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IN THE BRONZE AGE! JULIUS SCHWARTZ SUPERMAN DYNASTY • PRIVATE LIFE OF CURT SWAN • SUPERMAN FAMILY • EARTH-TWO SUPERMAN • WORLD OF KRYPTON • MAN OF TOMORROW • ATOMIC SKULL & more!

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

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

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(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Dead Heroes”! JIM (“Death of Captain Marvel”) STARLIN interview, Deadman after Neal Adams, Jason Todd Robin, the death and resurrection of the Flash, Elektra, the many deaths of Aunt May, art by and/or commentary from APARO, BATES, CONWAY, GARCIA-LOPEZ, GEOFF JOHNS, MILLER, WOLFMAN, and a cosmically cool cover by JIM STARLIN!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “1970s Time Capsule”! Examines relevance in comics, Planet of the Apes, DC Salutes the Bicentennial, Richard Dragon–Kung-Fu Fighter, FOOM, Amazing World of DC, Fast Willie Jackson, Marvel Comics calendars, art and commentary from ADAMS, BRUNNER, GIORDANO, LARKIN, LEVITZ, MAGGIN, MOENCH, O’NEIL, PLOOG, STERANKO, cover by BUCKLER and BEATTY!

Special 50th Anniversary FULL-COLOR issue ($8.95 price) on “Batman in the Bronze Age!” O’NEIL, ADAMS, and LEVITZ roundtable, praise for “unsung” Batman creators JIM APARO, DAVID V. REED, BOB BROWN, ERNIE CHAN, and JOHN CALNAN, Joker’s Daughter, Batman Family, Nocturna, Dark Knight, art and commentary from BYRNE, COLAN, CONWAY, MOENCH, MILLER, NEWTON, WEIN, and more. APARO cover!

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(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “AllInterview Issue”! Part 2 of an exclusive STEVE ENGLEHART interview (continued from ALTER EGO #103)! “Pro2Pro” interviews between SIMONSON & LARSEN, MOENCH & WEIN, and comics letterers KLEIN & CHIANG. Plus JOHN OSTRANDER, MICHAEL USLAN, and longtime DC color artist ADRIENNE ROY! Cover by Englehart collaborator MARSHALL ROGERS!

Bronze Age Mystery Comics! Interviews with BERNIE WRIGHTSON, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, GERRY TALAOC, DC mystery writer LORE SHOBERG, MARK EVANIER and DAN SPIEGLE discuss Scooby-Doo, Charlton chiller anthologies, Black Orchid, Madame Xanadu art and commentary by TONY DeZUNIGA, MIKE KALUTA, VAL MAYERIK, DAVID MICHELINIE, MATT WAGNER, and a rare cover painting by WRIGHTSON!

“Gods!” Takes an in-depth look at WALTER SIMONSON’s Thor, the Thunder God in the Bronze Age, “Pro2Pro” interview with TOM DeFALCO and RON FRENZ, Hercules: Prince of Power, Moondragon, Three Ways to End the New Gods Saga, exclusive interview with fantasy writer MICHAEL MOORCOCK, art and commentary by GERRY CONWAY, JACK KIRBY, BOB LAYTON, and more, with a swingin’ Thor cover by SIMONSON!

“Liberated Ladies” eyeing female characters that broke barriers in the Bronze Age: Big Barda, Valkyrie, Ms. Marvel, Phoenix, Savage She-Hulk, and the sword-wielding Starfire. Plus a “Pro2Pro” interview with JILL THOMPSON, GAIL SIMONE, and BARBARA KESEL, art and commentary by JOHN BYRNE, GEORGE PEREZ, JACK KIRBY, MIKE VOSBURG, and more, with a new cover by BRUCE TIMM!

“Licensed Comics”! Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Man from Atlantis, DC’s Edgar Rice Burroughs backups (John Carter, Pellucidar, Carson of Venus), Marvel’s Warlord of Mars, and an interview with CAROL SERLING, wife of ROD SERLING. With art and commentary from ANDERSON, BYRNE, CLAREMONT, DORMAN, DUURSEMA, KALUTA, MILLER, OSTRANDER, and more. Cover by BRIAN KOSCHACK.

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“Avengers Assemble!” Writer ROGER STERN’S acclaimed 1980s Avengers run, West Coast Avengers, early Avengers toys, and histories of Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Wonder Man, with art and commentary from JOHN and SAL BUSCEMA, JOHN BYRNE, BRETT BREEDING, TOM DeFALCO, STEVE ENGLEHART, BOB HALL, AL MILGROM, TOM MORGAN, TOM PALMER, JOE SINNOTT, and more. PÉREZ cover!

JENETTE KAHN interviewed by ROBERT GREENBERGER, DC’s Dollar Comics and unrealized kids’ line (featuring an aborted Sugar and Spike revival), the Wonder Woman Foundation, and the early days of the Vertigo imprint. Exploring the talents of ROSS ANDRU, KAREN BERGER, STEVE BISSETTE, JIM ENGEL, GARTH ENNIS, NEIL GAIMAN, SHELLY MAYER, ALAN MOORE, GRANT MORRISON, and more!

“JLA in the Bronze Age”! The “Satellite Years” of the ‘70s and early ‘80s, with BUCKLER, ENGLEHART, PÉREZ, and WEIN, salute to DICK DILLIN, the Justice League “Detroit” team, with CONWAY, PATTON, McDONNELL, plus CONWAY and GEOFF JOHNS go “Pro2Pro” on writing the JLA, unofficial JLA/Avengers crossovers, and Marvel’s JLA, the Squadron Supreme. Cover by McDONNELL and BILL WRAY!

“Toon Comics!” History of Space Ghost in comics, Comico’s Jonny Quest and Star Blazers, Marvel’s Hanna-Barbera line and Dennis the Menace, behind the scenes at Marvel Productions, Ltd., and a look at the unpublished Plastic Man comic strip. Art/comments by EVANIER, FOGLIO, HEMPEL and WHEATLEY, MARRS, RUDE, TOTH, WILDEY, and more. All-new painted Space Ghost cover by STEVE RUDE!

“Halloween Heroes and Villains”! JEPH LOEB and TIM SALE’s chiller Batman: The Long Halloween, the Scarecrow (both the DC and Marvel versions), Solomon Grundy, Man-Wolf, Lord Pumpkin, Rutland, Vermont’s Halloween parades, and… the Korvac Saga’s Dead Avengers! With commentary from and/or art by CONWAY, GIL KANE, LOPRESTI, MOENCH, PÉREZ, DAVE WENZEL, and more. Cover by TIM SALE!

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Volume 1, Number 62 February 2013 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s,'90s, and Beyond!

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael “Don’t Call Me Chief!” Eury PUBLISHER John “Morgan Edge” Morrow DESIGNER Rich “Superman’s Pal” Fowlks COVER ARTISTS José Luis García-López and Scott Williams COVER COLORIST Glenn “Grew Up in Smallville” Whitmore

PROOFREADER Rob “Cub Reporter” Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Murphy Anderson CapedWonder.com Cary Bates Kurt Busiek Tim Callahan Howard Chaykin Gerry Conway DC Comics Dial B for Blog Tom DeFalco Mark Evanier Chris Franklin José Luis García-López Grand Comic-Book Database Heritage Comics Auctions Alan Kupperberg Paul Kupperberg Christopher Larochelle Paul Levitz Elliot S! Maggin Andy Mangels Nigel McMillan Mike’s Amazing World of DC Comics

Dennis O’Neil Luigi Novi/Wikimedia Commons Jerry Ordway Mike Page Mike Pigott Al Plastino Alex Ross Bob Rozakis Joe Rubinstein Joseph P. Rybandt Philip Schweier Superman Through the Ages Cecilia Swan Swift Roy Thomas Michael Uslan Van-Zee Mark Waid John Wells Len Wein Wikipedia Scott Williams Raúl Wrona Eddy Zeno

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BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 A dedication to the man who made us believe he could fly, Christopher Reeve FLASHBACK: The Julius Schwartz Superman Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Looking back at the Super-editor(s) of the Bronze Age, with enough art to fill a Fortress! SUPER SALUTE TO CARY BATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 SUPER SALUTE TO ELLIOT S! MAGGIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 BACKSTAGE PASS: The Private Life of Curt Swan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Fans, friends, and family revisit the life and career of THE Superman artist FLASHBACK: Superman Calls for Back-up! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 The Man of Steel’s adventures in short stories FLASHBACK: Superman Family Portraits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 An in-depth look at the series that gathered Superman’s pals and gals BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: The Atomic Skull . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Superman’s foe with the “self-destruct mind” BEYOND CAPES: World of Krypton: Comics’ First Miniseries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 This Superman spin-off lucked into a new comic-book format PRINCE STREET NEWS: Kryptonitpicking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Sure, we all love Superman: The Movie, but Karl Heitmueller reminds us it wasn’t a problem-free flick! FLASHBACK: The Supermobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Fans have been up in (retractable punching) arms wondering, Which came first: the comic or the toy? FLASHBACK: Golden Steel in the Bronze Age: The Superman of Earth-Two . . . . . . . . . .70 The original Man of Steel’s comeback, marriage, and fate BACK IN PRINT: Superman Collected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 A checklist of Bronze Age Super-stories in reprinted form FLASHBACK: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Examining the swan song of the Earth-One Superman and Alan Moore’s powerful tale Note: Our BACK TALK letters column will return next issue! BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $60 US, $85 Canada, $107 International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by José Luis García-López and Scott Williams. Superman and Bizarro TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2013 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing, except for Prince Street News, © 2013 Karl Heitmueller. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. Superman in the Bronze Age Issue

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The backside of the 1986 Superman double-sided poster, drawn by José Luis García-López and Dick Giordano. TM & © DC Comics.

COVER DESIGNER Michael “Last Son of Krypton” Kronenberg

In BACK ISSUE #7’s memorial to actor Christopher Reeve (1952–2004), which appeared on the issue’s back cover, I mentioned that I had attempted to arrange an interview with the man who so brilliantly played the Man of Steel in four movies. But I’ve never told the full story. Until now. In September of 2004, I proposed to TwoMorrows publisher John Morrow that this magazine publish an exclusive interview with Christopher Reeve. I was prepared to fly on my dime from my then-home in Oregon to Reeve’s residence in New York State to conduct the interview. John offered 10% of the proceeds of that BI issue to the Christopher Reeve Foundation (now the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation). That charitable organization, with its mission of helping people with spinal-cord injuries, was established in the wake of the 1995 horseback-riding accident which left Reeve a quadriplegic. I also had intended to ask Alex Ross to paint a cover of Reeve as Superman for the issue—something I’ve never even mentioned to Alex (until this editorial, that is). My interview request went through a representative at the Christopher Reeve Foundation, and after an initially encouraging dialogue, on Thursday, October 7, 2004, I received the disappointing news that an interview would not be possible at that time. No further explanation was provided … but very soon, the reason would become clear. Three days later, on Sunday, October 10, 2004, I was heartbroken to discover while watching Headline News that Reeve had died that day. Under any circumstances this would have been sad news, but under these—when I had so recently come close to meeting my hero—it was devastating. But the news of Reeve’s passing that day also proved transformational. I had the honor of being cover-featured on the Sept.–Oct. 2011 edition of Hearing Loss Magazine (see inset), which featured my article, “How My Hearing Loss Made Me a Superhero.” Therein I chronicled my struggles with adult-onset hearing loss and the anger,

Michael Eury

depression, hardships, and isolation that stemmed from it. Baring my soul in print was the toughest thing I’ve ever written. I invite you to read the full article (www.hearingloss.org/content/septemberoctober-2011), but to bring this into context with this issue’s theme, it was Superman who saved me! The day Reeve died, I felt “touched by an angel.” Through Chris Reeve’s indomitable example as an advocate for the disabled and injured, I was inspired to abandon my self-pity and begin seeking ways to better live my life—isn’t that what Reeve himself did, despite his wheelchair and respirator? This led me to join the Hearing Loss Association of America, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people with hearing loss. I’ve since learned communications strategies and have regained my self-confidence, and have discovered the joys of volunteering and community service. And to think, I owe it all to an actor and amazing humanitarian—who was truly a superman. And so as we enter this, the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Superman in Action Comics #1 (June 1938), this edition of BACK ISSUE is dedicated with the utmost respect and affection to the memory of Christopher Reeve, Superman forever… To learn more about the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and to donate, visit www.christopherreeve.org. To learn more about the Hearing Loss Association of America and to donate, visit www.hearingloss.org.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES BACK ISSUE is on the lookout for the following comics-related material from the 1970s through the 1990s: • • • • • • •

Unpublished artwork and covers Commissions (color or B&W) and professional-quality specialty drawings 1970s–1990s creator and convention photographs Character designs and model sheets Original art: covers and significant interior pages Little-seen fanzine material Other rarities

If you have any of the above materials, please query the editor via email prior to submission. Art contributors will be acknowledged in print and receive a complimentary copy of the issue.

Since BI is a full-color publication, preference is given to color artwork. Random convention sketches and “quick sketches” that do not reflect an artist’s best work and were not intended for print will no longer be considered for publication.

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BACK ISSUE does not read or consider unsolicited manuscripts. However, we routinely welcome new writers to our magazine, and have done so since day one!

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If you’re interested in writing for BI, please request a copy of the BACK ISSUE Writer’s Style Guide by emailing the editor at euryman@gmail.com. Contact BI at: Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, BACK ISSUE 118 Edgewood Ave. NE Concord, NC 28025

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These rates are for black-&-white ads, supplied on-disk (TIF, EPS, or Quark Xpress files acceptable) or as cameraready art. Typesetting service available at 20% mark-up. Due to our already low ad rates, no agency discounts apply. Sorry, display ads not available for the Jack Kirby Collector. Send ad copy and check/money order (US funds), Visa, or Mastercard to: TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 Phone: 919/449-0344 • FAX 919/449-0327 E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com

It’s easy to consider the Bronze Age of Comics to be the Julius Schwartz Age of Superman. After all, DC Comics’ celebrated editor controlled the Man of Steel’s franchise through most of the 1970s and through half of the 1980s, up until the 1986 Superman reboot engineered by writer/artist John Byrne. But you might not be aware that “Julie” Schwartz eased his way into that distinction, and that despite his lauded and deserved reputation, he wasn’t responsible for all of the innovations sometimes attributed to him.

THE BRONZE AGE’S OTHER SUPER-EDITORS

Michael Eury

Sixteen Years of Superman We couldn’t resist creating this tribute cover to Julius Schwartz, concocted and art directed by ye ed and assembled by designer Rich Fowlks! It cannibalizes the cover to Superman Family #164 and various Schwartz-edited Superman images. The main art of Super-Julie is by John Costanza, from a birthday card drawn in the early 1970s (courtesy of Heritage). The Mort Weisinger caricature at the bottom was done by Wayne Boring in 1973. Superman TM & © DC Comics.

Preceding Schwartz as the man behind the Man of Steel was editor Mort Weisinger, who had steered the Superman family’s stories through the entirety of the Silver Age. In the 1960s, Weisinger’s golden touch made Superman DC Comics’ bestseller (except during the TV-inspired Batmania of the mid-’60s). But as the decade was winding down, so was Mort, by some accounts marking time until his retirement. According to DC historian and frequent BACK ISSUE contributor John Wells, “As I understand it, Mort was very tired of the grind by the time he left. Even the art looked tired,” a contention bolstered by the mismatched George Roussos inking Curt Swan on Weisinger’s later Action Comics and Superman issues and Win Mortimer’s unexciting pencils on the Legion of Super-Heroes’ final stories in Adventure Comics. Mort Weisinger retired in 1970 (although he was “im-Mort-alized” in Schwartz’s Superman comics as a bust in Clark Kent’s apartment which Clark would greet with an “Evening, Morty!” each night after work), and DC’s flagship crimefighter’s Super-titles were assigned not solely to Julie Schwartz but instead to a variety of editors. Super-editor #1 was Murray Boltinoff, that DC stalwart who was more reliable than the morning F train. He inherited Action Comics with #393 (Oct. 1970). With routine stories like that issue’s “Superman Meets Super-Houdini,” penned by Leo Dorfman, a carryover from Mort’s stable of creators, one might assume that Boltinoff was merely mopping up inventoried scripts left behind by Weisinger. That was not the case. “Murray started fresh, assigning virtually every script to Leo Dorfman (who also used his ‘Geoff Brown’ pseudonym),” says Wells, who emphasizes that Boltinoff made a major contribution to the Superman titles: crystalizing the “Swanderson” art team. It was Mort who first paired penciler Curt Swan with inker Murphy Anderson, on a trio of Superman family covers released in late July 1969: World’s Finest Comics #187, Action Comics #380, and Adventure Comics #384 (starring Supergirl), all cover-dated Sept. 1969. But it was Murray Boltinoff who reinvigorated Action’s interiors by dumping Roussos and hiring Anderson to delineate Swan, thereby becoming the first editor to employ the Swanderson team inside the comics. (The editor would later further distinguish himself on Action through its back-ups, including untold tales from Clark Kent’s past and a Metamorpho, the Element Man feature, the latter of which we’ll examine in BI #64, our “Back-up Series” issue.) Some two years before Weisinger’s retirement, Boltinoff had already been fishing in Super-waters by assuming the editorship of Superboy with issue #149 (July 1968)—a series that, too, featured an occasional Swan/Anderson cover. While Action eventually landed with Julie with #419, Murray remained the Superboy

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editor for years, being at the helm of the title when the Legion of Super-Heroes—who were unceremoniously dumped from their longtime berth in Adventure after issue #380 and shunted into Action’s back pages—rose, like the proverbial phoenix, from a rotating back-up in Superboy to usurping the Teen of Steel’s very title (a story we’ll save for BACK ISSUE #68, our Bronze Age Legion issue). Another of Weisinger’s titles was also reassigned to Boltinoff: Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen. Murray took the helm with issue #133 (Oct. 1970), but for only three issues. Beginning with #136, Jimmy Olsen was reassigned murray boltinoff to the man who had become its writer and penciler with #133: Jack Kirby, Super-editor #2. “There’s a New Kind of Superman Coming!” trumpeted DC house ads in 1970, and the pulse of that post–Mort defibrillation was comics’ own King. The bombastic Kirby seemed the perfect jolt for the tired blood of the ho-hum Superman line. But instead of unleashing the King unbridled, DC notoriously allowed Jack’s art to be diluted via Al Plastino’s and Murphy Anderson’s facial re-drawings over Kirby’s Superman, Clark Kent, and Jimmy, to rope them into the house style. (John Wells reminds us that, according to E. Nelson Bridwell in Lois Lane #121, this house-style decision was

The Swanderson Team While Mort Weisinger first paired Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson on the three covers below, it was editor Murray Boltinoff—not Julie Schwartz—who assigned them to Superman interior stories, beginning with Murray’s first issue of Action Comics, #393 (Oct. 1970). This original cover art, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), sold for over $10,000! TM & © DC Comics.

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made by Kirby inker Vince Colletta, not DC management. Nor was Kirby singled out: Murphy Anderson was asked to do the same thing with the Superman heads in Lois Lane stories during this period, which were penciled by Werner Roth and inked by—coincidentally—Vinnie himself! This practice actually dated back to the 1960s: “Mort Weisinger occasionally had Kurt Schaffenberger ink Lois Lane’s and Lana Lang’s faces in stories drawn by Curt Swan or Wayne Boring,” says Wells. Even the great Nick Cardy, who drew the lion’s share of DC’s covers from the early to mid-1970s, didn’t escape a Super-patch: Witness his cover to Superman #264, where Murphy Anderson redrew the Man of Steel’s face.) Artistic “plastic surgery” notwithstanding, it was in Jimmy Olsen that Kirby ignited his sizzling Fourth World concept and introduced DC’s most terrifying villain, Darkseid. Super-editor #3 was E. Nelson Bridwell, DC’s human encyclopedia, who had toiled under (and purportedly been badgered by) Weisinger for years as his assistant editor and packager of Superman family reprints in DC Giants. ENB picked up Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane with #105 (Oct. 1970). Having been joined at Mort’s hip for years, one might have expected Nelson to toe an invisible line for his former boss, but in his first issue of Lois Lane, Bridwell trotted out one of the most intriguing back-ups of the era, writer Robert Kanigher’s “Rose and the Thorn” (which will also be featured in BI #64). Bridwell also provided a backdoor for Kirby’s concepts to connect with the larger Superman continuity. Assisting both

Iconic Image Perhaps second only to Action Comics #1 as the most recognizable Superman cover of all time is this dynamic masterpiece by the pharaoh of photorealism, Neal Adams, drawn for Julie Schwartz’s first issue of Superman, #233 (Jan. 1971). TM & © DC Comics.

SUPER-EGO best of his tormentor via a secret use of his superpowers. How big was Steve’s head? This panel from Superman #269 (Nov. 1973), showing a museum trophy, not-sosubtly answers that question. Maybe we should give the jerk a break, though—after all, he does have a famous aunt, Kaye Daye of the Gotham City Mystery Analysts (as revealed in Superman #277). Lombard continued to pester Kent off and on throughout the Schwartz era. After the 1986 Superman reboot, he returned in 1990 for occasional appearances … and like a trick knee, has a tendency to pop up when you least expect it to create a pain in Clark Kent’s life.

Despite his altruism, the Man of Steel could, at times, be a bit full of himself—but no ego in Bronze Age Superman comics topped that of Steve Lombard, Alpha Male Supreme! The former quarterback for the Metropolis Meteors, the blowhard Lombard, created by Cary Bates and Curt Swan, debuted in Superman #264 (June 1973) as a TV sportscaster. A recurring bit through Schwartz-edited Superman comics featured Lombard pranking the mildmannered “Clarkie” Kent—but our hero always got the

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Back Issue #62