Issuu

Grim, Great & Gimmicky Post-Modern Comics Our heartfelt thanks to Howard Bender, whose love for comics is so fervent, he practically is a comic book; to John Morrow, our publisher; and to the creators who graciously submitted to my interrogation and/or posed for Kathy: Laura Allred, Mike Allred, Brett Breeding, Greg Capullo, Mike Carlin, Alice Cooper, Howard Cruse, Dan DiDio, Will Eisner, Danny Fingeroth, Dave Gibbons, Mark Hamill, Jack C. Harris, Steven Hughes, Manon Kelley, Joe Kubert, David Lapham, Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Scott McCloud, Todd McFarlane, Mike Mignola, Doug Murray, Leonard Nimoy, J. O’Barr, Michael Avon Oeming, Dennis O’Neil, Brian Pulido, Joe Quesada, Trina Robbins, Alex Ross, Jim Salicrup, Julius Schwartz, Howard Simpson, Kevin Smith, Louis Small Jr., Mickey Spillane, Dave Stevens and Michael Uslan. We thank those who provided information, materials and/or support: Michael Benson, Alex Brewer, Peggy Burns, Eric Deggans, Fred Greenberg, David Hyde, Ray Kuckelsberg, Pete Maher, Eric Nolen-Weathington, Rich Rankin, Gail Stanley, Martha Thomases, Maggie Thompson, Tony Timpone and Megan the X-Chick. We also thank our wonderful families; my colleagues at the Asbury Park Press; the gang at Big Apple Con (especially Allan Rosenberg, Karen Hollingsworth and Mike Carbonaro); The Comics Buyer’s Guide; The Comic Shop News; The Comics Journal; Comics Scene; Comics Plus in Ocean Township, N.J., and Comic Relief in Toms River, N.J. (support your local comic shop!); and some who lit the darkness: Brian Voglesong, Beverly Squillante, Wallace Stroby, Jeff and Max Colson, Teddy Karropoulos, Aimee Kristi and Keith Roth, Art Scott, Mike and Sue Frankel, Toni Misthos and Adriana Libreros-Purcell, Dorothy Schaffenberger, Bruce Friend, Richard Ponton and mis hermanos siempre, The Burners.

Acknowledgments:

All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from Mark Voger, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Inquiries should be addressed to Mark Voger c/o: TwoMorrows Publishing. Photos credited to Kathy Voglesong © the estate of Kathy Voglesong.

Published by: TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, North Carolina 27614

Written and designed by: Mark Voger With photos by: Kathy Voglesong Publisher: John Morrow Front cover art: Todd McFarlane; Frank Miller; Mark Bagley and Art Thibert; Rob Liefeld; Steven Hughes; Dale Keown Frontispiece art: Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti Back cover art: Ron Frenz and Joe Rubinstein; Jim Balent; Dave Gibbons; Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley; Val Semieks and John Dell

Foreword by Jack C. Harris ——————————————————4 Introduction ———————————————————————————— 6 Harbingers of the Dark Age —————————————————— 8 Crisis on Infinite Earths ———————————————————— 14 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns ————————————— 20 Dave Gibbons —————————————————————————— 24 Watchmen Character Design ———————————————— 28 Doug Murray ——————————————————————————— 30 Batman Dominates ——————————————————————— 33 Dennis O’Neil —————————————————————————— 34 Lone Wolf and Cub ——————————————————————— 40 Sandman ————————————————————————————— 41 Michael Uslan —————————————————————————— 42 J. O’Barr ————————————————————————————— 50 Early 1990s ——————————————————————————— 55 Todd McFarlane ————————————————————————— 56 Jim Salicrup ——————————————————————————— 60 Spider-Man Cover Gallery —————————————————— 63 Jim Lee —————————————————————————————— 64 David Lapham —————————————————————————— 70 Valiant Cover Gallery ————————————————————— 73 Brian Pulido ——————————————————————————— 74 Image Comics —————————————————————————— 78 CONTENTS

The Genesis ——————————————————————————— 81 Revamps ————————————————————————————— 82 Rockwellian Vision ——————————————————————— 83 Rebels ——————————————————————————————— 84 Big Guns ————————————————————————————— 85 Cheesecake ——————————————————————————— 86 R.I.P. ———————————————————————————————— 88 The Death of Superman ——————————————————— 89 Mike Carlin ———————————————————————————— 90 Erik Larsen ———————————————————————————— 94 Howard Simpson ———————————————————————— 98 Defiant, Ultraverse —————————————————————— 101 Mike Allred ——————————————————————————— 102 Scott McCloud ————————————————————————— 106 Diversity in Comics —————————————————————— 111 Alex Ross ———————————————————————————— 112 Mike Mignola —————————————————————————— 120 Dark Age Cliche #1: Makeovers —————————————— 124 Dark Age Cliche #2: Crossovers —————————————— 126 Dark Age Cliche #3: Cover Enhancements ——————— 128 Danny Fingeroth ———————————————————————— 129 Dark Age Cliche #4: Polybagged Editions ———————— 130 Superman #75 Dissected —————————————————— 131 Dark Age Cliche #5: Milestones —————————————— 132 Dark Age Cliche #6: Death of . . . ————————————— 134 Dark Age Cliche #7: Celebrity Creators ————————— 136 Mark Hamill ——————————————————————————— 138 Alice Cooper —————————————————————————— 139 Dark Age Cliche #8: Cheesecake ————————————— 140 Dark Age Cliche #9: ‘‘Spoofs’’ ——————————————— 142 #0 Issue Cover Gallery ———————————————————— 144 Dark Age Cliche #10: #1 and #0 Issues ————————— 145 Joe Quesada —————————————————————————— 146 Kevin Smith ——————————————————————————— 150 Frank Miller’s Sin City ———————————————————— 158 Maus: A Survivor’s Tale ——————————————————— 159 10 Most Important Books of the Dark Age ——————— 160 10 Most Ludicrous Books of the Dark Age ——————— 161 Epilogue ————————————————————————————— 162 Index ——————————————————————————————— 166 CONTENTS

For Kathy

‘‘O Theos na anapafsi tin psihi tis’’

BOOKS ABOUT COMICS can be as much fun to read as the comics themselves. We did our best to acknowledge any and all sources up front in our text, but certainly there are books that have helped to shape our thinking over the years (as we hope to do with this humble offering). Robert M. Overstreet’s The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide has crept in many places that won’t be hard to spot for comic book geeks. Inspiration was also found in the books of Les Daniels (particularly DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World’s Favorite Comic Book Heroes and Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics ), Jim Steranko, Ron Goulart and Chip Kidd; Mark Cotta Vaz’s Tales of the Dark Knight: Batman’s First Fifty Years; Mike Conroy’s 500 Great Comic Book Action Heroes; Roger Sabin’s Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels; Maurice Horn’s The World Encyclopedia of Comics and many others that line my shelves and yours.

MY NAME IS BENEATH THE TITLE, but I think of The Dark Age as a collaboration among four people: myself; my wife, the photographer Kathy Voglesong; my fellow writer/designer Steve Muoio; and my nephew, Ian Voger, who as a high school kid was already an aspiring filmmaker and novelist with some impressive achievements in those areas. Alas, by the completion of The Dark Age, only Ian and I were left standing. Steve died in a traffic accident in 1997 at age 29. Kathy died at home in 2005 at age 42. The world lost two gifted, funny, caring people, both of them tragically young. When Kathy and I started this book, it was as something of a tribute to Steve, who for years was my comic-shopping, conventionattending compadre. When The Dark Age was born as a three-part newspaper series in early ’97, Steve consulted on it via telephone, and it was the last time I would speak with him. Ian was just turning 9 at the time of Steve’s death. In the intervening years, Ian became such a voracious, knowledgeable reader of comic books and graphic novels that I found myself turning to him with those questions and theories I would have bounced off of Steve. It was as if a torch had been passed. As this book was weeks from completion, I lost Kathy, and finishing the project through bouts of tears became, again, a form of tribute, a sacred mission to preserve, protect and present an artist’s final work. So this is a happy occasion. The Dark Age is meant to be a ‘‘living’’ history, in the sense that we watched this period unfold before our eyes; we bought and read the comics as they first graced (or sometimes cluttered) the comic shop shelves; we discussed them and dissected them; we interrogated and photographed the creators. We were there. We’re not all here anymore, but we were there. And we’ve done our very best to bring you there, too. Please join us. — MV

The darkest book in the history of comics will never be topped. No amount of blood, entrails, spent hookers, grizzled gumshoes, jittery drug dealers, semi-automatic weaponfire or black ink will ever trump Detective Comics #27.

Because in 1939, no one had seen its like. As opposed to the Dark Age of Comics, when one “grim” and “gritty” psychodrama after another was met by a jaded audience who demanded increasing levels of depravity. (Need reminding? How about a naked Commissioner Gordon tied to a funhouse ride and forced to view giant photos of his likewise naked daughter crippled from gunfire in 1988’s Batman: The Killing Joke? Or a thug raping the dead body of Eric’s fiance in 1989’s The Crow? Or the naked Yellow Bastard binding and whipping a topless dancer in 1996’s Sin City: That Yellow Bastard?) Of course, the Batman’s debut in ’Tec #27 is tame by comparison, but it still Opposite: The wins the “darkness” prize talons-down eternally dark for its bleak tone, its stark, urban settings and mysterious and especially, its influence on so many Batman’s debut in comic books to follow. Detective Comics We call it one of the most important #27 (1939). Art: “Harbingers of the Dark Age” — those Bob Kane. moments in the history of the medium [ © 2006 DC Comics ] that signaled, usually unknowingly, what it all would lead to. Just as Beethoven somehow begat Anthrax; just as Charlie Chaplin somehow begat Paulie Shore; just as Michelangelo somehow begat Mark Kostabi; we can argue that the Yellow Kid (R.F. Outcault’s seminal 19th-century comic-strip creation) somehow begat the Yellow Bastard. Before we shine a light on the Dark Age — which was irrevocably ignited by three groundbreaking series in 1985 and ’86: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen — we’ll attempt to connect the dots that led to it (and soak in a little history in the process). Following are the Top 35 Harbingers of the Dark Age. ■ HARBINGER #1: FIRST CHARACTER In or around 1896, Outcault’s Yellow Kid — a dopey looking slum urchin in a nightshirt emblazoned with smart alecky sayings — began to appear in the Sunday New York World, at a time when newspapers were just beginning to use color cartoon sections to build circulation. The Yellow Kid is recognized as the first major, regularly appearing character of the comics, making him the spiritual descendant of every comic-book character from Azrael to Zen.

HARBINGERS

■ HARBINGER #2: FIRST CREATORS’ RIGHTS FACEOFF When Outcault moved over to William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal, World publisher Joseph Pulitzer sued, according to Richard Marschall in America’s Great Comic-Strip Artists. This triggered the comics’ first-ever squabble over creators’ rights (a perennial issue that would be revisited with a vengeance during the Dark Age). The resulting — and puzzling — legal decision allowed both newspapers to publish Yellow Kid cartoons.

■ HARBINGER #3: FIRST COMIC BOOK The Sunday funnies led to the first comic books, which were reprint compilations of strips. The first was Funnies on Parade in 1933, followed by Famous Funnies #1 in 1934 (both published by Eastern Color and edited by Max C. Gaines, father of Tales From the Crypt publisher William M. Gaines). Famous Funnies was the first regularly published comic book, lasting 218 issues until 1955.

■ HARBINGER #4: FIRST SUPERHERO Action Comics #1 in 1938 introduced Superman, the comics’ first costumed superhero. The sci-fi pulps-inspired Superman was created by two eager and unknown boys from Cleveland, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and published by National Periodical Publications (later known as DC Comics) under the editorship of Vin Sullivan. ■ HARBINGER #5: FIRST BATMAN Batman debuted in the aforementioned Detective Comics #27 in a story titled “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate,” written by Bill Finger, illustrated by Bob Kane and edited by Sullivan. Kane is credited as Batman’s sole creator, though many believe Finger’s indelible contributions merit co-creator credit.

■ HARBINGER #6: REVENGE MOTIF Perhaps there were revenge-themed origins prior to that of Batman in Detective Comics #33 (1939). But this one — in which young Bruce Wayne witnesses his parents’ murder in the street at the hands of a gunman — forcefully established the revenge motif which was a cornerstone, if not an outright cliche, of many Dark Age superhero origins.

■ HARBINGERS #7-8: FIRST X-RATED AND UNAUTHORIZED COMICS “Cheesecake” and pornographic comics were readily available during the Dark Age, but this was hardly new. The “two-backed beast”

intervention

Solving crises with Crisis on Infinite Earths

IF THE ADAGE “LESS IS MORE” IS WRONG — if, indeed, more is more — then DC Comics’ 1985 “maxi-series” Crisis on Infinite Earths was a lot more. More character crossovers. More character deaths. More new characters. A story that spans from the dawn of time to the 30th century, with visits to King Arthur’s day, the Old West and World War II. And a hot blonde in a peek-a-boo costume. Crisis on Infinite Earths was the opening salvo for the Dark Age of Comics for many reasons — for its obsession with crossover continuity; for its hit list of superhero deaths (notably those of Supergirl and the Flash); for the intense buzz it created; and especially, for its aftershocks, Opposite: Heroes which are still being felt. flail helplessly The creators of the series in the cosmos in — writer/editor Marv George Pérez’s art Wolfman; plotters Wolfman, for the back cover Robert Greenberger, Len of Crisis on Infinite Wein and George Pérez; penEarths #1 (1985). ciler Pérez; and inkers Dick Right: Another one Giordano (then a DC vice bites the dust in president), Mike DeCarlo and Crisis #7. Jerry Ordway — didn’t con[ © 2006 DC Comics ] ceal the fact that Crisis was a goal-oriented enterprise. The mission: Clean up the messy DC Universe, and do it in time for DC’s 50th anniversary. Dennis O’Neil was one DC editor who welcomed the streamlining. “Crisis on Infinite Earths was going on about the time that I came back to DC to take over the Batman franchise,” O’Neil told me in 2005. “That was a case of the thing just having gotten so unwieldy. There were so many different versions of all of the main characters. It was bad storytelling, because one of the things that makes superheroes good is that they’re unique. And if you have six Supermen running around the universe, then if this one gets in trouble, so what? There are five others. “That’s a storytelling problem which is unique to comics. No other medium has ever had to face that.” Wolfman explained the goals of Crisis in an essay he wrote which appeared in Crisis on Infinite Earths #1. “Change, real, permanent change, is on the way,” Wolfman promised readers. “Changes that will affect our top line of heroes. If you think even Superman is immune, you’re in for a big surprise. That’s a promise!” According to Wolfman, the idea for Crisis was born when reader Gary Thompson of Michigan pointed out a continuity gaffe in a letter in Green Lantern #143 (1981).

Born-again Batman Character, and industry, revitalized by series

Above: Panels of Bruce Wayne, Robin, Commissioner Gordon and Clark Kent from Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986). Opposite: A Dark Knight Returns page. Below: A member of the vigilante group ‘‘Sons of the Batman.’’ [ © 2006 DC Comics ] IT’S A BIT IRONIC THAT WITHIN A YEAR OF Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC Comics released two superhero series that proved to be the most memorable of the era — both of which wantonly brushed aside the freshstart continuity so painstakingly established by Crisis. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was set in a vague future in which Batman has been AWOL for 10 years. (Or was it a future? Ronald Reagan is president, after all.) Watchmen was set in an alternate present-day which introduced yet another set of superheroes (and, presumably, yet another Earth) with no connection to the pre- or post-Crisis DC universe. The best laid plans of mice and comic-book editors . . .

IT’S EASY TO UNDERESTIMATE or forget the impact that Batman: The Dark Knight Returns had on the medium of comics. Yes, by 1986, the industry was already well into an upswing in readership and quality. But writer/artist Miller’s powerful four-issue series (inked by Miller and Klaus Janson, colored by Lynn Varley) seduced former readers into trying comics again, and attracted new ones. For the first time — to a lot of these readers, at least — comics reflected the real world. The story of a bitter, alcoholic, directionless Bruce Wayne coaxed back into his old costume became a metaphor for old readers coaxed back into comics. Batman, and Batman fans, were born again.

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

BEGINNING IN 1979, MILLER’S BRIEF RUN penciling Spectacular Spider-Man won the attention of thenMarvel head Jim Shooter, which led to Miller winning the assignment to pencil Daredevil. Before long, Miller was plotting and then outright scripting the exploits of the blind, red-clad “Man Without Fear.” With Daredevil, Miller first exhibited his penchant for reinventing a superhero by basing him in a no-nonsense reality. Under Miller’s aegis, liberties were taken. One of the most memorable was the introduction of DD’s Irene Adler, foxy ninja Elektra. This approach reached its apex in The Dark Knight Returns, which teamed a gleefully uncompromising Batman with a wide-eyed female Robin and pitted them against a vicious street gang, the Joker and even Batman’s old buddy, Superman. “Batman is as good and pure a superhero as you can find,” Miller told Kim Thompson in The Comics Journal #101 (1985). “He’s actually a good character, as compromised as the idea has become, as corrupted by shifting political attitudes and 50 years of monthly publication. . . . What I’m trying to demonstrate in the Dark Knight series is that superheroes do come from a good idea, by portraying the city in somewhat more realistic terms and showing . . . the way I think things actually happen in society and why they happen.”

‘‘Accessibility and complexity’’

Artist Dave Gibbons on creating Watchmen JUST AS THE CONTRIBUTION WATCHMEN MADE TO the superhero comic book cannot be understated, neither can the contribution made to the series by British artist Dave Gibbons. DC Comics’ 12-issue “maxi-series” of 1986 and ’87, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Gibbons, challenged the way many creators and readers thought about the relationships among superheroes, their loved ones and adversaries — and exactly what goes on behind the masks. In clean, straightforward artwork, Gibbons brought alive the world envisioned by Moore — a world set in what was then the present day, but with cogent differences. Gibbons’ heroes were believable people with complicated emotions rather than the onedimensional costumed characters often associated with the genre. “It might sound immodest,” the artist told me during a 2005 conversation, “but looking back, even I am amazed at what I put into some of those pictures.”

Q: As the artist of Watchmen, you obviously took your role very seriously. There is so much going on in your artwork, so many little touches — the locales, the set decoration, what the characters are smoking, etc. Were you responding to Alan Moore’s script?

GIBBONS: Oh, yes. It was very much, probably, the best script that I’d ever worked on in my career. I mean, I knew that from the beginning. We obviously had no inkling of what sort of impact it would have, but I knew that it was an extremely well written script. There’s something about working with a writer like Alan. He puts so much of himself into it and visualizes it so clearly, essentially giving the artist a range of things to draw — or not draw. It actually raises the artist’s game.

Q: We take it you’ve worked with writers who weren’t so, let’s say, conscientious?

GIBBONS: (laughs) I mean, there’s nothing worse, as an artist, than being given a script where the writer hasn’t clearly thought out the visuals and hasn’t really taken much time in the writing of the script. It makes it a very hard job to actually rise, yourself, and do something worthwhile. But when you’re given a well written script, really, the pressure’s on you to put the same amount of effort into the artwork.

Q: But Watchmen is obviously not a case of “writer writes, artist draws.” There’s a lot of you in the story as well.

GIBBONS: I did have involvement, even before scripts were written out. Alan and I talked over the whole thing. I designed characters. I had a very clear idea of the kind of graphic look of the thing, the

DAVE GIBBONS

way that it would be done on the grid. While Alan was thinking a lot about the characters, I spent a lot of time thinking about how the world would be different — you know, different “fast foods,” different fashions, different comic book genres, stuff like that. So, yes, the combination of a wonderful script and a personal involvement from the ground up meant a great deal. It was hard, but there was nothing I ever would rather be doing at the time, you know?

Q: The legend goes that Watchmen began as a vehicle starring Charlton Comics characters. But since you were taking them in such a radical direction, it was decided that you would create new characters that were sort of inspired by the Charltons. GIBBONS: I think DC realized that having possibly paid a fair

AS THE

FLIES

How The Crow creator J. O’Barr mixed theater, religion – and despair

COMIC BOOKS DON’T COME MUCH DARKER THAN The Crow. The story of Eric — a dark-haired urbanite who returns from the dead to avenge his own murder, as well as the rape and murder of his fiance — The Crow debuted from Caliber Press in 1989 (later to be published by Tundra and Dark Horse). Writer/ artist J. O’Barr imbued the grim, surreal series with an unblinking intensity. The black-and-white comic books became a cult hit — so much so that in 1992, Carolco Studios began production on a film adaptation starring Brandon Lee (son of the late martialarts superstar Bruce Lee, who died in 1973) as Eric. But the following March, tragedy struck on the North Carolina set of The Crow; Lee was killed in a freak accident when a projectile was emitted from a stunt gun. He was 28. The majority of Lee’s scenes had been shot, though, and the film was completed. The Crow became the nation’s #1 film in its first week of release, grossing nearly $12 million. The Crow’s creator, Detroit native J. (for James) O’Barr, got to know Lee during the filming of The Crow. O’Barr reminisced about Lee and the creation of the Crow during a 1994 conversation. Q: The first Crow book came out in ’89, just prior the comic-book awareness bounce triggered by Tim Burton’s first Batman film.

O’BARR: The Batman movie caused me all kinds of trouble. All the printers were doing Batman material, and I couldn’t even get black ink for my covers for a while. They had to use “Midnight Blue” (ink) on them. Everything was geared only for Batman merchandise. Black ink was at a premium then. Now, I hope I’m doing the same thing to Batman. Q: How did the Crow character of Eric come to you?

O’BARR: Basically, I was just playing around with the makeup on the face. I was in England. On the side of a building was painted the three faces of the English theater, which were Pain, Irony and Despair. The smiling face was Irony. So that’s basically where the makeup came from. Physically, Eric is kind of a mixture of Iggy Pop and Peter Murphy.

Q: There is religious imagery, and some quasi-religious verse, in the pages of The Crow.

O’BARR: I tried to use a lot of Catholic symbolism in it.

J. O’BARR

Writer/ artist J. O’Barr in 1994.

[ Photo: Kathy Voglesong ]

The uncanny Jim Lee At home with original and classic heroes

WHEN JIM LEE’S EDGY X-MEN ARTWORK BURST onto comic book racks in the ’80s, fans had not seen anything like it. But within a few years, that’s all they saw. “I assume a lot of the artists who started adapting my style or incorporating elements of my style into their work were doing so because they liked it,” Lee said. “But I think also, because X-Men had become so big and so successful, maybe editors were asking for or seeking out talent that drew in a similar style. That was very flattering.” As well as exasperating. “On one hand,” Lee said, “there were people who were literally tracing drawings I had done, which wasn’t so kosher. “It kind of died out after three or four years, which was good. I think it was too much. It was everywhere. It kind of watered down what I was doing — made it less special, less unique.” A founder of Image Comics, Lee remained one of the industry’s most influential artists. His original creations include WildC.A.T.s and Gen13, but Lee also put his mark on mainstays such as Fantastic Four and Batman. His X-Men #1 in 1991 was one of the best-sellers of the Dark Age. Lee spoke during a 2003 interview. Q: You first came to the attention of the comic book world when you began drawing X-Men. Was that an exciting time for you?

LEE: That was a very exciting time. I was a huge X-Men fan as a kid. That was my favorite comic book. If I had a lifelong dream, it would have been to work on that title. When the opportunity came to do a fill-in issue, I leapt at it and gave it my all, and it turned out I got the final assignment. Q: Getting that gig must have flipped you out.

LEE: That was a very heady experience. I was still fairly young. It wasn’t that long ago that — I could still remember reading the comics and sitting around drawing the characters on the floor, you know, hanging out with my friends and talking about the characters, making up stories, whatever.

Oft-imitated artist Jim Lee. [ Photo: Kathy Voglesong ]

RAISING

Mike Mignola talks about summoning the demonic character

IT’S NOT HARD TO TRACE THE ORIGINS OF the pop-culture smorgasbord that is Hellboy. The red-skinned, stone-faced, trenchcoat-wearing avenger borrows from Captain America (he has World War II origins), The X-Files (he’s a paranormal investigator), the Fantastic Four’s orange-skinned Thing (he has a stone arm) and The Demon (Jack Kirby homages abound), among other sources. Opposite and right: Hellboy was summoned, er, created Mike Mignola’s by writer-artist Mike Mignola at a time flagship character when the creator-owned revolution was from The Art of hitting its stride. Hellboy debuted from Hellboy. [ © 2006 Dark Horse Comics in 1994. A demon Mike Mignola ] conjured for Nazi use but adopted by the U.S. Army, Hellboy (alter ego: Anung Un Rama) grew up to become an agent for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. Mignola discussed Hellboy and another memorable career moment — his quartet of covers for the 1988 “A Death in the Family” series, which presented the reader-approved death of Robin — during a 2005 conversation. Q: In the ’90s, there was a revolution in the realm of creatorowned characters. But yours seems to have caught on without the big hype. Hellboy kind of overtook a lot of his contemporaries among the creator-owned characters that sprung out of that early-to-mid-’90s period.

MIGNOLA: I mean, so much of the stuff that came out of Image — not to say anything bad about those guys as a whole — but there was so much hype and there was so much fanfare around that stuff. Hellboy came out small and certainly, for at least 10 years there, it was relatively steady. I didn’t expand it all over the place. I tried not to wear out my welcome. I just kind of kept my head down and did what I wanted to do. Nobody was more surprised than me when that worked.

Q: Let’s talk about all of the elements you brought into the character. I see some of the Captain America legend in Hellboy’s World War II origins. One of his arms reminds me of the Thing. I sometimes recog-

MIKE MIGNOLA

Writerartist J. O’Barr.

[ Photo by Kathy Voglesong ]

The Dark Age: Grim Great & Gimmicky Post-Modern Comics