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DEAD HEROES ISSUE: Captain Marvel • Deadman Elektra • Flash • Jason Todd Robin • & more May 2 01

N$o7..4985 Featuring a CAREER-SPANNING interview with

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JIM STARLIN!

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!

Go to www.twomorrows.com for other issues, and an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE!

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“New World Order!” Adam Warlock examined with JIM STARLIN and ROY THOMAS, the history of Miracleman with ALAN DAVIS & GARRY LEACH, JIM SHOOTER interview, Marvel’s post-STAN LEE editors-in-chief on New Universe, Logan’s Run, Star Hunters, BOB WIACEK on Star Wars and Star-Lord, DICK GIORDANO revisits Crisis on Infinite Earths and “The Post-Crisis DC Universe You Didn’t See,” new cover by JIM STARLIN!

“Villains!” MIKE ZECK and J.M. DeMATTEIS discuss “Kraven’s Last Hunt”, history of the Hobgoblin is exposed, the Joker’s short-lived series, Secret Society of Super-Villains and Kobra, a Magneto biography, Luthor and Brainiac’s malevolent makeovers, interview with Secret Society artist MIKE VOSBURG, plus contributions from BYRNE, CONWAY, FRENZ, NOVICK, ROMITA JR., STERN, WOLFMAN, and a cover by MIKE ZECK!

“Monsters!” Frankenstein in Comics timeline and a look at BERNIE WRIGHTSON’s and Marvel’s versions, histories of Vampirella and Morbius, ISABELLA and AYERS discuss It the Living Colossus, REDONDO’s Swamp Thing, Man-Bat, monster art gallery, interview with TONY DeZUNIGA, art and commentary from ARTHUR ADAMS, COLÓN, KALUTA, NEBRES, PLOOG, SUTTON, VEITCH, and a painted cover by EARL NOREM!

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“Comics Go to War!” KUBERT/KANIGHER’s Sgt. Rock, EVANIER and SPIEGLE’s Blackhawk, GEORGE PRATT’s Enemy Ace, plus Unknown Soldier, Wonder Woman’s return to WWII, the Invaders, Combat Kelly, Vietnam Journal, Sad Sack, the Joe Kubert School, art and commentary from AYERS, HEATH, KIRBY, ROBBINS, ROMITA SR., SINNOTT, and the return of GERRY TALAOC! JOE KUBERT cover!

“Family!” JOHN BYRNE’s Fantastic Four, SIMONSON, BRIGMAN, and BOGDANOVE on Power Pack, LEVITZ and STATON on the Huntress, Henry Pym’s “son” Ultron, Wonder Twins, Commissioner Gordon & Batgirl’s relationship, and Return of the New Gods. With art and commentary from BUCKLER, BUSIEK, FRADON, HECK, INFANTINO, NEWTON, and WOLFMAN, and a Norman Rockwell-inspired BYRNE cover!

“April Fools”! GIFFEN and LOREN FLEMING on Ambush Bug, BYRNE’s She-Hulk, interviews with HEMBECK, ALAN KUPPERBERG, Flaming Carrot’s BOB BURDEN, and DAVID CHELSEA, Spider-Ham, Forbush-Man, Reid Fleming, MAD in the 1970s, art and commentary from DICK DeBARTOLO, TOM DeFALCO, AL FELDSTEIN, AL JAFFEE, STAN LEE, DAVE SIM, and a Spider-Ham cover by MIKE WIERINGO, inked by KARL KESEL!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Cat People!” Catwoman, Black Cat, Hellcat, Vixen, Atlas’ Tiger-Man and Cougar, White Tiger and the Sons of the Tiger, Wildcat, Thundercats, Josie and the Pussycats, and the Badger! With art and commentary from BOLLAND, BRENNERT, COLON, CONWAY, DITKO, GOLDBERG, LEVITZ, MILGROM, MST3000’s MIKE NELSON, and more. Cover by JOE STATON and FREDDY LOPEZ, JR.!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Red, White, and Blue” issue! Captain America and the Red Skull, CHAYKIN’s American Flagg, THOMAS and COLAN’s Wonder Woman, Freedom Fighters, and Team America! With art and commentary from JOHN BYRNE, STEVE ENGLEHART, ROGER STERN, CURT SWAN, MARK WAID, LEN WEIN, MIKE ZECK, and more. Cover by HOWARD CHAYKIN!

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(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Wild West” issue! Jonah Hex examined with FLEISHER, DeZUNIGA, DOMINGUEZ, GARCIA-LOPEZ, GIFFEN, HANNIGAN, plus TRUMAN’s Scout, TRIMPE’s Rawhide Kid, AYERS’ Ghost Rider, DC’s Weird Westerns, the Vigilante’s 1970s revival, and more! Art and commentary by ADAMS, APARO, DIXON, EVANS, KUNKEL, MORROW, NICIEZA, and more. Cover by DeZUNIGA!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Jungle and barbarian” issue! Shanna the She-Devil feature and gallery, JONES and ANDERSON on Ka-Zar, LARRY HAMA interview, Beowulf, Claw the Unconquered, Korg 70,000 B.C., Red Sonja, Rima the Jungle Girl, art and commentary by AZZARELLO, BOYETTE, CHAN, GULACY, KUBERT, MICHELINIE, REDONDO, ROY THOMAS, WINDSOR-SMITH, cover by FRANK CHO!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Spider-Man in the Bronze Age!” Drug issues, resurrection of Green Goblin and Gwen Stacy, Marvel Team-Up, Spectacular Spider-Man, Spidey Super Stories, CBS and Japanese TV shows, Clone Saga, CONWAY, ANDRU, BAGLEY, SAL BUSCEMA, DeFALCO, FINGEROTH, GIL KANE, STAN LEE, LEIBER, MOONEY, ROMITA SR., SALICRUP, SAVIUK, STERN, cover by BOB LARKIN!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Odd Couples!” O’NEIL and ADAMS’ Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Englehart’s Justice League of America, Daredevil and Black Widow, Power Man and Iron Fist, Vision and Scarlet Witch, Cloak and Dagger, and… Aquaman and Deadman (?!). With AUSTIN, COLAN, CONWAY, COWAN, DILLIN, HOWELL, LEONARDI, SKEATES, and more. New cover by NEAL ADAMS!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Greatest Stories Never Told!” How Savage Empire became The Warlord, the aborted FF graphic novel “Fathers and Sons,” BYRNE’s Last Galactus Story, Star*Reach’s Batman, Aquaman II, 1984 Black Canary miniseries, Captain America: The Musical, Miracleman: Triumphant, unpublished issues of The Cat and Warlock, BLEVINS, DEODATO, FRADON, SEKOWSKY, WEISS, MIKE GRELL cover!

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Volume 1, Number 48 May 2011 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, and Beyond!

The Retro Comics Experience!

EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks COVER ARTIST Jim Starlin COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Cary Bates Adam Besenyodi Shaun Clancy Gerry Conway J. M. DeMatteis Chris Franklin Grand Comic-Book Database Heritage Auction Galleries Dan Johnson Paul Levitz Kelvin Mao Marvel Comics Allen Milgrom Doug Moench Derek Muthart Dennis O’Neil May Parker John Romita, Sr. Anthony Snyder Jim Starlin Brett Weiss John Wells Marv Wolfman

BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 FLASHBACK: But I Still Exist! Deadman After Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 The creators that exhumed Boston Brand after Neal Adams’ celebrated Deadman run, with rare art by Jim Aparo, José Luis García-López, and Kelley Jones FLASHBACK: The Many Deaths (and Returns) of Aunt May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Marvel’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Aunt has flirted with the Grim Reaper since the Silver Age INTERVIEW: A Chat with Jim Starlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 A candid, art-jammed conversation with the writer/artist of The Death of Captain Marvel and countless other classics BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Assassin’s Redemption: The Arrival, Death, and Resurrection of Elektra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Frank Miller’s sympathetic killer, and her metamorphosis into an enduring Marvel anti-heroine FLASHBACK: The Death and Resurrection of the Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Run for your life, Barry Allen! Comics’ favorite Fastest Man Alive just couldn’t stay dead FLASHBACK: Dead on Demand: Jason Todd, the Second Robin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 The tragic tale of the Boy Wonder most fans loved to hate BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Reader feedback on our Spider-Man and Odd Couples issues BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $60 Standard US, $85 Canada, $107 Surface International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Jim Starlin. Captain Marvel and Thanos TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2011 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING. Dead Heroes Issue

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Michael Eury

A man appropriately named “Mort” introduced me to death in comic books. I was an impressionable fourth grader in late 1966 when Mort Weisinger, the legendary editor of the Superman family of titles during the Silver Age of Comics, killed both the Man of Steel and his Girl Friend in back-to-back issues of Superman (80-pg. Giant Superman #193, which reprinted #149’s “Death of Superman”, and Superman #194, featuring “The Death of Lois Lane!”). Of course, these were “imaginary” stories, outside of continuity, so despite their emotional impact they really didn’t count. Superman and his gal pal were still alive and kicking. A mere two weeks after burying the imaginary Lois, Mort delivered a “real” death: the valiant sacrifice of Ferro Lad of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Actually, writer Jim Shooter was responsible for this story, ably abetted by the superb art team of penciler Curt Swan and inker George Klein, in Adventure Comics #353 (cover-dated Feb. 1967). Its cover warned that one of the depicted teen heroes was “The Doomed Legionnaire!” There was no imaginarystory escape clause on the last page—Ferro Lad was gone, dead, history. What a shock that was to nineyear-old me! Decades later, I’ve become desensitized toward comic-book deaths, as have most of you. The Pearly Gates for comic-book heroes and villains is such a well-greased revolving door that few readers take death in comics seriously. As I write this column, it’s two weeks after Johnny Storm, a.k.a. the Human Torch, apparently died in Fantastic Four #583 (Mar. 2011). Reader reaction to this story was mainly a collective yawn, with fans placing bets on how much time will pass before the Torch is reignited. But let’s bury that cynicism for a moment, shall we, as we look back at a handful of character-death stories produced during the BACK ISSUE era of the ’70s and ’80s that delivered a punch to the gut and a tear to the eye. We examine the deaths of the Flash (Barry Allen), Robin (Jason Todd), and Elektra in articles that also explore their resurrections, plus we survey Peter Parker’s Aunt May’s numerous deaths and near-deaths. Our cover feature allows us to get up close and personal with the amazing Jim Starlin, a man whose myriad achievements include the “final” stories of quite a few heroes (including the frequently reprinted and perpetually praised graphic novel, The Death of Captain Marvel), and we open our issue with an exploration of how the deadest of dead heroes—Deadman—received new leases on life after his original series ended. 2 • BACK ISSUE • Dead Heroes Issue

S U B M IS S IO N G U ID E L IN E S BACK ISSUE is on the lookout for the following comics-related material from the 1970s and 1980s: Unpublished artwork and covers Original artwork and covers Penciled artwork Character designs, model sheets, etc. Original sketches and/or convention sketches Original scripts Photos Little-seen fanzine material Other rarities Creators and collectors of 1970s/1980s comics artwork are invited to share your goodies with other fans! Contributors will be acknowledged in print and receive complimentary copies (and the editor’s gratitude). Submit artwork as (listed in order of preference): Scanned images: 300dpi TIF (preferred) or JPEG (emailed or on CD, or to our FTP site; please inquire) Clear color or black-and-white photocopies BACK ISSUE is also open to pitches from writers for article ideas appropriate for our recurring and/or rotating departments. Request a copy of the BACK ISSUE Writers’ Bible by emailing euryman@gmail.com or by sending a SASE to the address below. Please allow 6–8 weeks for a response to your proposals. TM & © DC Comics.

Artwork submissions and SASEs for writers’ guidelines should be sent to: Michael Eury, Editor BACK ISSUE 118 Edgewood Ave. NE Concord, NC 28025

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From a commercial viewpoint, Deadman was a dead-end. For two golden years, the DC Comics series had earned critical raves from a devoted core of comics fans but never managed to expand that passion into mainstream appeal. And yet it was, to a great degree, those fans that refused to allow the ghost of Boston Brand to fade away.

THE EARLY “LIFE” OF DEADMAN

John Wells

Created in 1967 by writer Arnold Drake, “Deadman” was an unusually adult series about a cynical aerialist named Boston Brand who risked his life nightly for the cash-strapped Hill Brothers Circus. Dressed in a redand-white costume with a skull-like head mask when he performed as Deadman, Brand inadvertently made himself a target. Shot and killed by a mysterious sniper with a steel claw for a right hand, Deadman survived as a spirit that could magically inhabit and control the bodies of other human beings. According to circus fortune teller Vashnu, Brand had found favor in the eyes of goddess Rama Kushna, and that Eastern deity promised Deadman that his supernatural second life would continue until he found his killer. Boston Brand’s anger over his fate helped define the series and set Deadman apart from DC’s more even-tempered heroes. Published in Strange Adventures #205 (Oct. 1967), Drake’s first installment of Deadman was a tour de force complemented by one of artist Carmine Infantino’s greatest art jobs. The assignment coincided with Infantino’s ascension to a new post as DC’s art director, and the illustrator tapped a newcomer to succeed him in #206. His name was Neal Adams. Bringing a hyper-realistic style to the series, Adams quickly made the series his own, eventually becoming both writer and artist on the feature in #212. Much of the series revolved around the circus cast, notably owner Lorna Hill, slow-witted strongman Tiny, and Rama Kushna’s disciple Vashnu. Boston’s estranged twin brother Cleveland entered the series in #211, subsequently posing as his sibling in the hope that a revival of the Deadman circus act would draw out the killer who’d been dubbed “the Hook.” With the blessing of incoming editor Dick Giordano, Adams resolved Deadman’s pursuit of his killer in a climactic two-parter in Strange Adventures #215–216. In short, the Hook’s execution of Boston Brand had been nothing more than an initiation exercise to win membership in an international Society of Assassins. Duped by Cleveland Brand’s impersonation, the Society’s leader— an aged martial artist called the Sensei—judged the Hook a failure and personally vowed to kill him in a death duel. Horrified that he was going to be cheated of his vengeance, Deadman attempted to intervene and was stunned when he couldn’t possess the Sensei’s body as he did others. Now the Hook was dead and Boston Brand

Breaking the Barrier Detail from the cover to Deadman (the miniseries) #3 (May 1986). Art by one of the post–Adams artists most associated with the character, José Luis García-López. TM & © DC Comics.

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Prince of Wails An anguished Deadman, as rendered (and written) by Neal Adams on page 19 of Strange Adventures #212 (May–June 1968). From the original art, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Adams’ cover art graced the Deadman appearances in (above) Challengers #74 and (bottom right) JLA #94.

raged at Rama Kushna over the hollow victory. And why DEADMAN’S NEW GENESIS had he not ascended to the afterlife? Why did he still exist? DC continuity may have taken one step forward thanks Traveling to the secret Himalayan city of Nanda Parbat, to JLA #94, but Deadman’s personal history took two Deadman discovered that he once again had a human steps back in Forever People #9 (June–July 1972). body within its confines and struck a deal with the Mystified as to why he hadn’t gone on to his eternal rest goddess. He’d continue to fight evil until finding the and seemingly no longer capable of possessing bodies, fulfillment he’d failed to achieve through his killer’s demise. Boston Brand had to rely on former circus charlatan The new direction came too late for the series, but Trixie Magruder to reestablish his link with the mortal Deadman found a refuge of sorts in The Brave and the Bold. plane via a séance. In the process, she revealed that Several months earlier in #79, the ghostly hero had met Deadman was still tied to Earth because the Hook had Batman in a memorable story by Bob Haney and Adams. not been his killer. “The hook was on his left hand,” With the relationship established, a second she intoned. “The man who killed Boston team-up seemed appropriate in #86 to tie Brand had a hook on his right hand!” up loose ends from Strange Adventures. In The Forever People, youthful visitors a novel touch, Adams created further from the advanced world of New Deadman short stories in 1970’s Genesis, were moved by Deadman’s Aquaman #50–52 and Challengers plight and used their godly technology of the Unknown #74 that were linked to create an artificial body for the to the lead features in each issue. hero in issue #10. Described as a [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #45 Follower, the human shell absorbed for an article about the odd-couple bullets and seemed, in its limited team-up of Aquaman and Deadman.] usage, to be immune to harm. The new The last such exercise took place in Deadman was now, incongruously, Justice League of America #94 (Nov. a hero that couldn’t die! 1971), where Adams illustrated four By the early 1970s, there were NEAL ADAMS pages featuring the Sensei and two approaches to creating comic Deadman in a story written by Mike books that fans held in higher Friedrich. The episode focused on the Sensei assigning esteem than any other. One was the bombastic the assassin Merlyn to kill Green Arrow, but it held exaggeration and energy exemplified by Jack Kirby greater significance in its ingenious dovetailing of at Marvel. The other was the more naturalistic separate strands of DC Comics lore. perspective of Neal Adams. In Forever People, two Longtime DC fans associate the League of worlds collided and Kirby—its writer/artist—bore the Assassins with the Sensei and major Batman adversary brunt of the criticism. Ra’s al Ghul, and yet neither was affiliated with the Kirby had left Marvel for DC in 1970 to create a group in 1971. The Sensei had overseen the Society of new series of interrelated books including New Gods. Assassins and Denny O’Neil’s Ra’s, while the leader of His wish to develop original characters occasionally a vast, vaguely defined organization, would seem to came into conflict with DC’s desire—through president be, on the face of it, an adversary of the League since it was they (at the command of Doctor Darrk) who kidnapped his daughter Talia in the recent Detective Comics #411. In JLA #94, Friedrich established that all the villains were part of the same global network and that the treacherous Sensei and his killers were ostensibly protecting Ra’s.

TM & © DC Comics.

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and publisher Carmine Infantino—to have him find was positive but the four dissenting readers really fresh approaches to preexisting characters, whether hated it, objecting to the jarring departure from Superman, Jimmy Olsen, or… Deadman. Adams’ art style, the stiff formal dialogue, and the Blanching at the very name of the hero, Kirby resumption of Deadman’s search for his killer. grudgingly agreed to do something with the Most ironically, Evanier recalled, “the folks in the DC character. Casting about for a new direction, he was office hated it. It wasn’t the Deadman they knew interested in the opinion of his young assistant and loved, never mind that Jack’s assignment Mark Evanier that the character lost focus had been to change it.” when he found his killer. Evanier added Deadman’s new body never appeared that the first Deadman story had again and the hero’s last word on the depicted the killer as having a claw on subject came in 1979’s Adventure Comics his right arm while the pivotal Hook #464. “Some guys built a robot for me story in Strange Adventures #215 had once,” he sighed, “and that worked shown it on his left. That discrepancy about as well as a concrete wheel.” was enough to justify reopening the In anticipation of the Kirby closed case. revival, DC had reprinted Deadman’s “Jack did not disagree,” Evanier origin and a later Adams story in wrote in Jack Kirby’s Fourth World The Brave and the Bold #97 and 100. Omnibus #3 (2007), “but he thought And it was in B&B #104 that the Deadman had a greater problem: character would return in another Jack Kirby ‘He doesn’t have a body. How can you new adventure, blissfully ignoring have a superhero who doesn’t have a everything that just happened in body?’ It meant Deadman kept getting lost in his own Forever People. Batman had been the first costumed stories. Even when he was there, he was someone else. Heck, hero that Deadman interacted with, and their he couldn’t even punch out a villain, at least as Deadman. friendship was one that DC faithfully returned to Kirby decided to make both changes: Give Deadman a again and again over the years. This particular solid form and resume the hunt for his murderer.” episode found Batman recruiting his ghostly ally to According to the letters column in Forever People help close down a Florida resort that was secretly #11, most of the mail response to the first installment creating new identities for mobsters. Dead Heroes Issue

Roving Spirit (left) Deadman’s guest shot in Jack Kirby’s Forever People #10 (Aug.–Sept. 1972) made some readers wish the character had stayed “dead,” while (right) editor Murray Boltinoff resurrected Deadman time and time again as a Batman teammate in The Brave and the Bold, as in issue #104 (Nov.–Dec. 1972; cover by Nick Cardy). TM & © DC Comics.

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One of the most controversial storylines in recent years has been Spider-Man’s “One More Day.” Reeling from the consequences of exposing his true identity to the world during the Civil War storyline, Peter Parker had to go on the run with his family. While hiding out, his beloved Aunt May was shot by a bullet that was meant for Spider-Man. I won’t bore you with too many more details about this story, except to say that Aunt May would have surely died had Peter and his wife, Mary Jane, not literally struck a deal with the Devil (or Marvel’s supervillain counterpart, Mephisto) to save Aunt May’s life. Part of the uproar over this storyline was over Marvel’s attempt to undo twenty years of continuity and wipe out the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker. But it also got fans wondering about the choice that Peter made in sacrificing his own happiness to save the life of his aged aunt, a woman who had already lived a full life and who surely would have never wanted her nephew to give up anything as precious as his marriage for her sake. The storyline had some fans wondering if perhaps it wasn’t time for Aunt May to finally go into that long goodnight, once and for all. On the other hand, it had other fans realizing just what a vital role the character played in the Spider-Man mythos. When you get down to the heart of the matter, Aunt May is one of those characters that is simply divisive. One thing is for certain—had Aunt May died at the end of this story arc, there is no rule that says she couldn’t come back. It isn’t like Aunt May hasn’t managed to elude the cold, icy grasp of the Grim Reaper before. Indeed, I would wager that she has managed to escape certain death almost as many times as her web-slinging nephew! Aunt May’s shaky health has always been a matter of concern for Peter. Her first serious brush with death came all the way back in The Amazing Spider-Man #9 (Feb. 1964), and the only thing that saved her life at that time was a blood transfusion from her nephew. While the initial results were positive, the transfusion of Peter’s radioactive spider-blood proved near-disastrous, as was recounted in Amazing Spider-Man #31–33 (Dec. 1965–Feb. 1966), and once again, May Parker found herself at death’s door. In the end, Aunt May pulled through once again, never caring for herself, but always worrying about her nephew.

Poor Aunt May…! Detail from the cover to The Amazing Spider-Man #178 (Mar. 1978), one of many depictions of Peter Parker’s mother-figure on death’s bed. Art by Ross Andru and Joe Sinnott. © 2011 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Dan Johnson

Mayday!! (left) Aunt May’s first flirtation with the Grim Reaper happened way back in Amazing Spider-Man #9 (Feb. 1964). Story by Stan Lee, art by Steve Ditko. (below) For a brief moment, Aunt May was targeted for death for the landmark Amazing Spider-Man #121 (June 1973). Cover by John Romita, Sr. © 2011 Marvel Characters, Inc.

GWEN STACY DRAWS THE SHORT STRAW The first times that May Parker’s life were at risk were nail-biters to be sure, but fans knew that Aunt May would be around for some time to come. After all, there was a time when killing off a major character in a comic book—especially a successful one like The Amazing Spider-Man—was unheard of. But then came one of the greatest game-changers in comics, Amazing Spider-Man #121–122 (June–July 1973), which marked the deaths of Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin. As it turns out, when Gerry Conway, Gil Kane, and John Romita, Sr. wanted to shake up things a bit in Spidey’s world, the initial thought was to kill off Aunt May instead of Gwen Stacy. But that was an idea didn’t last too long. “The conversation I had with John [Romita] about killing off Aunt May lasted maybe ten seconds,” says Gerry Conway, former writer on The Amazing Spider-Man. “[It went] along the lines of, John: ‘We could always kill off Aunt May.’ Gerry: ‘Let’s kill Gwen Stacy instead.’” When asked about the decision that might have radically altered Spider-Man’s entire history as we know it, John Romita remembers being on board with sparing Aunt May. “The thought [of killing her off] was Stan’s or Roy’s,” recalls Romita. “I told Gerry that if we want to shake up the readers, we’d need to have Mary Jane or Gwen killed. Since Gwen was Peter Parker’s girl at the time, it would be more shocking.” Conway adds, “To my mind, Aunt May was integral to the dynamic that made Spider-Man a successful superhero character. She was his connection to reality, the living reminder that ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ While her character certainly became a cliché over the years, Aunt May fulfilled an important and fundamental role in the Spider-Man mythos, a role that’s not easy to replace. Clichés become clichés for a reason: they represent truths that have become so familiar they no longer need to be stated, and when they are stated, the fact of their familiarity undercuts the value of the truth they represent. People recognize the cliché and ignore the truth behind it. Because Aunt May’s character became a cliché, readers and creators forgot the truth she represented: Spider-Man’s human connections, his agonizing link to the people in his life, and his need to take responsibility for their happiness, are what separates him from other superheroes. Rather than

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Moment of Truth May uncovers her nephew’s secret in Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #37 (Jan. 2001), by J. Michael Straczynski, John Romita, Jr., and Scott Hanna. (right) Mark Bagley and Larry Mahlstadt’s cover to Amazing Spider-Man #400 (Apr. 1995) signaled another Aunt May passing.

moments in writing: when the characters take on lives of their own, start making their own decisions, revealing things you never expected, and you’re completely surprised by your own story.” Perhaps more surprising was how much DeMatteis grew to admire the character after he had helped make the decision that would end her comic-book existence. “Truth is, I never thought all that much about Aunt May before I wrote the character,” confides DeMatteis. “I probably leaned toward the ‘annoying old lady’ camp. But once I started writing the character, I fell in love with her—platonically, of course! I didn’t see her weakness—I saw her strength, her fierce will, her deep love. All of those things are essential to Peter’s character as well. If she were just the overprotective old lady, Peter would have grown up to be a wimpy whiner. But he learned from May’s strength and will, her ability to survive tragedy and find the good in life. She’s an integral part of who Peter Parker is.” Al Milgrom says, “It’s an unusual relationship in the superhero world. [Aunt May] is a mother figure for

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Spider-Man. [Their relationship] is unique and they are close. She humanized Peter Parker.” Taking Milgrom’s point into consideration, it is understandable that once Marvel Comics decided, at the conclusion of the Spider-Clone Saga, that Peter Parker was the one, true Spider-Man, the company would find a way to bring Aunt May back to life. And indeed, that is just what happened in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #97 (Nov. 1998), when it was revealed that the woman who died at the end of Amazing Spider-Man #400 was in reality a genetically enhanced actress that Norman Osborn had used to replace the real Aunt May, all in a continuing plot to torture and torment Peter. “Well, given the nature of the genre, I expected that somewhere down the line, Aunt May would be back,” says DeMatteis about the decision to resurrect the character. “But I figured it would take five or ten years, at least. Especially since that was an incredibly pivotal, and powerful, story. I didn’t expect the reversal so soon after Amazing Spider-Man #400, or in such an odd way. I never really understood the whole ‘actress disguised as Aunt May’ thing at all. But, hey, it’s just comics, folks! In the end, my story still stands. It’s out there for anyone to read, and, because of the resurrection, other writers have had the chance to work with, and develop, May’s character.” DAN JOHNSON is one of the gag writers for the Dennis the Menace comic strip and the scripter of Antarctic Press’ Herc and Thor. His most recent works include graphic novel adaptations of Robinson Crusoe and Oliver Twist for Campfire Comics.

Shaun Clancy

conducted February 23, 2010

Like most BACK ISSUE readers, my nostalgia for comic books centers on what comics I first read as a child. One of those very first issues was Captain Marvel #25 (Mar. 1973), and since then, I’ve been a Jim Starlin fan. Even at the age of nine, I could tell differences in the art styles of comics and Jim Starlin’s artwork stood out among the rest. In 1976, comics could mostly be bought at local convenience stores, and in my case, that was a local shop called Store 24 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Since Mr. Starlin was not working on Captain Marvel in 1976, I was forced to collect back issues from used bookstores, of which there was only one in town. Riding my bike five miles to buy back issues at the age of nine left me open to being harassed and even having my bike stolen on several occasions. Trying to find a back issue with Jim Starlin art was worth the risk, and I managed to find all the issues he did in the Captain Marvel series. It wasn’t until 1995 in Seattle, Washington that I finally was able to meet the man who inspired me as a child.

Cruel and the Gang

To me, meeting Jim Starlin in person was like meeting the president of the United States… and I am sure I had come across as one of those crazy, awkward fans that everyone hates to be behind in the autograph lines. Stumbling with speech, I introduced myself to Mr. Starlin, and he quickly brought me back to reality by taking extra time in retelling the history behind the making of a Captain Marvel story. Since that day, I have stayed in touch with Mr. Starlin on and off for 15 years with fan letters and requests for autographs and commissions. Every time I contacted Mr. Starlin, I would always receive a response. This cannot be said for a large portion of other comics talent I had also tried to remain in contact with. Mr. Starlin knows what it is like to be a fan and treats his fans the same way he would want to be treated himself, and this shows in this interview. I am very proud to have met and talked with Mr. Starlin, and every time I read a Jim Starlin comic or book, I feel like that nine-year-old child back in Lawrence. – Shaun Clancy Dead Heroes Issue

Jim Starlin’s most famous villain, Thanos, is confronted by the artist’s signature Marvel heroes in this commissioned pencil illustration contributed by interviewer Shaun Clancy. © 2011 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES

Beginnings: (comics) The Eagle (fanzine) #1 (1971) / My Love Story #16 (1972): pencils on “Wings on My Heart”

Milestones: Captain Marvel / Warlock / creator of Thanos / co-creator of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu / The Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel / Darklon the Mystic / DC Comics Presents / Dreadstar / Batman (most notably writing the death of Jason Todd Robin) / Batman: The Cult / The Weird / Cosmic Odyssey / Gilgamesh and Gilgamesh II / Infinity Gauntlet trilogy / Breed / Cosmic Guard / Death of the New Gods / Strange Adventures

Work in Progress: The Art of Jim Starlin: A Life in Words and Pictures (IDW, 2010)

Cyberspace: Find Jim Starlin on Facebook

jim starlin

SHAUN CLANCY: Where and when were you born? JIM STARLIN: Detroit, October 9, 1949. CLANCY: Have you ever done serious paintings, or have they always been sci-fi stuff? STARLIN: Pretty much all sci-fi, because most of the time when I sit down to do art it’s to get paid. [laughter] I’m a mercenary, what can I tell you? CLANCY: Well, I’ve seen some in person and I’ve noticed that some of your paintings are on a different stock of paper. For painting purposes, do you use a different style of pastel board? STARLIN: I’ve worked on a lot of different things over the years—sometimes it was on Masonite that was gessoed over and painted on, sometimes on illustration board, and sometimes on canvas board, depending on the piece. If I wanted a lot of tooth in the texture, I would go for a canvas board. If I wanted to keep it slicker, that’s when I’d prep up a piece of Masonite. CLANCY: Do you do airbrushing? STARLIN: No. I’ve never been able to master that. I always make a mess with that. CLANCY: I ask because I was wondering if you had done any of that on your boat. STARLIN: No, no. The boat doesn’t even have a name on it, and we’ve had it for three years. All I’ve had to do is go down and get a decal or sticker to put on a name, but it hasn’t happened yet. CLANCY: I assume you’ve worked in oils, but have you worked in charcoal? STARLIN: Let’s see… I think I did a little charcoal work on Darklon the Mystic. There was a lot of experimentation on that. CLANCY: That was a black-and-white feature, so you did charcoal to try and take advantage of the blackand-white magazine format? STARLIN: Yes. There was a lot of things in that. There was stuff like oil-painting marbly background. Most of it was done with a felt-point marker. CLANCY: Didn’t Darklon get colored in a reprint? STARLIN: Later on, and Joe Chiodo colorized it. CLANCY: He’s a fantastic artist. STARLIN: Yes. I was rather surprised that he took on the job. Joe and I knew each other then and I think he was friends with the guys at Pacific Comics, and they asked him to do it. CLANCY: Do you still own the rights to Darklon? STARLIN: I would believe so. I let them print it gratis and Warren never had any real work-for-hire contract. [Editor’s note: Starlin’s Darklon the Mystic first appeared in Warren Publishing’s Eerie.] CLANCY: There wasn’t anything [stipulating a workfor-hire agreement] on the backsides of the checks? STARLIN: No, and if there were, I probably crossed it out. CLANCY: Has anyone tried that with you? STARLIN: To see if they could do it? You know, from what I understand the only people I was doing it with was actually just Marvel Comics, and Marvel supposedly lost all its paperwork on everything from the mid-1980s back.

Lovers and a Lurker A Starlin fantasy painting from 1977, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). © Jim Starlin.

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RALPH BAKSHI PRODUCTIONS CLANCY: Let’s go back in time for a moment. I have a book called The Who’s Who of American Comic Books by Jerry Bails. It came out in the 1970s and I still use it for reference material for all my interviewing. It usually lists the credentials of artists, and some of the stuff associated with you I would like to go over, because I didn’t know some of this until today. I haven’t looked up your credentials in this book before today, because I thought I knew you so well that I didn’t need to. I found it accrediting you with some animation work at Ralph Bakshi Productions on The Lord of the Rings? STARLIN: Didn’t work much on The Lord of the Rings… rather, I worked more on Wizards, [Bakshi’s] movie before Lord of the Rings. CLANCY: Isn’t Bakshi the same guy who did Fritz the Cat? STARLIN: Yes. He did this thing he was gonna call “War Wizards,” and they thought better of it and said, “You probably don’t want the word ‘War’ in the title.” So they named it just “Wizards” and the movie bombed, the same year Star Wars came out. CLANCY: I remember seeing a documentary on that movie, and Ralph Bakshi said that when he went in to see the studio to ask for more money to finish Wizards, they refused him because they were giving George Lucas money to finish Star Wars. I believe he also attributes Star Wars for the less-than-enthusiastic showing of his movie, although it has become a cult classic and I have seen it. STARLIN: It was kind of a mess, working on it. It was clear that he was not gonna have money for the ending, and if you watch the movie it ends abruptly. There’re certain scenes that end abruptly. There’s one scene in particular with a tank—there’s some type of characters fighting a tank—and the next thing you know is, the tank blows up off-screen. He didn’t have money to animate it. CLANCY: Didn’t he just colorize over vintage film? It looked to me that it was World War II footage just colored over.

STARLIN: Actually, I worked on some of this—a lot of it was director Sergej M.0 Eisenstein’s footage from the 1925 film Battleship Potemkin and other Russian classics that didn’t have a copyright in America at the time. So what he did was Xerox up a lot of the footage and we would go and draw in horns on certain characters, and it would get sent over to Korea for them to finish animating it. He was trying to get by on a shoestring budget. [Editor’s note: The technique of animating over live-action footage is called rotoscoping.] CLANCY: I believe that was the case toward the end of the film. Was he half done when you were on board? STARLIN: I think he was more than half done. I came in more to work on The Lord of the Rings. By the time we got done with Wizards and that, I realized that animation was not where I wanted to be. CLANCY: Was it because of [while doing] the painstaking, repetitious, everyday panel-to-panel-type of stuff that you’d catch yourself daydreaming? STARLIN: No, I didn’t do any actual animating. I was doing concept drawings and some of the rotoscope touching-up. They had animators there that would take whatever I did and then put it on a little bit further. I didn’t do too much. They were really coming to the end. I think I worked there about a month. CLANCY: Was there anyone from comics that you knew also working there? STARLIN: Yes. Mike Ploog was also working there. Mike actually did a lot of illustrations for the Lord of the Rings movie. He stayed with them. CLANCY: That I could see. I can see that art style in the production. Did he also do The Hobbit? STARLIN: No… Frazetta was working with them on that, I think. CLANCY: One of my favorite movies is John Carpenter’s The Thing, and Mike Ploog did lots of storyboarding for that movie, so I knew he did that type of thing outside of comics. STARLIN: From what I hear, he’s still doing that type of thing.

Dead Heroes Issue

May the Force Be Against You Ralph Bakshi’s full-length sci-fi toon Wizards took a box-office beating in 1977—the same year George Lucas’ Star Wars premiered. Wizards was being wrapped during Jim Starlin’s brief stint in animation, at Bakshi’s studio. © 1977 Bakshi Studios and 20th Century Fox.

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Insanity (left) A plate and (right) the cover to Starlin’s Insanity portfolio, published by Middle Earth in 1974. Courtesy of Heritage. © Jim Starlin.

STARLIN: Yeah… it’s a Detroit thing. CLANCY: Well, it was a different time back then, for sure. Was Al with you? STARLIN: Oh, no. He had a different kind of life. CLANCY: He had the upper-class type? STARLIN: He lived in a town next to me, which was called Huntington Woods, and I lived in Berkeley. Berkeley was where all the auto-factory workers lived, and Huntington Woods was where the doctors lived. CLANCY: When you were at the World’s Fair and you met Steve Ditko, did he brush you off or did he actually acknowledge you? STARLIN: I called him from down the street from his place because I had been brushed off before, so I said to him that I was just outside his door. So he said, “Okay… since you’re here, come on up.” He was really nice. He was coming to the end of his [Amazing] Spider-Man run and showed me all these notebooks where he had all these designs on how drapery should fall, which impressed the hell out of me. Steve was limited on where his camera would go when he was doing a drawing.

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The figures he drew, there was a certain repetitiveness to them because he was always going into these notebooks and saying, “Okay, that’s the way this works.” At this point, he had given up trying to be a heavy renderer like he was back in the 1950s. His and Kubert’s artwork looked identical back then, and he was getting into this calligraphy kind of line that was just like the Spider-Man-type stuff. CLANCY: I noticed that Ditko’s work looked a lot like Wally Wood when he was drawing in the 1970s. I gather you know that Ditko is a recluse now, and that he doesn’t talk publicly about his work. I believe I’ve personally spoken to him only on the phone, maybe twice in the last 15 years for a total of ten minutes, and both times he was very polite in turning down my request for an interview. I even mailed him an invitation back in 2004 to come out here to Seattle and have a four-person dinner with me at my expense, while leaving him to do whatever he wanted for the remaining weekend. He did send me a one-page letter turning me down, which was once again well written and nicely done. STARLIN: I haven’t talked to him in recent years. Do you know why he’s that way? CLANCY: From what I hear, I believe it’s over creator credits on Spider-Man, but I’m not completely sure. From what I’ve read, he feels the same way [Batman’s uncredited co-creator, writer] Bill Finger did over Batman. STARLIN: Well, that’s quite a change from where he was at. In the past he used to say, “I signed it off and that’s that.” CLANCY: He’s not that way now. Back then, Spider-Man wasn’t a moneymaker like it is now—especially now after Marvel sold to Disney for billions. I have seen Steve get a byline, a co-creator credit in the movies, but I’m not sure if there’s anything financial. Say, do you go to the San Diego Comic-Con? STARLIN: Occasionally, but it’s gotten too big for me. I did get invited a couple of years ago and went, but I don’t think I’ll rush out there again anytime soon. CLANCY: Did you show Steve Ditko or Jack Kirby examples of your work when you were breaking in? STARLIN: I met Jack after I had been a cartoonist for a

while. Al Milgrom and I went by his house for a visit one afternoon, and we had seen him other times at conventions. CLANCY: Didn’t he live in California? STARLIN: Yes, he did, in that beautiful house above the Valley, and [Kirby’s wife] Roz was there, too.

CAPTAIN MARVEL AND WARLOCK CLANCY: Let’s get back to Marvel—how did you land the Captain Marvel art assignment? I believe Don Heck was on it before you, correct? STARLIN: No … actually, Wayne Boring, the old Superman artist, was on it. I first did a couple of Iron Man issues and Stan Lee fired Gerber and me off of Iron Man since he hated our issues so much. He said, “This is not Iron Man!” We did sort of a comedy one-shot with Rasputin, so we got fired, and I was going to head on over to DC when Roy called up and said, “I got this one book and it’s not really selling well and it might even be canceled before you get your first issue out, but would you do Captain Marvel with us?” Let’s see … Marv Wolfman had been writing it and Wayne Boring had been drawing it, and then suddenly it was [writer] Mike Friedrich and I. I plotted it up and Mike, who had five other books, was fine with that. I took over the writing after about three or four issues. [Editor’s note: Starlin’s first issue of Captain Marvel was #25.] CLANCY: Did you ask to be the writer or did Mike say, “Can you help me out?” STARLIN: I asked both Mike and Roy about it and Roy said, “Okay, tell you what … the issue you were working on has three parts in it—take the middle part and write that and if it’s okay, you can take over since Mike has five other books.” Then, of course, nearly all of the books Mike was working on were canceled within a few months. [laughs] CLANCY: Did Mike Friedrich want Captain Marvel back after those cancellations? STARLIN: No, but actually I did bring Mike back for a later issue to script [#32]. CLANCY: Why would you, with no previous writing experience, even suggest wanting to write Captain Marvel? What did you see happening that made you want to try it? STARLIN: A lot of the things that I was getting handed [to draw] were pretty awful and I thought I could do better. There was one particular Iron Man story that Mike wrote where he asked me to fill in

some pages on it and there was a sequence where Happy Hogan has an argument with Pepper Potts, and as he’s leaving he kicks this trashcan over, saying, “Look what the woman’s done. She’s turned me into a litterbug!” [laughter] That’s when I said to myself, “You know what? I think I can do better than that.” CLANCY: Did you bring it up to him? STARLIN: I’ve mentioned it a few times to him over the years. CLANCY: And that type of comment made it past the censors back then? [laughter] STARLIN: The Comics Code was kind of sleeping until I took over Warlock. CLANCY: I bet they had a field day with its religious stuff. STARLIN: The year I took over Warlock they cited eight violations that entire year, and three of them were mine. [laughter] CLANCY: Do you remember the specifics surrounding the three violations? STARLIN: If you look at the original Strange Tales issue featuring Warlock [Strange Tales #178, Feb. 1975], you can see the first one. We had a guy being boiled in oil, and they changed the black plates, but they didn’t change the color plates, so you can still see the guy boiling in oil in color with just a different picture on top. The second violation was—Marvel had this thing back then that you had to give them a free page [for an ad]. You could turn the work page sideways and do a double-page spread and they’d print it as two pages instead of the one it actually was. To get around that for this particular issue, I photostatted some of the previous pages from the first issue for the recap and on the second, but in the first issue there were a few naked imp demons. If you look in the second issue’s two-page recap, those little, naked imp demons, in the exact same drawings, now have little panties on because of the Code Authority. CLANCY: Was the third one on Warlock, too? STARLIN: Yes … it was on Warlock, but I don’t recall what it was. CLANCY: Did you get chewed out for it, or did they just wave a finger at you? STARLIN: I was out in California by then, and whoever the editor was at that time [handled the criticism]—and we had a lot of editors on that book. Because Roy Thomas only stayed on it for a couple of issues and then he left as the editor-in-chief, so after him I think we had Len Wein next for a couple of months, then Marv Wolfman,

Emerging Marvel Star(lin) (left) Stan Lee might have hated Iron Man #55 (Feb. 1973), but it helped put Jim Starlin on the map. (right) That “map” gained cosmic proportions when Starlin took over Captain Marvel with issue #25. © 2011 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Recommended Reading Starlin’s illustrated biography, A Life in Words and Pictures, is available in softcover and hardcover editions. © Jim Starlin.

COSMIC AWARENESS AND DEATH CLANCY: How did the concept of Captain Marvel being “cosmically aware” occur to you? STARLIN: The thought came from trying to expand out your senses through martial arts and drugs, being able to perceive something that nobody else can, and that’s basically where the cosmic awareness thing comes from. CLANCY: Did the editors at Marvel even understand this cosmicawareness thing? STARLIN: They just printed it. I think Roy liked me and he knew I was good on deadlines, so he’d leave me alone. Later on, when I did the Warlock story [lampooning] the editors—the clowns issue [Strange Tales #181, Aug. 1975]—people I really slammed like Len and Marv didn’t say anything. They loved the story, but Roy was the only one who got hurt [by it], and Roy was the one I handled the most sympathetically. I don’t know how much of a handle Roy had on what I was doing. He always wanted me to go off and do other things like Shang-Chi. CLANCY: What about the trail that Captain Marvel leaves behind when flying? STARLIN: That was Roy’s idea. Roy wanted to do the Captain Atom thing. I’ll give him the credit for that one. CLANCY: How did you and Al Milgrom come up with the signature “Gemini”? STARLIN: Al came up with it, and it stands for “Jim and I.” CLANCY: Have you ever inked Al’s work? STARLIN: No … I don’t think I have. CLANCY: How did you come up with the idea of Thanos? STARLIN: After I got out of the service I took some community-college classes, and among them was a psychology course. I was exposed to Thanos and Eros, and the New Gods were out at that time. I have to tell you that Thanos was inspired by the New Gods, but not who you think it was. Thanos was going to originally be a rip-off of Metron. He had the chair and everything when I brought it into the Marvel office when we were doing Iron Man. Roy [Thomas] kind of looked at it and said, “Why don’t we bulk him up and get 46 • BACK ISSUE • Dead Heroes Issue

rid of the chair?” And so we bulked him up, and as the issues went on he kept getting bigger and bigger, and so everyone thought he was a Darkseid rip-off when in reality he was a Metron rip-off. CLANCY: So the Thanos name you got from a college course. You liked it the first time you heard it and always figured you’d find a place for it? STARLIN: I came up to the office with a few sketches of Thanos and Eros and Mentor. I had that whole Titan thing sorted out. I had the designs, but not the story. CLANCY: Was Moondragon a throw-in? STARLIN: Moondragon was originally a character called Madame MacEvil from Iron Man. I didn’t come up with the name Moondragon and whatever I did with her was what I did with her. She was a telepath that fought Iron Man originally. CLANCY: The theme for Thanos has always been “death.” Was death always something you were fascinated by? Thanos in Greek mythology was never a death worshipper, was he? STARLIN: No … Thanos was just the dark side of humanity. There was a Thanatos in Greek mythology, but I don’t think it was like Zeus or anything—more like a Pluto. [Editor’s note: Thanatos was a demon personification of death in Greek mythology.] I had more of an association with Thanos from a Greek restaurant in New York City called Thanatos. CLANCY: It was always a name you liked? STARLIN: Yeah—if you wanted to eat at a place called “death.” [laughter] Norman Mailer always said that every true story ends in death. These guys were playing around at being superheroes and when you do that, people are going to get hurt or killed. I always had more of a fascination with putting a real slant on [my stories] than comics in general did. SHAUN CLANCY started collecting comics in 1975 at the age of eight, when his father brought home a Charlton horror comic for him to read. Soon his mother gave him older comics with their logos cut off from a used bookstore. Today Shaun owns a heating and air-conditioning company in the Seattle area, and allows his three-year-old son Cole to rip and fold new comics and throw them across the house. “I cannot find a better use for today’s comics,” he jokes.

Adam Besenyodi

When writer/artist Frank Miller and editor Denny O’Neil joined inker Klaus Janson on Daredevil in 1980, the title shifted from colorfully clad villains and guest stars to a grittier take on the character’s world. This raised the book up from the depths of Marvel’s second tier and set the table for the emotionally rich stories which followed with the introduction of Matt (Daredevil) Murdock’s original love. Elektra Natchios arrived fully formed in the Marvel Universe on the pages of Daredevil in late 1980. Miller offered no typical backstory or origin tale, just a bounty hunter in search of a murder witness being protected by the underworld. But over the course of the next 24 months, Elektra would be revealed as a skilled ninja assassin and Murdock’s first love, his “girl.” She would die a violent death, one without mercy. And she would be resurrected. Even though she wasn’t initially around for very long, her impact still felt important and epic, like it mattered.

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Brett Weiss

Barry “the Flash” Allen died in 1985, in a story called “A Flash of the Lightning” appearing in issue #8 of the popular, game-changing mega-series, Crisis on Infinite Earths (Apr. 1985–Mar. 1986). He died a hero’s death back when death in the comics actually meant something, back when fans still mourned such long-dead characters as Bucky Barnes and Gwen Stacy. Before delving further into the famous death of Barry Allen, it behooves me to first discuss his even more famous birth (or at least his first appearance), which occurred in the now-classic Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956), in a story titled “Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!”

THE BIRTH Emblazoned with an iconic cover penciled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Joe Kubert, in which Flash is running from frame to frame through and then bursting out of a strip of film, Showcase #4 introduced Barry as a police scientist on his lunch break, flipping through an old issue of Flash Comics, which starred the original Flash, Jay Garrick. (Barry has since been described as a comics fan several times, including in the 1997 graphic novel The Life Story of The Flash and in 2010’s The Flash Secret Files and Origins #1.) Barry returns to his work station shortly after lunch, and, as luck and coincidence would have it, a bolt of lightning streaks in through a nearby window, dousing him with chemicals, giving him super-speed. Inspired by the original Flash, Barry quickly designs a costume and gets about the business of fighting crime (this was long before deconstructionism, decompressed storytelling, and the advent of the reluctant hero). Barry’s first foe was the Turtle, who was known as “the Slowest Man on Earth.” During the Silver Age of Comics, entertaining as many of the stories were,

The Last Mile Detail from the cover of The Flash #331 (Mar. 1984); art by Carmine Infantino and Dick Giordano. At this time, the series was on its last leg, with Crisis on Infinite Earths and cancellation looming. TM & © DC Comics.

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The End is Near The Flash is found guilty of murder on page 1 of issue #349 (Sept. 1985). Script by Cary Bates, art by Carmine Infantino and Frank McLaughlin. Courtesy of Heritage. (inset) That penultimate issue’s gripping cover, by Infantino and Klaus Janson. (background) Detail from the final issue, Flash #350. TM & © DC Comics.

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THE DEATH OF THE FLASH As the fates (and the editorial department at DC Comics) would have it, Barry and Iris enjoyed futuristic bliss for a very short time. The rumors were true: Flash was going to die. According to Bates, the decision to kill the Flash came from on high. In an article entitled “The Final Flash Storyline,” published in the reprint volume, The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told (1991) Bates wrote: “DC was in the process of reshaping its entire universe in order to streamline a half-century of convoluted continuity … a long list of DC’s established heroes and villains would never be the same … many of them would be revised. Reborn. Retired. And a few would be taking their final bows.” Bates was referencing the aforementioned 12-issue extravaganza, Crisis on Infinite Earths, which was written by Marv Wolfman, penciled by George Pérez, and inked by Dick Giordano and Jerry Ordway. Crisis was named after a Gardner Fox-scripted story arc in the original Justice League of America comic book from the early 1960s, in which the Justice League of Earth-One teamed up with the Justice Society of Earth-Two. In his introduction to the collected edition of Crisis on Infinite Earths (1998), Wolfman said that it was his idea to simplify the DC Universe. “There were superheroes on each Earth,” Wolfman wrote, “and though old-time readers had no problem understanding DC continuity, it proved off-putting to new readers who suddenly discovered that there was not one but three Supermans, Wonder Womans, Batmans, etc.” In Crisis, the Flash died in grand fashion, saving the universe by racing around the Anti-Monitor’s antimatter cannon, running against the flow of antimatter, forcing the energies back into the machine, destroying the massive construct in the process. This is just one gripping scene among many in Crisis, one of the most impactful comic-book stories ever told. While it wasn’t the first limited series starring men and women in tights—Marvel beat DC to the punch with Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions (June–Aug. 1982) and Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (May 1984–Apr. 1985)—Crisis did up the ante in terms of epic superhero storytelling. I recently asked Wolfman about the impact of Crisis on Infinite Earths on the comic-book industry: “Crisis made possible all mega-sized events in comics. The individual plot matters less here than the fact that huge company stories can be done.” Since Wolfman was already an established writer when Crisis hit comic-book stores across the country, it had less influence on his career than it did on the industry itself. “Fortunately I had a number of successes before Crisis, with [Tomb of] Dracula, [The New Teen] Titans, Superman [in Action Comics], and others, so its success didn’t much affect me much,” Wolfman says. “But it is a book I love having done, and others still tell me is one of the best crossover maxiseries they’ve read. That’s more important to me than anything else.” Wolfman wasn’t thrilled with the idea of killing off Barry Allen, but the decision was out of his hands, so he tried to make the death as moving as possible. Fittingly, Wolfman left the door open for Barry’s potential return. In the intro to the collected Crisis, Wolfman explained, “We always liked Barry, so when we were asked to kill him we planted a secret plot device in the story that could bring him back if someone wanted to. Don’t look for it; you won’t find it—but if you corner

me at a convention, and if I’m in a good mood, I’ll tell you what it is.” After the publication of that ambiguous comment, fans began peppering Wolfman with questions about the loophole for Flash being able to return someday. After years of explaining it again and again, Wolfman says he will no longer directly answer questions about the secret plot device, referring people instead to the explanation given on his website (www.marvwolfman.com), which states: Much of the reason the people in charge didn’t care for Barry Allen was that he was considered dull. I felt if I could come up with a way of making him vital again while keeping him alive, then perhaps Barry would be given a second lease on life. I came up with the idea of Flash moving back through time, flashing into our dimension even as he was dying. So, thought I, what if Barry was plucked out of the time stream at one of those moments he appeared? What if that meant from this point on Barry knew that he was literally living on borrowed time, that at any moment the time stream could close in on him and take him to his inevitable death.

The Final Fate of the Flash Detail from the unforgettable cover of Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 (Nov. 1985), illustrated by George Pérez.

Wolfman saw his idea for a potential rebirth of Barry as a way to make the character better connect with modern audiences:

What would this mean to Barry? From now on the Fastest Man Alive would literally be running for his life. He knew he didn’t have much time left and believed (as Barry would) that he had to devote it to helping others. This meant Barry would become driven and desperate to help others with each passing tick of the clock. I felt this new revitalized attitude might be enough to make the formerly dull police scientist into someone who now had to push himself as he never had to before. I was hoping that this would make the character interesting enough to live. This knowledge would haunt a man like Barry Allen and change him from an unassuming character into a driven hero. At least that was the plan!

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Flashbacks Geoff Johns and artists Scott Kolins (left) and Francis Manapul (right) continue to mine Barry Allen’s perilous past in the current Flash title. Cover art to issues #8 and 11. TM & © DC Comics.

spends years trying to absolve his father of the crime, calling it the “only case I left behind.” In an interview published on www.io9.com, Johns revealed—not surprisingly—that he’s a big fan of the Flash (both Wally and Barry), claiming that the character is more relevant now than ever before: “Super-speed is one of the most amazing powers that I think people can get into and explore,” Johns said. “Today, everyone wants things to go faster, downloads to go quicker … no one has any time for anything … we’re always trying to get everything to go faster. As our society ‘progresses,’ everyone is texting, using Twitter, all this stuff, all this constant communication and interaction, it’s all about speed. It used to take weeks to deliver a letter, and now you can communicate with someone in, like, two seconds. It’s pretty amazing.” The Flash: Rebirth had a delayed publishing schedule, but most fans seem to agree that the wait was well worth it.

BARRY “THE FLASH” ALLEN GOES MONTHLY June 2010 saw a brand-spanking-new ongoing series called The Flash, written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Francis Manapul. I reviewed the first issue in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1671 (Nov. 2010), and here’s what I had to say: If DC had brought back Barry Allen 15, 10, or even 5 years ago, when everyone was clamoring for the return of the Silver Age Speedster, The Flash #1 would seem like a much bigger deal than it is now. However, with so many others coming back via The Blackest Night, Barry’s return is merely another example of how mainstream superheroes never truly stay dead (or in the future or the Speed Force or whatever). In terms of storyline, this is a fine first issue. Flash exhibits his mad velocity skills, shows kindness towards a kid, awkwardly returns to his job as a forensic scientist, and has a good reason for being late meeting Iris. The cliffhanger ending is a Rogues-centric take on a familiar (to SF and comics fans) ploy, but it certainly makes this humble reviewer want to check out the next issue. Manapul’s pencils are energetic, but characters’ noses look odd. In addition, Brian Buccellato’s muted colors don’t work for the Flash as his costume is brick red instead of bright red. I’ve since read the next few issues and am happy to report that it’s a title worth adding to your pull list (if it’s not there already). 66 • BACK ISSUE • Dead Heroes Issue

LIFE IS FOR THE LIVING Barry Allen died more than 25 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. As a 16-year-old kid, I was blown away by Crisis on Infinite Earths, but was upset that Barry had to die (“At least he died hero’s death,” I kept telling myself). I was equally dismayed by the cancellation of The Flash, so much so that I didn’t buy the first five or six issues or so of the new Wally West series, which debuted in June of 1987. Initially written by Mike Baron, series two of The Flash was a modernized, more realistic take on superheroes as Wally was a self-centered womanizer who gorged on food to replenish his energy, demanded money for performing superheroic deeds, and ran at a top speed of only 705 miles per hour. After hearing that the new Flash series was actually pretty good, I bit the bullet, picked up the issues I had missed, and began enjoying the adventures of Wally West. By the time Mark Waid started his critically acclaimed run on the book with issue #62 (May 1992), I was once again a diehard fan of The Flash. In retrospect, perhaps it was fitting that Barry died when he did. As a clean-cut, bow-tied, crew-cut-wearing Boy Scout with few (if any) faults, he was a hero of a kinder, simpler, more innocent era. Maybe he didn’t fit alongside such grim and gritty material as The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen, both of which debuted the year after his death. Regardless, Barry is back, and it’s up to Geoff Johns and the rest of the folks at DC to make him relevant and relatable for a new generation of fans. Barry’s death had meaning, drama, and substance—here’s hoping his renewed life is equally meaningful, dramatic, and substantive. Former comic-book retailer BRETT WEISS is the author of Classic Home Video Games, 1972–1984 (McFarland, 2007) and Classic Home Video Games, 1985–1988 (McFarland, 2009). To catch up with Brett, check out his blog: www.brettweisswords.blogspot.com.

Chris Franklin

Juvenile delinquent. Boy Wonder. Murder victim. Villain. All of these describe the character of Jason Todd, the second Robin, the Boy Wonder. Jason was a controversial character from his introduction—from his criminal past, to his brash actions, to his death at the hands of not only the Joker, but also real-world fans that voted for him to perish. Recently, he returned, a shocking move that divided fans on its merits. But Jason wasn’t always such a roguish character. Once upon a time, he was a nice, young, circus aerialist, very similar to his predecessor, Dick Grayson. The Jason Todd who died and rose again to bedevil Batman and comics fans was not the same character that originally wore the red, green, and gold of the second Robin. These were two very different takes on the same character, created within just four years of each another—an odd occurrence, even for the everevolving world of comics. The real-world origins of Jason Todd are perhaps even more compelling than the diverse fictional versions.

THE DYNAMIC DUO RETURNS In the early 1980s, under writer Gerry Conway and editor Dick Giordano, everything old was new again in DC Comics’ Batman titles. Long-forgotten elements of Batman lore were brought back for new readers to experience. The vampiric Monk, the Dirigible of Doom, and Vicki Vale were just some of the concepts revived by Conway in tales that spread across Batman and Detective Comics, essentially making one biweekly Batman comic. Amidst this revival was a reunited Dynamic Duo, separated for more than a decade when Robin, a.k.a. Dick Grayson, was sent off to college. Things weren’t quite the same as before, with tensions arising between Bruce (Batman) Wayne and his ward for the first time. These tensions were also picked up on in Robin’s other regular berth, the mega-popular New Teen Titans, by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.

Boy Wonder, Six Feet Under Detail from Mike Mignola’s cover to Book Three of the 1988 DC Comics shocker, “A Death in the Family,” from Batman #428. TM & © DC Comics.

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