Issuu

GOLDEN AGE IN BRONZE ISSUE! 2018

6 0 1 . No8.95 August

™

THE

JO N

TRE IN THE ’80s C E P &

s ’90

T BO L

82658 00125

ER, a.k.a. THU D N U ND TH

QUADRON INTER S R VI TA

S EW

ALL -S

THE ’70s REVIVAL OF THE JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA

ROY THOMAS headlines an all-star cast: GERRY CONWAY • RICK HOBERG • ARVELL JONES • BOB LAYTON PAUL LEVITZ • TOM MANDRAKE • DOUG MOENCH • JERRY ORDWAY • JOHN OSTRANDER • JOE STATON Justice Society and related characters TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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 comics-based 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!

BACK ISSUE #97

BACK ISSUE #98

BACK ISSUE #94

BACK ISSUE #95

BACK ISSUE #96

“Indie Super-Heroes!” NEAL ADAMS Ms. Mystic interview, Continuity Comics, BILL BLACK Captain Paragon interview, Justice Machine history, STEVEN GRANT/ NORM BREYFOGLE Whisper “Pro2Pro” interview, and the ’80s revivals of Mighty Crusaders and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. With BUCKLER, DEODATO, ELLIS, GRINDBERG, GUSTOVICH, ISABELLA, REINHOLD, ORDWAY, PÉREZ, & a NEAL ADAMS cover!

“Creatures of the Night!” Moon Knight’s DOUG MOENCH and BILL SIENKIEWICZ in a Pro2Pro interview, Ghost Rider, Night Nurse, Eclipso in the Bronze Age, I…Vampire, interviews with Batman writer MIKE W. BARR and Marvel’s Nightcat, JACQUELINE TAVAREZ. Featuring work by BOB BUDIANSKY, J. M. DeMATTEIS, DAVE SIMONS, ROGER STERN, TOM SUTTON, JEAN THOMAS, and more. SIENKIEWICZ and KLAUS JANSON cover!

“Marvel Fanfare Issue!” Behind the scenes of the ‘80s anthology series with AL MILGROM, interviews and art by ARTHUR ADAMS, CHRIS CLAREMONT, DAVE COCKRUM, STEVE ENGLEHART, MICHAEL GOLDEN, ROGER McKENZIE, FRANK MILLER, DOUG MOENCH, ANN NOCENTI, GEORGE PÉREZ, MARSHALL ROGERS, PAUL SMITH, KEN STEACY, CHARLES VESS, and more! Cover by SANDY PLUNKETT and GLENN WHITMORE.

(84 FULL-COLOR pages) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95

BACK ISSUE #99

BACK ISSUE #100

BACK ISSUE #101

“Bird People!” Hawkman in the Bronze Age, JIM STARLIN’s Superman/Hawkgirl team-up, TIM TRUMAN’s Hawkworld, Hawk & Dove, Penguin history, Blue Falcon & Dynomutt, Condorman, and CHUCK DIXON and SCOTT McDANIEL’s Nightwing. With GERRY CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, GREG GULER, RICHARD HOWELL, TONY ISABELLA, KARL KESEL, ROB LIEFELD, DENNY O’NEIL, and a GEORGE PÉREZ cover.

“DC in the ‘80s!” From the experimental to the fan faves: Behind-the-scenes looks at SECRET ORIGINS, ACTION COMICS WEEKLY, DC CHALLENGE, THRILLER, ELECTRIC WARRIOR, and SUN DEVILS. Featuring JIM BAIKIE, MARK EVANIER, DAN JURGENS, DOUG MOENCH, MARTIN PASKO, TREVOR VON EEDEN, and others! Featuring a mind-numbing Nightwing cover by ROMEO TANGHAL!

“BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES’ 25th ANNIVERSARY!” Looks back at the influential cartoon series. Plus: episode guide, Harley Quinn history, DC’s Batman Adventures and Animated Universe comic books, and tribute to artist MIKE PAROBECK. Featuring KEVIN ALTIERI, RICK BURCHETT, PAUL DINI, GERARD JONES, MARTIN PASKO, DAN RIBA, TY TEMPLETON, BRUCE TIMM, and others! BRUCE TIMM cover!

100-PAGE SPECIAL featuring Bronze Age Fanzines and Fandom! Buyer’s Guide, Comic Book Price Guide, DC’s Comicmobile, Super DC Con ’76, Comic Reader, FOOM, Amazing World of DC, Charlton Bullseye, Squa Tront, & more! ALAN LIGHT, BOB OVERSTREET, SCOTT EDELMAN, BOB GREENBERGER, JACK C. HARRIS, TONY ISABELLA, DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT, BOB LAYTON, PAUL LEVITZ, MICHAEL USLAN, and others!

ROCK ’N’ ROLL COMICS! Flash Gordon star SAM J. JONES interview, KISS in comics, Marvel’s ALICE COOPER, T. Rex’s MARC BOLAN interviews STAN LEE, PAUL McCARTNEY, Charlton’s Partridge Family, David Cassidy, and Bobby Sherman comics, Marvel’s Steeltown Rockers, Monkees comics, & Comic-Con band Seduction of the Innocent. With AMY CHU, JACK KIRBY, BILL MUMY, ALAN WEISS, and others!

(84 FULL-COLOR pages) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95

(84 FULL-COLOR pages) SOLD OUT! (Digital Edition) $4.95

(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

BACK ISSUE #102

BACK BACK ISSUE ISSUE #106 #103

BACK ISSUE #104

BACK ISSUE #105

MERCS AND ANTIHEROES! Deadpool’s ROB LIEFELD and FABIAN NICIEZA interviewed! Histories of Cable, Taskmaster, Deathstroke the Terminator, the Vigilante, and Wild Dog, plus… Archie meets the Punisher?? Featuring TERRY BEATTY, MAX ALLAN COLLINS, PAUL KUPPERBERG, BATTON LASH, JEPH LOEB, DAVID MICHELINIE, MARV WOLFMAN, KEITH POLLARD, and others! Deadpool vs. Cable cover by LIEFELD!

GOLDEN ALL-STARAGE EDITORS IN BRONZE! ISSUE! ’70s Past Justice and present Society editors revival reveal “How with two I Beat Pro2Pro the Dreaded interviews: All-Star Deadline Squadron’s Doom”! Plus: ROYARCHIE THOMAS, GOODWIN JERRY ORDWAY, and MARKand GRUENWALD ARVELL JONES retrospectives, (with a bonus E. NELSON RICK HOBERG BRIDWELLinterview), interview,and DIANA The interview, ALLAN ASHERMAN Spectre’s SCHUTZJOHN OSTRANDER and TOM revisits DC’s ’70s department, MANDRAKE. Plus:editorial Liberty Legion, Air Wave, Marvel Assistant Editors’Avenger, Month, and athe hisJonni Thunder, Crimson Spectre ’87! WOOD, tory of revival PERRYof WHITE! With anCOLAN, unpublished CONWAY, GIFFEN, GIORDANO, & more! ZECK! 1981 Captain America cover by MIKE

FOURTH WORLD AFTER KIRBY! Return(s) of the New Gods, Why Can’t Mister Miracle Escape Cancellation?, the Forever People, MIKE MIGNOLA’s unrealized New Gods animated movie, Fourth World in Hollywood, and an all-star lineup, including the work of JOHN BYRNE, PARIS CULLINS, J. M. DeMATTEIS, MARK EVANIER, MICHAEL GOLDEN, RICK HOBERG, WALTER SIMONSON, and more. STEVE RUDE cover!

DEADLY HANDS ISSUE! Histories of Iron Fist, Master of Kung Fu, Yang, the Bronze Tiger, Hands of the Dragon, NEAL ADAMS’ Armor, Marvel’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu mag, & Hong Kong Phooey! Plus Muhammad Ali in toons and toys. Featuring JOHN BYRNE, CHRIS CLAREMONT, STEVE ENGLEHART, PAUL GULACY, LARRY HAMA, DOUG MOENCH, DENNY O’NEIL, JIM STARLIN, & others. Classic EARL NOREM cover!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95

(84-page (84-pageFULL-COLOR FULL-COLORmagazine) magazine)$8.95 $8.95 (Digital Edition) (Digital$4.95 Edition) • Ships $4.95 July 2018

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 USA 919-449-0344 E-mail:

store@twomorrows.com

Order at twomorrows.com

Volume 1, Number 106 August 2018 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Joe Staton COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Dewey Cassell Luigi Novi Ed Catto Dennis O’Neil Gerry Conway Jerry Ordway DC Comics John Ostrander Robert V. Conte Trevor Pearson Doiby Dickles Amanda Powers Mark Evanier Thomas Powers Len Gould Shannon E. Riley Grand Comics Bob Rozakis Database Joe Staton Robert Greenberger Dann Thomas Jack C. Harris John Trumbull Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Mark Waid Heritage Comics John Wells Auctions Rick Hoberg VERY SPECIAL The Jack Kirby THANKS Collector Roy Thomas Arvell Jones Bob Layton Paul Levitz Tom Mandrake Brian Martin Robert Menzies Ian Millsted John Morrow

If you’re viewing a Digital Edition of this publication,

PLEASE READ THIS: This is copyrighted material, NOT intended for downloading anywhere except our website or Apps. If you downloaded it from another website or torrent, go ahead and read it, and if you decide to keep it, DO THE RIGHT THING and buy a legal download, or a printed copy. Otherwise, DELETE IT FROM YOUR DEVICE and DO NOT SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS OR POST IT ANYWHERE. If you enjoy our publications enough to download them, please pay for them so we can keep producing ones like this. Our digital editions should ONLY be downloaded within our Apps and at

www.twomorrows.com

FLASHBACK: Everything Gold is New Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The 1970s All-Star Comics revival and its youthful Super Squad UNKNOWN MARVEL: Bob Layton’s First Published Work for Marvel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 A new rotating department featuring Marvel UK rarities FLASHBACK: The Liberty Legion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Move over, Invaders! Here comes Roy Thomas’ other Marvel Golden Age team ROUGH STUFF: Marvel Two-in-One #20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 A close look at Jack Kirby’s cover art for Marvel’s Thing/Liberty Legion team-up FLASHBACK: Air Wave in the Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 A little-known Golden Ager makes a Bronze Age comeback PRO2PRO: Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway, and Arvell Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 An All-Star Squadron interview with the men who fell to Earth-Two INTERVIEW: Rick Hoberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 A chat with the All-Star Squadron artist PRINCE STREET NEWS: Welcome, Golden Agers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 A new cartoon by Karl Heitmueller, Jr. BEYOND CAPES: Jonni Thunder a.k.a. Thunderbolt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Remembering the Thomas/Giordano superhero/P.I. hybrid FLASHBACK: The Crimson Avenger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 DC’s first masked hero and his 1988 miniseries INTERVIEW: Doug Moench and the Spectre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 The first post-Crisis revival of the Ghostly Guardian PRO2PRO: John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 The Spectre team supreme discusses their take on the character BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Reader reactions BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $76 Economy US, $125 International, $32 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Joe Staton. Justice Society of America, All-Star Squadron, Jonni Thunder, the Spectre, and related characters TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2018 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

The Justice Society of America first appeared in Justice League of America #113 (Oct. 1974). We all know that’s not true, but just stay with me for a minute. The issue featured a team-up between the two groups that was really my first exposure to the JSA. The comic was also one of the giant-size 100-page beauties that DC was publishing at the time (see BI #81 for a thorough examination of those Super Spectaculars). So, in addition to the lead tale, there was also a reprint of a Golden Age adventure of the Society that came from All-Star Comics #41 (June–July 1948). I suspect a lot of other readers were first exposed to the JSA around that time—not as a group per se, since they had been teaming up with the JLA on an annual basis since issue #21 (Aug. 1963) of the League’s title, but as the stars of their own adventures. Justice League of America #110 (Mar.–Apr. 1974) before, and #115 (Jan.–Feb. 1975) after, also featured reprints of Golden Age Justice Society stories, but there was certainly little or no chance that we youngsters would have ever seen or in most cases been aware of the original comics. However, when the Justice Society returned to headline their own book once more with All-Star Comics #58 (Jan.–Feb. 1976), we were ready. Slight glitch here, though. When the JSA returned, they were, kind of, sort of, not really the stars of the book.

by B

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

It begins with the cover. In the Golden Age, the group never had a real logo on the cover of All-Star. Upon revival there was a little shield mid-right saying, “Featuring the Justice Society of America.” Great. Also, preceding that was “All-Star Comics presents… Super Squad!” To reinforce the idea, the JSA lay defeated in the foreground while the Squad races in to save them. Welcome back, guys. The Super Squad was not composed of total unknowns, for the most part. They consisted of the StarSpangled Kid, a Golden Age hero who had returned from limbo in Justice League #100– 102 (Aug.–Oct. 1972); the Earth-Two Robin, who had previously appeared in two JLA/JLA team-ups; and a new character identified on the banner atop the cover as Power Girl. The new group name came about because “I had this theory,” begins initial writer and editor Gerry Conway. “Putting out this book with the All-Star Super Squad would seem brand new and would gain more attention than putting out a book called Justice Society gerry conway of America, which people might confuse with the Justice League of America.” Courtesy of Gerry Conway. The creative team on this historical relaunch consisted of scribe Conway, Ric Estrada wielding the pencil, and industry legend Wally Wood finishing the art. Estrada has since passed away, but he commented in the All-Star Companion (ASC) vol. 3 that he got the job

Earth-Two Titans Make way, JSA, for the Super Squad! All-Star Comics #58 (Jan.–Feb. 1976), featuring the first appearance of Power Girl. Cover by Mike Grell. TM & © DC Comics.

2 • BACK ISSUE • Golden Age in Bronze Issue

rian Martin

because “my style was very direct and very simple—plus I happened to be available at the time.” Inside, the JSA does get the benefit of first appearance, as the six members showcased at the start (Flash, Hawkman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Wildcat, Dr. Fate, and Green Lantern) gaze at a computer screen as they evaluate a threat they received the day before. The computer confirms that three disasters will occur at different locations on Earth, and if allowed to happen could wipe out life on the planet. Suffice to say the heroes do not want this to happen and split up to handle these crises. Why those six to start with? “The ones I picked were my favorites of the JSA,” says Conway. “But also they were characters I thought had potential, characters who had interesting speech patterns and personality traits, characters I thought sat well with the kind of stories I wanted to tell.” The issue’s story structure mirrors the construction of early All-Star and Justice rik estrada League issues where the team would split up to handle various aspects of a DC Wikia.com. menace. In this case it also allows each JSA pairing to meet up with and to introduce one of the Super Squad. Further, it acted as a device for storyteller Conway. “I felt when you are introducing a bunch of what were new characters to most readers, the most effective way to get to the essence of them is to have them play off against one other character. You would have the contrast, have time to develop characterization, potential conflict, and so on.” Hawkman and Dr. Mid-Nite encounter the StarSpangled Kid in Seattle, Washington, as that Pacific Northwest city is struck by an earthquake. The Kid has been given a power boost since previous appearances when he was merely another youngster in a costume who fought crime. Here he is in possession of Starman’s Cosmic Rod, as the Golden Age crimefighter has bequeathed it to him while laid up with a broken leg. In Capetown, South Africa [“Capetown” in the comic but “Cape Town” in reality—ed.], Green Lantern and Dr. Fate meet up with Robin to combat a massive leak of fluorocarbons into the atmosphere, while Flash and Wildcat gain the assistance of Power Girl when a volcano erupts in Peking. Much has been written in many other places [including BI #33 and 71—ed.] about Power Girl’s costume and physical attributes, so we will merely quote Ric Estrada from ASC on his contribution to the character. “I do know they liked the way I drew women, because I had done a lot of romance stories. I drew girls sexy, but not too muscular like they became later. I think they gave me a prototype for the costume and I sort of slicked it up a bit.” [Editor’s note: That costume prototype was by Joe Orlando and was shown in BACK ISSUE #33.] Since this is the first-ever appearance of Power Girl, she explains to Flash and Wildcat that she is the cousin of their Earth’s Superman while citing a lack of time to relate her history. Conway tells BI his plans for an origin were not concrete, but “I wanted to portray her as much

Wise Guy Brainwave thinks up trouble for his arch-foes in ASC #58. By Conway/ Estrada/Wood. TM & © DC Comics.

Breakout Star We can’t take our eyes off of the dynamic Power Girl on this stunning Estrada/Wood art page from All-Star #58. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

Agents of Shield (left) Beginning with All-Star #59, the JSA’s shieldenclosed name got a bigger cover spotlight. (right) The villainous Vulcan has an axe to grind in issue #60. Covers by Ernie Chua. TM & © DC Comics.

more aggressive, assertive, and more of a feminist who would never have allowed herself to be put in a box the way Supergirl was. “So my thought was we were going to find out that she had developed into a young adult before she ever encountered Superman, and he tried to constrain her and she’s like, ‘No!’ And part of the definition of her character would have been that she didn’t take his name. She didn’t wear the Kryptonian symbol and wasn’t trying to be a female version of Superman.” Power Girl also reveals that she knows who is behind all these disasters, the Golden Age baddie Brainwave (alternately, Brain Wave). As well, she coins the term Super Squad (alternately, Super-Squad) to distinguish this new assemblage of heroes. The reader has been aware of Brainwave for a while, but still might have been a little confused as the villain shown behind the scenes is an impressive physical specimen while in his previous appearances he was portrayed as a small man with a large cranium. Before we move on, we must mention the letters page of the comic. Many comics sent out preview copies of new launches to established fans so they would have some early reactions to print. For the relaunch of All-Star, Conway did not even have to think about to whom to send copies. Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails were easily the two most famous fans of the Golden Age All-Star, and comments from both populated this first column. In the ASC Thomas and Conway mention that it was Thomas’ suggestion that prompted Conway to inquire about reviving the title, and that Conway offered to let Thomas ghost-write an issue, an offer Thomas declined since he wanted any JSA story he wrote to have his name on it. Conway’s story continues in the next issue with Robin determining that the gas leak is an illusion, while Star-Spangled Kid seals an earthquakecreated crevice. Since Power Girl had sealed the volcano in the previous issue, I think we can see a pattern developing. The various groups independently discover that Brainwave is operating from an orbiting satellite. As they converge, we find the reason for these disasters is so Brainwave can harness some of the released super-energy to revive a Golden Age ally of his, Degaton. Like Brainwave, the character in All-Star #59 bears little if any resemblance to his GA appearance, and also exhibits a genius level intellect he did not have before. The villainous duo employs a last-ditch doomsday weapon, but the Super Squad defeats them when Power Girl pushes the satellite closer to the sun. As it collapses, Brainwave shrinks back down to the bald,

bespectacled figure known in the Golden Age, his robust physique merely an illusion. That illusion would persist in the villain’s subsequent appearances, though, and eventually become the fighting togs of his son Brainwave, Jr. in later years. The deviation in the portrayal of Degaton is not given any explanation, though Gerry Conway mentions, “I didn’t feel any great commitment to following some ritualistic embracing of the mythology. I wanted to use what seemed good to me and ignore what didn’t.” The theme of a generational gap rears its head for the first time as the tale ends and the collection of heroes agrees to stay together under the Super Squad banner. Wildcat comments on how much the youngsters can learn from the old hands, prompting Power Girl to list off all of the contributions the “kids” made to the just-concluded adventure. Variations on this theme would underlie many tales in the series, with Conway commenting, “These are characters who have at least 20-to-25-year age differences and we definitely would have seen some conflict arise out of that, as well as some mentoring and some awkward friendships.” Though trumpeted on the first cover and prominently featured in the first two issues, strangely, Robin would not be a member after that. Gerry Conway feels, “I was probably urged to put in a Batman connection by publisher Carmine Infantino, but I just didn’t feel like he contributed anything to the story. It just wasn’t making it interesting. I was more interested in the Star-Spangled Kid and Power Girl, who had more personality to them and fulfilled some of the same functions.”

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

Continuing the generational theme, as issue #60 (May–June 1976) begins, charging down the hall of JSA headquarters in a foot race come Power Girl and the Flash. PG leads early, but Flash ends up the victor. However, winning the race was not the young Kryptonian’s objective— she’s looking for something else. Feeling the Society members still think of her as a kid, by forcing Flash to actually strain a little, Power Girl earns the modicum of respect she was really seeking. The villain of the piece this time around is an axe-wielding, armor-plated foe calling himself Vulcan, who breaks into JSA headquarters, battles a quartet of our heroes to a standstill, then leaves, setting the building on fire in the process! Concurrently, Green Lantern is pondering the dire financial straits his broadcasting company is in, but is interrupted by Dr. Fate. The duo

4 • BACK ISSUE • Golden Age in Bronze Issue

end up investigating the origin of Vulcan as Fate has received dire psychic emanations that lead them to an Army base where they discover that Vulcan was originally a hero-idolizing astronaut who was involved in a terrible accident and blames his hero worship for his condition. With Vulcan’s attack on the JSA rationalized, Lantern and Fate track him to a city rooftop, but the battle ends when the villain causes an entire building to collapse on Fate. The first creative change happens with this issue as a young Keith Giffen replaces Estrada as penciler, even though Giffen stated in that ASC, “I was just the layout artist. I can make a claim to some design work, the pacing of the story… then Woody would come along with his people and work his magic over the top of it.” Giffen’s stay would be slightly longer than Estrada’s, but not by much. During this tale, another facet of the advancing age of the Society members rears its head. As the group stands outside their burning headquarters, watching the firemen do their duty, Flash’s wife Joan arrives, worried about his welfare since he’s “not a young man anymore.” To placate her, he leaves with her. Not an everyday occurrence in superhero tales, to be sure. “This is a guy who’s in his late 40s, early 50s,” relates Conway. “His family is his touchstone. At one point the JSA would have been, but now his wife is. Having him leave with his wife made sense to me. The focus was intended to shift to those younger keith giffen characters. The kind of stories I wanted to tell were designed for the readers who were DC.Wikia.com. closer to my age.” Green Lantern summons the rest of the Society away from this scene to help dig out Dr. Fate. They do so, but their colleague is dangerously close to death. All current members of the team help except one. Power Girl has impetuously flown off on her own, a characteristic this fledgling creation would exhibit quite frequently early on. She has discovered a downed spacecraft and finds the creature within was actually responsible for the creation of Vulcan. When she brings the two together, the enraged axeman barbecues the alien on the spot. Luckily, he revealed Vulcan’s weakness to PG beforehand and the villain is defeated. The tale does not end happily, though, as Dr. Mid-Nite proclaims it will take a miracle to save Dr. Fate. Issue #62 (Sept.–Oct. 1976) begins with another creator change. With credits reading, “Gerry Conway – plot, Paul Levitz – patter [script], Keith Giffen – pacing [layouts], Wally Wood – pictures [finishes],” besides formalizing the demarcation of artistic duties that Giffen commented on previously, it also marks the final Conway contribution, as he had since departed DC to go back to Marvel. Paul Levitz, who had been Conway’s assistant editor from the series’ inception, would author the rest of the run and continue Conway’s plotlines, though he tells BACK ISSUE, “I don’t recall any specific conversations with Gerry about subplots. It’s certainly possible he mentioned his thoughts as he turned in his issues.” As they try everything they can to save their colleague, a clue sends a freshly returned Flash with Green Lantern off to Egypt, the place where Dr. Fate was “born.” The remaining heroes are sidetracked by the revival of a Lemurian wizard

As Seen on the CW… …Supergirl racing the Flash—Bronze Age Earth-Two style! Power Girl puts Jay Garrick through the paces on the opener of ASC #60. By Conway/ Giffen/Wood. TM & © DC Comics.

JSA HQ—and a Super-Squinter! From All-Star #62 (Sept.–Oct. 1976), a look at the team’s headquarters, plus the return of the Golden Age Man of Steel. Written by Conway and Levitz, art by Giffen and Wood. TM & © DC Comics.

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

[Editor’s note: UnKnown Marvel is a new, rotating department, written by Robert Menzies and examining rarities from Marvel’s UK division of the Bronze Age. UnKnown Marvel will return in BI #110.] They say that you should never meet your heroes, but perhaps the reverse is truer: maybe heroes should never meet their fans! It really wasn’t my intention to make Bob Layton squirm at his early artistic efforts. If that wasn’t enough, I also made him feel the weight of his years, not only through the art but by presenting him with a cake on his 63rd birthday. Bob, characteristically, coped with my terrible welcome to Scotland with his usual good humor. The MCM Scotland 2016 con, over the weekend September 24–25, 2016, was the fourth con where I had encountered Bob but his first trip to my homeland. Bob also graciously accepted my invitation to a meal—at his request, at a vegetarian restaurant—with some members of the Scottish comic scene after our interview. I spent most of the Glasgow con in Bob’s company and he clearly appreciates his fans and consciously embraces the idea that comics creators have a debt to repay. He is especially encouraging and positive with young fans—for instance, one of his “rules” is not to charge young fans for sketches. On the Friday prior to the con I arranged for him to meet Ben Wright, a young fan and the son of a work colleague, and when Ben was too ill to appear, he suggested we film a video message and send it to Ben. It was a spontaneous and genuine gesture that was much appreciated. On Sunday, a slightly seedy Ben met Bob and commented that Bob made him feel “amazing.” The one problem that weekend was caused by British Airways, which lost Bob’s portfolio on Friday on his way from Florida. All his commissions, sketches, and prints worth many thousands of dollars were in the portfolio, which appeared to be hiding somewhere in London’s Gatwick Airport. BA couldn’t locate it on Friday night… …or Saturday, which meant that Bob didn’t make a bean with sketches or prints and had to repeatedly apologize to fans. By Sunday morning Bob was understandably and inevitably becoming less forgiving and posted the following message on Twitter: “Don’t understand how British Airways totally lost my bag in post 9/11 era. I urge FAA Safety Brief and DHSgov to investigate their procedures!” At the mention of the Federal Aviation Authority and the Department of Homeland Security, BA managed to find the bag within the next half hour. Coincidence? Bob didn’t think so! Despite the recovery, the portfolio did not arrive until 9 p.m. that night, so Sunday was also a washout. Hopefully, Bob will return and Scottish fans— including Ben Wright—will be able to get a sketch from him. This interview took place in City Centre Comics, Glasgow, on Friday, September 23, 2016. The owner, Chris O’Brien, and I had covered the walls with comics with Layton covers. Bob, unsurprisingly, loved it. – Robert Menzies

In an Alternate Reality… Layton’s very first published Marvel art, part 1: The Avengers and the Savage Sword of Conan #135 (Apr. 17, 1976). Marshall Rogers pencils, Layton inks, on a new title page for a story reprinted from The Avengers #85 (Feb. 1971). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

14 • BACK ISSUE • Golden Age in Bronze Issue

by R o b e r t

Menzies

Hanging Around Layton’s very first published Marvel art, part 2: Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes #166 (Apr. 17, 1976). Michael Nasser pencils, Layton inks. Bob and Mike also worked together on backup stories in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #222 (Dec. 1976) and 233 (Nov. 1977). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

ROBERT MENZIES: The purpose of this interview is to look at your first published work for Marvel, Bob, a small pool of art that even the hardcore British fans were unaware of until Jason Schachter began his research. BOB LAYTON: [looking at comics on the table] Are these UK editions? Oh, my God! MENZIES: I don’t think you’ve seen these comics in 40 years. LAYTON: I’m so glad we’re on audio only, so you can’t see my expression now! MENZIES: [ironic tone] Unfortunately, this art will feature in the article. LAYTON: That’s okay. I can deal with it. In my early days at Marvel, that’s how many of us got little pieces of work here and there and worked out our drawing problems, by doing the re-done splash pages for the UK comics. MENZIES: So you were aware of the British department? LAYTON: Oh, yeah. A lot of us… me, Marshall Rogers, Joe Rubinstein—you can go down a list of guys—all started by doing those. The earliest pencil work I ever got was doing those UK things because they didn’t care, I guess, what you guys got! [laughs] So you just got whatever crap young artist was there to redo the splash page alongside the work of giants. MENZIES: Can you walk me through your early career so we can contextualize the British art? You and Roger Stern worked on the Charlton Bullseye fan magazine and that led you to be Wally Wood’s assistant. How does the British work fit into that? LAYTON: I started my first work at Charlton because Woody lived down years later at a con and apologized to the street in Derby, Connecticut [home of him in person. [laughs] Charlton Comics—ed.]. I was inking books MENZIES: Even if you concede that the issue at Charlton—badly—and at the same looks bad, which I don’t, I was under time I was working as Woody’s assistant, the impression that the Crusty Bunkers bob layton so my first published work was with [Continuity’s tag-team of deadline-busting Charlton. [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE inkers—ed.] did a lot of that issue… #100 for more about Charlton Bullseye.] Chris James. LAYTON: But they weren’t the MENZIES: How long were you Wood’s assistant? Crusty Bunkers, they were the Artificial Crusty Bunkers. LAYTON: About nine months. Then Woody retired. They were all the ones who weren’t good enough At that point Dick Giordano took me under his wing and to become Crusty Bunkers… yet. It was Bob McLeod, I went to work for him at Continuity Associates. Joe Rubinstein, myself, Bob Wiacek, all of those guys. MENZIES: Do you remember when it was you were MENZIES: But you all had successful careers. Wood’s assistant? LAYTON: Yeah, but at the time we were just snotty-nosed LAYTON: ’75, ’76. [pauses] I’m so damn old! kids who were up there at Continuity and weren’t good MENZIES: Iron Man #91 is the first US comic you inked. enough for primetime, as they say. We were still learning It’s dated October 1976. All your British art predates that, our craft. That didn’t stop me from doing that [asking Romita for the inking job on Iron Man #91], and it with perhaps one exception. LAYTON: I’ve told that story about the very first Iron actually turned out to be one of the smartest things I Man a million times in a million different interviews. ever did because back then they appreciated someone So just go find any other interview I did and find the who would get something in on time. They were willing bit where I talk about my very first job at Marvel. to sacrifice a great deal of quality for punctuality. [laughs] [Interviewer’s note: Bob overheard John Romita, Sr. Three days, we did that book. trying to find an inker and boldly said he could do it MENZIES: I’d like to look at your forgotten art. I have before the impending deadline.] I found George Tuska to pause here to make clear that we have Jason Schachter

MTIO Revisited Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes #172 (May 29, 1976). Layton inks. Faithfully redrawn from the page 1 splash of Marvel Two-in-One #11 (Sept. 1975). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15

MENZIES: That’s the only piece of the five where we have the original art to confirm the artists. LAYTON: Then again, I look at the metal and there’s little Bob Layton metal thingies in there, so you’re probably right. Who am I to argue with Jeff? MENZIES: That splash is a reimagining of this panel from Captain Marvel #28. LAYTON: Jim did it way better. I loved that stuff Starlin was doing. It was very exciting. He was from the generation just before me. There was a whole bunch of guys who came out of Detroit. Him and Al Milgrom, Keith Pollard, Rich Buckler, Arvell Jones. They were like a year, two years, ahead of us in terms of waves of creators. MENZIES: Did you ever bump into them? LAYTON: Oh, yeah. We all knew each other. It was inevitable. You’ve got to remember Marvel poker games! Before that generation came in, everyone looked like IBMers. They all had short white-sleeved dress shirts and they always wore a jacket when they came in to work. There was a huge age gap, and that was part of the problem. When all of us “punks” came in, the old school really resented a lot of us. We were just a rowdy bunch of whatever. I remember one day I came up to Marvel and there was Jim Owsley, all right, and he’s got one of those 17-inch Angela Davis afros, right, and he’s in shorts and roller-skates going down the hallway with a marker pen. And he’s got his boom box with him and he’s drawing on the walls while he’s roller-skating down the hallway! And I said, “This is the place I wanna work!” He wasn’t high, but my generation that came in, we were really tasked with redefining Marvel for another generation. MENZIES: Last one, your first full art for Marvel. This is a poster that appeared in Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes #191 (Oct. 6, 1976). Triton, Black Bolt, and Medusa are wearing their classic outfits but the costume Maximus is wearing is informative. It is clearly the costume created by Neal Adams and only worn by Black Bolt’s brother in Amazing Adventures #5 and 6 (Mar. and May 1971) and Avengers #95 (Jan. 1972). [Interviewer’s note: In British reprint time, that is The Titans #5 and 6 (Nov. 22 and 29, 1975) and The Mighty World of Marvel #206–208 (Sept. 8–22, 1976).] LAYTON: Okay, I’m pretty sure this is actual size. [Interviewer’s note: Close, but not quite. Art was reduced to 93% of the original art.] I can tell it was me. Look at the Zip-A-Tone. I was apesh*t about that. I learned it from Wally Wood. This was my first full art for Marvel. I was trying so hard to ink like other Marvel people. Dick Giordano always had a great expression. He’d say, “You become good at your craft the day you stop trying to be someone else.” ’Cause we all start out trying to be someone else. And it’s really true. Look at Bill Sienkiewicz, as an example. He started out drawing like Neal Adams. Look at him now! He’s like one of the most brilliant artists that ever worked in this business. But he got good the day he quit trying to be Neal. I always wanted to be Dick Giordano or Joe Sinnott, because to me, that was Marvel inking. I’m trying so desperately to make my lines look like theirs, you know, and there’s a point, one day, when I said, “To hell with it! I know what to do,” and you just kinda make it your own at that point. This was back when I was still struggling to be somebody else. [examining the art] I remember all that stuff because it was really cool because I was such an Avengers fan. Neal’s Avengers was awesome. MENZIES: You’ve obviously either been looking at Neal Adams art or influenced by it because the Maximus depicted there, as I said,

Dinner Party Bob, first right, with a contingent of the Scottish comic scene. Left to right: Chris O’Brien, owner of City Centre Comics; James Lundy, owner of Edinburgh Comic Con; Mark Brogan, fan; John McShane, one of the main figures in the Scottish comic world for decades; and the author, Robert Menzies, second right. Chris James.

is a short-lived Neal Adams design. It only appeared in three issues. LAYTON: Again, Robert, you’re giving me way too much credit for putting conscious thought into this. [laughs] I wish I had put that much actual thought into it. It was just, “Oh, my God, I get to draw something and I get the money!” It was way fun. I also remember that it went into the ether after that because, like I said, I never saw the published comics. But the fact that I got to draw something [was great]. You can tell it’s me, it’s just really bad me. Here’s how you can tell. Look at Medusa’s hair. I went to work for Dick Giordano and one of Dick’s fortes was doing hair. You could always tell his Wonder Woman, she had great flowing hair. Something Dick was just amazing at. So eventually, I learned that technique from him. That looks like she’s wearing a giant cotton candy on top of her head. MENZIES: So, what would you do differently now? LAYTON: Well, I would draw it like hair! [laughs] MENZIES: I walked into that one! LAYTON: I was like, 19 years old at the time. [Interviewer’s note: Bob was actually 22.] I was fortunate to be doing anything. The backgrounds are great. See the Wally Wood influence? He gave me a whole bunch of his little photographic dots and so I used them whenever I could. Until I ran out of them. MENZIES: Looking at the publication date and how long it took to bring out a comic, maybe eight to ten weeks, this seems to be roughly the same time as Iron Man #91. The others are all months earlier. LAYTON: That’s when, ’76? So that’s 40 years ago… you may have to carry me to the restaurant! [laughs] Well, that’s the story of my British art. I’m sorry there’s nothing more glamorous about it. I can pretty much assure you that all my samples back then were equally lame. But why did Wally Wood take me on? Why did Dick take me on? I think they saw something there, they saw the germ of something. Hopefully with time this guy will be able to draw people like human beings. They were right, obviously, but I’m just saying thank goodness that they had the wherewithal to see that I might develop into a viable commercial talent. A massive thank-you goes out to Bob Layton, Chris O’Brien of City Centre Comics, and photographer Chris James. Also thanks to Mark Brogan, James Lundy, John McShane, and the Wright family—Brian, Audrey, and Ben. This interview wouldn’t have happened without the tireless investigative work of Jason Schachter. Thank you, Jason. ROBERT MENZIES saw one of Bob Layton’s first published Marvel artworks—the Spidey splash—the day it came out, although he didn’t know it for 40 years.

18 • BACK ISSUE • Golden Age in Bronze Issue

by D e w e y

Cassell

When it comes to athletes, musicians, and actors, there are some good second- and third-tier ones that get overshadowed by the stars in their field. You never hear much about them and they often fade into obscurity without ever receiving their due, in spite of whatever strengths they bring to their endeavors. Comic-book characters are no different. The Golden Age of Comics brought us Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman, household names even today, but it also brought us characters you probably never heard of, like the Gay Desperado and Zanzibar the Magician. However, sometimes comic-book characters get a second chance. In May 1975, Marvel Comics launched The Invaders, the brainchild of editor and writer Roy Thomas, its first issue cover-dated August 1975. The Invaders featured the heroic exploits of the Golden Age stars of Marvel (then called Timely)—Captain America and Bucky, Human Torch and Toro, and Sub-Mariner—set against the backdrop of the Second World War. Early reaction to The Invaders was positive, so Thomas looked for a way to expand on the idea. Thus was born the Liberty Legion. The first Liberty Legion story weaved its way through The Invaders issue #5 and 6 and Marvel Premiere issues #29–30. Issue #5 (Mar. 1976) of The Invaders depicted Captain America, Human Torch, Toro, and Sub-Mariner captured and hypnotized by the villainous Red Skull. The Skull leaves Bucky behind because the lad does not possess any special powers, saying what readers have probably long thought themselves: “You were merely a mascot—a camp-follower—and I’ve no use for you.” The [former] Invaders wreak havoc under the Skull’s control. So Bucky recruits a new team to do battle with his old friends, using a radio program to plead with the other “heroes of America” to answer the call. Roy Thomas explains the origins of the new team’s name: “Back when I was about 12 or so, the very early ’50s, I made up a comic. It was about 60 or 70 pages that I wrote and drew. It was very crude stuff, but it told a story called the Liberty Legion. It was mostly made-up characters, although I think I had a character who looked just like the old Atom and I called him Tornado, and I think Green Lantern was in it. I don’t know why I used him. Then, two or three years later, I had this idea about a crossover comic book between DC and what I always thought of as Marvel or Atlas, and two or three other companies. This would have been about 1955. By that time, the Human Torch and Captain America had been discontinued. So I made up this group that was like the surviving heroes of comics. It was Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman from DC, Sub-Mariner, Plastic Man, and Blackhawk (without his other Blackhawk members), and the Blue Beetle, who was on his last legs at Charlton after having been revived, as well as the character Crimebuster. Sluggo from the Little Wise Guys and Daredevil comics was sort of their mascot. I did this whole comic, wrote it all out and drew it and even colored some of it, and it was called the Liberty Legion. Then about ’63

Homefront Heroes Bucky faces front on the cover to the first of two Marvel Premiere appearances for the Liberty Legion. MP #29 (Apr. 1976) cover by Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 19

The airwaves got a little more crowded in 1941 when the FCC approved FM radio for commercial use. Touted for its higher sound quality than AM, the band Steely Dan would later proclaim in their 1978 hit “FM” that there was “no static at all.” The same didn’t hold true for a certain DC Comics hero introduced in December 1941’s Detective Comics #60, but Air-Wave got along just fine for nearly seven years. Clad in a green and yellow costume with antennae on his hood and a lightning bolt on his chest, the hero unnerved crooks by broadcasting his voice through metal objects like a gun. “I developed this belt radio to draw the natural radio-electric energy that exists all around us,” he declared in his debut. “It powers my radio set. My antennae enable me to hear conversations miles away and to send my voice by microphone. When I want to speed, I use these retractable skate-wheels on my boots.” The skates were also useful for what became an Air-Wave trademark: racing along electrical wires strung high in the air. The newcomer was really Larry Jordan, a law clerk who wore glasses and a fake mustache in the offices of District Attorney Cole. Seven episodes into the feature (Detective #66), Cole was murdered and Larry was named his replacement. (Ironically, Air-Wave had already displaced another D.A. when his feature replaced the long-running “Steve Malone, District Attorney” strip.) With Cole’s demise and the exit of recurring nemesis Professor Gurn (’Tec #61, 65), the supporting cast was reduced to a chatterbox parrot named Static whom Air-Wave picked up in Detective #64. Together they fought the likes of Doctor Silence (’Tec #77), Snake Eyes (’Tec #88), the Beam (’Tec #113), and an array of nondescript crooks. By the time the feature ended in 1948’s Detective #137, the duo was dealing with bicycle thieves. Believed to have been created by either Mort Weisinger or Murray Boltinoff, Air-Wave began and ended his career with the pencils and inks of Harris Levy (signing his work as “Lee Harris”). After he joined the military in 1942, Levy ceded the art assignment to his friend George Roussos (Detective #75–112, 1943–1946). The latter’s tenure is perhaps the most memorable of the feature’s run, less for his line art than the often groundbreaking color techniques he employed. A Roussos Air-Wave story was reprinted more than two decades later in 1971’s Superman #245 (a 100-Page Super Spectacular) and reprint editor E. Nelson Bridwell kept the Air-Wave love coming when he included a 1942 Levy-illustrated tale in 1972’s World’s Finest Comics #212.

AIR WAVE’S BRONZE AGE DEBUT

One can’t help but sense Bridwell’s hand in the eventual revival of the hero in October 1977’s landmark Green Lantern #100 (cover-dated Jan. 1978). GL was, after all, Hal Jordan, and the continuity-oriented ENB (assistant to editor Julius Schwartz) must have surely posited a relationship with the earlier Larry. If that was the case, though, GL #100 scripter Denny O’Neil has no recollection of it. “Alas, I remember little of the Air Wave saga,” he tells BACK ISSUE, “and what I do remember might not be accurate. Anyway, here’s what I think happened: Somewhere along the line, I became aware of AW. Maybe I remembered him from my comics-reading childhood, maybe I found him while rummaging through DC’s library. He seemed like a lightweight and maybe his obscurity wasn’t undeserved. But something in him seemed deserving of another chance, so I gave him one. I don’t recall what parts Julie and Nelson played in all this.” O’Neil revealed early into issue #100’s tale that the Golden Age crimebuster had died in the 1960s. Larry’s legacy was carried on by a teenage son who took the Air Wave name (note the lack of hyphen), but roller-skates and a loquacious parrot wouldn’t cut it in the 1970s. Instead, the novice utilized helmet-based technology conceived by his

Air Wave Tunes In Our young hero’s debut, on the cover of Green Lantern #100 (Jan. 1978). Cover art by Mike Grell. TM & © DC Comics.

26 • BACK ISSUE • Golden Age in Bronze Issue

by J o

hn Wells

dad to literally transform into electrical energy. “It enables me to travel along any radio, radar, or television wave,” the young man explained. What Air Wave II lacked was experience. After mistakenly punching Green Lantern and getting socked in return, the kid admitted that he didn’t have “the remotest notion of how a super-hero is supposed to do his thing.” GL generously volunteered to mentor the kid and they joined forces to defeat a villain-for-hire called Master-Tek, who was soaking up broadcast energy and expelling it as waves of force. Afterwards, Air Wave revealed to GL that he’d deduced his civilian identity… with the kicker that he was also named Hal Jordan! Reflecting on the plot twist, Green Lantern realized that the teenager must be the son of his Uncle Larry. “I’m pretty sure [that idea came from] Julie,” Bob Rozakis tells BACK ISSUE. “It’s the kind of thing he would suggest, particularly if Nelson Bridwell told him the two were cousins.” The revival of Air Wave ultimately came down to his surname. If Larry had been named anything other than Jordan, the GL story and everything that followed would never have happened. In fact, the story itself almost hadn’t happened. When Green Lantern was revived in May 1976, the intention was for Denny O’Neil to write and edit three issues with co-star Green Arrow. After that, Julius Schwartz would take over the editing with issue #93 and switch to GL solo adventures. Once new DC publisher Jenette Kahn saw sales figures on the first issue of the revival, however, she insisted that Green Arrow had to stay. Consequently, a two-page epilogue was tacked onto GL #93 that returned the Ace Archer to the book.

By that point, O’Neil had already written a script for Green Lantern #94, one that introduced a new regular partner for the Emerald Crusader who was as far removed from Green Arrow as possible. When Green Lantern #100 appeared on his schedule a year later, Julius Schwartz saw an opportunity. He was already sitting on an unpublished Green Arrow/Black Canary meant for 1st Issue Special in early 1976. By doing a double-sized issue for GL #100, he could use that and the Air Wave story meant for issue #94. He just had to get it illustrated. Enter Alex Saviuk, a recent graduate of New York City’s School for Visual Arts. The artist had done only a few short stories to that point, the most recent of which had been a two-page horror piece for editor Murray Boltinoff. “I was doing this Neal Adams thing where I was staggering the panel sizes and having characters’ heads breaking the panel borders, etc.” Saviuk detailed to Keith Dallas in The Flash Companion (2008). “And Murray hated it!” Saviuk continued. “He said, ‘Oh, this is terrible! It’s so hard to read! It’s hard to follow.’ And he brought it in to show to [then-art director] Vince Colletta and within minutes Murray—may he rest in peace, and that’s probably why I’m getting away with telling this story—Murray came back and he looked in a bit of a huff, so I wanted to avoid him at all costs. Vince then called me into his office and he said, ‘Hey, kid, I just saw your story. It looked great!’ I said, ‘Gee, thanks! I don’t think Murray really liked it.’ Vince said, ‘Well, don’t worry about that. Hey, how would you like to draw Green Lantern?’ And I literally said, ‘What?’ ” Colletta explained that the book’s regular artist Mike Grell was otherwise occupied with drawing an upcoming Legion of Super-Heroes tabloid and they needed a

Hero in Training (left) Splash from Green Lantern #100, showing Air Wave tangling with Master-Tek. (right) Green Arrow tutors Air Wave in Green Lantern #104 (May 1978). By O’Neil/Saviuk/ Colletta. TM & © DC Comics.

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 27

It was much more than a Justice Society of America revival. When Roy Thomas, whose name was second only to Stan Lee’s as THE Marvel Comics writer/editor, vacated the House of Ideas for DC Comics in 1981, one of his projects was a World War II-based series featuring not just the JSA but just about every character that ever graced a DC book during comics’ Golden Age. The result was All-Star Squadron, a monthly title premiering with a Sept. 1981 cover date (after a preview the month prior in Justice League of America #193), blending retroactive DC continuity with US and world history. The series enjoyed a run of 67 issues with three Annuals, plus a spin-off (Infinity, Inc.) and a continuation (Young All-Stars). Initially drawn by penciler Rich Buckler and inker Jerry Ordway, ASS (insert your own sophomoric gag here) witnessed a squadron of amazing illustrators during its run, including Arvell Jones, who joined Roy, Jerry, and me (as moderator) for this panel at HeroesCon in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 17, 2017. – Michael Eury roy thomas MICHAEL EURY: Any objections to my © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia. recording this for transcription in BACK ISSUE? ROY THOMAS: How about recording it for Alter Ego? [laughter] JERRY ORDWAY: I’d like to record it for the FBI… [laughter] EURY: I’m Michael Eury, the editor of BACK ISSUE magazine, and I am honored to bring you to Earth-Two today and introduce to you our All-Star Squadron panel. We’ll start with Arvell Jones. [applause] Then Jerry Ordway. [applause] And last, but not least… Roy Thomas. [applause] Before we get started, let’s observe a moment of silence to remember Rich Buckler, the original artist of this series, who passed away on May 19th. [silence] Thank you. Roy, we’re going to start with you. You’ve told this story many times before, but for the record, how did All-Star Squadron come about? THOMAS: I just wanted to do it, you know. I had just left Marvel, and DC wanted to keep me happy but they didn’t really want a Justice Society comic, because the Justice Society comic that Paul Levitz had been writing at the end had just died in the previous year or two, and I didn’t really want to revive it. I loved that group, but just bringing it back again a year or two later… I could have done it, but… I had been doing Invaders at Marvel for a number of years and I just got into the thing where I sort of liked doing World War II comics. I didn’t want to just write the Justice Society, I wanted to write everybody. Everybody, every character that ever existed at DC, maybe a few more. So I talked them into the idea of the All-Star Squadron, and that’s how it happened. It was a good seller for the first couple of years. When Ordway wandered off it didn’t help anything, but we struggled on. Arvell came aboard and we had some other good artists. It did okay. If it hadn’t been for that damn Crisis,

The Gang’s All Here… …and if they’re not, eventually they’ll show up in All-Star Squadron. Cover to issue #1 (Sept. 1981) by Rich Buckler. TM & © DC Comics.

32 • BACK ISSUE • Golden Age in Bronze Issue

by M i c h a e l

Eury

transcribed by Brian Martin

it might still be going. We’d be up to about issue three or four hundred and I might even have gotten to 1943. [laughter] EURY: Was there any opposition to setting it during World War II? Because the last time the Justice Society had been seen, they were set in contemporary times. THOMAS: No, there really wasn’t a lot. I think probably because the previous JSA comic, having just failed in the present, made it easier for me to do despite the fact that Invaders had never been a huge hit. I was not under the illusion that All-Star Squadron was going to be the biggest hit ever—that was not my interest. I had very little interest in my audience anymore. If my audience was interested in what I wanted to do, and I had made them interested enough for me to make a living… but other than that, I had zero interest in writing comics for anybody except myself. But I had to fool the publisher and the editor into thinking that I did, and it sort of worked. It was a reasonably popular comic, and I think I probably did some things that didn’t make it more popular. Like having a cast of 80 people, or maybe not focusing on the same four or five or six over and over, but that wasn’t my interest. You know, I was interested in a tapestry, not just the usual group where you’ve got four or five people and a few others. I wanted to be dealing with everybody, and I was aware how risky that was and that it might not work. It lasted [67] issues, and then the Young All-Stars for another 30 issues after that. It wasn’t a bad run, and again, if it hadn’t been for Crisis it probably would have limped along, gotten back on track, and done well again. I was very lucky in the artists that I had. Buckler and Jerry in the beginning, then Jerry turned out he could actually draw! [laughter] First when they wanted him to, they said Jerry’s going to draw it, and I said, “Whaaat!?” We knew he could ink, and then I saw a few pages that great. Then I went to Arvell and a few other people later on to pick up the slack after Jerry left. In between we had Rick Hoberg, who did a really nice job for a while, and a few other people.

EURY: Adrian Gonzales… [Adrian Gonzales penciled issues #6–18 as well as Annual #1.] THOMAS: Yeah, Adrian Gonzales, he was really good, and especially, of course, there Jerry became really important, because Adrian did a pretty good job of storytelling and Jerry tied it together to give it that slick look. Well, he’ll tell you more about it. ORDWAY: Right. Adrian didn’t really have the same connection. I’d already been on it for a while, so I kind of understood the main characters and their appeal or whatever. So I think that was a big deal. Also costumes. I still think of that when I’m doing a sketch. THOMAS: I was a little particular about costumes. ORDWAY: But you know what, it made me think about it, too. I was drawing the Golden Age Green Lantern recently and I was like, “Wait, he’s left-handed,” and I remember that because— THOMAS: I don’t remember that. ORDWAY: —I always thought about it. Then Jade became left-handed with Infinity, Inc. THOMAS: You remember that?

Some Assembly Required (left) Rich Buckler/ Dick Giordano cover for the All-Star Squadron preview story in Justice League of America #193 (Aug. 1981). (right) Original art page from the preview by Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

FDR’s Super Seven (bottom) President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a recurring player in the pages of Thomas’ All-Star Squadron. Panels from issue #1. (top) The book’s original lineup, from #1: Plastic Man, Dr. Mid-Nite, the Atom, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, Hawkman, and Robotman. Art by Buckler and Ordway. TM & © DC Comics.

ORDWAY: That was the great thing. When I first started on the book, Roy, I was the finisher, I was the new guy, but I remember getting a box of like reference stuff—Xeroxes. THOMAS: That was just for one issue! [laughter] ORDWAY: It was literally a big box full of stuff including Xeroxes out of books. Nowadays, with the ability to Google something, it would be so much easier, but basically in those days it was hard to transport reference short of going to the library and finding the same book. But, yeah, when I got the project I had started at DC, I was part of the talent search in 1980, the summer of ’80. I got work—Joe Orlando chose me, Paul Levitz chose me—and I got a few little jobs during that summer. Then I got a call from Paul and he said, “Would you like to ink The Teen Titans?” I really didn’t want to. I had a fulltime job—I was working in an art studio—so it didn’t appeal to me in that sense like, I wasn’t going to quit for it. And then, a couple of months passed. I think at that point [editor] Len Wein called me and said, “There’s this project that Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler are doing, All-Star Squadron.” And then it was like, “Wow…” I was such a huge fan. During my Marvel years, The Avengers was my favorite book, so I was like, “This is Roy Thomas. It’s a team book. This should be great.” THOMAS: You would have been better off to go with Teen Titans. [laughter] ORDWAY: You know, at the time I didn’t realize… I would have displaced Romeo Tanghal [on New Teen Titans], so it would have made me a little uncomfortable. But it wasn’t the right time, anyway. It was just timing, but it was the idea of working—and again, the Avengers stuff that Roy did. Roy was the guy. When I was a reader he used Hawkeye and a lot of the second-string characters. He made them into the star attraction, which to me was always the key to All-Star Squadron. The core group was Liberty Belle, Johnny Quick, and Robotman—nobody really knew them that well, but Roy fleshed them out, made them real. That,

34 • BACK ISSUE • Golden Age in Bronze Issue

to me, was the core of the book, the fact that you had second-stringers who were carrying it and the Justice Society came in and guest-starred and it’s like, “George Clooney’s in this episode,” or whatever, it really was that. EURY: Roy, why did you choose those particular characters early on? THOMAS: I felt that those guys were the best of the non-Justice Society characters. For one thing, I tried to choose the ones that had a superpower for the most part, because there were a lot of characters… I could have gotten Aquaman, Green Arrow, or a lot of Batman types. You get one or so in a group, it’s okay—you get three or four, it’s just a bunch of guys with masks on fighting. But these others—the Shining Knight had his winged horse and his sword. Firebrand was a new character we thought up. Liberty Belle… we needed a woman in there. Johnny Quick, I always loved. First of all I discovered, especially by the time I was an adult, that Johnny Quick had been drawn so much better than the Flash, especially in the early ’40s when Mort Meskin was doing it before Carmine [Infantino] and Lee Elias and Joe Kubert came in. Who was the other one? Oh, Robotman… I’d always loved him. I stuck Plastic Man in, but somehow, he never quite worked out. ORDWAY: And Fire— THOMAS: Firebrand. She was a new character, because we needed another woman and I just thought, “Let’s swipe the Human Torch and turn him into Firebrand,” because [the original] Firebrand was not much of a character. ORDWAY: He was a guy in a pink see-through shirt. THOMAS: We had to change that a little bit. [laughter] ARVELL JONES: You still went with the see-through shirt—you just added a bustier. [laughter] EURY: Roy, how did Rich Buckler get chosen as the book’s original artist? Did you choose him? THOMAS: No, Len [Wein, All-Star Squadron’s original editor] did the choosing, although Rich and I worked together a lot and Len knew that I would like that. The thing is, Len and I already got along, but remember, I’d been sort of his editor at Marvel. He was never mine, but he was the editor I was totally dependent on at DC. So when I got over there, Len took his editorial things very seriously because that was all he had. They’d already made a deal with me that—it wasn’t exactly that I was my own editor, but they weren’t going to interfere much. So Len knew that he wasn’t supposed to push me to do this or do that, to use this character or not that character. It wouldn’t have worked, because I just wouldn’t have done it. So I tried to leave him alone and grit my teeth, so I let him do the covers. So what did he do? The cover of the first issue—I don’t think I had anything to do with the idea, and it’s probably my favorite cover of any comic I ever wrote. He chose that. He chose Jerry. He may have shown me a sample [of Ordway’s art], but it was basically his decision. We had our differences, but mostly it worked out okay. EURY: Arvell, you were close to Rich… you started together in the Detroit area. JONES: Yeah, we were fans together, worked on the Detroit Triple Fan Fare. Back in the mid-’60s through around 1972, we had a fanzine called Fan Informer. Roy used to get back at us whenever we made a mistake, or reported the wrong thing, because we heard the wrong thing. But we were mainly artists who just loved to draw comics, not so much reporters. We kind of turned that fanzine into that and discovered Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom, Mike Vosburg… THOMAS: Weren’t some of them from Detroit? JONES: All of them! THOMAS: Starlin, too? JONES: Yes, he was.

THOMAS: Of course, Jerry Bails started the first fanzine. But there was a lot of stuff going on [in Detroit]. Plus Keith Pollard. JONES: Yeah, Keith… there were about 12 of us—Terry Austin, Tom Orzechowski, Keith Pollard, Aubrey Bradford, Tim Dzon, Mike Nasser [Netzer], and my brother, Desmond Jones, all from Metro Detroit. We were all working on this fanzine, just wanting to get into comics. And Roy would feed us a little bit of information every once and a while, between being very busy. I remember going up [to Marvel] and visiting him as a fan, and he gave me like, two minutes. You might not even remember it, Roy—you were in the lobby coming out and I was there to see, I think it was Nick Cuti, he was working there and he had some little things he was going to give us, so I was up there with another writer. Roy came out and gave us a little tidbit. I got half the information wrong—I was trying to write things down, but he talks about 90 miles an hour! [laughter] THOMAS: You’re talking about Nick Cuti, right? [laughter] JONES: After getting in over at Marvel and doing a little drawing, I was all excited. Stan was there, Roy was there, all the legends. All right—I’m working with the legends! Then one day Roy calls me up and says, “I’m going to DC. I’ve got some pitches, I want you to do a little bit of artwork.” So I did some layouts, I got them to him, and he said, “Thank you.” Then I didn’t hear anything else from him! [laughter] Those rough layouts were for Captain Marvel and some Justice Society book, and I think I still have the originals around here somewhere. Some time later on, I saw the book that Rich and Roy were doing and I said, “Aw, man!” I was a fan of the Golden Age stuff as well, and I just watched it and got excited. Then one day Roy just called me up and said, “Hey, I’ve got an issue of All-Star Squadron. I wonder if you could help us out?” I said, what do you need? “Well, Rich can’t finish the second half of a two-parter” [issue #37]. I said, “I’m on it—what is it?” He said, “It’s Superman versus Captain Marvel/Shazam. What do you think, do you think you’d like to do that?” I said, [enthusiastically] “YEEESSSS! “[laughter] I just fanboyed completely out. “GIVE IT TO ME!” So he gave it to me. THOMAS: Plastic Man was in it. JONES: Yeah, Plastic Man was in there… Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. I just got excited. After I did that issue, I guess Roy kind of liked it and asked me on the book. At the time I was a little busy, getting ready to get married, working at the TV station. I was just offered the job as a news producer. So Roy gave me one issue, and then he said, “How would you like to do Starman? He’s never had an origin.” I said, “Really? Yeah, Starman has always looked cool to me with the big star and everything.” So he gave me that to do [All-Star Squadron #41]. Then he calls me up and he goes, “You’re a big Kirby fan, aren’t you?” And I said, “Yeah.” He said, “Name a Kirby character you’d like to do.” I said, “I always liked the Guardian.” So the next thing you know, I get this script it’s got the Guardian in it [All-Star Squadron #43]. I said, “Roy, I’m not George Pérez. Please don’t put a whole lot of characters in there.” [laughter] THOMAS: I didn’t do it on purpose! Rick Hoberg got the worst. Remember, he had to do that whole two-page spread— ORDWAY: Four-page. THOMAS: —four-page spread with everybody sitting around [All-Star Squadron #31]. He enjoyed it. I don’t know why—he’s as bad as Pérez [about enjoying drawing numerous characters.] JONES: This all took place in the fall/winter of ’84, I think. I got married in May of 1985. And the next thing, we went out to California for our honeymoon and Roy invited my bride Wanda and I to visit Roy and Dann out there, and as we were talking and had dinner he said, “How would you like to do the book?” I said… “Yeah!” THOMAS: I cheese-and-wined you away. [laughter] JONES: I think I would have enjoyed it too much—I could have died happy—except I had a nine-to-five job… and it

Double Vision (top) The cover for All-Star Squadron #3 (Nov. 1981), by Buckler/Dick Giordano. (bottom) Joe Kubert’s cover originally produced for that issue ultimately ran as the cover for Alter Ego: The Comic Book Artist Collection, from TwoMorrows. TM & © DC Comics. Alter Ego TM & © Roy Thomas.

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 35

ctive owners. RetroFan is

TwoMorrows Inc.

Resurrecting The Creepy Cool Culture We Grew Up With!

#3: SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE Director RICHARD DONNER interview, IRWIN ALLEN’s sci-fi universe, Saturday morning’s undersea adventures of AQUAMAN, ’60s and ’70s horror/sci-fi zines, Spider-Man and Hulk toilet paper, RetroTravel to METROPOLIS, IL’s Superman Celebration, SEA-MONKEYS®, FUNNY FACE beverages & collectibles, a fortress of Superman and Batman memorabilia, and more! SHIPS DECEMBER 2018!

NEW! Edited by Back Issue’s

MICHAEL EURY! RETROFAN #2 is our HALLOWEEN ISSUE, sure to satiate the trick-or-treat cravings of your inner child! MARTIN PASKO peeks into the tombs of TV horror-hosts ZACHERLEY, VAMPIRA, SEYMOUR, MARVIN, and our coverfeatured ELVIRA! ANDY MANGELS welcomes us to Saturday morning’s Horrible Hall, home of the Groovie Goolies! ERNEST FARINO tunes in to the creepy, kooky Bewitched, The Addams Family, and The Munsters! The Oddball World of SCOTT SHAW! takes us on a Jurassic lark through the long-buried Dinosaur Land amusement park! Learn the history of Ben Cooper Halloween costumes in an interview with IRA J. COOPER! Super collector TERRY COLLINS shows off his collection of character lunchboxes! Plus: collecting superhero View-Masters; Sindy, the British Barbie; and more fun, fab features! Photo cover spotlighting Elvira herself, CASSANDRA PETERSON! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 • (Digital Edition) $4.95 • SHIPS SEPTEMBER 2018!

SUBSCRIBE NOW! Four issues: $38 Economy, $63 International, $16 Digital Only

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

#4: Interviews with the Shazam! TV show's JOHN (Captain Marvel) DAVEY and MICHAEL (Billy Batson) GRAY, the Green Hornet in Hollywood, remembering monster maker RAY HARRYHAUSEN, the way-out Santa Monica Pacific Ocean Amusement Park, a Star Trek Set Tour, SAM J. JONES on the Spirit movie pilot, British scifi TV classic Thunderbirds, Casper & Richie Rich museum, the King Tut fad, and more! SHIPS MARCH 2019! Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com

by E d

Catto

Fans in the Bronze Age witnessed a perpetual reintroduction and reimagining of comics’ premier super-team, the Justice Society of America. The demand was almost insatiable. Many rabid fans eagerly awaited each new iteration of these fabled characters. Imagine their surprise when, in 1984, DC Comics introduced a new Johnny Thunder. Despite the fact that the original character was instrumental in bringing the JSA together in their first published adventure, this new version would change the character’s gender, tweak the spelling of the character’s name, and eschew the character’s superheroic history. Despite all that, writers Roy and Dann Thomas and artist Dick Giordano created a refreshingly memorable treasure with the miniseries Jonni Thunder a.k.a. Thunderbolt, spotlighting a female private eye who just happens to harness a mystical Incan thunderbolt.

NOT QUITE A HOUSEHOLD NAME

Indeed, the name Jonny Thunder has had a rich history at DC Comics. But the earlier versions were very different from the protagonist Jonni Thunder. The first Jonny Thunder was a hapless everyman, often played for a stooge, who ended up doing heroic things despite his own incompetence. Johnny Thunderbolt, as he was originally (albeit briefly) called, started adventuring in Flash Comics #1 in 1940. Johnny, along with his mystic Thunderbolt, sort of a modern-day genie, were created by John Wentworth and Stan Aschmeier. Soon, Johnny become a member of comics’ first super-team, the Justice Society of America. He was running with the big dogs of the day, and probably doing better than anyone had expected he would. His popularity waned over the years, eventually losing his membership in the JSA, as well as his publishing spot, to his girlfriend, Dinah Lance, better known as the Black Canary. As a focused, competent crimefighter with a Veronica Lake peekaboo hairstyle, Black Canary had more in common with the Jonni Thunder who would debut in the 1980s than the bumbling Johnny Thunder. By the later part of the 1940s, experts predicted that superheroes’ days in comics were numbered and Western stories were the next big opportunity. With that in mind, DC Comics developed a Western hero named Johnny Thunder, debuting in All-American Comics #100. This version of Johnny Thunder was actually the secret identity of John Tane, a mousy schoolteacher. Tane consistently failed to live up to his father’s expectations of what it meant to be a real man and a real cowboy. Thus, he developed a convoluted scheme to impress and fool his father, performing heroic acts as his fictional alter ego. He was often helped by his horse, Black Lightning, and his teenage sidekick, Swift Deer. On one hand, it’s hard to understand the enduring appeal of this feature through the lens of modern times. On the other hand, with the vibrant art of top-notch artists like Gil Kane, Mort Drucker, Sy Barry, and Alex Toth gracing this feature, it makes sense. The Western Johnny Thunder would switch to All-Star Western and stay in the saddle until the end of the ’50s.

LIGHTNING STRIKES: THE CREATION OF JONNI THUNDER, A.K.A. THUNDERBOLT

Make Room, Magnum and Marlowe! Cover to Roy and Dann Thomas’ Jonni Thunder a.k.a. Thunderbolt #1 (Feb. 1985), drawn by Dick Giordano. TM & © DC Comics.

DC’s third Johnny Thunder almost came back as an American Indian. Roy Thomas, the legendary comics writer, reveals that he thought, at one stage, of revamping the character as a Native American. For a character, Roy liked the name Johnny, and he liked the detective characters that had used that name: Jonny Double and Johnny Dynamite in the comics; Johnny Dollar from old time radio. “For some reason,” he says, “Johnny just goes with the idea of a private eye.” It was a suggestion from friend and fellow comic writer Gerry Conway that sparked the notion creating a new Johnny Thunder as a female detective. The two writers would co-plot what would become the Jonni Thunder a.k.a. Thunderbolt miniseries. Although Roy was familiar with other female private eyes like V. I. Warshawski series of detective novels and Ms. Tree from comics, he wanted to try something a little different. This series would employ superhero elements, but was intended to stand alone from the rest of the superhero world. He thought that at some point down the road, there might be an opportunity for a superhero guest-star, but they’d

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 51

Jonni Thunder, Take One Scanned by Ed Catto from DC’s Jonni Thunder #2, Ernie Colón’s original illos for the character, from 1981 and 1983. TM & © DC Comics.

figure that out later. “I wanted a modern girl,” says Roy. Determined to flesh out this contemporary “girl detective” idea, he introduced Jonni to his wife, Dann, who is also a writer with a passion for private eye novels. It was only natural that he collaborate with her for this series. Jonni Thunder dovetailed perfectly with Dann Thomas’ love of hardboiled detective fiction, especially in the vein of classic authors like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Dann channeled that into the series. “Because I grew up in Los Angeles, I was especially fond of Chandler,” says Dann Thomas. “His imagery captured the people, places, and atmosphere with which I was familiar. As with Hammett’s Sam Spade, Chandler’s Marlowe engaged venal and degenerate opponents on behalf of clients only slightly less venal and degenerate. There were few innocents, just gradations of sinners. The contrast with the false beauty and romance of Hollywood hype appealed to me.” But she understood that these authors cast long shadows and had inspired so many other stories and characters. “There were so many Chandler-esque and Hammett-esque private eyes out there,” explains Dann. “This was a chance to do something a little different.” Unlike a traditional superhero adventure, Jonni Thunder crackled with witty, hard-boiled dialogue that would play an important part in the series. Many of the lines are memorable 30 years later. Dann was the one responsible for this dialogue. “Roy and I plotted the story together, but I wrote the first draft of the dialogue,” recalls Dann. “I loved the sparse, precise patter of film noir and the cynical detective genre, and actually made lists of favorite quotes from the best short stories, novels, and radio dramas. Jack Webb’s early Dragnet and Pat Novak for Hire were close to parody, but they over-boiled the genre into humor made even funnier by its seriously flat delivery. The research was great fun and helped me understand the rhythm and wordplay. I also used a slang thesaurus for inspiration. Underworld slang has a dark charm and is wonderfully inventive.” But the unique wrinkle of the series was that Jonni wasn’t just a detective. She had a superhero side to her, reminiscent of Johnny Thunder from the ’40s. This series told the tale of private eye Jonni Thunder’s adventure involving a mysterious statue of a lightning-like woman. In the course of the story, Jonni finds she can transforms into a life-size, living replica of the statue, complete with the ability to fly and zap wrongdoers with lightning bolts. As development for the series continued, Roy recounts that he and Dann weren’t given much encouragement for the series. Dick Giordano, the series’ editor, suggested that maybe they needed to change the series around, but Roy felt if they didn’t want to do the series as it was envisioned, then they wouldn’t be interested in writing it. They persevered.

GIRLS’ CLUB While hard-boiled detective Jonni Thunder may have been an innovation for comics, she wasn’t fiction’s first female private eye. In the Golden Age of radio, hard-boiled private detectives were all the rage. Sam Spade and Philip Marlow led the pack, but there were more radio detectives than broken dreams on a rainy Manhattan street. Candy Matson was the “girl detective” of this era and starred in a popular NBC West Coast show called Candy Matson, YUkon 2-2809 (the title’s numbers referred to her agency phone number), which ran from 1949–1951. The show starred Natalie Masters, and was created by her husband, Monte. Candy’s world embraced many of the standard detective tropes that would be revisited years later in Jonni Thunder. Candy lived in San Francisco, had a foppish sidekick, and a love interest who just happened to be a on the police force. Honey West debuted in the 1957 novel This Girl for Hire by G. G. Fickling, a pseudonym for the husband and wife team of Gloria and Forrest E. “Skip” Fickling. They would continue Honey’s adventures with several more novels. Like Jonni Thunder, Honey West is a second-generation detective, following in the footsteps of her father. The novels are fun, but

the character is best remembered for her short-lived TV series of 1966–1967. Although the show only ran for one season, fans still fondly recall its pet ocelot, sporty car, Bond-like spy gadgets, and delectable lead actress, Anne Francis. In the world of comics, Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty introduced Ms. Tree in 1981. Ms. Michael Tree is a tough-as-nails female detective in the tradition of Collins’ friend and mentor, Mickey Spillane. In fact, Collins and Beatty created clever conceits to signal Ms. Tree’s connections to fictional detectives like Spillane’s Mike Hammer and Dragnet’s Joe Friday. The character would prove endearingly durable enough to survive for years and years amongst several different publishers. [Editor’s note: We explored her history in BACK ISSUE #26.] Jonni Thunder would be followed by many female P.I.s in comics including: • Dakota North, in 1987, created by Martha Thomases and Tony Salmons [see BI #90—ed.] • Jessica Jones in 2001’s Alias, created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos • Dex Parios in 2009’s Stumptown created by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth

52 • BACK ISSUE • Golden Age in Bronze Issue

Some En-Chandler-ing Evening (top) Comics noir, from the opening page of Jonni Thunder a.k.a. Thunderbolt #1 (Feb. 1985). (bottom) Jonni’s wheels. Story by Roy and Dann Thomas and Gerry Conway, art by Dick Giordano, colors by Anthony Tollin. TM & © DC Comics.

SHE’S GOT THE LOOK

Artist Ernie Colón was initially onboard for the series. A master artist who would collaborate with the Thomases over the years, most notably on Arak, Son of Thunder, he also excelled at drawing ordinary people in street clothes (i.e., not only superhero costumes). Colón set the tone and contributed several Jonni Thunder concept drawings, which eventually found their way into the text pages of the miniseries. But soon Colón had to beg off the project. “He was very enthusiastic but then he wandered off to do something else [Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld—ed.],” laments Roy Thomas. “That’s when Dick Giordano got involved.” And so, the series’ editor would become the series’ artist. Jonni had a striking look in both her identities. There are plenty of beautiful blondes in comics, but this blonde bombshell would sport a memorable black-and-white fashion motif. This visual signature was evident in all her outfits, from her black-and-white suits to her black-and-white nightgown. And rendered by the legendary Giordano, each outfit’s panache and fashion led one to wonder about this private eye’s fashion budget. Jonni’s alter ego, the Thunderbolt, was just the opposite. This supernatural being was essentially a golden, nude woman with stylized hair. The smooth lines of her lithe body were in stark contrast with the shocking electrical textures of her hair. Giordano and colorists Anthony Tollin (#1) and Adrienne Roy (#2-4) always rendered the Thunderbolt in just yellow and colors, without the traditional black trap lines of comic-book inking. “I believe the artists, Ernie Colón and Dick Giordano, were the primary creators of the visual aspects with suggestions from Roy,” says Dann Thomas. “Roy and I provided photos of various buildings and landmarks to be included.”

THE FORECAST CALLS FOR THUNDER

The series starts with a Raymond Chandler quote. The reader is introduced to a shadowy figure, in obligatory trench coat, walking down a rainy Hollywood Boulevard. It’s the lovely Jonni Thunder, returning from two weeks off after the funeral of her father. He was also her business partner, and now she is coming to terms with sole proprietorship of their small detective agency. She enters her office for the first time “working solo” and is surprised to find a corpse there. To make things interesting, the dead man is holding a golden statue of a woman with a stylized mane of flowing hair. It’s a classic premise: The hero is suspected by the police of wrongdoing. Jonni must solve the murder while sidestepping the best efforts of the police in order to find out the secret behind this mysterious statue. Jonni soon interacts with her supporting characters, her love interest, and one of the villains. There’s a strange sequence with a small, mechanical insect-like robot, but the real action comes at the end of the first issue at the observatory to which Jonni has been lured. Artist Giordano is in top form with his action sequences, and readers are as thrilled and surprised as Jonni when she assumes the form and shape of the mysterious statue. The second issue starts with the aftermath of the fight from the previous night, and the local police, led by the handsome Lt. Mike Sanchez, are grilling Jonni about another corpse. Like all good detectives, Jonni gives as good as she gets. Jonni’s natural, human side routinely shines through, and here her tough-as-nails demeanor is taken down a few pegs. After a great exit with a snappy line, Jonni must sheepishly return to ask the police officers for a jumpstart. It turns out her car, a vintage Thunderbird ’57, won’t start. Roy and Dann Thomas provide this series with touches like that, giving it an enduring charm. The lead character employs the snappy patter and bravado of a classic fictional private eye, but she’s continually brought back to earth with uncomfortable situations. Giordano’s masterful art in the second issue includes a fight scene (Jonni wears only a stylish robe), a venue change from Hollywood to

San Francisco, and the introduction Red Nails, the owner of a hot spot called the Chickie Club. “Private Eye by Trade—Superhero by Chance!” adorns the high-concept issue #3 cover, effectively summarizing the series’ premise with another gorgeous Giordano illustration. This issue offers a Batman-style deathtrap, San Fransisco-based action scenes (with a trolley car and Coit Tower), and another battle with Jonni as the Thunderbolt. It all gets wrapped up in the fourth and final issue with “Farewell, My Lightning,” a title with a coy nod to a classic Chandler thriller. The climactic battle is surprising, as Jonni takes the high road and chooses not to switch into her electric alter ego to electrocute the villain. But the mystery gets solved, and Jonni walks offstage with her two love interests (!). As a way of saying goodbye, she teases the reader with one more cute superhero trick, Jonni’s version of Superman’s iconic wink to the camera.

WHO’S WHO IN JONNI THUNDER

This series overflows with fascinating ideas, intriguing locales, and clever characters, but somehow, given the skillful writing of Roy and Dann Thomas and the brilliantly thoughtful art of Dick Giordano, it never seems bloated or overstuffed. Some of the memorable characters include:

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 53

The years 1986–1987 were a seminal period for DC Comics as it launched its post-Crisis on Infinite Earths universe. During this fertile creative period emerged The Spectre #1 (Apr. 1987), in which a more obscure but steady hero from the 1940s was relaunched by writer Doug Moench and artists Gene Colan and Steve Mitchell. For the first time, readers followed the exploits of a severely depowered Spectre. Gone was writer Michael Fleisher and artist Jim Aparo’s omnipotent, punishing, godlike Spectre who (in)famously starred in Adventure Comics #431–440 (Feb. 1974–Aug. 1975). In fact, during my interview with him, Doug commented on this controversial interpretation of the character: “When Sir Robert Greenberger called me up to see if I wanted to write The Spectre, I would ask if I could write the book in a certain way, and he would tell me that he would let me do it in that manner. It was that simple. Still, I asked him, ‘I don’t have to do the Fleisher ridiculous mutilations?’ ” Fortunately, Bob Greenberger gave Doug carte blanche to recraft the Spectre as a diminished supernatural figure who was forced to coexist with his human host, private detective Jim Corrigan. Thanks to his new energetic take on the Spectre/Corrigan pairing, readers witnessed the two working together in the form of a complex partnership that added new dimensions to each character. After having the unique privilege of interviewing the living comic-book writer legend who is Doug Moench in his Bucks County, Pennsylvania, home for my article on his Electric Warrior run (BACK ISSUE #98), my wife Amanda and I were constantly talking about when we would see Doug again. Luckily, BI editor Michael Eury contacted me and asked if I were interested in a follow-up interview with Doug concerning his run on The Spectre. Hence, Amanda and I found ourselves on a warm Saturday evening in October 2017 once more kindly being welcomed into the Moench’s beautiful home. (For more on its “true” origins, see the sidebar feature!) Wishing to impress Doug with the culinary wonders of the Teriyaki Chef, a Japanese restaurant located in the Quakertown Farmers Market, we arrived at his place with such delicacies as harumaki (a fried roll filled with a beef stuffing) and gyoza (potstickers) as our appetizers. For our main course, we ate chicken karaage (a fried dish that requires a three-day marinating process), katsudon (a fried pork cutlet with eggs and mushrooms over rice in a bowl, which Doug compared to egg foo young), and the special of the day, a grilled salmon platter. As we unpacked the cuisine, Doug brewed coffee, and we sat down to eat at his spacious rounded-booth dinner table, reflecting upon the recent death of Len Wein, whom Doug knew quite well. Then, he switched up the mood by entertaining Amanda and me with his lively anecdotes of his early 20s concerning an interaction with Roger Ebert when they both worked at the Chicago Sun Times (see Alter Ego #146, May 2017, for his hilarious version of this tale) and his unfortunate encounter one night with some outrageously spicy Indian food at a Chicago party. Yet, this interview isn’t just about chilling with Doug over Japanese food, but his thought-provoking work on The Spectre, right! On that note, we gradually flowed into his spacious rec-room and began discussing how he became involved with the book. (And, if you’re curious to see what he said to me first about several minor [*cough*] discrepancies in my BI #98 piece, see the aforementioned sidebar.) – Thomas Powers

by T h o m a s

doug moench

60 • BACK ISSUE • Golden Age in Bronze Issue

Powers

The Ghostly Guardian Returns Writer Doug Moench’s The Spectre #1 (Apr. 1987). Original cover art by Michael Kaluta. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

THOMAS POWERS: Doug, during your time on The Spectre, you wrote 31 issues and an Annual. DOUG MOENCH: You are kidding! I did 31 issues of The Spectre? That’s crazy! POWERS: Yeah, that’s a healthy run. How did you become involved with scripting the book? MOENCH: This was right before I got called to go to Hollywood again. That was 1987. I remember writing a lot of it out there. Bob Greenberger called me up and asked me to do it. The Spectre has always been one of my favorite characters. Well, Batman is my favorite DC character, and then the obvious ones like the Flash and Green Lantern, but then it was mainly the lesser ones like the Spectre and Hawkman. So I liked the idea of writing The Spectre, and Bob said, “All right.” And I always said yes back then, unless I would only sleep five hours a night. I remember telling Greenberger at some point— I don’t know if it was the first call or not—that we should bring the Spectre somewhere slightly back to Earth. He is just so ridiculously omnipotent. That’s why as much as I recognize Superman as an iconic character, I never really liked him. To me, I don’t see how Superman could possibly be a hero. He is never at risk. Nothing can hurt him. How many times can you use the kryptonite? More than once a year is too much for my money. POWERS: What did you think about Steve Gerber’s original pitch for DC’s 1987 relaunch of The Spectre, since he had been the original writer for the book?

Upon Amanda setting up the microphone and recording equipment on Doug’s glass coffee table held up by his twin stone gargoyles, I sat down with him on his couch ready to unlock his memories concerning his Spectre run, but he immediately said to me in regard to several statements I made in my last article on Electric Warrior (BI #98), “Let’s clear those things up first, so I can get it out of my head.” As I took a nervous breath, waiting to hear what I screwed up since I did not use a recording device last time, Doug gently smiled and said, “There are just two major things, Tom, like this green couch we are on, which you wrote as being brown in the Electric Warrior article, but that’s not important.” As he jovially laughed, I saw that we were indeed sitting upon a green couch, which made me realize that Doug, ever the consummate writer, had patiently plotted out this revelation to me weeks in advance, waiting for the right time and place to literally situate me in the proper environment for such a well-deserved admonishment! Next, in regard to me writing in that piece that he lived in a mid-19thCentury house, he remarked, “This house is actually a mid-18th-Century design. It was brand new in 1975, but it was designed to look like an old house. The builder, who was my neighbor, got the idea when he was stationed in Europe during World War II, and he saw this French country house and always wanted to build it. This room is an addition.” For fans of Doug’s Spectre run, issues #22–23 (Winter 1988–Holiday 1989) are especially interesting as they deal with such subject matter as cattle mutilations and men in black, which he later famously elaborated upon with his Paradox Press book, The Big Book of the Unexplained (1997). However, in my BI #98 article, I had jumped to the conclusion that he had once experienced a firsthand interaction with extraterrestrials. Specifically, Doug explained in regard to me laterally mentioning his encounter with a large-eyed deer when he was a boy in the last piece, “I did not claim to have been abducted by aliens. I was just, I assume without further proof, impressed by a pocket wonderland that I had come across during a visit to Canada with my father.” Doug likewise wanted me to specify that he does not claim to have given Roger Daltrey the idea to share with Pete Townshend for the rock-opera Tommy of the titular character being a deaf, dumb, and blind kid but that he suggested something that Townshend may have already been developing in a synchronicity-filled manner. In Doug’s words, “For the thing with the Who, however that came up, I interviewed half of the band once and had interactions with the other two. I sat down with and interviewed Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle, the bass player. And during the interview, Daltrey said that Pete Townshend has a great idea for a rock opera. The term ‘rock opera’ didn’t exist then. No one had ever thought about it before. I said, ‘Wow, that could be cool,’ and he said it is about a deaf, dumb, and blind kid. So I said that his only interaction with other people is touch. Daltrey then said, ‘Wow, I got to tell Pete about that!’ ”

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 61

DOUG MOENCH’S CORRECTIVE COUCH: GREEN, LIKE THE SPECTRE’S CLOAK!

Men in Black Pages 4 and 12 from Moench’s “The Cow Butchers” in The Spectre #22 (Winter 1988–1989), from the writer’s UFO storyline. Art by Bart Sears and Mark Pennington. Scans courtesy of Amanda Powers. TM & © DC Comics.

Plus, they were losing any connection with them because they took away the letters pages for the final two issues. MOENCH: I don’t know… bad move. POWERS: In issue #31 (Nov. 1989), your last, the book just ends on an ambiguous note, with one of Corrigan’s investigators, Gina, asking in reference to this final adventure on the last two panels on page 22, “It… it’s over, isn’t it?” to which Corrigan responds, “Over, Gina? For Betty’s sake… Let’s hope not,” with the last phrase being featured in a closeup of his distraught face. MOENCH: I tried to write that it was over for the fans and the readers. POWERS: For these final two issues of the series, #30–31 (Oct.–Nov. 1989), you wrote a ghost story set in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The story focuses on one of The Spectre’s supporting-cast investigator members whom you created, Betty Bumphus, who’s overweight and has multiple personalities. Yet you are giving a sympathetic vision of her. MOENCH: This is back when heavy people were rather rarer than now, and I guess choosing the Bucks County setting and the horror tone for this two-parter was more about variety. I don’t remember when I found out that the book was over. It was a surprise, and I had not prepared for it to end there, but I had enough time to do at least that small ending. But, overall, I don’t have any regrets from working on The Spectre. POWERS: That’s good to hear, but I have to be honest with you in that I’m also curious to know what you thought about John Ostrander’s coda for Kimmie and the cast of investigator characters you later developed for Corrigan’s detective agency in issues #6–7 (May–June 1993) of his Spectre run. In particular, with issue #7, Ostrander retroactively reveals on page 10 that Madame Xanadu and Kimmie were the same person and that Xanadu had taken a part of the Spectre’s power that he had given her to create “sendings,” who had been your extended cast of five characters, and an ectoplasmic version of Jim Corrigan who could exist outside of the Spectre. MOENCH: Sometimes I hear, “Have you read so and so’s version of Moon Knight?” and I’m like, “Why would I read it?” I am either going to hate it and get pissed off or read it and get jealous. But I am probably going to hate it, even if it is well done, because it is somebody messing with my stuff. For some reason, writers feel like they have to undo what other writers do. This is what is natural for a writer. They feel like they have to obliterate or explain it away as if it were a dream. This is stupid to me. If you don’t like it, ignore it and start your new version! For fans of Doug Moench’s interpretation of the Spectre, they were delighted in seeing him return to the character with a two-part story featured in Batman #540–541 (Mar.–Apr. 1997). I likewise wish to mention that at one point during my conversation with Doug, I had pointed out to him that his name appears on a matchbook that is featured on page 7, panel 4, of The Spectre #12 (Mar. 1988) in the form of a mysterious business (or product) called “Munckin’s Moenchies.” I then tried to push him to define what Munckin’s Moenchies exactly were to him, but he only responded, “I never wrote that into the script. It was probably Gray Morrow himself. Yeah, artists always do stuff like that. You know, I was at a convention with a pal, waiting in line for an awards ceremony where Bill Sienkiewicz and I were going to receive an award for Moon Knight. Someone in front of me asked if I had ever met Harlan Ellison. He then tapped on the guy in front of him, and it was my favorite sci-fi writer standing right in front of me. Ellison turned around and told me, ‘All my life I have tried to be a mensch, and you were born one.’ This is a Yiddish and German word that means ‘good person.’ ” On this positive note as I close out this piece, I would like to mention that for my wife and me, Doug Moench is truly worthy of Harlan Ellison’s vision of his surname, since he was once more kind enough to welcome us into his wondrous home and share his unique perspective on the supernatural superhero who is the Spectre! TOM POWERS, a college writing instructor, is the author of Gender and the Quest in British Science Fiction Television: An Analysis of Doctor Who, Blake’s 7, Red Dwarf and Torchwood (McFarland, 2016).

70 • BACK ISSUE • Golden Age in Bronze Issue

Writer John Ostrander and artist Tom Mandrake’s 1992 The Spectre ongoing series earned them accolades for their fresh take on Jim Corrigan, the hard-boiled (but very dead) human host of DC’s avenging spirit. Outside of Corrigan, the series also portrayed an array of fully realized supporting characters dealing with issues of faith, loss, love, bigotry, and redemption. I had the pleasure of interviewing Ostrander and Mandrake via email throughout September and October of 2017. Upon rereading the series in preparation for our conversation, I found The Spectre to be just as powerful of a read today as it was upon its release 25 years ago. – Shannon E. Riley

by S

hannon E. Riley

SHANNON E. RILEY: John, Tom—thanks so much for offering to revisit your seminal work on The Spectre. I’d like to go back to the very beginning: How did the two of you get paired up on the series? Did you pitch it together? What was your brief from DC editorial? JOHN OSTRANDER: Tom and I had been working on Firestorm and I was leaving after issue #100. Tom thought he would stay on but then DC decided to cancel the book when I left, so Tom became available. Tom and I really work well together, so I wanted to see what else we could get into. We had earlier talked about how much we both loved the Spectre and this seemed like the time to pitch it. The Spectre had a series only about a year or so before that, so DC was initially a little leery of doing another. Also, some had said that you couldn’t do an ongoing series about the Spectre—he was too powerful. You needed to reduce his powers to have a viable threat go up against him. We disagreed; downgrade the Spectre’s powers and you would lose the visuals that helped sell the character. We convinced DC that we had a clear vision and could make the character work. With the help of our editor, Dan Raspler, we got the go-ahead from DC, and our only brief was “Don’t screw up.” TOM MANDRAKE: As John says, we pitched the idea, and although editorial at DC felt the Spectre was a onenote character that couldn’t support an ongoing series, Dan Raspler helped us push it through. John and I talked at length about what we wanted to do and he wrote a great, concise proposal. I still have a copy of it! I worked up some character sketches of Corrigan, the Spectre, [supporting characters] Amy, Nate Kane, and Danny Geller. I ran across those recently as well; the characters weren’t quite jelled but I can see I was on the right track. RILEY: Did you feel beholden to any of the established Spectre mythology—specifically Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo’s take on the character from their 1974–1975 Adventure Comics run? OSTRANDER: Yes and no. I’m a big fan of continuity in the broad sense, but I didn’t want to be tied to chapter and verse. We felt that if we included elements from as many of the previous incarnations as we could, then we were playing fair. MANDRAKE: I’m a fan of the various incarnations of the Spectre but also aware that over the many years and wide

Golden Age in Bronze Issue • BACK ISSUE • 71

Back Issue #106