Back Issue #128 by TwoMorrows Publishing

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July 2021

No.128

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BRONZE AGE TV TIE-INS ISSUE

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

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

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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!

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!

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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.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ISSUE! A galaxy of comics stars discuss Marvel’s whitehot space team in the Guardians Interviews, including TOM DeFALCO, KEITH GIFFEN, ROB LIEFELD, AL MILGROM, MARY SKRENES, ROGER STERN, JIM VALENTINO, and more. Plus: Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon before the Guardians, with CHRIS CLAREMONT and MIKE MIGNOLA. Cover by JIM VALENTINO with inks by CHRIS IVY.

CONAN AND THE BARBARIANS! Celebrating the 50th anniversary of ROY THOMAS and BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH’s Conan #1! The Bronze Age Barbarian Boom, Top 50 Marvel Conan stories, Marvel’s Not-Quite Conans (from Kull to Skull), Arak–Son of Thunder, Warlord action figures, GRAY MORROW’s Edge of Chaos, and Conan the Barbarian at Dark Horse Comics. With an unused WINDSOR-SMITH Conan #9 cover.

Celebrates the 40TH ANNIVERSARY of MARV WOLFMAN and GEORGE PÉREZ’s New Teen Titans, featuring a guest editorial by WOLFMAN and a PÉREZ tribute and art gallery! Plus: The New Teen Titans’ 40 GREATEST MOMENTS, the Titans in the media, hero histories of RAVEN, STARFIRE, and the PROTECTOR, and more! With a NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED PÉREZ TITANS COVER from 1981!

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SUPERHERO ROMANCE ISSUE! Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark’s many loves, Star Sapphire history, Bronze Age weddings, DeFALCO/ STERN Johnny Storm/Alicia Pro2Pro interview, Elongated Man and Wife, May-December romances, Supergirl’s Secret Marriage, and… Aunt May and Doc Ock?? Featuring MIKE W. BARR, CARY BATES, STEVE ENGLEHART, BOB LAYTON, DENNY O’NEIL, and many more! Cover by DAVE GIBBONS.

HORRIFIC HEROES! With Bronze Age CREATOR-OWNED COMICS! Featuring histories of Man-Thing, the Demon, and in-depth histories of MATT WAGNER’s the Creeper, Atlas/Seaboard’s horrifying Mage and Grendel. Plus other indie heroes, and Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) sensations of the Bronze Age, including rides again! Featuring the work of CHRIS COLLEEN DORAN’s A Distant Soil, STAN CLAREMONT, GERRY CONWAY, ERNIE SAKAI’s Usagi Yojimbo, STEVE PURCELL’s COLON, MICHAEL GOLDEN, JACK KIRBY, Sam & Max, JAMES DEAN SMITH’s Boris MIKE PLOOG, JAVIER SALTARES, MARK the Bear, and LARRY WELZ’s Cherry TEXIERA, and more. Man-Thing cover by Poptart! With a fabulous Grendel cover by RUDY NEBRES. MATT WAGNER.

“Legacy” issue! Wally West Flash, BRANDON ROUTH Superman interview, Harry Osborn/Green Goblin, Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Infinity Inc., Reign of the Supermen, JOHN ROMITA SR. and JR. “Rough Stuff,” plus CONWAY, FRACTION, JURGENS, MESSNER-LOEBS, MICHELINIE, ORDWAY, SLOTT, ROY THOMAS, MARK WAID, and more. WIERINGO/MARZAN JR. cover!

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Volume 1, Number 128 July 2021 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Mark Arnold Terry Austin Cary Bates BeachBumComics. blogspot.com

Douglas R. Kelly Paul Kupperberg Ed Lute Mike Main Ian Millsted BlogintoMystery.com John Francis Moore Richard Morgan Robert Brown Mario Morhain John Byrne Bill Mumy David Campiti The Museum of Ed Catto Uncut Funk Jon B. Cooke and Comic Book Artist Martin O’Hearn Alan Pinion Diversions of a Jim Salicrup Groovy Kind Alex Saviuk Kevin Dooley Scott Shaw! Mark Evanier Merrie Spaeth Four-Color Joe Staton Shadows 2.0 Ty Templeton Stephan Friedt Steven Thompson Grand Comics Toni Torres Database Robert Greenberger TVObscurities.com Marv Wolfman Heritage Comics Auctions Holly Interlandi Dan Johnson

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BACKSEAT DRIVER: As Seen on TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A history-packed editorial exploring the parallel worlds of comic books and television BEYOND CAPES: Dark Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Gold Key’s adaptation might as well have been called “Barnabas Collins Comics and Stories” FLASHBACK: Dell and Gold Key Tune In… and Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 The waning days of the traditional television tie-in comic book BACKSTAGE PASS: The Krofft Supershows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Comic books based upon puppeteers Sid and Marty Krofft’s Saturday morning shows WHAT THE--?!: Hee Haw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Charlton Comics was pickin’ and grinnin’ over this cornpone TV variety series FLASHBACK: Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 The de-evolution of the Saturday morning live-toon in comics BACKSTAGE PASS: Primus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Star Robert Brown and artist Joe Staton dive in to Charlton’s adaptation of this underwater-action show FLASHBACK: Emergency! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Bing-bong-buuuuzzzzz! Charlton’s adaptation of NBC’s rescue-hero show FLASHBACK: The Bionic Woman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Charlton’s short-lived spinoff of The Six Million Dollar Man WHAT THE--?!: Wonder Woman: Made in Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 A little-known tie-in to the Lynda Carter-starring television hit BEYOND CAPES: V: The Comic Book Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 How the Visitors invaded DC Comics PRO2PRO: Jim Salicrup and Alex Saviuk on Sledge Hammer! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 The writer/artist team recall Marvel’s two-issue tough-cop TV tie-in FLASHBACK: Superboy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 DC’s tie-in to the four-season Salkind-produced syndicated TV show BEYOND CAPES: Lost in Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Bill Mumy and David Campiti’s oral history of Innovation’s continuation of the sci-fi classic BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Reader reactions 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: $90 Economy US, $137 International, $36 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover montage by Michael Kronenberg. TV series and characters © their respective copyright holders. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2021 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

by M

ichael Eury

The Parallel Worlds of Comic Books and Television

Golden and Silver Age TV Tie-ins (top row) Standard’s Television Comics (#5, Feb. 1950) capitalized on the new entertainment medium. Dell’s Howdy Doody #1 (Jan. 1950) was the first TV tie-in comic. This I Love Lucy cover (Four Color #535, Feb. 1954) combined a photo and art. DC’s Sgt. Bilko’s Pvt. Doberman #1 (June–July 1958) featured a traditional comic-art cover, by Bob Oksner. (bottom row) My Favorite Martian #1 (Jan. 1964) added a boxed interior panel to its photo cover. Gold Key’s use of bright colors and geometric patterns brightened many of their ’60s covers, such as Bonanza #17 (Dec. 1965). Dell used a comic-photo cover mix on Dell’s Get Smart #1 (June 1966), with its word balloons. And many of Gold Key’s TV tie-ins opted for painted covers like this one by the prolific George Wilson on Time Tunnel #1 (Feb. 1967). Howdy Doody © NBC. I Love Lucy and Sgt. Bilko © CBS. My Favorite Martian © MPC. Bonanza © NBC Universal. Get Smart © Paramount. Time Tunnel © 20th Century Television.

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When the contagion called television infected American households in the 1950s, other media cried foul. To critics and stuffed shirts it was a boob tube, a one-eyed monster that discouraged young and old alike from reading books, its vast wasteland of lowbrow content dumbing down the populace. Hollywood studios deemed it both a substandard storytelling form and a threat to their market, forbidding their contracted talent from taking on television roles. And as the ’80s song reminded us, video killed the radio star.

THE NIFTY ’50s

The proliferation of television certainly didn’t help the comic-book biz’s sales. The industry boom that started in the late 1930s—when coin-strapped Depression-era kids could get 64 pages of thrill-amoment excitement, all in color for a dime—had peaked by the postwar mid-’50s, in part because TV was bringing into the American living room the same type of larger-than-life cowboys and crime-crushers, and kooky cartoon and comedy favorites, that they

found in comic books… only on TV, the pictures moved and the Giants, Star Trek, and The Wild, Wild West. Dell and Gold Key Comics were the primary homes for such TV tie-ins, including numerous characters talked. For free (the cost of a TV set aside)! So comics publishers began licensing popular television stars funny-animal and cartoon comic books based on animated series and properties, banking that their video visibility would equal as varied as Beany and Cecil, The Flintstones, Mister Magoo, The strong sales. During the Golden Age, comics had done the same Mighty Hercules, and Rocky and His Fiendish Friends [Bullwinkle]. Also with radio shows and movie personalities. Television tie-ins featured visible were Walt Disney’s and Warner Bros.’ cartoon stars, longtime either illustrated covers or photo covers, the latter becoming highly mainstays of comic books. Often TV tie-in titles would be produced desirable in the collector’s market today; occasionally the two were by creators whose artwork is familiar to superhero comic collectors, blended on a single cover, with a photo of a television series’ star such as Bob Oksner (Superman, Mary Marvel) on DC’s The Many juxtaposed against an illustrated background. The interiors, of Loves of Dobie Gillis, Jack Sparling (Eclipso, Green Lantern) drawing course, were always in the traditional comic-book format, its panels DC’s Bomba the Jungle Boy, Steve Ditko (Amazing Spider-Man, Doctor and word balloons featuring either adaptations of TV episodes or Strange) and Dick Giordano (Batman, the Human Target) doing Dell’s Get Smart and Hogan’s Heroes, original adventures of the characters. and Jose Delbo (Wonder Woman) on Throughout the ’50s, numerous Dell’s The Monkees. Dan Spiegle, comic books based upon television noted during the BACK ISSUE era series were published (some under for his work on Eclipse’s Crossfire and Dell’s ongoing umbrella title Four DC’s Blackhawk, drew numerous Color), among them Howdy Doody, TV tie-in comics, including Maverick, I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Jackie The Rifleman, Sea Hunt, and The Gleason and the Honeymooners, Green Hornet. Captain Kangaroo, Crusader Rabbit, Harvey Comics, whose friendly Sgt. Bilko’s Pvt. Doberman, Our Miss ghosts and good little witches were Brooks, Circus Boy (featuring future widely viewed on TV animated Monkee Micky Dolenz), and Rin cartoons, embraced the impact of Tin Tin and Rusty. television starting in late 1959 by Conversely, the wildly successful revamping their cover graphics, Adventures of Superman TV series placing the company’s “H” corner brought a comic-book character logo inside the obvious shape to television; the show noted of TV screen. Most of Harvey’s in its closing credits that it was covers featured TV screen-shaped based upon characters appearing “bullets” along the left border in DC’s “Superman magazines.” spotlighting that title’s stars, clearly Also popular was TV’s The Lone signaling to readers that these Ranger, a series starring the Old were “as seen on TV” characters. West’s legendary masked man Harvey series such as TV Casper who originated in 1933 in radio and Company and Little Audrey TV adventures but soon galloped into Funtime fine-tuned their subjects’ other media, including no end of connections to the boob tube. comic-book publications including As with the George Reevesa spinoff starring his partner, Tonto. starring Superman series of the ’50s, During their TV runs, both Superman the ’60s sometimes turned to comic and Lone Ranger foresaw the advent characters for programming, none of color television and switched from more successfully than executive black and white to color during their producer William Dozier’s Batman, production in the ’50s, even though which took the world by storm in back in the day color TVs were rare early 1966—and spiked the sales and the vast majority of programs of DC’s Batman-starring titles as a were produced in black and white. result (Dozier’s The Green Hornet The television medium itself quickly followed; his pilots for Dick began to play a role in many comic Tracy and Wonder Woman failed books. Notable was DC Comics’ to be green-lighted). Occasional mystery-solver Roy Raymond, TV © TV Guide Magazine. Superman TM & © DC Comics. sight gags and verbal references Detective, who headlined a backup series originating in Detective Comics; in his comics feature, Raymond acknowledging the Batman TV show were inserted into random was the host of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not-like Impossible… But DC adventures, both Batman stories and non-Batman stories, True! television program. Also, TV as a brand became desirable to none more blatant (or wacky) than the cover story of 1966’s some comics publishers. DC’s Real Screen Comics, which started in Batman #183, where the Caped Crusader is apparently slacking 1945 as a vehicle for funnybook adventures of Columbia’s Screen off, watching himself on television. Later that year, the worlds of Gems animated shorts like The Fox and the Crow, retitled itself TV TV and comics collided again as real-life television host Allen Funt Screen Cartoons in 1959. Other publishers piggybacked onto the accidentally exposed Clark Kent’s Superman identity on the How is burgeoning medium to boost otherwise lackluster funny-animal and he going to get out of this? cover of Action Comics #345. During the era of Batmania and camp humor, television listings humor product, such as Avon’s Television Puppet Show and Standard began to look like your local newsstand’s comic spin rack, with Comics’ Television Comics. Filmation’s New Adventures of Superman cartoon (which also featured Superboy) garnering strong ratings on Saturday mornings THE SWINGIN’ ’60s Comic-book publishers continued to mine TV Guide and Nielsen and flash-in-the-pan, made-for-TV superheroes Captain Nice and ratings for titles throughout the 1960s. This might’ve been the Mr. Terrific soaring into primetime slots. CBS (home of Superman decade of campy crimefighters and the emergence of the Marvel and Mr. Terrific) in particular took notice of the popularity of Age of Comics, but television tie-ins proliferated alongside superhero superheroes when commissioning Hanna-Barbera Productions to series, among them Bonanza, Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, The create a spate of them for Saturday morning television, including Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Lucy Show, I Spy, The Invaders, Land of the Space Ghost, The Mighty Mightor, The Herculoids, and Birdman. DC’s Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

The World’s Finest heroes appeared in animated vignettes in Season One of Sesame Street, as advertised in this Murphy Andersondrawn house ad appearing in 1969 DC comic books. TM & © DC Comics.

4 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue

rebrandings in subsequent seasons; The Archie Show also brought to animated “life” a fabricated rock band, the Archies (a feature that had previously appeared in Life with Archie), who for the next few years cranked out popular bubblegum-pop hits including the gold record “Sugar, Sugar.” The fervor spawned by that cartoon led to Archie Comics’ publication of the new series Everything’s Archie, the first issue of which depicted on its cover a group of teens dancing to the music of the Archies (who were shown on a television screen), as well as Archie’s TV Laugh-Out, cribbing its title from NBC’s Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In while parading its stars’ small-screen presence in its logo. Batman and Superman weren’t content to allow the Riverdale gang to overshadow their television presence in 1969, however; when public television launched its Sesame Street children’s program late that year, the Caped Crusader and Man of Steel both appeared in educational segments (animated by Filmation) in its first season—promoted in DC’s comic books in a house ad illustrated by Murphy Anderson.

THE SUPER ’70s

So now we enter the era of this magazine’s coverage, the Bronze Age, which began in 1970. TV’s Batman had, beginning in 1968, transitioned from liveaction to Saturday morning animation (although the ’60s live-action Batman series could still be found in syndication), while DC Comics’ Batman-starring Batman, Detective Comics, and The Brave and the Bold began to distance themselves from POW! CRUNCH! ZOWIE! sound effects and cornball villains and had returned to the feature’s original, “creature of the night” gothic roots. Also in the comics, the former Boy Wonder, Robin—now having matured into the Teen Wonder—packed his bags and bolted from Wayne Manor to Hudson University, splitting up the Batman and Robin team. In television animation, however, Robin remained eternally boyish and part of the traditional Dynamic Duo in everything from Hanna-Barbera’s long-running Super Friends franchise to Filmation’s 1977 The New Adventures of Batman cartoons—the latter of which kept alive the spirit of the live-action Batman show by employing its stars, Adam West and Burt Ward, to voice the Dynamic Duo. Television had, in the ’60s, played an active role in many superhero comic-book stories, from Peter Parker’s original exploitation of his Spider-Man powers on TV to the Creeper’s alter ego Jack Ryder’s job as a controversial talk-show host. DC Comics’ Julius Schwartz recognized how video was replacing print as the primary platform for news, and when taking over the editorial helm of Superman in late 1970 changed Clark Kent’s vocation from newspaper journalist for the Daily Planet to on-air news anchor and reporter for Metropolis’ WGBS-TV (see inset). While Kent continued to moonlight for the Planet throughout the rest of Schwartz’s long control of the Superman franchise, which concluded upon his retirement in 1986 when John Byrne revamped the hero in The Man of Steel, Clark’s primary job was in front of the live television camera—which made sneaking away to become Superman a much bigger challenge.

TM & © DC Comics.

rs. © the respective copyright holde

JLA on CTW

comic-book titles featured house ads promoting the television adventures of Batman and Superman (plus the Man of Steel’s Broadway debut in the musical It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!); a notorious 1966 DC house ad teased Filmation’s upcoming animated entries by promising cartoons for Metamorpho, Plastic Man, and Wonder Woman, which the company never produced. Other DC house ads listed TV stations airing syndicated reruns of the ’50s classic, Adventures of Superman. Also premiering in 1966, Grantray-Lawrence’s syndicated The Marvel Super Heroes television cartoons (featuring Captain America, the Mighty Thor, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the Sub-Mariner in animated shorts) were marketed inside Marvel’s books, and the next year’s debut of The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man as Saturday morning cartoons proved successful… and attracted new fans to their four-color source material, as had Batman the year before. DC’s Saturday morning profile blossomed in 1967, as the half-hour Superman became The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, from Filmation, also featuring animated shorts starring the Atom, the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Justice League of America, and the Teen Titans. The following season, once the live-action Batman was cancelled, the Superman/ Aquaman show was rebranded The Batman/Superman Hour, with Aquaman moving out into his own halfhour series airing on Sunday mornings. This volleying between the two mediums included double-page-spread illustrated advertisements appearing in comic books, beginning in 1966, that promoted the new fall lineups of Saturday morning television, which remain cherished and iconic memories among many fans who grew up with them. Marvel Comics published a 1968 one-shot (see inset) titled America’s Best TV Comics, which promoted ABC’s toon lineup in comic-book stories, mostly reprints. Some comic books followed Harvey Comics’ lead by trumpeting their television kinship in their very names, such as Gold Key’s Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes. By the end of the decade, another longtime star of comic books—America’s favorite freckle-faced teenager, Archie Andrews—made the jump to Saturday morning television in an animated series that was a ratings smash and progenitor for numerous

After surveying the wonderful world of TV tie-in comics in my research for this feature, a few missed opportunities have become head-scratchers for me… and maybe for you. Gilligan’s Island (1964–1967): Producer Sherwood Schwartz’s other hit sitcom, The Brady Bunch, at least mustered a pair of ho-hum Dell Comics editions. But Schwartz’s first TV comedy and its cast of seven castaways—which even spawned a Filmation animated show in the 1970s!—had no comic book of its own during its original run. Imagine Gilligan’s bumbling, the Skipper’s grumbling, and Ginger’s wiggling as drawn by, say, Mike Sekowsky. Or Wally Wood. And then there’s the photo covers we could’ve had! Gilligan’s Island, for whatever reason, had very little merchandising during its original run, missing out on the items often associated with a hit show during that era—no lunchbox, View-Master reels, a Colorforms playset, nor, of course, a Gold Key or Dell comic. Too bad, little buddy!

Recolored detail from 1965 Gilligan’s Island trading card pack. © Warner Bros. Television.

AN EDITOR’S WISH LIST OF TV TIE-INS

The Green Hornet (1966–1967): Yes, I’m aware of the three Gold Key Green Hornet tie-in issues. While they were beautifully drawn by Dan Spiegle, I daresay that without their suitable-for-framing photo covers and the mystique behind co-star Bruce “Kato” Lee’s death, these comics would not be as highly regarded today. Imagine this: Given its relationship with executive producer William Dozier, what if National Periodicals Publications (DC) had licensed The Green Hornet in 1966, shoehorning him into the DC Universe as the publisher did two years later with Captain Action? DC’s Green Hornet would have been in good hands with either Gil Kane or Carmine Infantino as penciler. Feel the sting! Hawaii Five-0 (1968–1980): Hey, I would’ve bought a Gold Key Hawaii Five-0 comic based solely upon the merit of seeing Steve McGarrett’s plastered-down sideburns on a photo cover! But its exotic locale and flashy visuals would’ve been fun to adapt to comics. Dan Spiegle is my pick as the Five-0 artist. Comic book ’em, Danno! Wonder Woman (1975–1979): As we explored back in BACK ISSUE #37, in the mid-1970s DC briefly mirrored the World War II setting of TV’s Wonder Woman by telling 1940s-based stories of the Golden Age Amazon Princess in its WW monthly. But once the television series fast-forwarded to the then-current 1970s, a TV show-inspired Wonder Woman comic, bearing the “DC TV” imprint, might have performed better than the traditional WW book. Michael Netzer (then Nasser) drew a beautiful Lynda Carter likeness on the cover of Amazing World of DC Comics #15; he gets my vote as the artist of this tie-in comic, with Alan Weiss in rotation if deadlines posed a problem. All the world’s waiting for you! Saturday Night Live (1975–current): Larry Hama revealed to BACK ISSUE a while back that Marvel at one time was developing a never-released black-and-white Benny Hill comic magazine… which brings to mind the possibility of an SNL B&W mag. From Not Brand Echh to Spoof to Crazy, Marvel was no stranger to superhero, comic strip, TV, and movie parodies, and some of the same SNL characters which were spun off into films would’ve adapted well to comics (I’ll be dreaming of an Earl Norem Blues Brothers painted cover all day now). Too bad this one didn’t arise out of the Marvel/NBC partnership that birthed the Spidey/Not-Ready-forPrimetime-Players team-up of 1978. Live from New York, it’s Mighty Marvel! Charlie’s Angels (1976–1981): Sorry, ’70s DC, but in the era of TV super-sisters like Police Woman and Get Christie Love, Lady Cop didn’t quite cut it. One thing that 1st Issue Special curiosity gave us that’s hard to forget, though, was Lady Cop’s dynamite Dick Giordano cover. Giordano always had a flair for good girl art, and was adept at drawing real-world scenes and flashy cars. Since Charlie’s Angels was, for most of its run, a hit and merchandising cash cow—even surviving the departure of Farrah and her hair—Aaron Spelling’s police-academy graduates would have made the perfect addition to the DC-TV line, especially with Dick at the artistic helm. Good morning, Charlie! Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

by S t e v e n

Thompson

A Soap Opera You Can Sink Your Teeth Into A portrait of Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins. Color print by Ken Bald, artist of the Dark Shadows newspaper strip. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Dark Shadows TM & © Dan Curtis Productions.

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“My name is Victoria Winters, and although I was initially the main character on Dark Shadows, I was gone from Collinwood and the entire series by the time the Gold Key comic book arrived on the scene in 1969.” Producer Dan Curtis’ Dark Shadows had premiered on ABC television in 1966 as a daily soap opera, aimed at cashing in on the trend of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights-style gothic romances. Initially it had centered on Miss Winters, who arrives in a small fishing village in Maine as the new young governess to ten-year-old David Collins at Collinwood, “a house filled with strangeness and mystery.” Critics in 1966 called Dark Shadows “television’s first continuing suspense drama,” and “exciting viewing for the young housewife.” Many of the initially released publicity shots for the daytime series featured young Victoria running away from the mysterious mansion on a hill, thus bringing to life a thousand mass market paperback covers then on display at the local Woolworth. From the beginning, the daily television series was shot so quickly that it had no time for retakes or fancy editing. What they shot was what you got, and the show became known for its jiggly props, chintzy special effects, doors that wouldn’t stay open or closed, and crewmen often seen in shots. There were so many of these bloopers that decades later they would be released on VHS tape. You have to admit, it doesn’t really sound particularly conducive to being adapted into comic-book form. But that was all before the phenomenon hit. After Barnabas Collins returned to Collinwood, all bets were off. The idea of a gothic TV soap may have been original, but it was not popular. Finishing in 13th place among other soaps in its first year, ABC gave the producers a limited period in which to up the show’s ratings or get the ax. According to legend, Dan Curtis decided to go out with a vampire story, and Barnabas Collins was created for a simple 13-week run. He’d bite some people, then he’d be hunted down and staked or locked back in his coffin and the show would go off the air. But Dark Shadows didn’t exist in a vacuum. Concurrent with the series was the peak period of the monster revival, which had seen magazines such as Famous Monsters of Filmland, Fantastic Monsters, and Castle of Frankenstein introducing young readers and teens to the classic Universal monster films and reviving interest in such actors as Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and the late Bela Lugosi. Those monster-loving kids and teens got word that fangs were being seen on afternoon TV and started rushing home from school to watch Dark Shadows. Jonathan Frid, the Canadian actor who portrayed Barnabas, began to appear on not just talk shows but also children’s shows. He and some of the men on the show posed topless in magazines for teen girls like Tiger Beat and 16. Before you knew it, there were games, toys, glow-in-the-dark models, a long series of paperback novels, and two feature film adaptations. By that point, comic books seemed a perfectly logical tie-in. Unfortunately, neither Marvel nor DC were in a position to license the property. The Comics Code Authority, since the mid-1950s, had expressly stated: “Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism (sic) are prohibited.” The only mainstream comic-book companies that did not subscribe to the Code were Dell—then on its last legs— and Gold Key (Western Publishing), a family-friendly comics publisher then absolutely thriving with licensed properties. In his introduction to the 2010 reprints from Hermes Press, writer Dr. Jeff Thompson (no relation) acknowledges that the authorship of the Dark Shadows series is partially unknown. He quotes Gold Key’s East Coast editor Wally Green as writing, in a letter from when the comic was still coming out, “We have used several writers so far. A couple ran dry after some good stories. One or two never really did get the hang of it.”

Portrait of a Vampire (top) Gold Key Comics’ Dark Shadows #1 (Mar. 1969), featuring a photo cover starring Jonathan Frid. (bottom) Barnabas is cover-featured on this 1970 Gold Key Dark Shadows digest. © Dan Curtis Productions.

Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 13

ken bald © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

Frightful Funnies Original Ken Bald artwork for the (top) July 1, 1971 and (bottom) December 12, 1971 Dark Shadows daily newspaper strips. Courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © Marvel.

In the end, while Gold Key’s Dark Shadows comic book can be an enjoyable experience all its own, it has to be said that it bears little resemblance to its TV parent. In most ways, neither does the Dark Shadows newspaper strip that ran for a year between March of 1971 and March of 1972. Overseen by Elliot Caplin (brother of Al Capp) and possibly written by Howard Liss, the seven-day-a-week strip utilized even fewer members of the television series’ rich cast than the comic book, with Carolyn becoming a major player but everyone else except Barnabas, Angelique, and Elizabeth ignored. Like the comic book, though, there was no attempt to tie-in all that much to the TV continuity. One way in which the strip does look more like the series is visually. Artist Ken Bald (signing here as “K. Bruce”), a veteran of another TV strip, Dr. Kildare, excelled in photo-referenced art so in the papers, Barnabas always looked exactly like Jonathan Frid (even if there were quite a few reused images throughout the run). Wallace Wood is said to have helped out on the strip, but I don’t see any obvious sign of that. I do see traces of what looks like possibly Ernie Colón ghosting a few of the strips. As popular as Dark Shadows was, it’s surprising that neither MAD nor Cracked did a full-scale parody. That was left to Marvel. As the Comics Code relaxed its rules about vampires, Marvel was finally able to get in on it, in the form of a spoof, appropriately in the comic entitled Spoof, issue #1 (Oct. 1970). Barnabas is seen as a TV vampire, alongside Quentin and various other classic monsters of

the werewolf, mummy, and Frankensteinian variety. Roy Thomas and Marie Severin are credited—or blamed—for the parody. Gold Key had never been one to let the cancellation of the show that inspired a particular comic cause them to cancel the comic. Presumably, the thinking was that series fans would continue to buy the comic books as reminders of the series they had once enjoyed. By the time of Dark Shadows’ final issue, however, #35 (Feb. 1976), Gold Key’s sales weren’t what they had been, and the title simply stopped, ending with Barnabas, Quentin, Elizabeth, and someone who appears to be Professor Stokes, all smiling as they enjoy a meal at Collinwood. Vampires being undead, however, the Dark Shadows TV series has been revived several times, the originals have been big hits on DVD, there was a feature film with Johnny Depp, both the Gold Key series and the newspaper strip have been given prestige reprints, and allnew Dark Shadows comic books have appeared, first from Innovation in the 1990s and more recently from Dynamite Entertainment. Looks like nothing has ever been able to keep that ol’ stake in Barnabas Collins for very long. Unlike Dracula, he may not be a Count, but let’s face it, when it comes to pop-culture vampires, Barnabas Collins… counts! [Editor’s note: For more Dark Shadows, see RetroFan #11’s interview with David “Quentin Collins” Selby, and the forthcoming issue #17 for an interview with Angelique, actress Lara Parker.] STEVEN THOMPSON is Booksteve of Booksteve’s Library (http://booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com) and a dozen other blogs. He has written for Fantagraphics, TwoMorrows, Yoe Books, Bear Manor Media, and Time Capsule Productions.

18 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue

At one time the top comics publisher, Dell’s comics line was fading away by the early 1970s. The industry was changing during what we now call the Bronze Age of Comics, with newsstand presence eroding for old-time four-color “funnybooks.” Comics were also experiencing maturation and sophistication of subject matter, a far cry from the much-bandied wholesomeness banner that Dell had so proudly waved. In the 1980s, Western Publishing’s Gold Key Comics similarly discontinued its comics line. The era of the photo cover TV tie-in comic book was no more. This article will present a brief survey of the final TV tie-ins produced by those venerable companies. One series, Gold Key’s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, is worthy of a deeper examination than is presented here and will be covered at length in a future edition of BACK ISSUE.

THE END OF A DYNASTY: DELL’S LAST TV COMICS THE MOD SQUAD

by M i c h a e l

Eury

#1 (June 1969)–8 (Apr. 1971) (Note: Issue #7 reprints #1, and issue #8 reprints #2.) This counterculture cop show, which premiered on ABC on September 24, 1968, was part of the diet of social awareness many of us grew up on, with other staples including the film Billy Jack and Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ awardwinning Green Lantern/Green Arrow comic. Executiveproduced by Danny Thomas and Aaron Spelling, The Mod Squad featured a trio of troubled young people—a rich white rabble-rouser, a black activist, and an aimless flower child—and recruited them for undercover work tackling topics that were plaguing society, from poverty to drug-running to racism. Part of a new trend of programs prominently featuring an AfricanAmerican star, The Mod Squad enjoyed a 124-episode, fiveseason run (scoring in Nielsen’s top 25 during three of those seasons) and lots of merchandising. Its legacy endured, inspiring a 1979 TV reunion movie and a 1999 film reboot. Of the final Dell TV tie-ins surveyed here, The Mod Squad was certainly the jewel in the publisher’s crown. It perfectly captured the attitude of the television show (just imagine Austin Powers reading aloud issue #1’s cover blurb of “Danger is their bag!!”), and the stories’ gritty environs, combined with its streetsmart young characters and action, adapted nicely to comics. Serviceably illustrated by Jose Delbo (possibly working over scripts by D. J. Arneson), each Dell Mod Squad issue featured two stories per issue, with the type of plots you’d see on the TV show: drug smuggling, stolen cars, rigged boxing bouts, plane hijackings, etc. During the TV show’s original run, The Mod Squad was lampooned in comic-book form in MAD and Marvel’s Spoof.

Fonz Faces Front Original cover art to Gold Key’s Happy Days #5 (Nov. 1979), by Art Saaf, the title’s only issue not featuring a photo cover. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Happy Days © Paramount Television.

Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 19

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by M a r k

Sid and Marty Krofft got their start as puppeteers, with Sid, the older brother by eight years, getting his start on the Vaudeville stage and later with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus during the 1940s. His initial show, “The Unusual Artistry of Sid Krofft,” was eventually performed around the world. By the 1950s, the brothers started working together, and in 1957 debuted a more adult puppet show called Les Poupées de Paris, which was a success for the brothers throughout the 1960s. Many of the puppets included were modeled after popular celebrities of the day including Judy Garland and Sammy Davis, Jr. The show was popular enough to warrant a soundtrack album as well, as exclusive performances at many World’s Fairs, including the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair, and the 1968 San Antonio HemisFair. The main character of the HemisFair was a dragon character named Luthor, which Sid and Marty later retooled into the character better known as H. R. Pufnstuf. But before Pufnstuf became a show, HannaBarbera Productions contacted Sid and Marty and asked them if they could design some character costumes for a new live-action Saturday morning TV series, loosely based upon The Monkees and Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. The show was originally christened The Banana Bunch, but after some issues with some other group with that name, the show and the group became The Banana Splits. Terence H. Winkless, in his book From the Inside: My Life As Bingo of the Banana Splits, explained the

Arnold

situation with the costumes for the show: “The costumes were lying in the middle of the room, still in their dry-cleaning bags. Lying on top of one another, it was not easy to make anything of them other than their color. It was quite a mountain of cloth, about four feet high and a 4x6 heaping rectangle. I’m not going to pretend that I can remember who took out which costume and put it on, but I can say that in just a few minutes, we determined who would be which character. My brother Danny became the lion (Drooper) because its costume was the tallest. My brother Jeff took the green dog (Fleegle), maybe because it was kind of a chartreuse color that had always given him a hard time (all three of my brothers are color blind). That left me with the orange one, a gorilla named Bingo. The fourth was an elephant named Snorky. Snorky was not played by a brother. Hanna-Barbera hired from within, and brought in a guy named Jimmy Dove. It was a promotion from the Xerox room.” The Banana Splits, as with most Hanna-Barbera properties during the 1960s, had its own comic-book series published by Western Publishing through its Gold Key line. Eight issues were published from 1969 to 1971, as well as a March of Comics giveaway in 1971. All feature photo covers depicting the colorful animal costumes that the Banana Splits wore as designed by Sid and Marty Krofft. The comic books are credited to Don R. Christensen as the writer and Jack Manning as the artist. Christensen worked for almost every classic animation studio as an animator before transitioning

Krofft Komics (left) Gold Key’s Banana Splits #1 (June 1969), the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning live-action show developed in conjunction with Sid and Marty Krofft Productions. (center) Charlton’s Bugaloos #1 (Sept. 1971). Cover art by Frank Roberge. (right) Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, Bigfoot and Wildboy, and more Krofft kraziness on the photo cover of GK’s Krofft Supershow #1 (Apr. 1978). All © Sid and Marty Krofft Productions, except Banana Splits © Hanna-Barbera Productions.

Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 27

by M a r k

Kornpone Komedy Original donkey cel from Format Films’ animated sequences for television’s Hee Haw. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Hee Haw © Gaylord Program Services, Inc.

Arnold

In 1967, two semi-popular comedians hosted a special that featured a rapid-fire series of jokes and gags, many dating back to the days of vaudeville. It seemed like an idea destined to fail as the jokes were sometimes ancient chestnut groaners that many had heard multiple times before, but the special presented these well-worn jokes in such a unique and colorful way that the show became an immediate hit, and ultimately it was rewarded a weekly TV series. That series was called Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, or Laugh-In, for short. The show was popular enough to last six seasons through 1973. It was also popular enough to launch a spinoff series called Letters to Laugh-In, a huge line of merchandise such as lunchboxes, wastebaskets, and toys, plus books, a comic strip, and a monthly magazine. Strangely, there never was a Laugh-In comic book.

32 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue

Flash forward to 1969. Laugh-In is firmly on top of the ratings, and another show that also debuted in 1967 is also doing well, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. However, after two years of back and forth between the Smothers Brothers and CBS censors, CBS pulled the plug on the Comedy Hour in June 1969 and replaced it with a simpler and harmless show for the summer months. It was called Hee Haw. Hee Haw was created by Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth, two Canadian writers and producers who admitted being inspired by Laugh-In to create their show. Laugh-In creator George Schlatter felt that Hee Haw directly stole his idea, but both shows have a common origin from vaudeville and other stage performances that told both corny and bawdy jokes.

A Redneck ‘Laugh-In’ (top) Issues #1 and 11 of Charlton’s Hee Haw magazine. (bottom) Original art (presumably by Frank Roberge) for a one-pag gag from Hee Haw #5 (Apr. 1971). Courtesy of Heritage. © Gaylord Program Services, Inc.

Instead of everything being “hip and mod,” Hee Haw would be much more rural, with settings on a farm or in a cornfield, or in small, rundown homes. Instead of two comedians heading up the fun, two country musicians were selected. According to Ken Burns’ Country Music documentary TV series, host Buck Owens was selected to represent the Bakersfield sound, while co-host Roy Clark was selected to represent the Nashville sound, both popular centers for country music during the 1960s. Hee Haw featured much more music than Laugh-In. Laugh-In experimented with musical guests during its first season, but they were abandoned by the second. Hee Haw, on the other hand, would attract virtually all of country music’s top performers, from Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette to (much later) Garth Brooks. The music performances by these stars would be done straight, unlike the rest of the show, but these stars would also participate in some of the sketches and tell corny old jokes along with the rest of the cast. As for the cast, Hee Haw presented many stalwarts of the Grand Ole Opry such as Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Stringbean, and many others, who had already been doing basically the same comedy acts since the 1930s and 1940s. As time went on, newer and younger cast members were also added, such as George Lindsey, who came in character as Goober, a character he first portrayed on The Andy Griffith Show and later on Mayberry R.F.D. Plus, there was a goodly assortment of pretty and shapely women on the show such as Barbi Benton, Misty Rowe, and (much later) Irlene Mandrell, collectively known as the Hee Haw Honeys. The Honeys were so popular, they got their own spinoff show for a time in 1978. There were many, many recurring sketches on Hee Haw, and it became common knowledge that they would record an entire season in just a few weeks at the beginning of each year, doing a number of cornfield gags, then a number of barnyard gags, etc., all at once, that were clipped and edited to appear once per episode. The Wikipedia page about Hee Haw mentions at least 60 different recurring sketches, with some of the most popular being “Pfft, You Was Gone,” a duet where both participants get sprayed by a verbal raspberry by song’s end; “KORN News,” corny news items delivered by Charlie Farquharson (Don Harron); “The Culhanes,” a family of four and their boring Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

Landing a role in a television show, for most actors, is cause for celebration. On occasion, an actor is surprised to have gotten a part, but will run with the role and make it their own. And then there’s the rare instance of an actor wondering why he or she has been cast as a certain character, assuming that others would be more suited to the job than they are. Robert Brown falls into that last category. Following a successful turn as the character Jason Bolt in the ABC-TV series Here Come the Brides, Brown found himself cast as the lead character in a new underwater action show created by Ivan Tors and scheduled to debut in Fall 1971. Primus focused on the adventures of Carter Primus, an oceanographer, scuba diver, and all-around underwater adventurer. “The casting on Primus was a surprise, because I was not that sort of boy,” Brown tells BACK ISSUE. “I wasn’t an athlete and I hadn’t done anything like that.” Now 93 and enjoying retirement in California, the actor at least was no stranger to the water, having served in the United States Navy in the Pacific in World War II. He later met and became friends with William Shatner, a guy that Brown says had a Primus-like background. “Honestly, Shatner was the one who was a good athlete… he enjoyed diving and so forth. So he was a good guy to be around!” Brown may not have had experience with diving, but he’d done some swimming in his time. “My father was a butler, an Englishman from London. He worked as a butler to wealthy American aristocrats. In the summers, I lived at these great estates where he worked, in Bar Harbor, Maine. They had great swimming pools [on the estates], and I swam there.” Stand-ins did most of the underwater scenes for Primus, and Brown says he felt like a fish out of water, so to speak. “It was as though I had to play, for example, Hamlet, but I didn’t speak English. It was that strange a life. I’ve had other parts that I wasn’t really suited for, but I was a nice-looking guy and I had good experience with various roles. I was lucky to have the job, but I never felt comfortable in the role at all.” He may not have settled into the part, but his run as Carter Primus is remembered fondly by fans of the genre. The show’s premise undoubtedly was familiar ground for producer Ivan Tors, who had covered the waterfront during the 1960s as the producer of such shows as Sea Hunt, The Aquanauts, and Flipper. Primus premiered as a first-run syndicated series in September 1971, and Carter Primus and his team— assistants Toni Hyden, played by Eva Renzi, and Charlie Kingman, played by Will Kuluva—got to work troubleshooting underwater installations, fighting bad guys, and generally enjoying Key West, Florida, and the Bahamas, where the series was shot. The show depicted the team being hired to render services ranging from thwarting a ring of international thieves intent on stealing priceless jewels from an island museum, to salvaging a sunken—but still very much live and dangerous—torpedo before it can fall into the hands of enemy agents. Along the way, the viewer is introduced to Primus’ oceanographic inventions and devices, many of which are used for ocean rescues and other types of missions. The stories told on the show were imaginative, the underwater photography was as sharp as anything seen on television up until that time, and Robert Brown did excellent work in the title role, even if he doesn’t see it as a high-water mark in his career. “I’m lucky to have survived it! I was a lucky young man who made a living in a role that didn’t fit.” The show’s decision makers may or may not have agreed. But either way, they gave Primus the hook in spring 1972, after 26 episodes.

TV’s Latest Smash Makes a Charlton Splash Charlton Comics went the photo cover route for the first four issues of Primus, showing series star Robert Brown in various poses. Unless otherwise noted, all art scans accompanying this article are courtesy of Douglas R. Kelly. Primus © Ivan Tors Productions.

38 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue

by D o u g l a s

R. Kelly

DIVING IN

In 1971, Derby, Connecticut-based Charlton Comics was given the job of creating a Primus comic book, and they turned to a young Joe Staton to do the art chores. “I had done a few stories, mostly ghost stories, but so far, none of them had actually been published,” says Staton. “But they had Primus come in, a licensed property, and they took a chance on me. I had turned in the ghost stories promptly, on their schedule, so I guess that’s why they got me to do it. I think Primus actually was my first published comic, even though it wasn’t the first work that I had done.” Primus #1 (Feb. 1972) featured a photo cover of star Robert Brown, along with the pronouncement, “TV’s Latest Smash!” The three eight-page stories—along with the stories in all seven issues of the title’s run—were written by Joe Gill. The first story in issue #1, “The Double Dealers!” introduces the series this way: “This is Carter Primus, the global man. Inventor of DASH (deep sea habitat), the PUP (Primus underwater propulsion vehicle), and the SSS (sonar signal system). Primus roams the oceans of the world on research and rescue missions, pitting his strength, skill, and cunning against the forces of nature… and of evil!” This first story opens with Primus saving the life of Lady Lydia Mabry as she is about to be attacked by sharks while swimming near her yacht. Primus later learns that the attack was caused by a supposed friend of Lady Lydia’s, a narcotics smuggler who is being tracked by French police and INTERPOL. Primus gets more than he bargained for as he tries to help Lady Lydia clear her name. Following an implausible second story, the first issue ends on a strong note with “The First Man of the Sea.” Primus is called in by NASA to use his special skills to rescue an astronaut, physicist Mason Gregg, whose spacecraft has malfunctioned. The capsule splashes down in the Black Sea, which is controlled by the Soviet Navy, complicating Primus’ mission as he races against time to keep the capsule, and the physicist, from falling into Russian hands. Both the first story and the third story have interesting premises, but both seem rushed. Two longer stories would have worked better, with more pages for the plots to develop and play out. Fortunately, issue #2 (Mar. 1972) goes that route. The second story is an eight-pager that uses a couple of plot shortcuts to cram everything in, but the opener, “Where Killers Meet,” is 16 pages, and it uses the space well in telling the story of a fleet of whaling ships that are hunting and slaughtering endangered whales in the Ross Sea in Antarctica. The story introduces Primus’ assistants, Toni Hyden and Charlie Kingman, although for some reason Charlie’s last name has become Whitman here in the comic book. Toni and Charlie use Inca, one of Primus’ boats, as they try to stay one step ahead of the whale killers.

THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN Primus is an elusive quarry on the small screen. You won’t find it on Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu, and the only DVD source that your correspondent could find is Belle & Blade, a New Jersey-based provider of obscure video. They offer four episodes of the series on DVD; the picture quality isn’t the best, but it’s Primus and it’s fun to watch. They’re at warshows.com; phone is 973-328-8488.

Staton in His Element (top) This panel from Primus #1 shows artist Joe Staton’s facility with air bubbles—an often underrated but effective way to depict the underwater environment. (middle) Primus gets the girl(s) at the end of a story in Primus #2. (bottom left) This panel from Primus #3 demonstrates Staton’s ability to capture facial likenesses. (bottom right) Underwater fisticuffs in issue #7. Primus © Ivan Tors Productions.

Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

HELP IS ON THE WAY

Staton to the Rescue (left) The cover of issue #1 (June 1976) of Emergency! got the Joe Staton acrylic and marker treatment. (right) The pick of the litter among the covers for Emergency!: Joe hit it out of the park with this cover for issue #2! Unless otherwise noted, all art scans accompanying this article are courtesy of Doug Kelly. © NBCUniversal.

by D

Bing-bong-buuuuuuzzzzzzzzz. “Squad 51, motorcycle accident with injuries… 11822 North Hillside, cross-street Vernon…time out 14:27.” “Squad 51, KMG 365.” If reading that didn’t give you a chill down your spine, either you’re dead or you didn’t spend an hour a week tuning in to the NBC television series Emergency! from 1972 to 1977. Created by television legend Jack Webb, with Harold Jack Bloom and R. A. Cinader, Emergency! made television history by being the first series to realistically depict fire and rescue operations in the United States, an approach used by Webb on his police shows Dragnet and Adam-12.

42 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue

ouglas R. Kelly

For those of us raised on Emergency!, that familiar triple buzz alarm and accompanying call from the dispatcher is etched into our psyches. The show revolved around two operations in Los Angeles County, California: Fire Station 51 and Rampart General Hospital. Paramedics Roy DeSoto, played by Kevin Tighe, and John Gage, played by Randolph Mantooth, work with the firefighters at Station 51 as they handle calls involving everything from treating injuries at fire scenes to rescuing people stranded in deep canyons or 100 feet in the air on construction cranes. While many of the calls on which the team goes out involve serious—as in life and death—situations, others are of a lighter tone, sometimes bordering on the wacky. In the Season Five episode “The Election” an artist

has encased her subject, head to toe, in what she calls a “life casting,” a plaster and glue mixture that has hardened and entombed the man. DeSoto and Gage have to figure a way to get the guy out while contending with the belligerent artist, who insists they not damage her life casting. In fact, the situations depicted on the show reportedly all were based on actual incidents taken from various fire department logbooks around the US. Gage and DeSoto are connected to the medical team at Rampart General Hospital via a radio phone, which they use to provide information to the doctors, who then advise the paramedics on how to treat the victim(s) and prepare them for transport to Rampart. It’s a process we take for granted today—of course paramedics work with medical teams by radio—but the concept of paramedics treating victims on the scene was still fairly new in the early 1970s, having just started in California a few years before the premiere of the show. The crew at Rampart is headed up by Dr. Kelly Brackett, played by Robert Fuller; Nurse Dixie McCall, played by Julie London; who made his screen debut in the Season Two and Dr. Joe Early, played by Bobby Troup. The episode “Kids.” The series often is credited with casting kept things “in the family,” so to speak, as having been a driving force behind the creation and development of paramedic programs Julie London had been married to series around the United States. creator Jack Webb, who asked London and her real-life (second) husband LONG LEAD TIME Bobby Troup to play McCall and It took a while—four years or so— Early. In the 2001 book, My Name’s for Emergency! to be adapted Friday, London was quoted as to comic-book form. Charlton having said, “I’d never worked Comics, which had tried its with Jack before, but Bobby has hand at television series-based done several [episodes of Dragnet adaptations such as The Partridge and Adam-12]. It’s just a business Family and Space: 1999, landed relationship. The divorce happened Emergency! in 1976. (Charlton also nineteen years ago. That part of produced a black-and-white my life is all behind.” Along with magazine version of Emergency! being actors, London and Troup JOHN BYRNE in 1976–1977.) also were musicians, with both Emergency! #1 (June 1976) having successful singing careers. featured a Joe Staton cover, a A jazz pianist, Troup wrote the hit song “Route 66.” Emergency! premiered on January 15, 1972, 22-page story written by Joe Gill and edited by and ran for six seasons, winding up its run on George Wildman (who served as writer and editor, May 28, 1977. Many familiar names guest- respectively, of all four issues in the series), and starred on the show during its run, including such interior art by “Byrne Robotics.” In an interview actors as Lloyd Haynes, who played teacher Pete conducted by Jon B. Cooke and published in the Dixon in Room 222, and a young John Travolta, March 2001 issue of Comic Book Artist, John Byrne

Byrne, Baby, Byrne (top left) A chemical fire at a warehouse rages out of control in issue #1. (top right) John Byrne’s art in issue #1 featured very good likenesses of actors Julie London and Robert Fuller. (bottom left) Gage and DeSoto confer on next steps in the radium chloride case in Emergency! #1. (bottom right) This panel from issue #1 demonstrates John Byrne’s use of unusual camera angles. © NBCUniversal.

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by D

ewey Cassell

World Famous Heroine A stunning portrait of Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers by Arnaldo Putzu. Original cover art from the UK publication Look-in (Jan. 14, 1978), courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Bionic Woman © NBCUniversal.

When you have your first child, you take dozens of photographs of them doing every little thing, including sleeping, enough to try the patience of your closest relatives and best of friends. And then when you have your second child, you find the difference is not arithmetic but exponential, and you take far fewer photographs, because you are just trying to survive. If you should have a third child, there will likely be no record of them at all. It’s not that you are playing favorites or love the first child more, it’s just a matter of having to divide your once undivided attention.

This rather unconventional analogy explains, at least in part and in a roundabout way, the history of the Charlton comic book, The Bionic Woman. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We should start with the firstborn child. Martin Caidin wrote a novel titled Cyborg in 1972 that served as the basis for the television show The Six Million Dollar Man, starring Lee Majors as Steve Austin and Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman, head of the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI), a fictitious division of the United States Department of

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State. In 1975, during the second season, the show introduced the character Jaime Sommers, a love interest of Steve Austin played by Lindsay Wagner, who is severely injured during a sky-diving accident. Austin convinces Goldman and OSI to save her life by repairing her injuries with bionics similar to his own. Sommers receives two bionic legs, one bionic arm, and a bionic ear. (The Jaime Sommers character is not in the Caidin novel.) The concept was well received by viewers and the following year, Wagner got her own television series, The Bionic Woman. In the spinoff show, Sommers becomes a schoolteacher at an Air Force base in Ojai, California, while taking on missions for OSI. Like its older brother, the show was a hit. And as with most hit shows, there was no shortage of merchandising. There was a Bionic Woman board game, a Bionic Woman lunch box, Bionic Woman action figures and accessories, Bionic Woman trading cards, and, of course, a Bionic Woman comic book. Charlton Comics was not new to publishing comic books based on licensed properties. Prior titles included The Partridge Family and Space: 1999. “The Charlton News” article in issue #4 of The Charlton Bullseye in-house fanzine revealed, “Charlton has just signed a contract with Universal Studios for the comic book efforts of two of their top-rated television shows, The Six Million Dollar Man and Emergency! Each of these will have a four-color presentation, and a black and white format.” The first issue of The Six Million Dollar Man comic book was cover-dated June 1976 (on sale March 11, 1976). The Bionic Woman comic book followed much later, on July 1, 1977, cover-dated October 1977. Both titles were supposed to be bimonthly, but the publishing was sporadic. (The second issue of The Bionic Woman was cover-dated February 1978.) Jack Sparling illustrated all the covers and interior stories for the Bionic Woman series, drawing likenesses of the actors with mixed success. The writer of The Bionic Woman stories is uncertain, but may have been Joe Gill. The debut issue of The Bionic Woman includes two comic stories, the first involving a kidnapping of one of her students and the second requiring Jaime to pose as a flight attendant to thwart a murder. In the latter story, Oscar Goldman has Dr. Rudy Wells reduce Jaime’s bionic powers to “Stage I,” the abilities of a normal person, to lessen the chance of someone learning about her bionics, but it puts Jaime at risk on the mission. This was an idea also explored on the television show, and there was an episode in which Jaime posed as a flight attendant. In general, however, the stories appearing in the comic book were new, not based directly on television episodes. (The Bionic Dog never appears in the comic book.) The first issue also includes a two-page text piece recapping her origin from the television series, and pointing out the spelling of her first name—Jaime—is correct, although ironically it would be misspelled in later issues. The comic book also provided a different definition of the acronym OSI, calling it the Office of Strategic Intelligence.

We Can Rebuild Her, We Can Make Her Stronger (top) Photo of Lindsay Wagner, from The Six Million Dollar Man magazine #1 (July 1976). Courtesy of Dewey Cassell. (bottom) From the Heritage archives, original Jack Sparling artwork to the cover of Charlton’s Bionic Woman #1 (Oct. 1977). (inset) The published version. © NBCUniversal.

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Lute

On Sunday, May 1, 1983, television viewers were treated to special visitors when they tuned into the first episode of NBC’s science-fiction miniseries titled simply V. Spaceships started appearing above major cities all over the planet Earth. As viewers soon learned, these ships were filled with humanlike aliens that said they wanted our help to save their planet. The aliens were called the Visitors. However, there was more to be seen than meets the eye. Underneath the Visitors’ human-like skin, they were a carnivorous reptilian race that wanted to steal the Earth’s water and use humans as food. Although a resistance movement was organized to help stop the Visitors, the second and final episode of the miniseries ended with the Visitors having almost complete control of the planet. Kenneth Johnson, the creator/writer/director of V, wanted to tell a story of the dangers of Nazisim. With this miniseries, he was able to do so in the guise of science fiction. The uniforms and insignia that the Visitors wore were reminiscent of Nazi garb. Science fiction has always been a prime spot to tell challenging and even difficult stories that couldn’t be told elsewhere. This miniseries was no exception. V proved to be very successful and garnered a second miniseries, V: The Final Battle, which premiered the following year. The sequel miniseries also proved to be popular and an ongoing television series titled V (but often referred to as V: The Series) was ordered by NBC. Although popular, the ongoing series didn’t draw the audience numbers in that the two miniseries did and was cancelled after only one season, with a final scripted episode never even being filmed. The ongoing series suffered from budget cuts, leading to the reuse of footage from both miniseries and limitations on some special effects such as the Visitors’ distinctive vocal renderings. Kenneth Johnson was only minimally involved with V: The Final Battle and wasn’t involved at all with the regular series. Despite the ongoing series’ drop in the ratings, fans wanted more of the Visitors. DC Comics was happy to oblige. V the comic-book series ran for 18 issues from 1985 to 1986.

V: THE COMIC BOOK SERIES

It wasn’t until the ongoing V television series was announced that DC Comics became involved with the franchise. Original V comic editor Marv Wolfman recounts to BACK ISSUE, “I loved the

V is for (Unwelcome) Visitors Gripping covers for issues of DC Comics’ V tie-in, for (top) #1 (Feb. 1985) and 2, with cover art by Eduardo Barreto, and (bottom) #5 (June 1985), with cover art by Denys Cowan and Rick Magyar, and 6, with cover art by Rich Buckler and Romeo Tanghal. V © Warner Bros.

Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 53

by S t e p h a n

Trust Him, He Knows What He’s Doing David Rasche as Sledge Hammer in a publicity photo for the two-season tough-cop spoof. © Alan Spencer Productions, Inc.

Friedt

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” according to Charles Caleb Colton in his 1820 book Lacon, or Many Things in Few Words. Add a little satire, and you might have the beginnings of a successful TV series. Get Smart (1965–1970) with Don Adams imitated the James Bond movies spy craze. Get Smart gave the genre a comedic spin by adding a touch of Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther detective movies, under the guidance of comedic writing masters Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968) with Robert Vaughn and David McCallum [see RetroFan #15] brought the James Bond spy gimmick to TV with a more serious intent… most of the time. The Police Squad! (1982) TV series and The Naked Gun (1988–1994) movie series starring Leslie Nielsen were comedic imitations of the gritty police procedural dramas on TV like M Squad (1957–1960) with Lee

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Marvin and Felony Squad (1966–1969) with Howard Duff. Police Squad/Naked Gun was another in a long line of comedies from childhood friends and successful trio of David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams. Television’s Sledge Hammer! (1986–1988), starring David Rasche, imitated the tough-cop genre of movies epitomized by Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry franchise and the dramatic TV show Hunter (1984–1991) with Fred Dryer. Sledge Hammer! was created and guided by Alan Spencer, who at 15 was one of the youngest writers to join the Writers Guild of America. Influenced by his friends Marty Feldman and Andy Kaufman, both of whom he lost in a short span of time, Spencer vowed to do unconventional work in their honor, starting with Sledge Hammer! At the age of 16, Alan wrote a screenplay for Sledge Hammer! When the fourth Dirty Harry movie,

Sudden Impact, hit the theaters and TV released SAVIUK: I was a freelancer (and was not going to say no) and since Jim Salicrup was writing it anyway Hunter to capitalize on the antihero-cop theme, and specifically asked me, of course I was Alan presented his script for sale. Leonard happy to do it! Stern, former producer of Get Smart, FRIEDT: What setup were you given? recommended it to HBO. After Alan Did you get to see the show? Read a reworked the screenplay to be a halfscript? Visit the set? hour TV show, changes that HBO SALICRUP: The show was already wanted to make were too much for on the air, so I may have been given Alan to live with, so he shopped it a few TV scripts, but that’s about it. around. The series found a home at I watched the show, got the general ABC-TV, which was in last place in the idea, and proceeded to write it as ratings and willing to take a chance on fast as I could. The thing was, I was a new property from an unproven writer. also editing full-time during the Sledge Hammer! started on ABC in the day, so I had an extremely limited fall of 1986, produced through New amount of time to devote to this. World Pictures. New World Pictures jim salicrup Editor Don Daley was very good at was originally formed in 1970 by hounding me for pages—he was film director Roger Corman but © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. changed ownership in 1983 and expanded from just able to do it in a way that made me want to get exploitation films to TV and other media. In November it done quickly, but still be as good as I can make of 1986, New World purchased Marvel Entertainment it. Writing humor just takes a little longer than the Group, the parent company of Marvel Comics. The Sledge Hammer! pilot was released coincidently at the same time as pop musician Peter Gabriel’s song “Sledge Hammer” made it big, and Gabriel’s hit was used in much of the media advertising for the show. Even though the critics loved the show, it struggled in the ratings, primarily because of its often-changing day and time. Sledge Hammer! managed to go to a second season, but in its second year was put up against NBC’s top-rated The Cosby Show, and ABC saddled it with a lower budget and production values, which contributed to its demise. But before its end, in an effort to further promote the show, New World reached out to its subsidiary, Marvel Comics, and requested a TV tie-in series… and thus the Marvel comic book two-issue run of Sledge Hammer! was born. I had the opportunity to talk via email with two of the creators of the Sledge Hammer! comic book, writer Jim Salicrup and artist Alex Saviuk, about their experience on the short-lived series.

This Comic’s Batty! Sledge and Dori Doreau (Anne-Marie Martin on the TV show) square off against a gaggle of goblins—and gueststar Satana!—on the Alex Saviuk/Bob McLeod cover to Sledge Hammer! #1 (Feb. 1988). Sledge Hammer! © Alan Spencer Productions, Inc. Satana and Marvel logo TM & © Marvel.

STEPHAN FRIEDT: Sledge Hammer!... Marvel 1988... two issues... What do you remember of the job? JIM SALICRUP: It was a very happy experience, and I enjoyed working with every single person involved in this particular project. I enjoyed working on the non-Marvel Universe titles a lot, and got to work with many of my favorite artists, such as Marie Severin and Jim Mooney on The A-Team, Frank Springer on The Transformers, Dan DeCarlo on KOOL-AID Man, John Costanza on Quik Bunny, etc. These projects were always a lot of fun for me. ALEX SAVIUK: I remember doing Web of Spider-Man fill-ins and going to the office that one fateful day where Jim said [Web] writer Gerry Conway did not have a new plot ready yet, would I be interested in doing a few Sledge Hammer! stories? FRIEDT: Did you seek out the project or were you picked to do it? SALICRUP: Don Daley was the editor, and I guess he picked me to write Sledge Hammer! either because he liked my writing—I had previously written an adaptation of animated series The Inhumanoids, based on the Hasbro toys, for him—or there was no one else available to write it. That is how I got most of my writing assignments at Marvel—I was the writer of last resort. In the case of Sledge Hammer!, it is just possible that I said to Don, “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” Bronze Age TV Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 59