, DC’s prestige format miniseries were a big deal. Whenever a character was awarded one, it signaled that something special was going on. In 1987, a long-running character got his chance, being called up from the minor leagues. Green Arrow was always a bridesmaid but never a bride, in that headlining an ongoing series was an honor that was elusive for too long. Mike Grell’s Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters brought a grown-up sensibility to the Green Arrow character. One could argue that, along with Batman and Green Lantern, writer Denny O’Neil and artist Neal Adams had provided the Emerald Archer with a more adult—or at least less childish— treatment in the late ’60s and ’70s. But Grell’s prestige miniseries, along with trailblazing editor Mike Gold, was a step up from that. It might be hard for today’s readers to understand how fresh and new the gritty urban vigilante treatment was that the time. After all, that’s essentially what millions of viewers have been enjoying on the long-running CW television series, Arrow. In the late ’80s, The Longbow Hunters explored a more real-world version of a superhero, more akin to a thriller novel than a traditional comic. [Editor’s note: To discover more, see our Grell interview in BACK ISSUE #18.] Mike Grell and Mike Gold continued these adventures of the Battling Bowman in a new, ongoing Green Arrow series, debuting in 1988. This series would showcase Oliver Queen and Dinah (Black Canary) Lance in Seattle as they persevered in a world filled with ill-defined good guys and bad guys. They both also struggled with the complexities of middle age. Grell was still scripting it but had walked away from the artist duties. So editor Gold recruited Ed Hannigan. Ed hannigan It was here that Hannigan spread his artistic wings. His art was powerful and memorable. Marvel Database. More than that, the storytelling had such a different pace than any other comic series out there. There’s no doubt that playing in this sandbox for two years prepared Hannigan for his own series, Skull & Bones. But there was one more stop along the way for Hannigan before Skull & Bones.

Skeletons Are the Key (left) His design of the costumed bad guys on his Tony DeZuniga-inked cover for DC’s Jonah Hex #84 (May 1984) later influenced Ed Hannigan when designing (right) the look of Skull & Bones’ protagonist Andrian. From issue #1. Jonah Hex TM & © DC Comics. Skull & Bones © Ed Hannigan.

LEGENDARY SUCCESS

Spurred, in part, by the blockbuster success of the prestige format Batman: The Dark Knight by Frank Miller, DC launched a new, ongoing Batman monthly series, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight [chronicled in BI #113—ed.]. The original intent of this new title was to tell stories from the early days of Batman’s career, with a rotating line-up of creators. The first five-issue arc was called “Masks,” scripted by Dennis O’Neil, inked by Scott Beatty, and penciled by Ed Hannigan. While it may be commonplace today, the arrival of a new Batman series was a huge event in 1989. Foreshadowing what would become standard business practices, the first issue was printed with several different variant covers. Aside from the marketing gimmicks, the story was exciting and compelling, too. Like the Green Arrow series, Hannigan would again be illustrating a series with a more grown-up take on a costumed hero. It was another blockbuster. Sales went through the roof. According to Comichron, “In 1989, DC had launched a new Batman series with a first issue, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #1, that had so many (retail) preorders that the publisher decided to stagger the shipments across multiple weeks with a differentcolored cover on each week’s version. It was a tactic intended to provide retailers some novelty to market in case it turned out they over-ordered on the issue; instead, it set off a craze in variant covers that continues, in modified form, to this day.” Ed Hannigan tells BACK ISSUE, “After those Batman royalty checks, I thought everything I touched would turn to gold.” With these two enormous hits under his belt, both with a slightly more “real world” take on adventuring heroes, is it any wonder that Ed Hannigan was ready to venture forth and create a series on his own? Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 67

72 • BACK ISSUE • Greatest Stories Never Told Issue

“For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been’!” From Maud Muller, by John Greenleaf Whittier

by B r y a n

D. Stroud

With the unveiling of this Steve Englehart-written and Trevor Von Eeden-drawn story, readers will at last be able to see what might have been when the Batman is pitted against one of his oldest nemeses, the Mad Hatter. An acclaimed Batman storyteller, Steve Englehart has had notable successes in mining the most senior in Batman’s rogues’ gallery ranks, to include Professor Hugo Strange and the all-but-forgotten Deadshot, who battled the Batman back in the early ’40s and ’50s, respectively. Similarly, the Mad Hatter, a.k.a. Jervis Tetch, the co-creation of writer Bill Finger and artist Lew Sayre Schwartz and inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Hatter character in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, first entered Gotham City in Batman #49 (Oct. 1948). With a total of five more appearances in the next three decades, the Mad Hatter was not a character with a great deal of depth, but Steve Englehart and Trevor Von Eeden would show us the way.

THE STORY

In a moody splash-page setting at midnight along the Gotham City wharf, Batman is running up a mooring line attached to the good ship Sprang, where he is investigating a potential theft. Instead, our hero is promptly ambushed by a macabre group of circus freaks, each wearing a tiny hat. In the midst of the melee, one of those miniscule hats is dislodged, revealing a wicked nail extending from the interior of the hat and a matching hole in the top of the freak’s bald head. After shouting “Hatter! Dagobert!”, he and the other freaks writhe in agony as a bolt of energy seems to be entering each of their heads. Batman pauses, thinking, “Hatter? Mad Hatter? He’s dead.” There is little time to ponder events, however, as another scream is heard at the waterline and a submarine is revealed, possibly containing the Hatter or Dagobert, but as most of the freaks escape, the World’s Greatest Detective decides to take two of his attackers

Englehart and Von Eeden Sprang into Action Original Bat-art by Von Eeden from the opening page of Part One of “Top Hat and Nails,” signed by both creators. Note the ship’s name, a nod to Golden Age Bat-fave Dick Sprang. Original art scans accompanying this article are courtesy of the creators. TM & © DC Comics.

Greatest Stories Never Told Issue • BACK ISSUE • 73

Sneak Attack Page 2 from Englehart’s “Top Hat and Nails” script, and the page (sans completed story title), as interpreted by Von Eeden. Script page courtesy of Steve Englehart. Batman TM & © DC Comics.

to Gotham General’s emergency room to try and learn more of what is happening with the help of the attending physician, Dr. Austin. The good doctor soon explains that each of the diminutive hats contains a spike or nail that is in actuality a high-frequency transmitter that stimulates a part of the cerebellum. The scene then fades to a Victorian English locale where Musetta Sands, daughter of the Earl of Sands, is in attendance at a royal ball where she soon encounters a prince who is sweeping her off her feet. In moments, however, the vision is shattered when the prince’s visage fades into that of the Batman, who asks the woman on the gurney what she’s seeing. Sands, in real life one of the misshapen freaks, shrieks for her hat before being sedated. Dr. Austin speculates that the nail in the hat stimulates a pleasure center where she can be beautiful. In the next scene, the Darknight Detective runs a computer search on Dagobert Tressor. Only one record is found, reporting that Dagobert, an innocent bystander, died during a struggle between the Gotham police and Jervis (Mad Hatter) Tetch at the Kane Candy Company, 1939 National Boulevard (a business name and address containing Batman and DC history homages). This segues into a flashback sequence relating the scene as Tetch, cornered by the cops, uses his patented hat gimmicks to fight his way out. Gunshots fly wild, and one bullet strikes the Hatter in the neck, then barrels into the top of Dagobert’s skull. Both seemingly die from their wounds. Post-flashback, the Batman is next seen in a cemetery investigating Tressor’s grave, which is actually a tunnel that our hero enters, only to have it cave in on him. Batman awakens in an underground chamber, bound and surrounded by the freaks and… Dagobert Tressor, the new

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Mad Hatter. Dagobert survived the earlier shooting, bribing a doctor to proclaim him dead, and then took over the Mad Hatter’s guise. The bullet to his skull left a hole leading into his brain through which he can now, quite insanely, stimulate brain functions and fantasies with no more than his fingernail. He also uses the nails in the freaks’ hats to manipulate their brain impulses, cultivating a legion completely loyal to this new, very mad Hatter. Hearing enough and using a handy tool, the Batman breaks free. He attempts to remove the Hatter’s top hat, who resists for all he’s worth. More fighting ensues with the freaks, who view themselves as normal thanks to the nails in their headgear and ultimately, Batman departs through the tunnel. Determined to help Musetta, Batman tries to reason with her to forsake the lure of the hat, but she is so very hooked on being normal, she will not listen to reason. Her love for her fantasy world has overshadowed everything. Elsewhere, a prize fight is happening at Gotham Garden. Large sums of cash are being sorted in an underground safe room and soon two of the freaks are making their way in to steal it, using their lack of appendages to full advantage in the airshaft. Mad Hatter himself joins in but before they can escape, the Batman arrives. He cautions the Hatter to let them go as they don’t know what they’re doing, but of course the villain rebuffs our hero and we are privy to what the mind control hats continue to accomplish when one of the freaks is envisioning himself as a noble knight battling a bat-monster. Batman understands what’s happening, but can only use physical force and ultimately triumphs in this latest round. Later, back at Gotham General, Dr. Austin explains that the pleasures they are experiencing go straight to the brain.

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