Back Issue #16 by TwoMorrows Publishing

% Y ROM MICRONAUTS SUPER POWERS CAPT. ACTION! T% O WEIRD HEROES! Art by HAMA, S. BUSCEMA, GUICE, GOLDEN, KIRBY, TRIMPE, & MILTON KNIGHT! STORIES!

THE ULTIMATE COMICS EX PERIENCE!

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G. I. JOE AND TRANSFORMERS TM & © HASBRO. GUMBY TM & © PREMAVISION, INC. AND PREMA TOY CO. SKELETOR TM & © MATTEL. WONDER WOMAN TM & © DC COMICS.

TUFF”

GALLERrYt :of The Pencil A

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MIKE ZECK

A plea from the publisher of this fine digital periodical: TwoMorrows, we’re on the Honor System with our Digital Editions. We don’t add Digital Rights Management features to them to stop piracy; they’re clunky and cumbersome, and make readers jump through hoops to view content they’ve paid for. And studies show such features don’t do much to stop piracy anyway. So we don’t include DRM in our downloads.

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

You’re never too old to read about toys! It’s our The Ultimate Comics Experience!

TOY STORIES ISSUE!

Volume 1, Number 16 June 2006 Celebrating the Best Com ics of the '70s, '80s, and Today! EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington COVER ARTIST Mike Zeck COVER COLORIST Tom Ziuko COVER DESIGNER Robert Clark

INTERVIEW: Arthur Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 A bouncy dialogue about Adams’ oddball 1980s’ Gumby comics FLASHBACK: Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 The Robots in Disguise as Marvel Comics superstars BEYOND CAPES: The Swivel-Arm Battle-Grip Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 How G.I. Joe recruited a new generation of comic-book readers FLASHBACK: Kirby’s Last Stand: Super Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Jack Kirby’s Kenner-style Justice League BEYOND CAPES: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Paul Levitz, Paul Kupperberg, and George Tuska revisit He-Man’s DC days BACK IN PRINT: He-Man on DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

SPECIAL THANKS Extras include exclusive art cards—with peeks at Alex Ross and Adam Hughes art Arthur Adams Milton Knight Christian Voltar Alcala Paul Kupperberg ROUGH STUFF: Mike Zeck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Ruben Azcona Phong Le The artist hosts a gallery of his pencil art, including Spider-Man, G.I. Joe, and Punisher Mike Blanchard Paul Levitz Jerry Boyd Andy Mangels WHAT THE--?!: Looking to Buy a Used Car? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Mike Burkey Michael Mantlo Remember the Spider-Mobile and Supermobile? We do! Sal Buscema Bob McLeod Dewey Cassell Joshua Mossing OFF MY CHEST: Milton Knight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Joyce Chin Stuart Neft The Hugo cartoonist wonders why some folks can’t laugh at humor comics John Cogan Eric NolenGerry Conway Weathington PRO2PRO INTERVIEW: Sal Buscema and Jackson “Butch” Guice . . . . . . . . . .64 Charles Costas Denny O’Neil Eric Delos Santos Kristen Palmer The Rom and Micronauts artists discuss working in Marvel’s toy box Kim DeMulder Michael Romanenko Mark Evanier Steve Rude GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Wonder Woman and the Star Riders . . . .74 Tim Finn Rose Rummel-Eury A behind-the-scenes look at the toy line that fizzled, with rare art by José Luis Simon Furman James Schafer García-López, Mike Vosburg, and Boyd Kirkland José Luis García-López Rick Shurgin Mike Gartland Louise Simonson FLASHBACK: Captain Action: The 9-Lives-in-One Super-Hero . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Court Gebeau Ben Smith Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the original super-hero action figure Grand Comic-Book Val Staples Database Tom Stewart BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 Jackson Guice Rick Taylor Reader feedback on issue #14 Larry Hama Greg Theakston Allan Harvey Roy Thomas Sam Hatmaker Herb Trimpe BACK ISSUE™ is published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Heritage Comics George Tuska Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 5060A Foothills Dr., Lake Christopher Irving Mike Vosburg Oswego, OR 97034. E-mail: euryman@msn.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $36 Standard US, $54 First Class US, $66 Canada, Tony Isabella Len Wein $72 Surface International, $96 Airmail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the The Jack Kirby Collector Andrew Wildman editorial office. Cover art by Michael Zeck. G.I. Joe and Transformers TM & © Hasbro. Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. Dan Johnson Mitch Wilson and Prema Toy Co. Skeletor TM & © Mattel. Wonder Woman TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are Boyd Kirkland Mike Zeck © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2006 Michael Eury Charles Kiyasu and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

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Run, Clayboy, Run! Collector Charles Kiyasu says of this 1996 Art Adams

conducted on February 1, 2006

“After receiving the sketch, I noticed that he forgot to put in the teeth detail. I asked him about it and he told me that the T-Rex is geriatric dinosaur.” Art © 2006 Arthur Adams. Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

interview

by Michael Eury

commissioned illo, which he contributed for publication:

Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

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Comico (Ko-mee-ko) the Comic Company, under the

allied the clayboy and his pony pal with space bears, a

creative orchestration of Diana Schutz and Bob

werewolf babysitter, pirates, and the monsters of

Schreck, made fan favorites of such series as Mage,

Halloweentown to thwart an alien invasion, while Winter

Grendel, Elementals, Jonny Quest, and The Maze Agency

Fun took them underground, to the fiery pits of “Heck,” to

during the mid- to late 1980s [see BACK ISSUE #2 for a

rescue the captive “Ray Crabbe”—aka Santa Claus—from

detailed look at Comico’s history].

the clutches of the Prince of Darkness.

Among the company’s most unusual publications were

As the editor of Winter Fun, I had the good fortune of

Gumby’s Summer Fun Special (July 1987), written by

working with the amazing artist of both Comico Gumbys: Arthur

Flaming Carrot creator Bob Burden, and Gumby’s Winter

Adams. Nearly 20 years later, Arthur has heeded his former

Fun Special (Dec. 1988), written by Sam & Max:

editor’s call and dusted off his memories to discuss the pair of

Freelance Police creator Steve Purcell. Summer Fun

one-shots that truly were . . . fun and special. —Michael Eury

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MICHAEL EURY: May I have your permission to tape record our conversation? ARTHUR ADAMS: Live it up, man! EURY: Of course, you realize that there’s probably someone else listening in on our conversation . . . hello, Mr. President! ADAMS: Oh, come on, like he cares what we’re saying. It’s that Cheney guy, he’s the evil one. EURY: A lot of people have said that. ADAMS: I really don’t think these guys are evil—they’re just misguided. EURY: [laughs] Do you think that Gumby and Pokey could be terrorists? ADAMS: Not on purpose, but they might accidentally do something where high jinks might ensue. EURY: Like what? ADAMS: They might accidentally get some plastique mixed in with their bodies, you never know. EURY: That would be pretty cool: Gumby, living bomb. ADAMS: Exactly. He doesn’t know it, but we, the audience, know it. EURY: There’s your third chapter in the Gumby trilogy. ADAMS: Oh, my God, at any moment, Gumby could go off! [laughs] EURY: I understand you had a traumatic childhood experience of being physically abused by a Pokey . . . is this true? ADAMS: [laughs] It’s only marginally true. We don’t quite need to put it into the category of abuse. [laughs] But I did have a neighbor, a slightly older boy . . . let’s see, I would’ve been three or four, and he was probably four or five, so he was a big kid. I was outside playing with my Gumby and Pokey, and he got a hold of my Pokey and ran away and wouldn’t give it back, and I was chasing and chasing, but I was too small and I was crying, and I was calling, “Rusty, Rusty, bring back my Pokey!” Finally, he was fed up with my whining, and he threw Pokey at me, right at my head! It bounced off my head and went into this big bush, and I couldn’t reach Pokey. It was gone forever. EURY: Were you bruised by the impact of Pokey to the head? ADAMS: Oh, no, it was a rubber toy. I think it was mostly my soul that was bruised. EURY: And the kid’s name was Rusty. ADAMS: Rusty, that bastard! [laughs] EURY: Is there anyone named Rusty who’s nice? ADAMS: How could they possibly be? Although I think there’re some nice strippers named Rusty. EURY: [laughs] I’d love to volley with a snappy comeback, but it’s impossible after that one! So let’s move on . . . Let’s go back to 1986. How did Arthur Adams, artist of Longshot, become the artist of Comico’s Gumby’s Summer Fun Special? ADAMS: I’ll bet you’ve heard this story before, and probably others have, as well . . . but why not? It’s such a timeless story. EURY: [laughs] Pull up the kids around the campfire—here we go!

Beginnings:

Farrah Foxette pinup in Captain Carr ot and His Amazing Zoo Crew (1983)

Milestones:

Longshot / Action Comics Annual and covers / Gumby’s Summer and Winter Fun Specials / Uncanny X-Men Annuals / Fantastic Four / Godzilla / Creature from the Black Lago on / Monkeyman & O’Brien / The Authority / “Jonni Future” in Tom Strong’s Terri fic Tales

Work in Progress:

Modern Masters vol. 6

ARTHUR ADAMS

The title splash to Comico’s Gumby’s Winter Fun, courtesy of Eric Delos Santos. Gumby TM & © Premavision, Inc. and Prema Toy Co.

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MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE:

IN THE 1980S

Christopher Irving

Original art to the cover of Transformers #12, by Herb Trimpe. Courtesy of Ruben Azcona (www.ComicBookArtGallery.com). Transformers TM & © Hasbro

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In 1982 American toy company Hasbro forged an agreement with Japanese toy company Takara to license both their Diaclone and Micro Change toy lines. Diaclone was a series of robots that transformed into vehicles, complete with small driver figurines, while Micro Change was a spin-off of the Microman line (known as Micronauts in the U.S.), which transformed into objects like guns, Walkmans, and microscopes. Hasbro merged both toy lines into their new Transformers concept, with a plan to introduce Japanese toy sensibilities to American children. Hot off of the recent success of the revived G.I. Joe toy line, Hasbro decided to approach Marvel Comics about not only creating names and personalities to their new Transformers line, but also in producing an accompanying comic book and cartoon. The story has it that both Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and editor Denny O’Neil created a rough treatment of The Transformers, and that editor Bob Budiansky was given the assignment of fleshing it out further. “[Shooter] needed somebody who had a little time on their hands who could write something,” Budiansky told www.bwtf.com. “I was not the obvious candidate . . . so he came to me, and I came up with a bunch of names, characters, and a bunch of character biographies and they liked it; they were really happy with it with very few changes as I recall to that initial two dozen or so Transformers in that lineup.” The Transformers #1 hit the stands on Sept.1984 with an impressive Bill Sienkiewicz cover featuring an abstract version of the heroic Optimus Prime.

The first appearance of Megatron from Transformers #1, page 2, in a scan made from a photocopy. Courtesy of Charles Costas. Transformers TM & © Hasbro

Written by Bill Mantlo and Ralph Macchio, penciled by Frank Springer, inked by Kim DeMulder, and edited by Bob Budiansky, it was the first chapter in a bimonthly four-issue limited series. The Transformers were the noble Autobots (who transformed into cars) led by Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons (who became everything from jets to a gun to a Walkman) were led by the evil Megatron—all “Robots in Disguise.” While on a mission aboard their spaceship the Ark, the Autobots are boarded by the Decepticons. With certain defeat at hand, Optimus Prime sends the Ark hurtling toward the third planet of the solar system they are flying through—Earth, where they crash in the side of a volcano. Awakening in 1984 from a dormancy of over four million years, the Transformers are reactivated by the Ark’s computers, and programmed to adapt to what the ship mistakenly thinks the dominant life form on Earth: vehicles. September 17, 1984 marked the premiere of the syndicated Transformers cartoon; the initial three episodes recapped the same essential story as the comic book. Interestingly enough, the Transformers in the first issue of the comic book looked exactly like their toy counterparts, but then inexplicably took on the appearance of the cartoon versions with the second issue.

Charles Costas provided a closeup of this panel from page 13 of issue #1, featuring the first appearance of the Decepticons. Notice the degree of cutting and pasting; most of this page was statted and redone, presumably due to last-minute editing. Transformers TM & © Hasbro

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(left) No, this isn’t a plug for our fellow TwoMorrows magazine, Mike Manley’s DRAW!—it’s Herb Trimpe’s original cover to Transformers #20, courtesy of Ruben Azcona. Transformers TM & © Hasbro

(right) Herb Trimpe’s rock-’em sock-’em cover to Transformers #43, courtesy of Mike Burkey (www.romitaman.com). Transformers TM & © Hasbro

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THE SWIVEL-ARM BATTLE-GRIP REVOLUTION TM

(+!* & &$!

&&"

% ( *!&% ()

Christopher Irvi

G.I. Joe arguably recruited more children into the ranks of comic-book readership than any other comic of the latter 20th century. While Star Wars had ushered the comeback of the action figure (albeit in a smaller 3-inch format) and pioneered a multi-media approach to merchandising, G.I. Joe went one step further and created a model for nonfilm properties to survive in other mediums. Hasbro decided to jump on the bandwagon in the early ’80s by bringing G.I. Joe back to toy shelves. In the post-Vietnam world of 1977, Star Wars revived the toy soldier in the guise of Luke Skywalker and company. G.I. Joe had started as a 12-inch doll in 1964 and was shrunk down to the 8-inch Action Joe line by 1978. Not only would he shrink further down to Star Wars size for this new incarnation, but would also be micro-managed into a team of soldiers. Hasbro’s marketing plan for the new G.I. Joe was revolutionary, and set the standard for action figures. The G.I. Joe comic book came about, unsurprisingly, as an excuse to have animated commercials. “[Hasbro] wanted an angle on being able to advertise it, which is how the Marvel connection came in,” writer Larry Hama reveals. “There were only a few seconds of animation you could have in a toy commercial, and you had to show the toy, so people wouldn’t get totally deluded. Somebody at Hasbro (who was actually sort of a genius) named Bob Pruprish realized that a comic book was protected under the

$ (!

(& )

Herb Trimpe’s cover pencils to Marvel’s G.I. Joe #1 (June 1982), courtesy of Bob McLeod, the cover’s inker.

G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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(*-&(" Up close and personal with Destro and the Baroness, from page 17 of G.I. Joe #15. Mike Vosburg pencil art courtesy of Tim Finn. Joe expert Charles Costas adds that Vosburg, an “anti-war guy,” had penciled the entire issue #24 when he was informed that he was off the book. Russ Heath’s substitute story appeared in issue #24, while Vosburg’s tale went unpublished—and his artwork was never returned. G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

G.I. Joe #23–25 (May–July 1984) have a small team of new Joe recruits capture Cobra Commander (and they even got to do it in an issue beautifully delineated by legendary Russ Heath), only to have Storm Shadow rescue the enemy leader and take his place as hostage. Baroness even returns, dressed in a sexy black leather bodysuit after her plastic surgery. Australian master of disguise and mercenary Zartan appears with his diminutively-minded motorcycle gang the Dreadnoks. The file card for the Zartan figure would cause a controversy upon its release. Due to Zartan’s excessive adoption of differing personalities/ disguises, he apparently developed paranoid schizophrenia. The card was soon changed to exclude any mention of mental instability.

Cover © Marvel Characters, Inc. G.I. Joe TM & © Hasbro.

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“A friend of mine, who was a shrink, said, ‘You should have known that would happen. Of course paranoids are going to get bothered—they’re paranoids!’” Hama laughs. G.I. Joe #26 (Aug. 1984) begins a classic storyline that not only cements Snake-Eyes as a major player, but adds to the already growing appeal of the mystery man. “Snake-Eyes: The Origin” reunites Hama and Leialoha on the art chores, and stands out in the series 100-plus-issue run. The second part, #27, would start Frank Springer’s run as penciler. Stalker reveals that he and Snake-Eyes had served in Vietnam together, along with a soldier named Tommy. Snake-Eyes was caught in a crossfire while the trio were loading onto a chopper, and Tommy rushed out, braving enemy fire to bring Snake-Eyes to safety. In the process, a distinctive red-barred tattoo on Tommy’s forearm was revealed—the same tattoo seen on the presentday Snake-Eyes’ forearm. Tommy’s last name, as Stalker would find out, translates directly into “Storm Shadow.” After his parents and twin sister are killed by a drunk driver on the way to pick him up at the airport, Snake-Eyes joined Tommy’s family business: a ninja clan. Led by the jovial Soft Master, stone-faced Hard Master, and Tommy (the Young Master), they trained Snake-Eyes for two years, with the two friends becoming equals in the ninja arts. One fateful day, The Hard Master was

murdered with one of Tommy’s arrows . . . killed when the Hard Master imitated Snake-Eyes’ distinct breathing pattern. The arrow meant for Snake-Eyes was deployed by a ninja trick that only Storm Shadow could perform: “The Ear That Sees.” Tommy disappeared, and the clan disbanded. During one of the first missions of the Joe team some time later, SnakeEyes was caught in a horrible helicopter crash while saving Scarlett. The blast that struck Snake-Eyes’ face left him disfigured and mute. In the present day, Storm Shadow reveals that he’d seen a COBRA assailant kill the Hard Master years before and had joined the organization to find his uncle’s killer. By the title’s third year, Larry Hama had woven G.I. Joe into a Dickensian tapestry rife with character relationships and ironies. The threads would continue to weave as Hama introduced even more characters. With the opening of a renovated Pit, Hawk and the original Joes are promoted to becoming the administrative wing of the Joe team (with Snake-Eyes the sole exception). This provided Hama with an explanation for having new recruits like Flint, Spirit, Rip-Cord, and Lady Jaye gain such active roles. On the COBRA front, the elite Crimson Guardsmen (or “Siegies”) are introduced. Cobra Commander’s undercover agents undergo plastic surgery to look identical, and are named Fred with successive Roman numerals after their names. The Siegies would infiltrate America as bankers, lawyers, and salesmen, legally taking the country over. Taking a note from “Greed is Good,” COBRA is revealed as a terrorist organization run by the most cutthroat of all men: lawyers and yuppies, in biting social satire orchestrated by Hama. Also, Billy, the boy introduced in #10, is revealed as Cobra Commander’s son.

( #!$ Larry Hama’s preliminary cover art to G.I. Joe #24, from the collection of Court Gebeau (www.comiconart.com).

READERS FLIP THEIR WHIGS

Penciler Rod Whigham joins inker Andy Mushynsky with G.I. Joe #38 (Aug. 1985), bringing more realism and less stylization to the book’s appearance, just in time to introduce even more elements. Rip-Cord’s girlfriend Candy Appel and the Joes

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THE KING’S LAST STAND: by

Tom “The Comics Savant” Stewart

JACK KIRBY’S FINAL SERIES

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In 1984, DC and Kenner Toys entered into an agreement to produce a line of toys based on DC’s characters. The Justice League of America (or the Super Friends, depending on how and where you look at it) was coming to toy shelves everywhere to stand alongside Kenner’s cash cow Star Wars line. Kenner tapped into DC’s history, bringing to plastic life heroes and villains that had never felt the joy of gathering dust on a collector’s shelf, of the pain of being lost in the dirt pile in the backyard. Only one problem. Some of the best villains, the most savage, wickedest bad guys ever to infest a comics universe, were over at Marvel. The Joker may be a dangerous homicidal manic, but he looks like he could be handing out balloons at a birthday party. Even a Lex Luthor with his robot super-suit (you know, the one that didn’t allow him to turn his head) really wasn’t, well, evil-looking enough. Kenner wanted more. They might not have known it, but they wanted Jack Kirby. Or at least, the Kirby villains and heroes of the New Gods: Orion, Mister Miracle, Mantis, Lightray, the Para-Demons, Kalibak, and of course, the ruler of Apokolips, Darkseid. Jack Kirby had spent his life in conjunction with Joe Simon and Stan Lee coming up with some of the most important and culturally pervasive characters in the newly recognized (okay, barely recognized) field of pop art. It was this record that caused DC to ask him to make the jump from Marvel back in the ’70s, and it was this power and imagination that attracted DC heads Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz to renew ties with Kirby. Jack had left DC in 1975 and returned to Marvel after plans with the former [DC Publisher Carmine] Infantino regime ground

to an unsatisfying end [see BI #14’s Kamandi article]. Jack wanted out of comics, his heart no longer in it, but his need for work and his Depression Era take-any-job-to-feed-your-family ethic wouldn’t let him walk away. He escaped into animation, first with Hanna-Barbera, then doing concept drawings for Ruby-Spears. He had the first health-care plan of his life. He was out of Marvel, out of DC. He started doing independent comics, Captain Victory and Silver Star for Pacific Comics, concepts and characters that he’d be kicking around, sometimes for years. He was essentially working two fulltime jobs, doing the huge detailed presentation and character drawings at Ruby-Spears during the day and working late into the night, with the sound of Spanish television in the background, on his own comics. Why would he want to go back to doing Marvel’s or even DC’s version of comics? To super-heroes? Jack had moved on and he didn’t like to go backwards.

Kirby’s Powers In 1984, Captain Victory and Silver Star came to an end along with their publisher, Pacific Comics. Jack had been there as usual, on the cutting edge of the new independent comics movement, trying out more ideas in one 20page comic than most creators can fit into an entire 50-issue run. Now DC was calling. They had just started a new royalty agreement, the first in the business, and had grandfathered Jack’s New Gods into the agreement. Kahn and Levitz respected Jack and his creations, appreciated the value that Kirby’s ideas could have in DC’s future, and wanted to maintain a good relationship with him. At this time, Jack was involved in a bitter battle with Marvel over the ownership of thousands of pages of his old artwork. He saw that artwork as his legacy to his family, and nobody messed with his family. The fight was taking physical and mental tolls on the nearly 70-year-old Kirby, a distraction from his drawing and earning a living. Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz had signed a petition calling for the artwork to be returned to Jack. A big comics company being nice to him must have come as a very welcome relief. They wanted ideas for Super Powers? Jack gladly did new concept drawings for the toy line, earning some extra money and qualifying some of his

New Gods characters for royalties. He might have felt a bit beholden to DC when it was proposed he do the Super Powers miniseries as a tie-in. He was busy with the DC proposed “ending” to the New Gods saga, and the follow-up, the aborted, barely published Hunger Dogs graphic novel. Jack plotted the first four issues of Super Powers (with Joey Cavalieri scripting), then wrote and drew the final issue, with Greg Theakston inking. It was Greg’s first time inking a full Kirby issue, getting the job after impressing Editorial Director Dick Giordano with his inking on the cover to #4.

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the same way today. This is an early example (1979) of a cover prelim. I was a Bruce Lee fan and a fan of kung-fu cinema in general at that time, and that influenced my handling of the character and the series. I tried to inject a little

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Bruce Lee into Shang-Chi whenever possible.

Master of Kung Fu was my first series work at Marvel, and

Issue #101 was my final issue before moving on

looking back, I still see an artist learning his craft. On the

to take over the Captain America penciling chores.

plus side, Doug Moench’s plots were highly detailed and

I didn’t figure I had a whole lot more to bring to

descriptive, even to the point of describing mood and

the martial-arts table, so after three years of jump

character emotion in most instances. The thick plots

kicks and elbow punches, I was ready to jump

were daunting at first, but in retrospect a very good

into the super-hero ring to experience a new type

writer for a developing talent to be teamed with.

of storyline and a different style of action.

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MASTER OF KUNG FU #86 (1979) and 101 (1981)

Art and captions by Mike Zeck

MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS (1984)

This was the first art produced for Secret Wars, and I rendered it twice-up knowing that it was also going to be used as an advertising poster. Shortly after, it was decided that a couple of the mutants wouldn’t be part of the series, and they were dropped from the art [see inset for published version]. The rest of the cast made it to the poster, but the top tier of characters were deleted for cover art purposes in order to make room for the logo. T o y

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guest editorial by milton knight 5 8

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Hugo: The Gathering, a line-up done for a prospective publisher and illustrated by Milton Knight (then 18) in 1981, more than a year before Hugo’s Fantagraphics debut. Pictured at opposite ends: Aloysius and Buttox (the Anarchist Brothers); between the fiends: King Adolph the Eleventeenth, Leonard the Stable Boy, Hugo; Princess Trish, Nan Marley (the Lady-in-Waiting). © 2006 Milton Knight.

I am a comic-book artist who has always favored humor comics. Rebellion has always been an important part of my artistic sensibilities, and I feel that the best humor comics, in their twisted, clownish way, boldly get to life’s truths, and freely put the lie to the false values traditionally sold by society . . . and “serious” comics. I began my career in 1979 writing scripts for Harvey Comics, then illustrating for Marvel’s Crazy magazine. Hugo, the star of my first independent comic book in

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1982, was around a long time before that. I began developing the character before I was a teenager in the early 1970s; he grew out of my lifetime love of the medieval “mystique.” As a youngster I was quite driven; I knew I wanted to tell stories with medieval animals. The narrative and graphic possibilities were heady to me, and I filled sketchbooks with experiments with a number of kings, knights, princesses, and scullery maids before arriving at the cast of characters in its present state. The

cast development proved to be very organic, with each character being originated to fill a need and then growing . . . like a human being. King Adolph, for instance, began life as a typical corpulent Beginnings: cartoon king; becoming more frank about allowing my life to Richie Rich Dollars & Cents “He Loves Me influence my art, Adolph changed into a frank caricature of my Not” script (1978) alcoholic father. As the character developed, he has become more Milestones: complex and human. He started life as a plainly functional caricature Illustrator-cartoonist for The Village Voice, of authority and has blossomed into being his own presence, as Family Weekly, Nickelodeon Magazine, communicative of my own thoughts as Hugo himself. The Electric Company Magazine, National Lampoon, Heavy Metal, and others / Hugo / My chosen inspirations were numerous and some seemingly Midnite the Rebel Skunk / Mighty Mouse / unrelated, but most obvious and lasting were the influence of Slug ’n’ Ginger / animation design for Cool World, Terrytoons (with their lively, springy animation, their lusty antiquarian The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat sensibilities, and, sometimes, their sexuality) and the 1940s “funny animal” comic books (then called “animation” comics) Works in Progress: Graphic Classics / drawn by some people who played a part in the making of those serigraphs prints for films. Chief among them, in comics like Giggle and Cookie, was an Idavid Graficks ex-animation director named Dan Gordon, whose linework tended Cyberspace: to be somewhat heavy, as harsh and sarcastic as his characters. www.miltonknight.net Gordon’s comic work, although sometimes rushed and sometimes racist in the fashion of the day, inspired me with its comic honesty, and stood in the greatest contrast to the “accepted masters” of the genre (Barks, etc.) whose work was, to me, the palest shade of whitebread. Gordon and his New York peers seemed rebels to me, and I wanted to be one, too. My epic dreams came true at Fantagraphics, and while their printing of the book was mostly satisfactory, and the distribution better than average, it was always clear that the most influential members of the staff had a problem regarding funny animal books. “Why talking animals?” was a constant question, and I had no answer beyond their charm, elasticity, history (they were being used by storytellers centuries before comic books), and “camp” value. This was the first time I had experienced anyone having nervousness about a cartoon simply because it featured talking animals, and it soon became obvious that the publishers’ agenda was directed toward the more “realistic” (or, more accurately, less “fantastic”), confessional sensibility that they are now known for. It is hard for me to say where the Hugo series would have gone if I had continued at Fantagraphics, because the poverty I was experiencing and Fantagraphics’ laxness in promoting the book to make it more profitable made doing it a painful experience. Looking back on the four initial Hugo books, I am pleased with their achievement, but certainly see them as achievements of an immature sort. At the time, I was impatient to convey the stories and gags; attention to rendering the art consequentially received short shrift. Many challenges I gave myself both in art and story were “solved” in too facile a manner. I was looking too much at comic books, and learning too many shortcuts from them. In addition, many of the visual interpretations of Trish seem especially gauche to me. But I was a horny kid. And, to the present day, that’s who comics tend to be for. Also typical of a kid at this time was my lack of self-doubt. It was 1986, during the “boom” period for small black-and-white comics publishers, and I knew it was probable that I could improve my former working conditions elsewhere. I did, at least monetarily, with Blackthorne Publishing, an outrageous,

MILTON KNIGHT

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Marvel’s Toy Story: ’s Sal Buscema and

Interview

Dan Johnson

13, 2005 conducted December

’ Jackson Guice Attempting to spin off a successful comic-book series from any line of toys is never child’s play. Still, Marvel Comics managed to do quite well with two titles, Rom: Spaceknight (which ran 75 issues from 1979–1986, with four Annuals) and The Micronauts (which originally enjoyed a 59-issue run from 1979–1984, with various continuations in later years). Recently BACK ISSUE sat down with two of the men who helped make these books wildly popular with comics fans: Sal Buscema, the artist who lent a hand in giving Rom a proper launch, and Jackson “Butch” Guice, the artist who came on board in time to help bring the original adventures of the Micronauts to a conclusion. —Dan Johnson DAN JOHNSON: Tell our readers how you each came to work on your respective books. JACKSON GUICE: Actually, Micronauts is my first credited work in the industry. Ironically enough, a year prior to that, I had ghosted a chapter on Rom Annual #1 for Pat Broderick. Both were breaking points for me getting into comics. I had been doing a little bit of fanzine work, and at the time I was designing patches and emblems for a small company in North Carolina. [One day] I came home from work and there was a phone call from Al Milgrom. I guess Bill Mantlo, who had written the Rom Annual, had seen some of my

And you thought The Graduate’s Dustin Hoffman knew how to bust up a wedding . . . Page 19 of Rom #15, penciled and inked by Sal Buscema. From the collection of Michael Romanenko. Rom TM & © Parker Brothers.

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Beginnings:

Inker on 10-page Gunhawk story

Penciler on Micronauts #48

Milestones:

Works in Progress:

ctor / Micronauts / New Mutants / X-Fa on Flash / Doctor Strange / Badger/ Acti X-O / rior War nal Comics / Eter s of Manowar / Resurrection Man / Bird d sifie Clas JLA / Prey / Ruse

The Avengers / Sub-Mariner / Captain America / The Incredible Hulk / The Defenders / Rom / Iron Man / The Amazing Spider-Man / Peter Park er: The Spectacular Spider-Man / Fantastic Four

ng Artist for various Humanoid Publishi / ket) Mar an ope projects (Eur Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis

Inker for Spider-Girl / Artist for The Official Handbook of the Marvel Univ erse covers

Cyberspace:

theartistschoice.com/guice.htm

Spider-Girl message board at comicsboards.com

JACKSON “BUTCH” GUICE

SAL BUSCEMA fanzine work as well, asked Al to track me down. When I spoke with Al, he told me there was an opening on Micronauts and they were going to try out several different artists over the course of the next three or four issues and he asked if I would be interested in doing one. I jumped at the chance and immediately went out roller skating that night, fell and broke the elbow on my drawing arm. Thankfully when they put the cast on, they had the arm bent, so it was more a case of drawing from the shoulder. It was quite a baptism of fire to start off my career. SAL BUSCEMA: It just shows you what us comic-book guys are capable of. JOHNSON: How about you, Sal? Tell us how you started on Rom. BUSCEMA: The reason I started doing Rom from issue number one was because no one else wanted to do it. Several other people were asked to illustrate the book and they didn’t want to because they didn’t think it was going to fly. As a matter of fact, the Rom action figure was given the nickname “the Toaster.” Everybody thought he looked like a human toaster. I took on the book and it turned out to be reasonably successful, but the toy bombed completely. The toy was gone after one year, but I we did the book for five years.

JOHNSON: Rom and Micronauts both managed to outlive the toy lines that spawned them. Indeed, there are comics fans today who aren’t even aware of the toys. I read that Bill Mantlo, who wrote both books, had seen the promotional video that had been presented to Marvel about Rom. This was the same video that had been used to promote the toy line at various toy fairs. I was wondering, did you gentlemen ever get any feedback from the toy companies about your work on the comics? BUSCEMA: I didn’t get any feedback. The only thing I got from Parker Brothers was a Rom action figure. My children were very young at the time and they were thrilled with it. I thought it was kind of silly myself because it really didn’t do anything. That was about the extent of my involvement with the parent company. JOHNSON: As I recall, Rom was Parker Brothers’ only attempt to put out an action figure. BUSCEMA: Probably. They should have stuck to board games. I did admire them for going to Marvel and saying, “Hey, we would like to do a comic based on this character. What can you do for us?” Marvel came up with a very interesting concept and it was a fun book to do. T o y

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Micronauts figures weren’t the only things available in toy stores in 1979— Whitman bundled three issues of Marvel’s Micronauts for toy-market sales. Micronauts TM & © Mego Corporation.

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Andy Mangels

“Five Young Women, unbelievably strong and mesmerizingly beautiful, must defend the universe! Solara, child of the blazing sun! Starlily, gentle champion whose touch makes deserts blossom! Wonder Woman, Amazon Princess! Dolphin, denizen of the deep blue seas! Ice, ruler of frost and snow! Together they are . . . Wonder Woman and the Star Riders.” So pronounced a catalog headline in 1993, when an exciting new line of toys was announced by Mattel. With DC Comics also creating mini-comics, and Warner prepping an animated special, Wonder Woman and the Star Riders appeared to be destined for success. But along the path to saving the universe, the Star Riders stumbled and fell, and Wonder Woman was forced to face the truth as the project was cancelled on every level. But history would not disappear, and like the shadows of DC’s multiple Earths, neither would this Greatest Story Never Told.

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THE TOYS The origins of the Star Riders project (hereafter referred to as WWSR) are unclear even to some participants, but accounts seem to indicate that DC President Jenette Kahn approached Mattel about doing a girls’ line of dolls based on the DC heroines. A set of presentation art was completed, through DC editor Joe Orlando’s “Special Projects” division. Colorist Rick Taylor recalls, “Jim McCaan or Janice Walker called me to color some super-heroine drawings that one of Joe’s students had done. I remember being asked to color drawings of Dr. Light, Arisia (the Green Lantern), the Bumblebee, and a few others, overnight.” The eventual group of characters would include Wonder Woman as its only familiar face and costume. Ice and Dolphin were substantially altered in appearance, and JLA member Fire’s name was changed to Solara so as not to teach little girls to “play with Fire.” Taylor notes that fifth teammate Starlily (sometimes StarLily and Star Lily), an African-American character, “was invented to add diversity, as none of the DC AfricanAmerican heroines resonated with the folks at Mattel.” Although Wonder Woman had her own cat villainess in Cheetah, a new cat-based villainess was created in Purrsia.

“Once the heroine lineup had been ‘cut’ to Wonder Woman, Dolphin, Starlily, Solara, Ice, and Purrsia, José Luis García-López did full pencils of each character,” Taylor says. “I was asked to ink, color, and make them presentation quality. I bought silver and gold markers and glitter, then inked the drawings, colored them and ‘finished’ them with glitter and metallic markers.” García-López says, “I just adapted the dolls’ photos I got from licensing to a drawing style suited for young girls. My bet is that the dolls were designed at Mattel, because if they came from

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DC, I’d be provided with sketches and other art related to the project. I did the six characters, sketch, pencil, and ink, each one as a pin-up, and then the pencils for the mini-comic. Besides that, I did an illustration as a poster-like presentation of the characters. The only thing I saw published was the poster, [which is a] very common practice in licensing; most of the time you don’t see the final product.” As Mattel continued work on the prototype dolls of the characters, they had one other heroine in mind. “I know for a fact Supergirl was discussed and developed,” Taylor says, providing BACK ISSUE readers with photographic proof of the strangely dressed Maid of Steel. “It was decided she would be a ‘year two’ figure. I think the overall costume alteration [for the characters] was to make their bodies a little more ‘covered up.’ I get the impression Mattel was a little more than turned off at the wardrobe size of the average DC heroine.” In all, the WWSR heroines went through three prototype versions before final designs were chosen. Those dolls were then photographed for catalog usage, as the February 1993 Toy Fair was looming, and Mattel wanted the line to get a huge splash. In addition to multi-page advertising (featuring a double-page García-López spread colored by Tom McCraw) in toy-retailing magazines, Mattel produced a variety of materials. Among them: A whopping ten pages of the official Mattel 1993 catalogue, including a two-page comic story by García-López; A color double-sided sales card, also featuring the García-López art; A 12-page brochure with a pop-up centerfold, each page featuring García-López art of the characters colored by Rick Taylor. The back of the brochure featured the lyrics to the WWSR theme song by composer John Dorff and lyricist John Bettis; and An invitation to a special showroom viewing of the toys, featuring the García-López art again, plus a special “Intergalactic Tours Boarding Pass,” which led to a special surprise . . . The Boarding Pass admitted attendees to a special display in Mattel’s showroom set up as a spaceship set, complete with lights and sound. On a monitor, they saw a message from Wonder Woman (a live actress), which was interrupted by the evil villainess Purrsia (another actress). The line of dolls was then introduced with early CGI animation. As for the dolls shown, each doll came with a special belt-jewel that focused their powers; the belt could be removed and used as a child’s ring. The dolls were jointed at the shoulders, legs, waist, and neck. The dolls featured painted and cloth costumes and lengthy rooted hair. Mini-comics were intended to be included with each doll. There were five heroines, one villainess, three animals, and a playset offered. They were: Wonder Woman, who came with a cape and a magic “wonder wand”; Ice, who froze her enemies with a magical “ice sceptre” that had a ringing sound; Dolphin, who championed the oceans and came with a “bubble wand”; Starlily, who protected plants and trees and was a scented figure with a pop-out backpack; Solara, who protected the sun and who could shine light from a jewel in her torso; Purrsia, the villainess, who came with five detachable jewels and a glittery mask; Glorious García-López pinups of the WWSR cast. This page (top to bottom): Wonder Woman, Dolphin, and Purrsia; next page (top to bottom): Ice, Solara, and Starlily. © 2006 DC Comics.

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Nightshine, Wonder Woman’s flying unicorn (a slightly altered mold from SheRa, Princess of Power line’s Swiftwind); Cloudlancer, a winged horse (also altered Swiftwind); Pantha, Purrsia’s purple tiger (a reused mold from She-Ra’s Clawdeen); and The Starlight Castle, which was a playset and home base for the Star Riders, and which came with glow-in-the-dark star stickers. About the toy line, Jenette Kahn promised, “Wonder Woman and the Star Riders is the only property that sends an important message directly to girls. Each character uses her powers to be the best person she can be. Together, the Star Riders use their powers to make the world the best place it can be.” Jill Barad, the President of Mattel Toys, was only slightly less operatic in her praise. “This toy line offer new, powerful role models for girls . . . Wonder Woman and the Star Riders will continue Mattel’s tradition of providing positive and empowering toys.” [Shockingly, it would be years before the empowering “Math is hard” Barbie was developed.] An article in the Wall Street Journal on February 5, 2003 spotlighted the toy line. It noted that “Mattel Inc. will try to bridge the gender gap with an ‘action doll’ for girls . . . It’s an unusual venture ‘into a rather untested category that has traditionally appealed to boys,’ says Jill Krutick, an analyst for Salomon Brothers Inc. Unrelated to the Wonder Woman TV show of a few years ago, Mattel’s action dolls freeze opponents in bubbles and stun them with sprays of sweet scents. A Mattel spokeswoman adds that the new Wonder Woman super heroine will be nonviolent and have lots of hair to comb.” Apparently, nothing says excitement for girls like nonviolence and lots of hair to comb.

THE COMICS The packaging for each of the dolls was supposed to include mini-comics for each character, a “pack-in” made popular by the Super Powers and He-Man toy lines. The job for creating those comics fell to DC’s Special Projects division again. Laura Hitchcock was one of the editors who oversaw the project, and she called upon some industry veterans who got a good paycheck drawing the simplified tiny comics. Of the comics, few specifics are known. It’s possible that Louise Simonson wrote some of them, but though she recalls working on the project in some fashion, Simonson doesn’t recall many details. Mike Vosburg and Steve Mitchell illustrated the 12-page Starlily comic. Ron

Says Rick Taylor of this Cinnamon Mini Buns mini-comic: “The Kellogg’s books were done with vegetable inks and glued, not stapled, so if kids ate them they wouldn’t choke on the staples or die from the ink poisoning.” © 2006 DC Comics.

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