Back Issue #14 by TwoMorrows Publishing

ISSUE!

FUTURE LEGION “PRO 2 PRO” WITH COCKRUM & GRELL • “ROUGH STUFF” WITH MCLEOD & FRIENDS JACK KIRBY’S KAMANDI • GARCÍA-LÓPEZ’S HERCULES • AL WILLIAMSON’S STAR WARS

T H E U LT I M AT E C O M I C S E X P E R I E N C E !

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PER-HEROES LEGION OF SU

DC COMICS

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TwoMorrows.Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. (& LEGO! ) TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

Explore the world of tomorrow in our The Ultimate Comics Experience!

Volume 1, Number 14 February 2006 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, and Today! EDITOR Michael “Editor Boy” Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks

PRO2PRO: Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Two of the Legion of Super-Heroes’ most popular artists in their first interview together! PRO2PRO PLUS: The Parallel Worlds of the Imperial Guard and the Legion . . .18 A comparative look at Cockrum’s LSH and Shi’ar Imperial Guard FLASHBACK: Unbound For Glory: The Epic Story of Hercules Unbound . . . .20 With commentary and/or art by Conway, Michelinie, García-López, and Simonson

PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington

BEYOND CAPES: Killraven: A Martian Iliad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 A critical analysis of Marvel’s “War of the Worlds” series, with art by Adams & Russell

COVER ARTISTS Mike Grell and Bob McLeod

BACK IN PRINT: Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel Return to MARS . . . . . .34 The genesis of the acclaimed First Comics series, with rare artwork

COVER COLORIST Tom Ziuko COVER DESIGNER John Morrow SPECIAL THANKS John Allison Kevin Stawieray Brent Anderson Alan Steele Terry Austin Daniel Tesmoingt Alan Bahr Mark Texeira Mike Burkey Roy Thomas Glen Cadigan Alex Toth Dave Cockrum Al Williamson Gerry Conway Thomas Yeates Mark Evanier Keith Giffen Grand Comic-Book Database Mike Grell Ben Herman Heritage Comics Richard Howell Tony Isabella The Jack Kirby Collector Dan Johnson Bruce Jones Jim Kingman Scott Kress Ted Latner Paul Levitz Jonathan Mankuta Don McGregor Bob McLeod Darrell McNeil David Michelinie Guy Mills Dan Mishkin Brian K. Morris Mike Napolitano Alex Niño Gene Philips Rose Rummel-Eury P. Craig Russell Walter Simonson Tom Smith

BEYOND CAPES: Marvel’s Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction . . . . . . . . . . . .39 John Allison, Bruce Jones, Alan Steele, Tony Isabella, and Roy Thomas recall this ambitious series ROUGH STUFF: Bob McLeod and Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 The artist/inker hosts a spotlight of the pencils of J. Buscema, Byrne, Jurgens, Keown, McFarlane, Miller, Romita, Jr., Sienkiewicz, Starlin, Zeck, and McLeod himself FLASHBACK: Riding into Comics’ Future: Hex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 The grim cowboy’s time trek, with Mark Texeira and Keith Giffen interviews FLASHBACK: War in Space: Goodwin and Williamson’s Star Wars Strip . . .65 The behind-the-scenes tale of one of comics’ most celebrated collaborations WAY BEYOND CAPES: Kamandi: The Last Boy at DC! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 From Kirby to Conway, a look at Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth—with unpublished art BEYOND CAPES BONUS: Planned it for the Apes: Marvel’s Ape-daptations . . . .78 Remembering Marvel’s Planet of the Apes, with Bob Larkin and Mike Ploog art COMICS ON DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 New releases of interest to the comic-book fan OFF MY CHEST: Alex Toth on Black-and-White Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 The acclaimed artist weighs in on BI #10’s article on 1970s’ B&W mags BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Reader feedback on issue #12

BACK ISSUE™ is published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 5060A Foothills Dr., Lake Oswego, OR 97034. E-mail: euryman@msn.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $36 Standard US, $54 First Class US, $66 Canada, $72 Surface International, $96 Airmail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Legion of Super-Heroes TM & © 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2006 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

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Schweier Philip “Interview Boy”transcribed by

5, and Conducted April 19, 200 Lad” Morris. Brian K. “Transcription

DC’s 2004 relaunch of the Legion of Super-Heroes represents a new future for the teen super-team. Since their very first appearance in 1958 in Adventure Comics #247, the Legion has known many chapters. Leaving Adventure Comics behind in the late 1960s, they resurfaced as an occasional backup feature in Action Comics before settling into the more appropriate Superboy title. In 1972, DC reprinted a handful of the Adventure Comics stories in the Legion’s own featured title, perhaps testing the waters. The super-team would go on to co-star in the pages of Superboy, which they eventually took over. Dave Cockrum was the artist on deck at the start of this new era for the Boy of Steel and his futuristic friends. Cockrum gave the team a significant makeover before leaving, and art chores were assumed by newcomer Mike Grell. Throughout the 1970s, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes proved to be one of DC’s bestselling titles, and both Cockrum and Grell were fundamental to that success. We caught up with Dave and Mike for a retrospective we call:

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PHILIP SCHWEIER: I guess we’ll start with the early days. For both of you, the Legion represents some of the earliest work either of you did MIKE GRELL: Dave better take that one. I will bow to seniority. DAVE COCKRUM: Well, I did several jobs over at Warren my first year in the business, all black-and-white stuff. Then I got an apprentice job, like background inking, for Murphy Anderson and Tony DeZuniga, and it was working with Murphy that actually put

Beginnings:

for Creepy and Miscellaneous features Anderson on y rph Mu ng isti ass / Eerie as backup h suc es, tur various DC fea Superboy in g nin gin be ries sto Legion pton” backKry of d orl “W #184 (1972) / ) 72 up in Superman #248 (19

Milestones:

since I was working for Murphy, [editor] Murray Boltinoff figured

ion of SuperSuperboy starring the Leg graphic novel ns Heroes / X-Men / Futuria lsearchers Sou / s erie nis mi / Nightcrawler cs) mi Co l and Company (Claypoo

that Murphy could guarantee that I would turn in proper work.

Work in Progress:

me in a position to be able to do the Legion, because I learned a lot from him and I got the Legion assignment on the basis that

New Futurians story nearing completion, release date to be determined

Y’know, if I didn’t do it right, Murphy would fix it. SCHWEIER: Mike, how about you? GRELL: I got totally lucky. In my early days, of course, I worked

Cadigan. Photo courtesy of Glen

in comics. What sort of projects led up to your days on the Legion?

Cyberspace:

with Dale Messick on the Brenda Starr comic strip, but I was trying

www.davecockrum.net (tribute site)

to peddle my own strips at the same time and didn’t have any luck there so I wandered off to New York for a comic convention and

DAVE COCKRUM

had some better luck there. I ran into Irv Novick and Allan Asherman who looked at my stuff and told me in no uncertain terms that I should get up to Julie Schwartz’s office. Julie gave me my break by looking at my portfolio and showing it to Joe Orlando, and he gave me an Aquaman story to illustrate and I delivered that. I picked it up on a Monday and delivered it the following Monday and picked up another story and by the time I got that one done, Joe called up again and asked if I minded him recommending me

have an artist for the Legion of Super-Heroes. So Murray gave me the job inking—destroying—Dave’s pencils on a long short story as a tryout, and then I ended up full-time on the book. It was really funny because Murray said, “Well, congratulations, you got the job. Now for the bad news: You’re going to get hate mail.” And I said, “Whaddaya mean?” and he said, “Well, number one, you’re replacing the most popular artist we ever had on the Legion, and number two, we’re killing off one of their favorite characters.” And he was right. It was a long time before anyone mentioned me

Milestones:

Superboy and the Legion of Super-He roes / The Warlord / Green Lantern/Green Arrow / Starslayer (Pacific Comics) / Jon Sabl e, Freelance / Green Arrow / Shaman’s Tears (Image Comics)

Work in Progress:

New Jon Sable series (IDW) / lates t Sable trade paperback due February 200 6 (orders taken at Amazon.com)

Comics #12 (1976).

hall. I was walking in as he was walking out, and Murray Boltinoff was on vacation, destined to come back and discover he didn’t

Beginnings:

Dale Messick’s assistant on Brenda Starr / Aquaman backup feature in Adventur e Comics #435 (1974)

Cyberspace:

without comparing me unfavorably to Dave, justifiably so.

www.mikegrell.com (official site)

COCKRUM: If I recall, you had great timing coming in at that point

Photo from Amazing World of DC

for the Legion. Apparently, Dave and I passed each other in the

anyway. If I remember right, DC had pissed off a lot of artists— GRELL: It’s a knack, cultivated over decades.

MIKE GRELL

COCKRUM: —and a lot of artists were leaving DC, with a lot of becoming work available. SCHWEIER: So, Dave, you took on the feature back around Superboy #184. The name of the story was “One Legionnaire Must

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“Well, we can do good things with it.” SCHWEIER: Part of this process involved you pretty much redesigning and updating the whole Legion into the 1970s. COCKRUM: Well, I didn’t do the costumes until about the fifth episode, and I really had to fight Murray over it. He was very conservative. He didn’t like it, but he finally, very reluctantly, let me go ahead with some costume changes. I did about four the first time—that was for the story, “The War Between the Nights and the Days” [Superboy #193]. SCHWEIER:

Right—the

redesigned

Legionnaires

were

Chameleon Boy, Duo Damsel, Shrinking Violet, and Karate Kid. COCKRUM: And a lot of people think I actually redesigned Matter-Eater Lad, too, but I didn’t. They just got the colors wrong.

Dave Cockrum’s first solo pro work for DC, from Superman #248’s (Feb. 1972) “World of Krypton” backup series. Dave decided to redo the page after inking it, so this is the unpublished version of page 1. Courtesy of Ted Latner. Art © 2006 Dave Cockrum. Characters © 2006 DC Comics.

Go.” At the time, were you just a hired hand to draw the story as a backup, or was it DC’s intent to kind of rebuild the Legion’s popularity with you at the drawing board? COCKRUM: Well, the Legion was dying, and I think they figured I couldn’t do it any harm, you know. But I don’t think they had any great plans for it at that point, they just needed to fill the space and they were reluctant to let go of the Legion at that time. After three or four episodes, readers began to comment favorably more and more on the Legion, and Murray Boltinoff figured,

An early Mike Grell gig: The title page to “The Alien Among Us,” an unpublished mid-1970s Weird War Tales story written by Jack Oleck. From The Amazing World of DC Comics #12 (Aug. 1976). © 2006 DC Comics.

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SCHWEIER: [laughs] His costume’s red in that panel.

Phantom Girl, in her groovy bellbottoms, in a commission by Dave Cockrum and shared with us by Mike Napolitano.

GRELL: You know, Murray Boltinoff wasn’t the only one who fought tooth-and-nail when changing costumes. I ran into a brick wall when I redesigned Cosmic Boy’s costume, and there were guys who never forgave me for it. COCKRUM: I never wanted to change his. Not that I liked it, because I didn’t. I thought he and his costume and haircut

deserved each other. GRELL: I had a funny conversation with Mike Flynn years later. Mike, of course, had been one of the key people with The Legion Outpost, the big Legion sort-of fanzine, and Mike despised that costume that I did. He later went to work for DC Comics, and he used all his power and influence to get the costume changed back to what it was before I got a hold of it. And then he quit. I asked him about that later on and he said, “Hey, I figured my job here was done.” SCHWEIER: In redesigning these costumes, was it something you initiated yourself, submitting ideas, or was there a lot of editorial influence in that direction? GRELL: No, I had to run it past editorial and I had to get its approval. Like Dave said, Murray was very, very conservative, and somewhat lacking in a sense of humor. There was one story [Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #204, “Brainiac’s Secret Weakness”] that had Supergirl and Brainiac 5, who was searching all over for her; and there was a line where Brainiac said, “I’m looking for the girl in the red and blue costume.” And I said, “Murray, shouldn’t that be, ‘I’m looking for the girl with the big S.’” And Murray, not

Cockrum’s box cover art for Aurora’s Superboy mid-1970s modelkit reissue, which included a Comic Scenes insert. Courtesy of Heritage Comics.

getting it at all, said “Let me see if that works.” And I said, “No, no, no. Murray, Murray, it’s just a joke.” SCHWEIER: Too bad that never saw print. GRELL: Ah, yeah, yeah. SCHWEIER: Also, this is the early ’70s, predating Star Wars, so a lot of the science-fiction terminology that we take for granted these days didn’t really exist too well back then, and you

pretty much had the jobs, collectively, of designing the 30th century. How, as designers, did you approach that? COCKRUM: I don’t know [laughs]. GRELL: I just copied everything Dave did. COCKRUM: I didn’t have trouble with the art extension of the 30th century, or the

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SCHWEIER: Shrinking Violet. GRELL: Shrinking Violet, yeah. COCKRUM: I’d go have to look it up. GRELL: [laughs] I was so glad when you told me that years later, so relieved. I swear to God, last year sometime I was doing a sketch at a convention, and it finally dawned on me that hidden in all the swirly stuff in the bodice were the initials S.V. I thought, “Oh, DUHH!” You know, all these years I’ve been trying to remember what happens here, does this swirl go this way, does that swirl go that way, or whatever. Very complicated stuff. SCHWEIER: Now, Dave, were there any characters that you designed, or redesigned, that you’re especially proud of? That you look at proudly and say “I did that.” COCKRUM: Especially Lightning Lad. I think he was my favorite... GRELL: Mine, too. COCKRUM: ...and I almost didn’t get to do it because of Murray Boltinoff, but I went ahead and stuck that in the story and made sure the colorist got the coloring instructions on it. If Murray noticed he never said anything. SCHWEIER: Well, I suppose it’s similar enough to his regular costume. Obviously the cape is missing, but otherwise it’s pretty close. COCKRUM: I thought that it looked like a dress uniform, you know. I’m very proud of that one. And they’ve sort of maintained some of the look of the original costumes. SCHWEIER: Dave, you left with issue #202. There was a full story you drew called “Wrath of the Devil Fish,” and then, Mike, you inked over him on “Lost: A Million Miles from Home.” Dave, exactly how did your departure from the book come about?

Grell’s splash to Superboy starring the Legion #216 (April 1976), the first appearance of Tyroc. Original art courtesy of Alan Bahr of Heroes Comics.

COCKRUM: There was a fight with DC. When I did the wedding of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel [Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #200, “The Legionnaire Bride of Starfinger”], they weren’t returning artwork yet at that point. Marvel was, DC wasn’t, and I asked Murray, I said, “Listen, could I have this double-page spread back, the wedding scene? I know you don’t give back anything else, but

I’d like to have that for my own personal collection.” And Murray said, “I don’t see any reason why not. Sure.” So later on the artwork came back and he set that aside for me. The day that I was about to come in and pick it up, Carmine Infantino happened to see

Grell and editor Murray Boltinoff in a photo, circa 1974–75, from The Amazing World of DC Comics #5 (Mar. 1975).

it on Murray’s desk, said “What’s this?” and Murray told him and Carmine said, “You can’t let him have that back. We’re not returning artwork.” And that was it, I didn’t get it. Actually I did get it back but much later. SCHWEIER: And you still have it?

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COCKRUM: Actually, no. Somebody quoted me

A mid-2000s Supergirl commission by Grell, courtesy of Scott Kress.

such a price on it that I couldn’t refuse. But I came in to see Murray, and he said, “I’m sorry. Carmine says you can’t have that page back,” and I blew up. I said, “Well, in that case, I’m not going to stay on

the book any longer, you’ll have to get somebody else.” He didn’t leave on vacation, so I don’t understand why Murray came back from somewhere and didn’t know he didn’t have an artist, because I told him in no uncertain terms to his face. GRELL: Wel-l-l-l, I guess my inking was their

The splash to the landmark issue #200 (Feb. 1974), drawn by Cockrum. From the collection of Mike Napolitano.

roundabout means of trying me out. Dave’s departure was probably filtered editorially, because that was exactly the story I had been told, that Murray was off on vacation and came back and discovered he had no artist. COCKRUM: Not so, because I told him to his

face. And then I went up to Julie Schwartz’s office—they had just assigned me the Captain Marvel, Jr. [backup] series [in Shazam!]—and I told him, “I’m leaving, but I would really like to continue to do Captain Marvel, Jr. for you if

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Jim Kingman In Greek mythology, the strongest man and greatest fighter in the world was Herakles. In Roman mythology, he was known as Hercules, which is the popular usage of his name. Hercules was the offspring of Zeus, chief of the Olympian gods, and Alkmene, Queen of Sparta. The man-god sailed for some time with Jason and the Argonauts. He was driven temporarily mad by Hera and killed his wife, Megara, and their three sons. In penance to King Eurystheus, Megara’s father, Hercules performed twelve fantastic, legendary labors. After his death by poison Hercules became an Olympian god. In the Marvel Universe, Hercules teamed with the Avengers and the mighty Thor for many adventures on Earth and throughout the cosmos, even landing a teaching job at UCLA before becoming a founding member of the Champions. Yet the man-god’s most noble undertaking was in DC’s speculative future. There, Hercules became humankind’s last hope of survival! When writer Gerry Conway departed Marvel Comics in 1975, he left the Marvel Hercules behind him and made a successful pitch for a new take on Hercules to DC, then National Periodical Publications. At that time DC was meeting the challenge of Marvel’s saturation of the newsstands and spinner racks by themselves releasing a multitude of titles. Joe Orlando would be the comic’s editor. “I’m going to try mixing it with sword and sorcery to get Hercules,” Orlando revealed in an interview in The Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (May 1975). Also in that issue of DC’s in-house “News and Behind the Scenes” magazine, Hercules Unbound was originally announced as The Power of Hercules and set during World War IV. The first issue was scheduled for an October 1975

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release. But sometime after the publication of that

where Cerberus was killed in battle with the man-god.

“Sneak Previews” article and the official listing in “Direct

Some time later and having reached England (HU

Currents” for July 1975 releases (in which there was no

#4, Apr.–May 1976), Hercules, Kevin, and Jennifer

entry for HU), The Power of Hercules became Hercules

were attacked by the humanoid-animal legions of

Unbound, with issue number one hitting the comics

Hunter Blood, a mutant with death-dealing vision.

spinner racks during the last week of July.

Hercules learned the origin of the humanized animals

Conway wrote the first six issues, setting the story

from a gorilla-man as the two of them sought out

in 1986, the same year of the atomic war that would

Blood (HU #5, June–July 1976). The explanation

give birth to the Atomic Knights. The Atomic Knights

involved Cortexin, a man-made drug that gave

series

animals intelligence. Cortexin was originally introduced

ran

sporadically

Strange Adventures during the early 1960s and was written by John Broome and illustrated by Murphy Anderson. “I think tying it into the Atomic Knights

was

intentional,”

remembers Conway, “as I was a fan of that series.” “The Power and the Glory of” Hercules Unbound #1 (Oct.–Nov.

1975)

began

shortly after the widespread cataclysmic and radioactive destruction brought on by the outset of World War III. Hercules, who had been imprisoned on an Aegean island by Ares, his half-brother and god of war, broke his chains after a thousand years of captivity. He teamed with a blind boy, Kevin, and his dog, Basil (named after Basil Rathbone, the British actor who played Sherlock Holmes), and began striking

in Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth #16 (Apr. 1974).

The artistic pairing of

back, first in Rome, against his foe. In Paris, Hercules

Finally, a connection had been made to another

then-newcomer

and Kevin met three more survivors of war, Jennifer

of DC’s speculative futures. After Blood’s defeat,

García-López with

Monroe, David Rigg, and Simon St. Charles (HU #2,

Hercules soon tracked Ares down in Stonehenge,

the venerated Wood

Dec. 1975–Jan. 1976). They were soon attacked by

England and battled him for the lives of Simon St.

made Hercules

Ares’ deputy Cerberus and his two-headed dogs of

Charles and Dave Rigg (HU #6, Aug.–Sept. 1976).

Unbound a visual

war. Cerberus captured Jennifer in order to lure

Having won the battle, Hercules inexplicably let

feast. Issue #1/page

Hercules to a battle in Pluto’s realm, Hades (setting up

Ares go free.

25, and #1/page 29,

a sequel of sorts to Hercules’ twelfth labor). With the

With Conway’s departure from both HU and DC

aid of Orpheus (HU #3, Feb.–Mar. 1976), Hercules

Comics, writer David Michelinie came in to script

Richard Howell and

and Kevin were able to rescue Jennifer from Hades,

Hercules Unbound #7 (Oct.–Nov. 1976). “As a fill-in

Carol Kalish.

from the collecton of

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Gene Philips Following the first Martian attacks on England in H.G. Wells’ classic novel The War of the Worlds, a panicky character asks the narrator, “What are these Martians?” The narrator replies, “What are we?” Few later alien-invasion tales have pursued themes as sophisticated as those of H.G. Wells, who made his Martians emblematic of mankind’s tendency to dominate and destroy other living beings. Wells even heightened the resemblance by suggesting that his tentacled BEMs might have evolved from life very like that of human beings. In 1973 Marvel Comics wrote a new chapter to Wells’ Martian saga (then safely in public domain), but despite using the trappings of the then-popular barbarian comics, Marvel’s “War of the Worlds” (henceforth “WOTW”) both did justice to Wells’ original theme and forged its own identity as well. The new chapter began in Amazing Adventures (henceforth “AA”) #18 (May 1973), conceived by Roy Thomas, scripted by Gerry Conway, and illustrated by Neal Adams and Howard Chaykin. Conway and Chaykin returned for only one more issue, but the first stories left subsequent creators a strong template on which to build. On the surface, the series looked more like Robert E. Howard than H.G. Wells, depicting the hero Killraven as a sword-swinging hero battling assorted monsters in a post-apocalyptic future Earth. The hero even shared Conan’s lack of background prior to becoming a mature monster-slayer. Yet Conan’s

past was simply ignored, while Killraven’s lack of a personal history

Of Course, You Know This Means War!

proved a source of concern. WOTW’s other supporting characters all had

John Romita, Sr. and Mike Esposito’s cover art to Marvel’s first “War of the Worlds” issue, Amazing Adventures #18 (May 1973), reprinted in 2005 as the cover of Essential Killraven, where it was wonderfully colored by its contributor, Tom Smith.

memories of their existence before the Martian invasion—particularly of their fathers—but Killraven, who remained fatherless throughout the series, never experienced more than fragments of pre-invasion memories. To be a tabula rasa, of course, is to start from square one, like an infant, and as the hero’s only “teachers” were the enslaving Martians and their pawns, there was a touch of the Oedipal in WOTW.

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The first story in AA #18 goes six pages without

infant brother Joshua as all three flee the invaders. The

even mentioning the Martians. We see only Killraven

fugitives escape the Martians, but are betrayed by two

fighting various guardsmen, both humans and

humans, Saunders and Raker, who are collaborating

monstrous mutants, in order to break into a stronghold

with the aliens. The traitors kill Jonathan’s mother and

of an old man called “the Keeper.” After dispensing

divide up the two children. Saunders takes Joshua

with the guards, Killraven deals a fatal blow to the

away to some fate that will not be disclosed for many

Keeper. Yet after completing his mission, Killraven feels

issues, while Raker forces young Jonathan to become a

“empty.”

gladiator who fights other humans for the amusement

Fortuitously, the Keeper revives long

of the conquerors. Killraven escapes his captors, and, along with other fugitives, becomes a roving freedom fighter. The flashback ends, and it is at last clear that the Keeper is Raker, some 20 years older. Before Raker (finally!) dies, he tells that the Martians mentally coerced him into serving them, © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

and that at some point he eluded their mental control just long enough to bestow upon Killraven some mysterious “power” via his advanced science. In Freudian terms, Raker thus becomes both a “bad father” and a “good father” to

This unfinished Neal Adams-penciled page was intended for AA #18, Killraven’s first outing, but was not published. Courtesy of Kevin Stawieray.

Killraven. Bad, because he slays the hero’s mother and in concert with the Martians gives the hero his slave-status and his gladiatorial nickname. Good, because he gives Killraven a gift that enables the hero to escape that enslavement, even though it means the Keeper’s death. WOTW’s opening scenario strongly recalls a segment of Wells’ novel in which a

militiaman speculates that though the Martians may conquer humanity, humans will continue to fight the aliens with guerillawar tactics. He also predicts that the Martians will keep some humans as slaves or pets, to be controlled through various brainwashing stratagems, including some sort of enough to tell the warrior (and the readers) the entire

“eroticism” (about which the militiaman does not

backstory of the series: how the Martians invaded in

elaborate). Conway’s take on this is to reveal that

1901, were defeated by Earth’s bacteria, and how the

his Martians can create not only ugly mutants, but

survivors returned to Earth in 2001, immune both to

beautiful ones as well: scantily clad “Martian

germs and all Earth’s military defenses, both nuclear

sirens” able to charm men with both their beauty

and biological. (The unleashing of such weapons helps

and hypnotic powers. In AA #19 the sirens focus

populate Killraven’s world with the usual post-

their powers on Killraven, whereon he learns that

apocalyptic monsters, not to mention those created

his mysterious “power” makes him immune to

by Martian science.) The long flashback then shifts to

their mesmerism. More monsters attack, and the

how the Keeper met Killraven, the same year the

issue is finished with standard fight scenes, but not

Martians invaded. The hero is first seen as a small boy,

before Conway introduces some of Killraven’s rebel

Jonathan Raven, in the company of his mother and

allies, the “Freemen.”

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Original cover art to Amazing Adventures #25 (July 1974), penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Mike Esposito. Courtesy of Mike Burkey (www.romitaman.com).

In AA #19 only two Freemen are given names: a

Strange Land—is bestowed upon Grok by Carmilla as

black man named M’Shulla and a mutton-chopped

a symbol of “hope,” but Grok doesn’t look like a very

Caucasian named Hawk, both former gladiators like

hopeful case. He resembles an orangutan with

Killraven. In AA #20, scripted by Marv Wolfman and

sucker discs growing from his fingers, and is said to

drawn by Herb Trimpe, the Caucasian Hawk is trans-

be the result of a botched cloning experiment

formed into an Amerindian with a surly attitude,

supervised by Carmilla. The name of the man from

presumably to give the feature greater racial diversity.

whom Grok was made is revealed many issues later,

In addition, Wolfman’s single script sets up one of the

but given that Carmilla never talks about anyone

feature’s long-running motifs: an ongoing humorous

from her past life but her late father, it doesn’t take

guy-banter between Killraven and M’Shulla. Herb

Sherlock Holmes to guess the clone-donor’s identity.

Trimpe remains the artist on the “War of the Worlds”

In a strange way, just as Killraven’s symbolic “father”

feature through issue #24, but his art proves unsuited to

Raker is both enslaver and benefactor, Grok mingles

the feature’s swashbuckling requirements. As

multiple identities: he is both Carmilla’s father and

compensation, however, in AA #21 Don McGregor

her “son” (because she “creates” him in sole-parent

debuts as the permanent (and

Frankenstein fashion). If there is any real “hope” in

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Grok’s existence, it lies in his capacity to return the

and scripts all the remaining

characters (and the series) to the theme of “the lost

stories in the series save for two

family.” Indeed, this becomes WOTW’s raison d’être

fill-in stories by Bill Mantlo.

from then on (though not until AA #23 does

Of his assignment to the

Killraven remember that he has a lost brother he

feature, McGregor wrote (in e-

needs to seek out!) Additionally, though Conway

mail, September 2005) that, “I

transmitted the basic notion of seeing the creations

wanted to come into it doing

of modern mankind through the lens of a Wellsian

my own stories, not someone

apocalypse, McGregor uses words with a greater

else’s.” This is evident in that

sense of poetry as he evokes mankind’s shattered

the

history—sometimes with nostalgia (Yankee Stadium

Wolfman is finished up as

is described as “a place of summer afternoons”),

expeditiously as possible,

sometimes with irony (the Watergate tapes of

emphasizing the new charac-

Richard Nixon are found by Killraven in AA #24, and

ters McGregor introduces.

are thought to symbolize a time of “trust” between

One is Old Skull. He appears

politicians and their constituency).

plotline

begun

as a background figure in

AA #22–24 gives us McGregor’s first continued

#20 but has no character as

story, as well as the last of his collaborations with

such. In addition to giving

Herb Trimpe. The Martians devise a plan to subjugate

him a name, McGregor

humanity not just by force but also by perverting all

makes him another former

of mankind’s cherished social myths: for instance,

gladiator, but one with a

holding slave auctions before the remnants of the

childlike “diminished capacity.” Another is Carmilla

Lincoln Memorial. Because Killraven has become a

Frost, a scientist who claims that she only worked with

legend to enslaved humanity, the Martians want to

the Martians under duress. Because she helps the

execute him in a way that will crush all of mankind’s

Freemen escape a Martian prison, Killraven reluctantly

hopes for independence. This plot is supervised by

allows the scientist to join their company. He remains

the “High Overlord,” a Martian who, though he is a

suspicious of her, in part because she brings along a

tentacled blob like his fellows, is always seen in a

monstrous servant named Grok.

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“human” form, in that he constantly wears a suit of

The name, patently drawn from another

human-form armor. (No other Martian follows his

“Martian novel”—Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a

example, though.) The Overlord uses various

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definitive) writer of the feature,

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pawns to assail the hero—the tentacle-armed

still lives, but the hero takes this disclosure as an

Abraxas, a swashbuckler called Sabre (ancestor to

impetus to search for Joshua Raven. Carmilla takes on

the hero of the McGregor/Paul Gulacy Sabre pub-

greater textual importance as she becomes

lished later by Eclipse), and Rattack, a freaky fellow

Killraven’s personal gadfly, constantly challenging

who can control rats—but the Overlord’s most for-

him to be a greater leader, and she also becomes

midable ally is... television. To be precise, this is a

involved with M’Shulla, one of the first interracial

futuristic TV, called the “mural-phonics system.”

romances depicted in comics.

Killraven is subjected to televised torture, all

Artistically the next two issues of AA are much

designed to make him look unheroic, but he fights

improved over the Trimpe run, but both artists—Rich

free, causing his heroic legend to be so enhanced

Buckler in AA #25, Gene Colan in #26—are pinch-hitters. In AA #25 Carmilla Frost urges Killraven to become a visionary leader, capable of “cosmic wonder,” and not coincidentally, here McGregor at last deals with the concept of Killraven’s “special power,” though he rewrites what little Conway

had to say about the matter. Now Killraven’s gift from his symbolic father is “clairsentience,” which allows him to observe events far away from him (sort of the reverse of people seeing him, as happened during his mural-phonics torment). In a future issue Killraven will learn that

Original art to page 15 of AA #29 (Mar. 1975), pencils and inks by Craig Russell. From the collection of Kevin Stawieray.

this ability is dependent upon his ability to tap into the telepathic powers of Martians (thus, once again, linking his very identity to his alien oppressors). AA #25 also introduces WOTW’s best villain: the cyborg Skar, who is described as a “Cyclops,” though in fact his one “eye” looks like

a big hole blown in the middle of his face. Yet his truly monstrous quality is that, more than any other villains, he takes a sadistic joy in killing for the Martians. Skar fights Killraven, and then escapes, but the villain is fated to make an unforgettable mark on the series. AA #26 proves a bit of a downturn: competent but not overly memorable. AA #27 redefines the series as McGregor is teamed with artist Craig Russell, who will pencil that even the mercenary Sabre turns against his

almost all the remaining issues through AA #39,

masters on Killraven’s behalf. The Overlord escapes

and who is regarded as WOTW’s premiere artist.

even though all of his henchmen are slain.

Russell gives WOTW an elegant linework that

(Abraxas is fittingly crushed by a falling statue of

complements

Abraham Lincoln, full of “paternal somber wisdom.”)

McGregor’s prose, and gives the characters both

As a bonus, the Overlord has reminded Killraven

greater humanity and a physical dynamism. But

that the hero has a lost brother to find. True, all the

one character gets sidelined. Early in #27 Grok

Overlord says is that he wants “Keeper Saunders” in

receives a severe wound, changing him from a

“Yellowstone” to watch Killraven’s destruction. This

combatant to a burdensome “relative” who must

is slim proof for Killraven to assume that his brother

receive constant care. Carmilla is most affected by

the

febrile

romanticism

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Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel Return to

Joseph McCabe

Mission to MARS

MA R S

Whether or not man ever strides gallantly

“New” MARS art penciled by Marc Hempel in the mid1980s and inked by Mark Wheatley in 2005 for use as a sales incentive signed print from Westfield Comics’ subscription service.

across the surface of the red planet, comic-book fans, at least, will have no trouble imagining such a visit thanks to MARS, the pioneering First Comics series that marked the twin debuts of fan-favorite creators Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel. MARS, like its fellow First titles Grimjack and Jon Sable: Freelance, has been honored with a new collected edition from IDW, a collection Wheatley (who’s re-

colored the book) describes as “the best printed comic book I’ve ever had.”

In speaking with BACK ISSUE, longtime collaborators Wheatley and Hempel explain the unorthodox way in which they sold their science-fiction saga to First. “Marc and I had just done the paperback book series Be an Interplanetary Spy,” says Wheatley. “I had been working for Heavy Metal, I was doing some strips for Epic Illustrated, but mostly we were doing a lot of local advertising work, and designing imprinted balloons for a local balloon company.

There’s a moment where you’re doing all that stuff, where you go, ‘Well, this is earning us money, and this is fine, and this is drawing...’. And we really

Pencil art by Mark Wheatley from the 1983 presentation art used to sell the MARS series to First Comics.

wanted to do comic books, but the market was dead. There was no creator-owned anything. I mean, nobody did this. It just didn’t happen. “I worked this deal where we went out to San Diego [Comic-Con] in ’82, and we got a table. And I

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had done this little proposal for MARS, this pitch. I had this whole routine, y’know? It was like an acting

The first character design sheet penciled by Mark Wheatley. This was before Hempel joined the project.

job, I acted it out for the publishers. Then I heard there’s this new company just announced, First Comics, at the show. I grabbed them and I said, ‘Who do I talk to?’ So [then-art director] Joe Staton listened to the pitch. He left with his jaw down. Actually, the only people that turned us down on

the spot were Pacific Comics. First Comics wanted us, Marvel wanted us, DC wanted us. We had callbacks from everybody, saying, ‘Yeah, let’s talk about doing this.’ And the only people that ever completely followed through were First. Partially, [MARS editor] Mike Gold told me later, because he thought everybody else wanted it. (Joe had brought the proposal back and did the pitch for Mike.) “For a long time after that, our proposal was the model they used in the industry for how to present

a new series. Because it was a new thing at the time. People hadn’t been presenting new series. So, in ’83, we had our first issue out in September.” The tale of a paraplegic astronaut named Morgana Chase, her shipmates, and their journey through time, space, and consciousness, MARS was inspired in part by a friend of the creators. “Her name is Marion Vessels,” says Wheatley. “She was Miss Wheelchair America at the time, a paraplegic, who’s been on the governor’s committee here in Maryland, and has worked with the president’s council, and was instrumental in developing the access laws

Marc Hempel looking like he’s ready to run out to the woods and do some hunting.

that are currently in place. “One time we were having a conversation when we were out at a movie together. She said it had been so long at that time since her accident that even if she did get reconnected with her nerves in her legs she would probably never be able to walk again, because she wouldn’t be able to move her legs enough to exercise them, to build strength, to get back to the point where she could stand on them. Also the bones may have become brittle through disuse. Astronauts have run into this, that’s why they can’t stay up there forever. And so I got to thinking, ‘But if you were on the moon, where you had very little gravity, you

Mark Wheatley at the fall 2005 Baltimore Comic Con.

could slowly build up to it.’ And then from that point, it was like, ‘Oh, cool, then if they went to

Painted and penciled by Mark Wheatley and inked by Marc Hempel, this image was the “money shot” that graced the cover of the presentation that sold MARS as a series to publisher First Comics. At the time almost everyone at First and even Mark and Marc were surprised that the original presentation image survived the development process to end up as the cover for the first issue of MARS. MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

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This page originally appeared in Amazing Heroes for one of its annual swimsuit issues. It was penciled by Wheatley and inked by Hempel. Colored by Wheatley for the new IDW MARS GN. MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

Another page from the “extras” section of the new IDW MARS GN. This shows an unused splash page from issue #12 of MARS, laid out by Wheatley and penciled and inked by Hempel. The art was changed for final publication at the request of the series editor Mike Gold. (Says Wheatley: “Gold made very few changes to the MARS material—but his deft editorial skill was a very important element in the creation of the MARS series.”) The second illustration is the unaltered art for the splash page in MARS #11. In the final version the art was cut apart to give the illusion of shattering glass. MARS TM & © 2006 Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel.

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Zack Smith

In 1975 and 1976, Marvel published seven issues of a black-and-white magazine called Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction. While the magazine was short-lived, it was a true labor of love, featuring adaptations of SF and fantasy authors of all eras, interviews with SF’s best writers, reprints of rarely seen stories by some of comics’ top creators, and early Marvel work by future comics superstars. Looking at the lineup from Unknown Worlds’ brief run is like a who’s who of great names from the Bronze Age: Neal Adams, Frank Brunner, Gene Colan, Howard Chaykin, Archie Goodwin, Michael William Kaluta, Denny O’Neil, Alex Niño, and Wally Wood, just to name a few. Famed SF artists such as Frank Kelly Freas and Michael Whelan contributed covers, while the authors adapted ranged from Golden Age favorites such as Alfred Bester and A.E. Van Vogt to “New Wave” writers such as Michael Moorcock and Harlan Ellison. A true labor of love, Unknown Worlds was a book for and by true science-fiction fans... and, unfortunately, never caught on. © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Still, it made a definite impression on its readers. One of these readers was Allen Steele, who would go on to become an acclaimed SF author and winner of two Hugo Awards. Steele still has his issues of the magazine, which he says he keeps filed with his SF magazine collection, rather than his comic collection. “Until Unknown Worlds came out, all comics seemed like SF to me,” Steele says. “What was different about Unknown Worlds was that it didn’t have super-heroes and super-villains, but instead adaptations of then-current SF stories. I’d already seen

Alex Niño’s rendition of the Ticktockman, commissioned at the 2003 San Diego Comic-Con. All artwork in this article was submitted by Zack Smith.

the Ballantine reprints of the old E.C. comics adaptations of Ray Bradbury’s stories, but somehow those seemed old-hat to someone growing up in the ’60s and ’70s. The Ellison, Moorcock, and Niven stories were still fairly new, though—the paperback anthologies that contained the originals were still available in bookstores. “So there was a real sense that you weren’t reading just another comic book, but rather a sciencefiction magazine that happened to be done in graphic form.” Unknown Worlds even helped Steele to discover several major SF writers after reading the interviews featured in the magazine. “I sought out Frank Herbert’s Dune after reading the interview with him in one issue, and went

into a serious Larry Niven binge after reading both his interview and the adaptation of ‘All the Myriad Ways,’” Steele says. “Those interviews are the major reason why I keep my old issues of UW filed with my SF magazines

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ntributions ns, and art co Feature, captio eod by Bob McL

I guess most people would think something this rough [John Buscema’s splash-page breakdowns from Nova #22 (1979)] couldn’t be inked, but really, all the essential drawing is there. Tom Palmer was the regular inker on the book. Josef Rubinstein and I each inked half, both of us trying to ink like Palmer. © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

“Rough Stuff” is a very apt name for what I was often assigned to

Milgrom, Ross Andru, Don Heck, Bob Brown, Carmine Infantino,

ink back in the ’70s and ’80s. Unlike so many of today’s pencilers,

Mike Vosburg, Frank Miller, George Pérez, Rich Buckler, John Romita,

who usually draw in every feathering line, strand of hair, and

Jr., Mark Texeira, or Bill Sienkiewicz. While they were all very good

lighting indication, in the good old days of the ’70s most of that

artists, even fan-favorite artists, most of today’s pencilers would never

was usually left up to the inker. It was considered the penciler’s job

dare turn in work as sketchy as theirs was back then. These pencilers

to lay out the panels, compose the scene, and loosely draw the

expected the inker to bring a lot of style and drawing ability to the

figures and backgrounds. How much other detail he added was up

table, along with the good brush and pen control every inker needs.

to him, but it was considered the inker’s job to lay down the exact

As Bill Sienkiewicz once said to me, speaking about his rough,

line needed and to add a rendering style and often even to decide

sketchy pencils: “If I have to take the time to clean it up and draw it

where to add black areas and lighting.

exactly the way I want it to look in print, I may as well ink it myself.”

Today, people often joke about inkers being just “tracers.” Inking

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And he was right, of course. Bill was an excellent inker himself, but

is a far more complex affair than that, of course, but there is often a

he figured it was the inker’s job to polish up his rough drawing and

lot of tracing involved in inking today’s tight pencilers. No one in the

make it shine. So many of today’s pencilers pencil the job, then ink

’70s or ’80s could ever accuse an inker of “tracing” when he was

the job on a lightbox with a pencil, leaving the inker little to do but

inking true “rough stuff” artists like Val Mayerick, Billy Graham, Al

try his best to reproduce the same sweeping pencil lines in ink.

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This Frank Miller job [Spectacular Spider-Man #27 (1979)] was inked by Frank Springer, and I really wish I could have inked it. Miller was really starting to develop here and there’s a lot of potential inking fun. © 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Some pencilers, like the young Frank Miller I inked (on his first

pencils on Action Comics were breakdowns. Breakdowns were

two jobs at Marvel), hadn’t yet developed a finished style. He didn’t

always my favorite work. As an inker, there was nothing quite like

really “do” inking at first, so I had a great time taking his raw,

getting John Buscema breakdowns in the mail. His breakdowns

undeveloped pencils and adding lighting and rendering of my own

were notoriously loose; just broken-line sketches. What a thrilling

choosing to finish the jobs up. This is in no way meant as an insult to

challenge to have his marvelous dynamic layouts with which to do

Frank, either. Everyone at Marvel was very excited by Frank’s first

whatever you wanted to take them to the finish line. I have several

penciling jobs, and I was thrilled at the chance to add my inks to his

examples of his breakdowns before and after inks on my web site at

dramatic pencils. He, in turn, was appreciative of my ability to take

http://www.bobmcleod.com/befaft.html.

his drawing and add the finish he hadn’t yet learned how to do. My

Over my career, I made Xerox copies of the pencils and inks of

jobs with Frank, and most other comics from that period, were a true

most of my jobs, for several reasons. It’s helpful to have a copy of

collaboration between penciler and inker, creating artwork wholly

the pencils to refer to while inking, because pencils can get

different and usually better than either artist could have done alone.

smudged and erased, and inadvertently changed during inking.

There is also the matter of “breakdowns,” where the pencil artist

Pages have also occasionally been lost or damaged in the mail, and

just supplies a rough layout, with no blacks or lighting or rendering,

copies can prevent the need to re-do an entire job. And it’s also just

and the inker finishes the drawing and inks it. Does anyone even do

nice to have a record of past work. I’m happy to

breakdowns anymore? I was lucky enough to ink breakdowns over

have this chance to share with you some of the

John and Sal Buscema, Ron Frenz, George Pérez, Jim Starlin, Mike

pencils I’ve saved by so many fine pencilers over the

Zeck, Rich Buckler, and Mike Golden. I also penciled breakdowns for

years. I hope you enjoy them.

my idol Tom Palmer to ink on Star Wars, and most of my Superman

– Bob McLeod

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John

IRON MAN #117 cover (1978): JOHN ROMITA, JR. / BOB McLEOD This was about as tight as JRJR’s pencils got; more like semi-breakdowns. Most inkers just did ellipses freehand back then, and so did I.

STARLIN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #187 page 7 (1978): JIM STARLIN / BOB McLEOD This was just a very rushed fill-in job for Jim, who came in late to help the editor meet the deadline. But it was my one chance to ink Starlin and I gave it everything I had. F u t u r e

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future; Stiletta, Borsten’s daughter and Hex’s love

with amusement park antiques.

interest; Chain, a faceless assassin hired by the

Hex #18 (Feb. 1987) was Michael Fleisher’s

Conglomerate, a criminal organization that con-

farewell to the character of Jonah Hex. After the

trolled Soames, the only means to purify water in the

series ended, Fleisher’s contributions to the industry

future; Cohen, the Batman of the future; the

were, sadly, few and far between. “There are certain

Dogs of War, a five-man

personalities that comics are

super-group made up of

worse

other warriors and soldiers

[Fleisher] was one of them,”

Borsten had snatched out

Giffen tells BACK ISSUE. “There are

of time; and the Xxggs, an

these voices that are always

alien

entertaining, snuggling into the

enslave the Earth in the

high bound continuity of

far-off future. The final issue

whatever book they were working

though offered up the most

on. I had never had much use

memorable moment from

for [Jonah Hex]. When they

the series’ run in a story

turned him into Road Warrior, I was

entitled “Thanksgiving.” In

really against that. I consoled

the last pages of this story,

myself [by telling myself], ‘At

Hex realizes that he would

least I get to work with

Keith Giffen and

indeed eventually make it

Michael Fleisher,’ who was

Carlos Garzon’s last

back to his own time after he

and still is one of the most

story page to Hex’s

discovers his own stuffed

unique voices in comics.”

final issue, #18.

and mounted body in an

abandoned warehouse filled

race

destined

off

for

losing,

Showcase Presents: Jonah Hex vol. 1 DC Comics · Nov. 2005 · 528 pgs. B&W · $16.99 U.S. Jonah’s earliest tales from All-Star Western #2–8 and #10–11 and Weird Western Tales #12–14 and #16–33 were recently collected in DC’s new, highly recommended Showcase series—an affordable way to read these timeless, gritty classics. Art by Tony DeZuniga, Doug Wildey, and José Luis García-López.

Jonah Hex #3 DC Comics · Jan. 4, 2006 · 32 pgs. color · $2.99 U.S.

Bat Lash guest stars in the third issue of Jonah’s revived series, written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and drawn by Luke Ross, with a cover by Phil Noto.

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and

Christopher Irvi

Widescreen Edition The horizontal layout of newspaper strips afforded Al Williamson latitude for lush, panoramic rendering during his heralded Star Wars stint. (All art in this feature comes from Dark Horse Comics’ reprintings of the Archie Goodwin/Al Williamson Star Wars.) Star Wars TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd.

When Star Wars: A New Hope hit movie theaters in

from space travel, pocked up by blaster marks . . even

1977, the face of cinema and pop culture were forever

the Death Star floor lacked a shine. Fans of Al

changed. Director George Lucas, who had previously

Williamson’s E.C. Comics work will recognize his similar

gained success through American Graffiti, the story of

steeped-in-reality approach. So it should be no surprise

hotrodding teenagers in the 1950s, presented cultural

that Williamson was the first artist contacted by

archetypes in a never-before seen science-fiction

Lucasfilm for a Star Wars daily comic strip.

setting. Aside from being one of the first films to feature

“I was contacted to do it when the movie came

a “soundtrack,” American Graffiti also allowed the young

out,” Williamson recalls. “I had heard that ‘Lucas

filmmaker the finances to create his space opera.

loves your work,’ and I thought it was bologna,

It wasn’t that the concept of space opera was a new

frankly. I finally got a call from somebody at

one: Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and Tom Corbett had

Lucasfilms, saying that they wanted me to do the

been present in radio, comic strips, movie serials, and

strip, and would I consider it? I figured ‘Why not?

television for decades. One of the factors that made

It sounds like a good idea.’

Star Wars: A New Hope such a success was that it was

“I got a hold of my friend Archie Goodwin,

the first time a space opera was realized on the big

who was a wonderful artist and terrific writer, and

screen in such a realistic manner. The ensemble cast

he adapted two weeks of the first movie. I sent it in,

that featured Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford,

and didn’t hear from them, and I needed the money.

and Sir Alec Guinness gave the movies a sense of fun

I called up and got the young lady that I was dealing

and believability. The design of the Star Wars films was

with said, ‘I’ll have someone get in touch with you.’ I

that of a real world: ships became dirty with grime

get a call from this guy, who is absolutely insulting

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Tom “The Comics Savant” Stewart “Kirby is coming!” It was splashed across ads in DC comics in the early ’70s. It was the biggest thing to hit the ever-shrinking comics world since the Batman TV series. Jack Kirby, a (the?) mainstay of Marvel Comics and the erstwhile partner of Stan “the Man” Lee, was leaving the company he’d help lift to popularity with his sheer talent and going to Marvel’s greatest rival, DC Comics. Worlds shook that day. Jack Kirby was an idea machine... no, an idea fountain. His New Gods series burst with new ideas, concepts, and characters so rich that DC continues to mine them to this day. Jack came to DC to change the world of comics for good. When people told him the industry was dying, Jack didn’t know what they were talking about. How can an industry with so much untapped potential be dying? What the industry needed was not more foot draggers slowing things down, but people with vision, who could imagine a world of new formats, genres new and neglected, markets overlooked, and talent that was raring to go. Jack Kirby felt he had that vision. Jack proposed magazines. He proposed hardcover books to be sold in bookstores. He saw a universe of fresh creations that could save comics and save DC. Kirby would be the idea man and editor, seeding the new books then passing them off to handpicked talent to carry them forward. DC, though, wanted Kirby, not Kirby as editor of a line of Kirby creations turned out by other people. DC wanted one big, wet, sloppy hit of a book that publisher Carmine Infantino could point out to the new bosses at Warner’s and say, “See, I told you I could do it! I can save this company!” Kirby had come at the right time, when DC was casting about, ready to try anything that looked good at the moment. Kirby had come at the wrong time, when DC

The King’s pencils to an alternate version of the cover for Kamandi #1, courtesy of The Jack Kirby Collector (TJKC).

would try anything... but not long enough to make it work. DC wanted to change, but was too rooted in the “We’re the oldest, biggest company out there” mantra to make the changes that were necessary, and too insecure to push reluctant distributors to try a format they self-fulfillingly declared dying—dead. DC half-heartedly put out a couple of Jack’s magazine ideas, and gave a parental “We’ll see” to the rest. [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #10 for more details on DC’s black-and-white magazines of the 1970s.]

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A format change had undercut sales just as Kirby and DC were launching its new books. Remember the •

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25-cent comics (new lead stories fleshed out by

In the late 1950s Kirby produced this and a few other pencil samples for his proposed but unreleased newspaper strip Kamandi of the Caves. Courtesy of The Jack Kirby Collector.

this was to be the basis of his new book, originally

reprints)? We love picking up these issues now at the

planned to be titled Kamandi of Earth. By the time

cons for way too much money, but they were a

Jack had finished spinning the story of his new

disaster for DC. Marvel briefly matched DC’s 25-cent

comic, the only thing that remained was the boy

price, then cut back to 20 cents while DC maintained

named Kamandi. And the occasional cave.

its price. Marvel took the lead in sales and didn’t

This may not have been Jack’s regular sort of

look back. Rumors flew: DC was to be sold, DC was

thing, but Jack was going to do the best he could

closing, DC was firing everyone and going to all

with it. It was a challenge, to take an “end of the

reprints. In this siege of despairing gossip, Infantino

world... foolish mankind destroyed themselves”-type

cast around for something popular with the audience,

of premise and try to find some of the Kirby optimism

something that could be “that hit” he was looking

in it. Kirby’s stories were all about optimism, about

for, and found Planet of the Apes. He called Jack in

hope. Even New Gods was about hope. What is New

Thousand Oaks, California. Could Jack Kirby do a Planet of the Apes-type book, but not so close as to cause trouble with Apes’ 20th Century Fox? “Sure! I can do that!” As Kirby’s one-time assistant Mark Evanier says of Jack: “Jack took great pride in his ability to make anything work. It didn’t matter what the genre: romance, super-heroes, Westerns, funny animal. He would consider it a challenge... I don’t think Jack ever saw Planet of the Apes, but he knew the basic plotline. He wanted to change it enough so fans wouldn’t think he was ripping off the movie, but some said that anyway.” Jack still had the dream of starting a book off and

then, once underway, handing it off to another writer and artist, editing from what would amount to a “DC West.” Evanier was to be the recipient of Kamandi, Kirby’s “Planet of the Apes.” Mark watched

A penciled page from Kamandi #1, courtesy of TJKC.

as Jack pulled out some old samples of a strip Kirby had once thought of submitting to the syndicates back in the 1950s, Kamandi of the Caves. Jack said

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his dinner in a restaurant and the arrival of his food (not to say it was a shoddily conceived book. Jack’s concepts were often full born, with only a few details to be worked out. I said he was a genius). The Demon debuted shortly after Kamandi. It was Jack’s version of the sorcery and mystery books. Again, not a perfect fit to Kirby, but a challenge.

EARTH AFTER DISASTER Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth #1 was cover-dated Oct.–Nov. 1972. Kamandi lived in the world of the Great Disaster. A world where not only apes talked, but tigers, leopards, rats, wolves, and dogs all had taken the place of man not

Two spectacular Kamandi #5 splashes by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer, page 1 signed by Kirby. From the collection of Richard Howell and Carol Kalish.

Gods #7’s “The Pact” about if not about hope, and a quest for understanding? Planet of the Apes is about the failure of hope; it takes place one minute after midnight on the nuclear clock. Jack’s Kamandi would therefore be the hope of mankind, of its new kinder, smarter-insorrow rise, not the despair of its fall. What would also make this a Kirby book is that he would attack it with the

same passion he used on his Fourth World books. Jack was building a universe, a Kirby tapestry, woven of his own

ideas

Carmine

and was

sweat. hunting

the mystery books being

Flower had little to say— as if Kamandi cared! Story page 10 from Kamandi #5. From the Howell/Kalish collection.

edited by Joe Orlando were popular, why not have Jack do one of those? Sure, no problem. Jack figured out the book between ordering

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only as talkers and thinkers, but as rulers of the Earth, doomed to repeat the exact same follies that had led man to the Great Disaster. Kamandi had been raised in a special bunker, “Command D,” by his grandfather, who educated him before the radiation drove them underground. As the first issue begins, Kamandi is caught away from the bunker exploring the devastation when a pack of talking wolves kills his grandfather. Kamandi is left to wander the wasteland, trying to find people like himself to fill his loneliness. He finds that the humans can neither talk (those that can don’t do much more than grunt) nor think for themselves. The ruling creatures of the Earth treat humans as man once treated farm animals. In the monthly series Kirby puts Kamandi into constant peril, forcing him to keep moving while being hunted like an animal. No sooner does Kamandi get out of one peril, he is

thrust into another. He had to be the unluckiest

BROKEN BLOSSOMS

boy in the middle of a very crowded wasteland.

I know guys who still sigh over Kamandi #6,

And always he was looking for someone like him, a

“Flower,” who will shake their heads over 30 years

human.

later at the blow dealt to them by their friend Jack

Kamandi’s search for a friend, for anyone remotely

Kirby in that issue. Lions who are running an

like himself, is heartbreaking at times. He’s so desperate

endangered species preserve attack Kamandi and

to find someone in this strange world of talking

Flower. The lions take the pair to their own little

beasts that when he finally meets the mutant Ben

environmental zoo, the ruins of a suburban devel-

Boxer he sobs in relief. Boxer is part of group from

opment called Sunny Hills Estates. There Kamandi

“Tracking Station” (notice the use of “Kirby

realizes why the stoves, lights and fireplace work:

Quotes”), a group of humans that survived the

He’s in a zoo, and he’s a valuable, poachable

nuclear fallout by slowly exposing themselves to

the radiation. The result is not only are they still alive, but now they are able to “fission” themselves into men of living steel. Kamandi sets off with them in their scouting balloon on their explorations of the ruined cities. But he seems to lose track of them quite often, falling prey to the various animal rulers of Earth A.D. (After Disaster). Kamandi can never be sure who will be his friend one minute, and his enemy the next. The animals treat him like a freak, or fear just what a “smart animal” like Kamandi might mean, and his treatment by the closest thing to his own kind, the wild humans of the plains, isn’t much better. They are also fearful of Kamandi, not knowing what to think of one of their own who talks like their oppressors. Often he’ll make a friend, only to find himself betrayed back into captivity, or meet a kindly animal, only to be treated like a pampered pet. That seemed to change with issue #5. Kamandi, again separated from Ben Boxer and friends, finds himself escaping from a gorilla city with Prince Tuftan, son of Great Caesar, the king of the tigers. Kamandi finds time to free a pen of captured humans, one of which, a young girl about Kamandi’s age, decides to follow him. Her name is Flower, and she wears a flower in her long black hair, and no top. Only her seemingly glued-on hair and the fact there is no wind on Kamandi’s world protects her modesty. The end of the issue sees Flower and Kamandi driving off together in a dune buggy given to them by a grateful Prince Tuftan: “By Caesar, he was almost as human as we tigers!” Kamandi had won the tigers’ respect, found a friend, and things were looking up. Until #6.

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