“ SS P P II EE SS A AN ND D T TO OU UG GH H G GU UY Y SS ”” II SS SS U U EE !! “
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BLACK WIDOW TM & © MARVEL CHARACTERS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Exclusive “Pro2Pro” Interview with
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PAUL GULACY and DOUG MOENCH on Master of Kung Fu, Nick Fury, 007, and Their Longtime Collaboration SUICIDE SQUAD • JAMES BOND • AIRBOY • REDEEMER • SGT. ROCK • MS. TREE • AND MR. T! WITH KUBERT • COLAN • TRUMAN • OSTRANDER • KESEL • MCDONNELL • AND MORE!
Volume 1, Number 26 February 2008 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, and Today!
The Retro Comics Experience!
EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 COVER ARTIST Paul Gulacy
FLASHBACK: Black Widow: The Gloria Steinem of the Jump-Suit Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 The amazing adventures of Marvel’s spy superheroine
COVER COLORIST Laurie Kronenberg
PRO2PRO: (Karate) Kickin’ It, Old School!: Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy . . . . . . . . . .8 The writer and artist kick back for a Master of Kung Fu dialogue
COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg
GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: The Shang-Chi/Nick Fury Crossover . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Moench and Gulacy were thiiiiiis close to pairing Marvel’s martial artist and super-spy
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Bob Brodsky, Cookiesoup Periodical Distribution, LLC
BEYOND CAPES: James Bond: A Comics History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 A look at the scattershot comics appearances of the most famous of secret agents
PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington
WHAT THE--?!: Between a Rock and a Bizarre Place: Sgt. Rock’s Team-Ups in the DC Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 The WWII hero’s offbeat pairings with Batman, Superman, Swamp Thing, and others
SPECIAL THANKS Michael Aushenker Mike Baron Terry Beatty Lee Benaka Al Bigley Alex Boney Jerry Boyd Norm Breyfogle Michael Browning Pete Carlsson Dewey Cassell Howard Chaykin Steve Cohen Gene Colan Max Allan Collins Gerry Conway Tony DeZuniga Chuck Dixon Randy Emberlin Angela Fowlks Mike Friedrich Mike Gagnon Grand Comic-Book Database Robert Greenberger Paul Gulacy George Hagenauer Allan Harvey Heritage Comics Auctions Ben Herman Eric Houston Tony Isabella Geof Isherwood Dan Johnson
BEYOND CAPES: Keep ’Em Flying: The Story of Airboy at Eclipse Comics . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Dixon and Truman’s travails and triumphs in resurrecting the Golden Age flyboy FLASHBACK: The Suicide Squad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 An in-depth, art-loaded examination of John Ostrander’s dastardly do-gooders OFF MY CHEST: The Painless Birth of the Suicide Squad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Series editor Robert Greenberger spills his guts on the origins of DC’s hard-hitting team INTERVIEW: Howard Chaykin on Atlas Comics: The Good, the Bad, and the Higher Page Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 The superstar writer/artist discusses the Scorpion and the fly-by-night publisher of 1975 BEYOND CAPES: P.I.s Inc.: The Many Detectives of Don McGregor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 McGregor’s film noir comics Detectives Inc. and Nathaniel Dusk, with art by Marshall Rogers and Gene Colan WHAT THE--?!: They Call Me Mr. T! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Pity th’ fool who counts out this comics-friendly ’80s icon GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Joe Kubert and The Redeemer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 The comics legend looks back at the series that didn’t—but might yet—happen BEYOND CAPES: The Mystery of Ms. Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 The story of Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty’s tough-as-nails lady P.I. BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Reader feedback on magical issue #24, and a bonus for fans of Micronauts! BACK ISSUE™ is published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. E-mail: euryman@msn.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $40 Standard US, $54 First Class US, $66 Canada, $90 Surface International, $108 Airmail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Paul Gulacy. Black Widow TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2008 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING. S p i e s
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A Black Widow sketch by Bill Sienkiewicz, courtesy of Anthony Snyder. Black Widow © 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.
Mike Keane Scott Kent Randy Kerr Karl Kesel Jim Kingman Michael Kronenberg Joe Kubert Joe Kulbiski Dave Lemieux Marvel Comics Luke McDonnell Doug Moench Miss Moneypenney Albert Moy John Ostrander Michael Rankins Rose Rummel-Eury Paul Sager Jeff Singh Anthony Snyder John K. Snyder III Tom Stewart Timothy Truman John Yon cat yronwode
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We’ve been told repeatedly during the past several years that the world changed on September 11, 2001. That isn’t true, at least not in the way it’s been presented to us. What changed on 9/11 was America’s perception of and reaction to terrorism. But political and religious extremists’ use of violence is certainly no recent phenomenon. If you don’t believe me, just read writer John Ostrander’s Suicide Squad, DC Comics’ 1987–1992 supervillains-as-expendable-operatives series which was recently revived as a miniseries and is about to see its earliest adventures collected in a Showcase Presents edition. Given the current popularity of supervillain gatherings, some readers might lump Suicide Squad into the same category as DC’s new Salvation Run book
S.C.I.-Spy © 2008 Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy/DC Comics.
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or the ’70s oldie Secret Society of Super-Villains. Don’t make that mistake: Ostrander’s Suicide Squad was about honor, dishonor, bravery, deception, and a very fragile world peace. Its ragtag team of secret agents, superheroes, and costumed convicts was often sent deep into the Middle East (and other volatile parts of the world) on missions impossible in stories that seem chillingly contemporary today. In this issue writer Michael Browning blows the lid off the Squad’s history, with the aid of series contributors Luke McDonnell, Karl Kesel, Geof Isherwood (whose name I misspelled last issue in the caption to his astounding Six Million Dollar Man vs. Bigfoot illo; my apologies, Geof), John K. Snyder III, and Johnny O himself—and series editor Bob Greenberger chimes in with an “Off My Chest” guest editorial. (For those hoping for commentary from one-time Suicide Squad cover artist Jerry Bingham, our efforts to enlist his participation were unsuccessful.) Long before Ostrander’s Suicide Squad, when it came to international espionage, nobody did it better than novelist Ian Fleming, and in this issue we look at the scattershot comic-book appearances of his enduring creation, James Bond—and in an exclusive “Greatest Stories Never Told” article by Dave Lemieux, we explore the planned-butscrapped crossover of Bond’s Marvel Comics counterpart, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., with Marvel’s answer to real-life tough guy Bruce Lee, Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung Fu. This issue also features one of our most-requested “Pro2Pro” interviews, uniting Master of Kung Fu’s unbeatable creative team, Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy—who also, among their frequent collaborations, did a James Bond miniseries together (wouldn’t you love to see a Moench/Gulacy Batman/ Bond crossover, with Ra’s al Ghul as the villain?). Also this issue: We’ve declassified dossiers on comic-book secret agents and tough guys Black Widow, Airboy, Sgt. Rock, the Scorpion (and Atlas Comics), Detectives Inc. and Nathaniel Dusk, Mr. T (that’s right, fool!), the Redeemer, and—one of my personal favorite series from the 1980s—Ms. Tree, with the aid of Tim Truman, Howard Chaykin, Joe Kubert, Don McGregor, Max Allan Collins, Terry Beatty, and other friends. That’s a heavy-hitting lineup! If you’re still craving terrorist-chasing, knucklebusting action after reading this issue, let me point you toward 24: Cold Warrior, coming this February from IDW Publishing (and the Fox Network). From the iMac of writer Beau Smith (Cobb, Wynonna Earp), this latest comics adventure of TV tough guy Jack Bauer is a must-read. Learn more at: www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/busted. One correction to share: In our Frank Brunner Dr. Strange interview in BACK ISSUE #24, we were misinformed about the art on page 41. It was actually Frank’s rough interior layout from a page from Marvel Premiere #10, not a cover layout for issue #14, as captioned. Our apologies to Mr. Brunner. And we’d like to extend our belated gratitude to Michael Cross, the contributor of the awesome Bob Layton Iron Man art that appeared as BI #25’s cover. Thank you, Mike. The art on this page is a teaser for this issue’s Doug Moench/Paul Gulacy “Pro2Pro” interview. It’s Gulacy’s cover art to the third issue of the 2002 DC/Vertigo series he co-created with Moench, S.C.I.-Spy. Enjoy!
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Allan Harvey
Marvel’s premier femme fatale super-spy, the Black Widow, aka Natalia Romanova, aka Natasha Romanoff, first appeared in a 1964 Iron Man story (Tales of Suspense #52) as a baddie. She later saw the error of her ways, defected to the West from her native Russia, and spent the remainder of the 1960s as part-time Avenger and occasional guest star—usually pursued by the smitten archer Hawkeye. In 1970, as a teaser for her forthcoming solo series, Black Widow (BW) guest-starred in Amazing Spider-Man #86, where she went head to head with an unwell wall-crawler in a classic Marvel misunderstanding. There she wore her trademark skintight all-in-one shiny black outfit for the first time. And very fetching she looked, too!
BLACK’S WIDOW’S AMAZING ADVENTURES Debuting in August 1970, Amazing Adventures was one of the last of Marvel’s “split books,” where two features were combined to provide the reader with more bang for their buck, and allow a degree of market research for the potential popularity of fledgling characters. While the Inhumans took up the lead spot of Amazing Adventures, Black Widow settled down in the back as the first Marvel superheroine to star in her own series. Initially, the stories were written by Gary Friedrich and drawn by John Buscema. They introduced “international jet-setter” Natasha Romanoff and her chauffeur and confidant, Ivan Petrovitch. (BW’s origin changed over the years, but basically involved Natasha being orphaned during the War and cared for by Ivan until the Russian authorities took an interest and inducted her into their super-spy training program.) Bored of her rich lifestyle, Natasha takes to the skies as the Black Widow. Aided by her anti-grav shoes and S.H.I.E.L.D.-designed “widow’s web” line, she can swing across Manhattan with aplomb. Golden wristbands that power her “widow’s bite” stun beams and a spare equipment belt complete her outfit. Confident, almost arrogant, as Natasha, the mask slips when she’s in BW guise. She quickly becomes
She may have defected to the USA… …but we can find nary a defect in the beautiful Black Widow. Plate Four from Paul Gulacy’s 1982 Black Widow Portfolio, published by S.Q. Productions, Inc. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). © 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.
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unsure of herself and her abilities as she makes mistakes. Not least of her concerns is that, as the new costume has no mask, she’ll soon be recognized and lose her private life. A justified fear as it turns out. BW tries to help a gang of youths in Spanish Harlem create a center for underprivileged children. Unfortunately, the gang have taken over a building illegally and find themselves subject to court action to evict them. Natasha, caught in the middle, sees her reputation plummet as the newspapers turn against her, and the mafia plots to have her denounced as a communist insurgent.
Sketching the Fetching Femme Black Widow by Hannibal King, courtesy of Anthony Snyder. © 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.
It is around this time that changes in the strip began. Gene Colan drew Amazing Adventures #3 (Nov. 1970), with inks by Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett. This pairing works beautifully, and the resulting few issues remain a joy to behold. It’s a great shame that Everett died a short time later, robbing us of further collaborations. “I loved Bill’s work very much,” says Colan. Although probably best known for his long run drawing Tomb of Dracula in the 1970s, Colan had a solid background in superheroes, with stints on Daredevil, Captain America, and Iron Man. Prior to joining Marvel he’d worked in romance comics, experience he was able to put to good use delineating the adventures of the delectable Ms. Romanoff. “I try to think before I draw that I’m drawing someone attractive and, as long as I keep that thought in my head, it turns out well,” he says. Roy Thomas succeeded Gary Friedrich as scripter, before relative newcomer Gerry Conway took charge of BW’s adventures. “I’d been writing for DC comics for two or three years,” says Conway, “working on features like Phantom Stranger, and scripting ‘mystery’ stories for comics like House of Secrets and House of Mystery, but, to paraphrase the joke about the actor’s ambitions to be a director, what I really wanted to do was write superheroes—specifically, Marvel heroes. Through friends I’d become acquainted with Roy Thomas, who was Stan Lee’s right-hand man at the time, and Roy offered me a shot at the Marvel ‘writing test.’ Stan wasn’t impressed, but Roy liked what I did, and began throwing some short assignments my way, including scripting over his plot on an early Ka-Zar, and ultimately, Black Widow.” Under Thomas the series had taken on a new tone, one continued by Conway: soap-opera melodrama replaced the political plots of Gary Friedrich. BW and Ivan became closer, with Ivan taking a larger slice of the action. Their relationship began to resemble that of the central characters of the UK newspaper strip Modesty Blaise. Like Modesty and co-star Willie Garvin, Natasha and Ivan are the closest of friends—but purely platonic. Conway: “Writing the Widow was a lot of fun. I’ve always had a weak spot for powerful, assertive women in fiction, particularly redheads (ahem). I also enjoyed the dynamic between the Widow and Ivan: playful, vaguely sexy, but ultimately more friendly than romantic.” Thomas and Conway started a subplot where BW truly begins to doubt herself following the death of a youth she’s trying to protect. Pursuing those responsible, Natasha’s anxiety leads her to delay a capture attempt and the culprits escape. With this failure witnessed by police, the Widow’s competency is called into question, and the mental strain weighs heavily on her. She even begins to believe that anyone who crosses paths with her is destined to die.
HORNING IN ON DAREDEVIL At this point, the decision was made to remove BW from the ailing Amazing Adventures. The Inhumans took over the complete book, and Natasha was moved across to Daredevil, then in the safe hands of Conway and Colan. “I was looking for a way to re-energize the title,” says Conway, “and starting up a romantic and professional relationship between DD and the Widow seemed like a natural—particularly given my fondness for Natasha.
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Taking No Bull (above) Natasha vs. Man-Bull, in the Mighty Gerry Conway/Gene Colan/Tom Palmer Manner! Page 18 of Daredevil #95 (Jan. 1973), from the collection of Lee Benaka. (right) The ’70s dynamic duo of BW and DD, as rendered by Alex Maleev. Actually drawn at an 11" x 17" size, this is an example of a $500 commission that can be obtained by the artist through Anthony Snyder (www.anthonysynder/art). © 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.
BW first appeared in Daredevil #81 (Nov. 1971)— and not a moment too soon: Her very first act is to rescue Daredevil from drowning! Soon, she is completely smitten with Ol’ Hornhead. Luckily enough, DD, in his civilian identity as Matt Murdoch, had recently split from long-term girlfriend Karen Page, and so the coast is clear for a mutual exchange of affections between the blind lawyer and the Russian ex-spy. Their growing relationship provides the backdrop to these issues, while the main plot concerns itself with BW being framed for the murder of the supervillain, the Scorpion. Matt’s old partner Foggy Nelson leads the prosecution, which doesn’t endear him to Natasha. She is, however, soon acquitted, but, feeling she needs a fresh start, she persuades Matt to move with her to San Francisco. “I liked San Francisco,” says Conway, “and was looking for a new venue for our characters— New York seemed to be getting pretty crowded.”
Gene Colan continued to provide very strong artwork and was soon joined by Tom Palmer on inks, that magic combination ensuring a memorable run of issues. Colan was happy to have BW as regular co-star in the book: “I did [enjoy drawing her]. She was seductive, pretty, [and] she rounded out the plots very well in that DD had a love interest.” In plotting this new direction, Conway focused very heavily on the relationship between Matt and Natasha. Often as much as half of any given issue was taken up with the melodrama of their unfolding love, or the concerns of one for the safety of the other. Not to mention poor old Ivan, who continued to be a presence in Natasha’s life—even living in the house she and Matt shared! With Daredevil #92 (Oct. 1972), Marvel officially recognized Natasha’s co-star status, and the title of the comic, at least on the cover, became Daredevil and the Black Widow. “Giving her co-billing on the title was something that evolved as readers responded to the dynamic,” says Conway. S p i e s
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Dan Johnson
Fads never last for too long, and yet sometimes the comic books they inspire become timeless. During the 1970s, anything that could be used as a hook to generate a comic book at Marvel Comics was up for grabs, with some efforts that fared much better (for example, motorcycle enthusiasm and Ghost Rider) than others (disco and Dazzler). Of all the 1970s fads that caught the creative eye of the folks at Marvel, one was a natural for a medium that thrived on fast-paced action: the kung-fu craze. It just so happens that at the same time Marvel Comics was ready to start kung-fu fighting, the company had also acquired the rights to Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu series of novels. Beginning in Special Marvel Edition #15 (Dec. 1973), writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin infused the world of Rohmer’s master criminal with a little chop-socky action by giving Fu Manchu a son who would become his greatest adversary… at least in the Marvel Universe. Thus Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu was born. Shortly after the series began, the son of Fu Manchu acquired a new creative team, writer Doug Moench and artist Paul Gulacy, and it was under them that the Master of Kung Fu series (as Special Marvel Edition was re-titled with issue #17) reached its creative zenith. It was they who ensured that Master of Kung Fu would become a legend long after Pet Rocks and mood rings were a thing of the past. – Dan Johnson DAN JOHNSON: Paul, Master of Kung Fu was one of the first projects you did for Marvel Comics. How did you get started with the company, and how did you come to work on this series? PAUL GULACY: [I came to the industry] through the coaxing of inker Dan Adkins, and before I began work with Marvel, I submitted a short story that I had drawn and written that involved this mystical Chinese fellow. Included in that story were some martial-arts themes which at that time editor Roy Thomas took note of. [When Master of Kung Fu came along] I was already doing some black-and-white horror stories and my first color work was “Morbius: The Living Vampire.” Tie all this in with Jim Starlin’s exit on Master of Kung Fu after three issues to work on another title and bingo, Roy gave me the call. JOHNSON: What were your thoughts in taking over the book when it was offered to you? Having worked previously on horror titles, it seemed like this series would be a big departure for you as an artist. GULACY: When you’re young and hungry, you’ll take anything they offer. If it was Captain Schmuck, I’d be all over it. But with this book, I had to do some homework. 8
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Door’s Open! Come On In! Paul Gulacy’s pencils for an unused Master of Kung Fu cover, similar to the layout Paul used for the cover of MOKF #55 (Aug. 1977). Very special thanks to Dave Lemiuex. © 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.
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I had seen a few kung-fu movies, but not Enter the Dragon at that time. Martial arts was here and there in Bond movies and such, but this was at the crest of that new kung-fu craze. I remember being an art student and going to see the first martial-arts movie ever shown in this country called Five Fingers of Death. It was totally wack. JOHNSON: What did you think when you learned that Doug was coming in as the series’ new writer? GULACY: I didn’t know Doug. I can’t remember any of his work at that time. In fact, I didn’t know a whole lot about the industry in general. I read some comics, but not many. Bear in mind, when I was attending art school, I thought I might be ending up in advertising or as an illustrator after graduation. I got hired out of the blue, on a lark, while I still had a year of school to finish at 19. My ending up in comics was completely out of left field and unexpected. DOUG MOENCH: [In regard to Paul’s hiring,] I was in Marv Wolfman’s office and there was a stack of submissions and tryout artwork and Marv was showing them to me. We were looking through these and I came across pages by Paul, but I didn’t know that, they had no name on them. The actual drawing was not as good as it would soon become, and remember, this was really early on and this was his tryout stuff. On the other hand, the artwork was very dynamic and very exciting. As for the storytelling, it was the best I had seen in I don’t know how long. When I saw this stuff, I said, “Oh, my God! Who’s this guy? Give me this guy, let me write something for him.” And I went on and on and on, and Marv just stood there looking at me, and I said, “You’ve got to hire this guy!” After three minutes of me going insane like that, Marv said, “Already done.” Marv had already decided Paul should be hired. When they asked me to do Master of Kung Fu, one of the reasons I said yes was because Paul was, by then, on the book. JOHNSON: Before the both of you started working on the comic, how familiar were you with the Fu Manchu stories by Sax Rohmer? GULACY: [I think] maybe I read one or two books when I was in my early teens. It was good stuff. Very moody, atmospheric pulp writing. Very reminiscent of Kenneth Robeson’s work on Doc Savage. I remember Christopher Lee playing Fu Manchu in the films. MOENCH: I was really not that familiar at all with Rohmer’s work. I had seen a couple of Fu Manchu movies, too, and by osmosis, I knew what he was all about, but I had not read any of the novels. JOHNSON: What can you tell us about the deal that Marvel Comics had struck to use Rohmer’s characters? MOENCH: All I know is that Marvel paid a small fee, I think on a monthly basis, to Rohmer’s widow for the rights to use Fu Manchu, even though there would be many months and many issues where he was not featured at all. GULACY: Quite frankly, at that time anyone could have obtained the rights to Fu Manchu for a song. I don’t think the novels were exactly selling like hotcakes. I can’t even remember if they were being published at that time. JOHNSON: Sometimes when characters are licensed there are certain restrictions that come into play. Were there any imposed by Rohmer’s estate while you were working on the book? MOENCH: Not that I’m aware of, and I don’t think there was any problem whatsoever, or I would have heard of it. Nothing was ever changed or forbidden.
Beginnings: “Snow Job” in Eerie #29 (Sept. 1970), Warren Publishing
Milestones: Aztec Ace / Batman / Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight: “Prey” and “Terror” story arcs / many Batman graphic novels and special projects including Batman vs. Predator II, Bloodstorm, Book of the Dead, Crimson Mist, and Red Rain / The Big Book of Conspiracies The Big Book of the Unexplained / Creepy / Doc Savage (B&W magazine) / Eerie / Electric Warrior / James Bond: Serpent’s Tooth Master of Kung Fu and Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu / Moon Knight Outlaws / Planet of the Apes (B&W magazine) / Six from Sirius Slash Maraud / Vampirella / Werewolf by Night
Works in Progress: Five-issue Batman miniseries with Kelley Jones (early 2008) / working on proposals for several other comic-book projects and novels
DOUG MOENCH Photo courtesy of Doug Moench.
Beginnings: “Scarlet in Glory” in Dracula Lives (Nov. 1974), Marvel Comics
Milestones: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight: “Prey” and “Terror” story arcs “Blood on Black Satin” from Eerie #110–111 / Star Wars: Crimson Empire / James Bond: Serpent’s Tooth / Master of Kung Fu and Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu / Outlaws / Sabre / Six from Sirius Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu: The Art of Paul Gulacy Squadron Supreme: Nighthawk vs. Hyperion / Year One: Ra’s al Ghul
Works in Progress: Penance: Relentless sci-fi screenplay Shadowracer: Go
Cyberspace: www.gulacy.com
PAUL gulacy Photo courtesy of Paul Gulacy.
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Dave Lemieux
The plot was approved. The creative team was lined up. ShangChi and the cast of Master of Kung Fu were poised to meet up with Nick Fury and his agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for an epic battle against the combined forces of Fu Manchu and the Yellow Claw. Then, Marvel delayed the project by six months and this classic confrontation faded into a legend of what might have been, but never was.
ENTER SHANG-CHI AND THE MOENCH/GULACY TEAM In the mid-’70s, writer Doug Moench and newcomer artist Paul Gulacy teamed up for a spectacular run of 26 issues on the Marvel title Master of Kung Fu (MOKF). Their collaboration on the series ran from 1974 through 1977 and included three Giant-Size specials. In fact, at the peak of the series’ popularity, Master of Kung Fu was ranked third in sales of all comics sold, behind only the Amazing Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian. While the comic had originally been influenced by the Kung Fu TV series and the martial-arts craze of the ’70s, Moench and Gulacy fairly quickly shifted the direction of plotlines to include espionage and international intrigue, and expanded the cast of supporting characters, and, of course, lots of martial-arts action. Gulacy’s version of Shang-Chi, the main protagonist, was strongly reminiscent of Bruce Lee (and not unintentionally so, as it turns out). Gulacy has previously reported in interviews that this was his way of keeping the memory of Bruce Lee alive and of paying homage to him. Fans responded quite favorably to Gulacy’s rendition of Shang-Chi and to his detailed, cinematic artistic style. The storylines by Moench (with significant co-plotting by Gulacy) were amazing. Even Stan Lee, Marvel’s founder, was highly complimentary of the team and supported Moench and Gulacy’s efforts on the book.
THE STERANKO FACTOR AND NICK FURY Prior to this title, in the late ’60s, Jim Steranko had come onto the scene and shook the comics world with his unique and stylistic take on “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” That series was featured in both Strange Tales and then later in its own title. S.H.I.E.L.D. was, and still is, Marvel’s elite counterespionage and spy organization, charged with keeping the world safe.
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Steranko was highly creative and went beyond the limits of typical comic-book storytelling. At the time, who knew that his artistic style and cinematic storytelling technique would call out to the soul of budding artist Paul Gulacy. The influence is unquestionable. The two artists have been compared to each other throughout their careers. In the mid-’70s, their paths almost crossed directly on an unprecedented crossover of Master of Kung Fu and Nick Fury. Gulacy was to have been the artist and Steranko was scheduled to be one of the inkers (along with Dan Adkins). Just envisioning this potential collaboration of artistic talent is aweinspiring. Steranko, of course, had long before this time left the Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. book and comics as a whole. In addition, the S.H.I.E.L.D. book itself had been canceled in 1971. Lastly, the characters of Shang-Chi and Nick Fury had never before met in comics. This planned crossover would have been a landmark endeavor in many ways. Unfortunately, it did not come to fruition. Steranko’s role in this unrealized crossover was one of being both a strong influence on the concept of a crossover of the two series (as conceived by Moench and Gulacy) and of being tapped as one of the inkers. As Doug Moench recalls, “Before Paul and I ever met, we were both, as it turns out, obsessed with Steranko. I just loved his stuff and, of course, Paul did, too. So, when we were doing Master of Kung Fu and I took it in an espionage direction… it [a Shang-Chi/Nick Fury crossover] was an obvious thing to do. Here we were, two guys who loved Steranko so much, doing something that had this spy game in it. Well, what about Marvel’s spy organization… Nick Fury and the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Moench adds, “It was an obvious thing to do… and who better to do it than ourselves? And I had the whole thing worked out.”
though. In fact, a letter from a fan (Jackie Frost of Los Angeles) that was printed in Giant-Size MOKF #4 even commented about the fact that the Yellow Claw had, in fact, not appeared in Giant-Size MOKF #3, as was advertised. The fan further suggested the idea of having Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. as guest stars in a future MOKF issue. The editor’s response was as follows: “While we’re not denying the merits of your suggestion to feature Nick Fury as a co-star—it just so happens that the stellar stalwart of S.H.I.E.L.D. has very recently appeared in no less than three other series ("Man-Wolf" in Creatures on the Loose, Daredevil, and The Incredible Hulk). Therefore, for the time being, at least, we feel he deserves a rest, lest ye madcap minions of Marvel grow tired of seeing his cigar chompin’ puss.” Moench also reports that the planned ShangChi/Fury crossover was delayed by six months or more, which may have ultimately been the reason it never occurred. He comments, “It had been approved and everything. The editor said, ‘You can do it, but
Old Enemies The enmity of Nick Fury and the Yellow Claw—which began in this Steranko classic in Strange Tales #161 (Oct. 1967)— would have been revisited in the MOKF/S.H.I.E.L.D. crossover, with Fu Manchu thrown into the mix. © 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.
THE SERIES DELAYED: TOO MUCH FURY? Doug Moench recalls having had editorial approval for this crossover, and it most likely would have been by Roy Thomas or Len Wein, based on the time frame mentioned by Gulacy and Moench. Roy Thomas was the editor of Giant-Size MOKF #2 (Dec. 1974), while Len Wein had become editor with Giant-Size MOKF #3 (Mar. 1975). Moench remarks, “The one thing you did need approval for was using other characters… you know, a crossover, a guest star. You definitely had to get that approved. There were just too many characters with various storylines.” Intriguingly, in Giant-Size MOKF #2, the next-issue box at the end of the story proclaimed, “Next Issue: The Yellow Claw! ’Nuff Said?” It never happened,
Tough Guy Team-Up (opposite page) A double-shot of Paul Gulacy art from the swingin’ ’70s: At left, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s top agent in a never-beforepublished illo done for a fan at the 1974 NY Comic Con; and at right, Paul’s Master of Kung Fu from the 1977 Marvel Comics Memory Album Calendar. Both are courtesy of this article’s author, Dave Lemieux. © 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.
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Spies Like Us A howlingly awesome, neverbefore-published commissioned collage—featuring Nick Fury, Val, the Yellow Claw, Baron von Strucker, the Hellhound, and the insidious Yellow Claw—produced in 2007 by Paul Gulacy for collector Joe Kulbiski. © 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc.
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you can’t do it for six months,’ or whatever it was. I don’t know if they were planning to revive S.H.I.E.L.D. or if S.H.I.E.L.D. was being used in The Hulk or whatever. But it got put off and then we got involved in other storylines. Then, at some point, it just got put off so much by various things that Paul ended up getting burned out on the book [MOKF] and he said, ‘I can’t do this monthly anymore.’ Then other artists came in and it was no longer such a priority, because it was really Paul’s homage to Steranko. I think after the idea got delayed over and over, and then Paul left the series, it was sort of like, ‘Aw, we’ll never get to do our Fury thing.’”
THE PLOT RECALLED Moench and Gulacy wanted this crossover to happen almost from the beginning of their run on Master of Kung Fu, according to Gulacy. In an e-mail interview, on June 19, 2007, Gulacy states, “If I can recall, it seemed to me that the idea was formulated early on. Doug and I did a story called ‘The Crystal Connection’ [in MOKF #29] and in that story there were some brief underwater scenes. I began to think, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to do a couple of issues of the MOKF gang in that kind of setting… predominantly underwater?” According to Moench’s planned storyline, the Yellow Claw was to have had an underwater fortress in the South China Sea and there would have been a huge underwater battle between the MOKF/S.H.I.E.L.D. crew versus the combined forces of Fu Manchu and the Yellow Claw. Moench states, “The Yellow Claw had a domed city in the China Sea or something and that’s where a lot of the story was going to take place. There was going to be this big underwater battle. [Paul] loved the Thunderball movie. That was probably the source of the Nick Fury crossover underwater scene… Thunderball.” Gulacy confesses, “Absolutely. The Bond film Thunderball was a huge inspiration and we would have blasted off from there.” This underwater scenario ended up being used by Moench and Gulacy in their James Bond: Serpent’s Tooth series in 1992 from Dark Horse Comics. The villain in that storyline, a megalomaniac named Indigo, had a huge underwater dome for a headquarters which was also mobile. The crossover plotline was to have involved both the Yellow Claw and Fu Manchu, who, according to Moench, had formed an alliance which ultimately became dissolved. Moench remarks, “I remember we were going to have the Yellow Claw competing with Fu Manchu. Two bad guys competing. And the ShangChi crew—you know, Clive Reston, Black Jack Tarr, Leiko Wu, and Shang-Chi, and all those guys—were going after Fu Manchu… while Nick Fury and his guys were going after the Yellow Claw. And then, of course, the two teams would meet, you know, bump together.” Regarding the unsteady alliance between the villains, Moench states, “It might have started out with [Fu Manchu and the Yellow Claw] as allies, but then they double-crossed each other. At some point, the two would turn on each other and our guys would get caught in the middle of it.” The secondary characters would also have had some interesting match-ups of personality and interactions in this crossover. One obvious comparison would have been between MOKF’s Black Jack Tarr and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Dum Dum Dugan. Moench states, “I’m not saying that there wouldn’t have been conflict between Black Jack Tarr and Dum Dum Dugan. They might have had a piece of each other, but no, they wouldn't have fought
each other. You know, a conflict enriches the story and puts in a little bit of humor. They are so alike… they’d end up being pals.” Gulacy agrees: “You know that would be intense. Those two guys are cut from the same cloth. That would have been hilarious. Those two doing more brawling with each other than with the enemy.” Gulacy also focused on the women in the story, joking, “You would have this contrast happening with all the secondary personalities from the Kung Fu and S.H.I.E.L.D. gangs. Eventually, they would all meet up at some point in the storyline. Leiko Wu and Val (S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Contessa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine) on the same team in bikinis blasting away. Picture that.”
Son of Fu Manchu In print for the first time: Collector Dave Lemieux remarks, “This pencil drawing of Shang-Chi was done for me in 2006 by Paul on the inside of my hardcover copy of Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu: The Art of Paul Gulacy.” Thanks for sharing this with us, Dave!
FORMAT FOR THE SERIES So, where would this crossover have occurred? Would it have been in the pages of the monthly Master of Kung Fu comic or in the Giant-Size quarterly MOKF? Moench recalls, “I think we were going to do it in some kind of giant special. There were those Giant-Size specials and it was probably going to go in one of those.” This makes sense given the previously mentioned next-issue box in Giant-Size MOKF #2 announcing the Yellow Claw for the next quarterly issue. Moench adds, “And if that didn’t work out, it would have been like a three-issue storyline [in MOKF]. I know it was going to be a big deal thing. It could have gone a few issues.” S p i e s
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Grell, Mike Grell. Detail from Grell’s (with Dameon Willich) cover to the first issue of the miniseries James Bond: Permission to Die, published in 1989 by Eclipse Comics/Acme Press. James Bond TM & © 2008 Ian Fleming (Glidrose) Productions.
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Bond, James Bond. Star of 30-plus novels and over 20 movies. Yet despite his immense popularity, the world’s greatest spy has had a checkered career when it comes to the funnybooks. The story of Bond in comics starts in 1957 when the British newspaper The Daily Express approached Bond creator Ian Fleming with a proposal to develop a daily comic strip starring 007. Fleming was reluctant until the Express editors let it be known that the proposed adaptations would be written by Anthony Hern, the paper’s literary editor. Bond made his comics debut on July 7, 1958 in Hern’s adaptation of Casino Royale, illustrated by John McLusky. The James Bond of the comic strip is subtly different from the Bond of the novels. In order to produce a strip that was accessible to a wider audience, many of the novel’s edgier scenes were toned down or restaged. For the second strip, Live and Let Die, the writing assignment was switched to Henry Gammidge, who introduced the idea of having Bond narrate the story. While this worked in places, in others it presented Bond as an “omniscient” narrator with knowledge of events he shouldn’t have. In the next strip, Moonraker, Gammidge took the device even further by having Bond address the readers directly. This technique was scaled back in Diamonds Are Forever and used for the last time in From Russia with Love. In 1962, James Bond faced a peril far greater than any of his colorful villains—the wrath of a publisher scorned. Just as Thunderball started to appear in The Daily Express, the rival Times newspaper approached Ian Fleming for permission to print The Living Daylights in the debut issue of their new color magazine. Lord Beaverbrook, the publisher of the Express group of papers, was furious and ordered that the Bond comic strip be withdrawn immediately. The result on the Thunderball strip was that the last two-thirds of the plot were basically reduced to just six panels. The following year, Bond made his first foray to US shores and comic books by a somewhat circuitous route. Wishing to cash in on the release of the Doctor No movie, the British arm of the Dell publishing © 2008 Ian Fleming (Glidrose) Productions.
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Jim Kingman
Writer Robert Kanigher maintained throughout his thirty years of chronicling the military missions of DC’s Sgt. Rock that the leader of the combat-happy joes of Easy Company did not survive World War II. In the letters column of Sgt. Rock #340 (May 1980), Kanigher clearly stated, “…1945. That’s the year Rock is killed in action. On the last day, in the last hour, in the last minute—in a place he never should have been. And only because Rock is Rock with his last breath.” Writer Bob Haney, who scripted six of the seven Batman/Sgt. Rock team-ups in The Brave and the Bold from 1969 to 1977, maintained otherwise, and in so doing had Rock participate in some of the most outlandish adventure stories written in comics. Yet Kanigher also wrote, “Character is continuity, not the dead wood of previous plots” (Sgt. Rock #397, Feb. 1985), so hopefully Haney’s scripts, not to mention anyone else’s involving the legendary sergeant, didn’t offend him too much. Though Haney certainly tried. Haney threw continuity out the window and left no outrageous plot device unturned. What mattered to Haney was an action-packed, thrill-a-page story told in one issue. In that respect, Haney always delivered. In “The Angel, the Rock and the Cowl,” the first Batman/Sgt. Rock team-up published in The Brave and the Bold #84 (June–July 1969), Batman looked back on an earlier case in his career involving Sgt. Rock. The problem was that the adventure was set during World War II, and the Batman recounting it was the then-modern rendition of 1969, with yellow insignia and illustrated by Neal Adams. It is revealed that Bruce Wayne had been Batman since the 1940s and in appearance he hadn’t aged a bit in almost 25 years! Near story’s end Sgt. Rock makes the modern scene, having clearly survived World War II, a big Kanigher no-no, while appearing significantly older than Bruce Wayne. In the follow-up story published two years later in The Brave and the Bold #96 (June–July 1971), with art by Nick Cardy, millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne was assigned as US ambassador to an
Rock Up at Bat Detail from Neal Adams’ Joe Kubert-esque cover art to The Brave and the Bold #84 (June–July 1969), from writer Bob Haney, inexplicably teaming heroes from two DC eras. © 2008 DC Comics.
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Throwing Continuity to the Wind (above) An undated passport photo of Brave and Bold scribe Bob Haney. Courtesy of Randy Kerr (www.blueroadrunner.com). (right) Batman meets Easy Company, from B&B #84. © 2008 DC Comics.
unnamed South American country by President Richard Nixon. The actual US ambassador had been kidnapped, right under the nose of the noble Sgt. Rock. Wayne was to continue negotiations as Batman hunted for the ambassador, while an unknown enemy sought to discredit Sgt. Rock. Rock looked much younger than he did in the previous team-up. In fact, he didn’t look a day over 1945 (actually, he looked better than with the weathered features regular Rock artists Joe Kubert and Russ Heath gave him). B&B’s #84’s adventure was noted and referenced in this story, tying it snugly into Haney continuity but again disregarding Kanigher’s. Two years later, in The Brave and the Bold #108 (Aug.–Sept. 1973), blessed with outstanding art by Jim Aparo, Batman and Rock teamed up again in “The Night Batman Sold His Soul,” but now Rock looked older and there was no mention of Batman being around since the 1940s. The story had a clever plot: that Rock has been hunting a very-much-alive Adolf Hitler for years. But Batman was eventually convinced that this wasn’t Hitler, but the Devil himself, and that he had sold his soul to him. I can’t imagine Denny O’Neil’s Batman at this time believing that. The implication at story’s end was that Hitler was one of the Devil’s many guises, and that while evil could be confronted, battled, and held at bay, it could never truly be defeated. A downer ending, but 1973 was a very cynical time in American history, and every now and then a comic book of the time reflected that. A year later, in The Brave and the Bold #117 (Feb.–Mar. 1975), also with art by Aparo, Rock believed he’d seen the ghost of a man he had court-martialed
and executed for cowardice during World War II. It turned out Rock wasn’t seeing a ghost. The soldier was actually a spy for the US Army and his execution was faked so he could continue his job in secret. The soldier remained a spy well into the Cold War, and to keep Rock from getting too close to the truth the Army had him arrested for crazed behavior and put on trial for a dishonorable discharge. Fortunately, Easy Co. knew its loyalty and recruited Batman to help save Rock, and the world’s greatest detective came through. Actually, this story has no bizarre twists, but it does raise a legitimate question regarding the actions of the US Government. Sgt. Rock truly believes he is seeing a man he executed for cowardice during World War II. Instead of simply telling Rock the truth, the US Army chose to lie to him, discredit him, and put him up for trial. While I do understand that telling Rock the truth would kill the story, it’s still disturbing to see a respected and decorated military man treated so harshly by his own country.
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TM
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Eric H ou s t on
In 1987, Eclipse Comics’ Airboy tied Miracleman as the publisher’s number-one title. With high sales figures, a talented creative team, a cadre of passionate, outspoken fans, and an assortment of miniseries and oneshots, it seemed that Airboy’s publishing future was certain. Yet within only two short years, the book would be cancelled, its publisher going out of business soon after, and, instead of becoming highly soughtafter collectors’ items, its back issues now languish in convention quarter bins. What happened? How did a Golden Age hero rise from the ashes, reaching truly dizzying heights, before falling to Earth once more?
FIRST FLIGHT Military Comics’ Blackhawk ruled the four-colored skies of World War II, but he was content to share the wild blue yonder with a spate of other costumed aviators. Among them, few were better or more popular than Davy Nelson, better known as Airboy. Initially appearing in the pages of Hillman Periodicals’ Air Fighter Comics, Airboy was the daring teen pilot who flew the miraculous, bat-winged plane Birdie. Beautifully drawn by the likes of Fred Kida and Charles Biro, Airboy’s Golden Age adventures were always exciting and were some of the best stories the era had to offer. Air Fighter Comics was quickly renamed Airboy Comics and the book became increasingly popular, with Davy and his fellow flying heroes, like the Iron Ace, the Flying Dutchman, and Skywolf, enjoying a long publishing life. Still, when World War II ended and the evil Nazi and Japanese pilots that had been Airboy’s bread and butter vanished from the skies, Airboy Comics’ sales plummeted and, as of 1953, young Davy Nelson was grounded and all but forgotten. There were, however, a faithful few who remembered the boy aviator, among them a handful of future comics professionals. Tim Truman, at this writing the writer of Dark Horse’s Conan, recalls his own introduction to the Air Fighters: “One of [Jim Steranko’s History of Comics volumes] featured a huge chapter on aviation comics, centering on the Hillman material. I’d read
“Take that, ya airhog!” Tim Conrad’s dizzyingly dazzling original cover art to Eclipse’s Airboy #39 (May 1988), courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Airboy TM & © 2008 Todd McFarlane Productions.
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and re-read that chapter over the years, completely awed by the concept and information.” Chuck Dixon, former Detective Comics writer, also recalls reading about Airboy in his youth: “I remember even, as a fan, drawing pictures of Birdie and Airboy and idly dreaming that I might one day write a story about them.” cat yronwode, meanwhile, discovered Airboy through comics reprint publisher Ken Pierce and recalls seeing the name again one fateful day: “I was the editor-in-chief over at Eclipse and I was looking for things that we could do that were in public domain. I had a list that had actually been provided to me by Alan Light, former publisher of the Comics Buyer’s Guide, and Airboy was on that list.”
PHOENIX Once it became clear the Air Fighters existed in the public domain, cat yronwode and Eclipse set out to make their own Airboy comic. yronwode approached Tim Truman, who was already working on Eclipse’s Scout, to spearhead the new book. “Scout was probably their top seller then,” recalls Truman. “I was pretty easy to work with and I always delivered the art and story on time. I had a really great relationship with Eclipse and they knew I could pull together a bunch of folks who would deliver the goods. It seemed like something that would work out for everyone, so they asked me to be creative director for the Airboy project— put together an art and writing team, come up with new concepts for the launch of the series, and the like.” Truman selected young comics writer Chuck Dixon to script the book, while Truman himself would serve as editor. From there, the two men worked with cat yronwode to decide exactly how to bring Airboy into the 1980s. “We talked a lot about the possibility of it being the same character, just brought to the present,” remembers yronwode, “the way Captain America had been, but we decided that was not the way we wanted to go. Eventually, Tim came up with a proposal that involved [our Airboy] being the son of the Golden Age Airboy.”
BACK IN ACTION Using Truman’s idea as their basis, Truman and Dixon built Davy Nelson, Jr. into a relatable, three-dimensional character, introducing him and much of his supporting cast in their very first story arc. We first meet Davy as he practices karate with an elderly Japanese man named Hirota, the original Airboy’s first “kill” turned trusted family friend. Then, we are re-introduced to David Nelson himself, the original Airboy, only to find that the bright-eyed, heroic youth of the second World War has long since disappeared, replaced by a broken man who runs a weapons manufacturing company, living in seclusion from everyone he loves, even his own son. Suddenly, the scene erupts into chaos as a group of heavily armed mercenaries attack the Nelson Estate. Our heroes ably defend themselves, but with one great loss: David Nelson dies saving his son. Hirota quickly takes Davy away, telling Davy for the first time of his father’s heroic history, while giving Davy the red, gold, and blue uniform of his father’s Airboy. From there, Davy and Hirota begin their mission of revenge, bringing the old band back together along the way. The first man they meet is Skywolf, an ally of David’s from World War II, now a grizzled old warrior who has traded in his bizarre “semi-plane” and wolf-pelt mask for a grim leather uniform and attack helicopter. Luckily, Skywolf knows where the mercenaries came
Early Flights Air Fighters Comics vol. 2 #8 (Fall 1944), a classic Golden Age Airboy cover by Bob Fujitani, and Eclipse’s Airboy #1 cover, featuring Timothy Truman art.
from, the South American nation of Bogantilla. He also happens to know the whereabouts of David’s most faithful ally from the war, the miracle plane Birdie. Dixon and Truman (and Davy and Skywolf) waste no time updating Birdie, giving “him” a new jet engine and updated armaments. Dixon and Truman were also quick to give Birdie its own subtle personality, making the plane almost more man than machine and a supporting character in its own right. Once in Bogantilla, the story begins to twist and turn as Davy and his friends learn that the mercenaries are not their enemies but freedom fighters, combating a corrupt government. Worse, Davy learns that this government is backed by arms made by Nelson Aviation. Davy quickly joins the Bogantilians in their plan to attack the capitol. Davy hopes to absolve his father’s sins, but remains unaware of the whole truth. A visit to a local shaman, aided by the mysterious Heap— a tragic, misshapen swamp creature who was also an ally of David’s and whose original appearances predated both Swamp Thing and Man-Thing by decades—reveals that David had been in the thrall of his old enemy Misery for decades, while the supernatural foe held David’s lover, Valkyrie, hostage.
Air Fighters Comics © 1944 Hillman. Airboy TM & © 2008 Todd McFarlane Productions.
NAZI SHE-BITCH Valkyrie was easily the most popular supporting player from Airboy’s Golden Age run. Valkyrie started life as the leader of the Air Maidens, an all-female Nazi flying circus. After a single encounter with Airboy, however, she defected to the Allies, falling madly in love with David. She would come to join David on many of his adventures, sitting on his lap inside Birdie’s cockpit. Still, she remained an effective femme fatale, as Truman describes her, “sort of like Veronica from Archie as a lovable Nazi she-bitch.” Given her popularity, both with Golden Age readers and with the entire creative team of this new revival, Valkyrie’s return was practically inevitable.
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There was, however, still the question of how to bring her back. The Eclipse team gave some initial thought to creating an entirely new Valkyrie to go along with their new Airboy, but, as Dixon remembers, that idea was quickly forgotten, “There was no way we could have a new Valkyrie. Everyone agreed that it had to be the original Val, with her Nazi past and all that baggage.” Aging her, as they did with Skywolf, wouldn’t work either, as Dixon had a romance planned for Val and Davy. Ultimately, the team decided to cryogenically freeze Valkyrie, much like Marvel had done with Captain America in the ’60s. That was how Misery kept Davy’s father under his thumb. With his lover held prisoner, David was forced to do whatever Misery asked. Thus, Davy’s mission changes once more as he and the Bogantillan rebels
attack the capitol in an attempt to topple the government, avenge Davy’s father, and now, save Valkyrie. The resulting attack on Misery’s castle, as well as the first meeting between Misery and our young hero, is a pulse-pounding, unforgettable, action-packed sequence that is filled with battles both in the air and on the ground and which immediately cemented Airboy as one of the premier action titles of the ’80s. Yet, as fantastic as the action is, it truly is the characterization that sets Airboy apart. “The characterizations sang,” recalls Truman: “Chuck was doing some truly fine writing at that point in his career and I was throwing all sorts of bizarre ideas at him from left field. The stories and approach were so unique—a real melding of straight adventure and superhero stuff.” cat yronwode, meanwhile, believes the story is meant to someday grace the silver screen: “Tim’s original storyline, the passing of the mantle, that would be a dynamite movie.” This first story arc, and the book’s entire first year [beginning with the cover date July 15, 1986], was published in a biweekly, 16-page format. This not only kept costs down, but also gave Airboy a welcome, old-time movie-serial feel. Tim Truman penciled the first two issues before handing art chores off to the spectacular Stan Woch. “Even before they asked me to do the first issue,” remembers Truman, “I'd already shown Eclipse some samples that I’d asked Stan to work up. They were bowled over, as I knew they would be. Stan was three times the draftsman I'll ever be, and I knew that he had to be the artist for the book.” From here on, Davy’s adventures as Airboy would continue at a breakneck pace. Subsequent storylines would find Davy fighting everything from giant rats to Russian soldiers and would take him to locales all over the world, including the Arctic Circle, the American Midwest, New York, and an explosive return to Bogantilla. His cast would also grow, eventually including a new, female Skywolf and the Iron Ace, a World War II fighter pilot once known for flying in a suit of armor and now tragically trapped within a cybernetic shell. The original Skywolf, meanwhile, remained a popular part of the title, regularly helping Davy in his adventures and even headlining his own series of flashback backup stories. Indeed, Skywolf proved to be a personal favorite for Chuck Dixon: “I based his voice and much of his personality on my own dad. That character wrote himself and was more fun to write than almost any other character I’ve touched upon.” Meanwhile, the fans’ interest was always centered on the budding romance between Davy and Valkyrie. Dixon began crafting Davy and Val’s romantic tension with their very first meeting. After defeating Misery in Bogantilla, Davy frees Valkyrie from her cryogenic tomb. When she awakens, Valkyrie instantly mistakes Davy for his father and embraces him, kissing
Back from the Golden Age Skywolf was reintroduced on page 13 of Airboy #2 (July 29, 1986), drawn by Truman and Tom Yeates (both of whom signed this original). Courtesy of Anthony Snyder (www.anthonysnyder.com/art). © 2008 Todd McFarlane Productions.
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Somebody Call Orkin, Quick! Airboy has a rat problem on this creepy cover to issue #20 (Apr. 28, 1987) by our featured cover artist Paul Gulacy. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions. © 2008 Todd McFarlane Productions.
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M ic h ae l Brown in g
It’s been twenty years since John Ostrander’s Suicide Squad first appeared in the pages of Legends, and comics are still trying to catch up with this concept that was so far ahead of its time. Legends spawned other major titles like the Mike Baron/Jackson Guice Flash and the famous (or infamous) Keith Giffen / J.M. DeMatteis / Kevin Maguire Justice League. Ostrander’s Suicide Squad, however, didn’t take hot characters or the name of a very popular superteam to make a successful book. It took the name of a long-forgotten DC adventure team that had made only a few appearances in The Brave and the Bold (B&B) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru, the original Suicide Squad, consisting of Rick Flag; his girlfriend, Karin Grace; Dr. Hugh Evans; and Jess Bright, first appeared in B&B #25 (Aug.–Sept. 1959) and lasted through #27, with a three-issue follow-up in B&B #37–39. After those few appearances, the Suicide Squad faded into relative obscurity and wasn’t to be heard from again until 1987, when the idea for a revamp of the team was given to writer John Ostrander, who was slated to write the Legends miniseries. The team’s third incarnation (there was another, World War II version of the Suicide Squad that appeared in Secret Origins vol. 2 #14, May 1987, that provided a bridge from the first SS team to the Ostranderpenned group) first appeared in Legends #3 (Jan. 1987), written by Ostrander and drawn by John Byrne and Karl Kesel. The Suicide Squad’s ongoing series lasted only 66 issues—beginning with Suicide Squad #1 (May 1987) and ending with issue #66 (June 1992), with one annual and a Doom Patrol/Suicide Squad Special along the way—but has a loyal fan following to this day.
Dirty Dozen Minus Eight Nightshade, Deadshot, Vixen, and Bronze Tiger, four of the Suicide Squad’s most popular members, are featured in this awesome commissioned illustration by Geof Isherwood. From the collection of Michael Rankins. © 2008 DC Comics.
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Suicide Squad Promo Art Scans of Xeroxes of the original art used to promote the Squad, where the images of the various characters were cut-and-pasted together into a bulletin board-like setting. “As I remember,” shares Karl Kesel, who sent us these scans, “this was done long before any interior art was done, and it’s clear Luke McDonnell and I were both unfamiliar with each other and the characters themselves.” Karl adds an interesting sidenote: “As much as I loved what John did with Captain Boomerang as a character, it still bugged me no end that Boomerang would just keep producing an endless array of boomerangs seemingly from nowhere. While trying to figure out where he might keep his weapons, Stephen DeStephano suggested a bandolier (missing in this promo art, you’ll notice). Not only did this give Boomerang a clear place to store his weapons, it also established a limited number of weapons, with the possibility that he could actually run out—always good for drama. It also added a nice asymmetrical element to Boomer’s design. This is why Stephen DeStephano is a genius!” © 2008 DC Comics.
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Ostrander says that when he was given the name “Suicide Squad” by editor Bob Greenberger, at first he thought it sounded stupid. The team’s name was almost as bad as the moniker of the World War II fighting group, the Losers. “At the time, I had just come over to DC and was feeling around for work,” Ostrander recalls. “Actually, I wanted to do Challengers of the Unknown because I loved the title, but that had already been grabbed by somebody else. So Bob Greenberger, who was my contact at DC at that point, suggested this other title, ‘Suicide Squad.’ I thought, ‘Well, that’s a stupid idea. Who in their right minds would be a part of something that calls itself a Suicide Squad?’ The more I thought about it, I said, ‘Well, someone who doesn’t have any other choice, that’s who. And who doesn’t have any other choice? Prisoners.’ From that, it became The Dirty Dozen and Mission: Impossible with supervillains.” Ostrander believed that supervillains spending their lives in jail would do almost anything to be free again—even if that meant going on a “heroic” suicide mission with little or no hope of returning. But if they did return, they could go free, courtesy of the Suicide Squad’s parent, the United States government (which denied all claims to the SS).
From Who’s Who #22 (Dec. 1986) The Squad by Luke McDonnell and Rick Magyar, contributed by Michael Browning. © 2008 DC Comics.
The Squad was first drawn by John Byrne and Karl Kesel in Legends, then, in the Suicide Squad monthly title, by Luke McDonnell, John K. Snyder III, Grant Miehm, Kesel on his own, and then McDonnell again, before Geof Isherwood wrapped up the series. Ostrander says it was a boon to have Byrne drawing the Squad’s first appearance. “Legends was the first big, company crossover following Crisis on Infinite Earths,” Ostrander relates. “If you’re going to do a kickoff, people are going to be reading that book. This was also John Byrne doing a lot of DC characters for the first time. The fact that [the Suicide Squad first] appeared there didn’t hurt anything at all. Squad was one of three books that came out of Legends by design, including Justice League [and] the new Flash. We were actually working on the Secret Origins issue at the same time.”
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Suicide Squad Spin-Off Karl Kesel’s sketch and finished art for a Mayfair Games Suicide Squad game that tied into their larger DCU role-playing game. Wonder why Aquaman rogue (and step-brother) Ocean Master is shown? “Lord knows why,” says Kesel. “I just drew what I was told.” Contributed by the artist. © 2008 DC Comics.
I felt that if Rick Flag was going to be back, we had to explain how that happened. And then, we’d slowly bring it up to speed and end up with a story that was set in the current DC Universe and then find elements that would link the whole thing together. It gets better as we go. Around about the time we are in the modern DCU, we have some surprises coming. And then the new issues that are out by the end are once again, me working from the stories you see in the news.” A Showcase Presents edition reprinting Suicide Squad #1–18, Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special #1, Secret Origins #14, and Justice League International #13 was supposed to be released in November 2007, but has been delayed, according to Ostrander. “From what I understand, [DC has] simply reshuffled what they were going to do and the Showcase thing will still appear, but sometime [in 2008],” Ostrander says. “I think Luke’s art in particular works real well in black and white.” Would Ostrander write another Suicide Squad ongoing series? You bet he would! “If they asked me, I would,” Ostrander says. “But right now, that’s not being discussed. Could that change at some point? Yeah, conceivably. But, that’s up to DC. I think they’re going to evaluate sales, fan reactions, and critical reactions. Critical reaction has been pretty good so far. “The Suicide Squad was a unique team. I think [a new ongoing series] definitely has a place to go in the DC Universe. One of the main purposes of it is to show how dangerous these villains are if left to their own devices. On that, I think we’ve always succeeded pretty well. I would love to go back and retell that story of Deadshot’s first appearance [in “The Man Who Replaced Batman” in Batman #59 (June–July 1950)]. I’d love to rewrite that story and play with that origin a little bit. I’d love to retell it with Deadshot as he is now. I’ll try pitching it to them someday and see what they say.” Matewan, WV native MICHAEL BROWNING is an award-winning newspaper editor, writer, and photographer, and is an advisor with The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. He’s contributed to Rolling Stone, BACK ISSUE, Comics Buyer’s Guide, Comic Book Marketplace, Rough Stuff, and Charlton Spotlight, and publishes his own fanzine, Comic Book Issues.
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They say suicide is painless, and creating this comic-book series certainly fit the category. I had recently experienced my Crisis on Infinite Earths follow-up, Crisis of the Soul (see BACK ISSUE #9), blowing up in my face in late 1985. Around early December, executive editor Dick Giordano told me we were hiring Mike Gold and he was being asked to step into the breach and create a new crossover for the company. He was going to be working with his First Comics colleague John Ostrander, whose Grimjack I liked a lot. Penciling would be John Byrne, already on board with the Superman revamp, and Len Wein, just leaving staff for fulltime freelance, would dialogue. I would interface between Mike and John in Chicago and the rest of DC editorial in New York. One of the goals for the new project, Legends, was to revamp a few key franchises such as a new Justice League of America, in addition to returning the Flash to his own title. But in the post-Crisis DC Universe, it was also a time for new beginnings. Legends was being designed to spin off at least one or two new series in addition to the revamps. I was getting a consolation prize of editing one of the new projects, which I would develop with Johnny O. The interesting thing is, over a year earlier, John and I had already met. I was DC’s sole rep at the Atlanta Fantasy Fair, so I was awfully lonely at the booth, especially in the mornings. John and I struck up a conversation that rapidly morphed into a friendship. We got to know one another by phone and this newfangled thing called e-mail. Initially, John wanted to do a revamp of the Challengers of the Unknown, but I had to say no; some newcomer named Jeph Loeb had been given a crack at the team. We talked about the kinds of series he liked and the kinds of stories he wanted to tell. As we chatted, it became apparent we both liked things with an edge to them and to set readers’ expectations on their ear. A theme for Legends was the nature of heroism and the role of government, so we thought that dovetailed nicely with what we had in mind. At the time, DC published books filled with good guys battling bad guys. People who lived in the gray spaces, that moral limbo, didn’t really get a lot of attention at the time (John Constantine didn’t earn his own series until 1988). We wanted to mix things up, taking good guys and bad guys, sending them out together on those suicide missions, a staple in storytelling dating back to the Dirty Dozen if not earlier. Would heroes sink to new depths or would villains rise to the occasion, earning their presidential pardon? Editors were more than happy to offer us recurring bad guys from their titles and later, as we gained popularity, the title got to use bigger guns starting with the Penguin and later Poison Ivy.
Robe rt G re e n be rge r
From the Squad’s “Personal Files” This Luke McDonnell cover for Suicide Squad #8 (Dec. 1987) was bumped for a very similar one by Jerry Bingham, so we’re happy to share with you this previously unpublished version. © 2008 DC Comics.
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Atlas Comics Checklist All titles were published in 1975. © 1975 Seaboard/Atlas.
Barbarians featuring Iron Jaw #1 Blazing Battle Tales featuring Sgt. Hawk #1 The Brute #1–3 The Cougar #1–2 Demon Hunter #1 The Destructor #1–4 Devlina (B&W magazine) #1–2 Fright featuring Son of Dracula #1 The Grim Ghost #1–3 Hands of the Dragon #1 Iron Jaw #1–4 Morlock 2001 #1–3 Phoenix #1–4 Planet of Vampires #1–3 Police Action featuring Lomax N.Y.P.D. and Luke Malone, Manhunter #1–3 Savage Combat Tales featuring Sgt. Stryker’s Death Squad #1–3 The Scorpion #1–3 Tales of Evil (anthology; characters included Bog-Beast and Man-Monster) #1–3 Targitt #1–3 Thrilling Adventure Stories (B&W magazine) #1–2 Tiger-Man #1–3 Vicki #1–4 Weird Suspense featuring the Tarantula #1–3 Weird Tales of Macabre (B&W magazine) #1–2 Western Action featuring Kid Cody, Gunfighter and the Comanche Kid #1 Wulf the Barbarian #1–4
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Who Is This Masked Man? This Larry Lieber-sketched Zorro clone was revealed in The Comic Reader #110 (Sept. 1974) in an announcement about the then-forthcoming Atlas/Seaboard line. This isn’t Kid Cody and it sure ain’t the Comanche Kid… can anyone identify this character? Courtesy of Al Bigley. © 1974 Seaboard/Atlas.
CHAYKIN: Well, we were so late that I called everyone I knew. Wrightson, Davis, Kaluta, Simonson all helped out. I think Milgrom did a couple pages. I was living in the same building as Wrightson, Milgrom, and Simonson at the time. I was pals with Ed Davis and Kaluta, too. We all just pitched in a page here and a page there. It was a group effort. GAGNON: How did your character of Dominic Fortune (inspired by the Scorpion) come about at Marvel? CHAYKIN: It was after I was either fired or walked out of Atlas, I can’t remember which. I just walked across the street and said “Would you like to do this here?” Marvel and Atlas were cattycornered at the time. Atlas was on 57th Street and Marvel was on Madison, just off of 57th. They were like a block and a half apart. GAGNON: Was your experience at Marvel better than your experience at Atlas? CHAYKIN: Yes. You have to remember that the primary function of Atlas was to raise the rates that freelancers were getting paid in the comic industry. To that extent it served its purpose, but that was its only real function. GAGNON: Who owns Dominic Fortune? CHAYKIN: Marvel does. GAGNON: Well, I think I’m all out of questions. Thank you very much for your time and it’s been a pleasure speaking with you. CHAYKIN: You’re welcome, any time. MIKE GAGNON is a freelance writer and content provider based in Ontario, Canada. You can find more on his work at www.mikeggagnon.ca.
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Don McGregor does everything with a passion. Creates, writes, talks, I’ll bet he even sits passionately. One of his biggest passions, his loves, is his characters. Black Panther, Killraven, Saber, Ragamuffins, and detectives Nathaniel Dusk, Ted Denning, and Bob Rainier. It’s those last few we talk of here: Nathaniel Dusk, McGregor’s ’30s hard-boiled dick he did for DC Comics; and Detectives Inc., a series that goes back to before Don’s first job writing horror stories for Archie Goodwin and Jim Warren, and to one of his oldest passions. “I created Bob Rainer and Ted Denning (of Detectives Inc.) for me and Alex Simmons to play,” McGregor reveals. “I got a camera from my dad and we were filming ourselves as these characters. We would be our own stunt men, using real knives! Alex would take a swing at me with an axe, I’d duck… we thought that’s how they did it! What did we know?” Don and Alex took the characters and made their own photocopied comic, with Don scripting and Alex drawing, staying up into the wee hours to staple the Pepto-Bismol-color covers on the package to hand out the next day at the New York Con. It was 1969. To find out where Detectives Inc. landed, we’ll have to skip forward a few years, past the job Don got at Warren Publishing by insulting Jim Warren (great story—sorry, another time), over his memorable run at Marvel with Black Panther (in Jungle Action) and Killraven (in Amazing Adventures), to Eclipse Comics and Dean Mullaney. After leaving Marvel, Don was invited by Dean to be part of the Eclipse lineup. Don wanted to try something new, but wasn’t sure if his audience would be there. His series Ragamuffins, following a group of kids in the ’50s, was near and dear to his heart, but he didn’t think it should be the first thing he tried: “The business has a very short memory. They knew me at first as a horror writer, from my Warren stuff, and now as a heroic fantasy writer. I wanted to do something that had some kind a chance for a market…”
Tom “The Comics Savant” Stewart
Crisis on Earth-Noir The Gene Colan/Dick Giordano cover art to Don McGregor’s Nathaniel Dusk: Lovers Die at Dusk #1 (Feb. 1984), courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions. © 2008 DC Comics.
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Michael Aushenker
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Now how ya gonna have a “Tough Guys” issue without including the pop-culture icon who is the epitome of tough—with a capital “T”! I’m talkin’ about that mohawk-sportin’, weird-bearded, gold chain-wearin’, fool-pityin’, ass-kickin’-without-name-takin’ bad dude! I’m talkin’ Mr. T, sucka! Even back in the day, Mr. T was a mystery. A celebrity oddity. He dressed like a rapper but he didn’t rap. He was from our planet and yet, as out there as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. He was definitely different. Well, here we are, 25 years on from when T (Laurence Tureaud on his birth certificate) hit superstardom. But before you count out the erstwhile “Bad Ass” Baracus and one-time Clubber Lang, you better make time for this jibba-jabba, punk! See, Mr. T is not merely an enduring ’80s TV icon back with a reality show… he’s also an enduring comic-book presence who has toplined various comic-book series in the ’80s, ’90s, and, yes, as recently as 2006!
THE 1980s: SOME T & A-TEAM You might say the British really enjoy their “T” time. The enigmatic African-American character actor known as Mr. T—best remembered for his early ’80s roles in The A-Team and Rocky III—enjoyed his first foray in comics as part of an A-Team feature that ran in the English children’s magazine Look-In. Soon after came Marvel Comics’ (mercifully) short-lived The A-Team (Mar.–May 1984), lasting three issues. While Mr. T was not the star of the book, he was definitely the star attraction, functioning like he did on the hit NBC series (1983–1986) that inspired it. Across 98 episodes of the Stephen J. Cannell-produced TV action-adventure, The A-Team followed the exploits of a special unit of ex-military soldiers— framed for a crime that they did not commit; forced to go underground as mercenary heroes for hire. Mr. T was the colorful sidekick character that stole the show with his gruff attitude, eccentric appearance and irascible one-liners… much as the Fonz usurped Happy Days or Vin Diesel hijacked The Fast and the Furious from their respective ensemble casts. Naturally, Marvel’s A-Team capitalized on its popular source material; its lead characters drawn as dead ringers for their TV inspirations—Col. John “Hannibal” Smith (played by George Peppard), Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck (Dirk Benedict), Capt. “Howling Mad” Murdock (Dwight Schultz), Amy “Triple A” Amanda (Melinda Culea), and Sgt. Bosco Albert “B.A.” Baracus (our man T!). These characters look a tad too self-conscious of their television counterparts (you can picture the artists drawing while eyeing taped-up publicity photos). The ostensible plots of these selfcontained adventures involve the A-Team on missions to stop a friend of Baracus gone traitor (#1); to rescue 6 6
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I Got Ya Power Ring Right Here, Fool! Mr. T and the T Force #1 (June 1993), by legendary Green Lantern artist Neal Adams. © 2008 the respective copyright holder.
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THE 1990s: BACK IN FULL FORCE By 1990, Mr. T’s star was fading fast. NBC had canceled The A-Team. Rocky IV had come and gone without a Clubber to clobber. No studio in Hollywood was fast-tracking D.C. Cab 2. But 1993–1994 saw Mr. T’s grand return to la bande dessinée with Mr. T and the T-Force, published by Now Comics (the company behind Speed Racer, Married… with Children, and other comics based on licensed properties). This may be a completely subjective reflection of my own personal “T-ology,” but T-Force appears to be the most realized of all Mr. T comics. Sure, T is credited as the “star, creative director.” But T-Force delivered top-tier talent, and, despite its contrivances, packed solid visual punches and light, fun storylines. Contrary to what one might expect, Mr. T operated less like a mohawked Luke Cage and more like a hood Shadow. The sincere (if hokey) premise involved Mr. T saving misguided ghetto teens—one kid at a time—by making them part of his team following his confrontations with them. In each issue, after tangling with the criminal element, T would find at least one diamond-inthe-rough (not an evil kid, just a lad led astray) and slap a house arrest-type wrist device on him that would work as a tracer and a communicator between T and the teen. (This confining electronic bracelet seems dubious in light of T’s oftrepeated declaration that his own gold chains symbolized a reminder of the slavery that African Americans had struggled to overcome). Soon, T amassed a “B-team”—reformed gangstas, taggers, and Janie, a clinic nurse with her ear to the streets—to help him combat crime. Part of T’s appeal has always been his vulnerable side; his concern for kids and his community. T-Force delivered on its simple T-driven mandate of providing a message of hope
to inner-city youth struggling to stay clear of the influence of gangs, crime and drugs. T-Force’s letters column, “T-Time,” was filled with missives from young readers such as a struggling teen father who found inspiration in T’s self-affirming series. Emphasizing positivism, community, and self-empowerment in the face of adversity, T-Force stressed that violence was not the solution… even as the T-Force kicked serious thug ass! Mr. T ran around shooting bad guys—with a video camera—to non-violently deliver the incriminating footage needed to put them away. Master artist Neal Adams crafted the initial two issues (with Pete Stone), which boasted the “Adams Lite” art associated with his Continuity Studios work. Adams forcibly set the tone for the series, which “mélanged” Mr. T’s hardcore alpha personality with tender vulnerability. An entire splash page is devoted to Mr. T weeping over a crack baby. That pretty much sums things up. In #2, after the towering Incan villain (a patsy for a drug cartel) assaults Mr. T with a flurry of crack-filled hypodermic needles, a hallucinatory T puts his will power to the test as he must mentally overcome the vial’s vile effects. The sequence gives Adams a clever excuse to pit T against some fantastic and imaginative (if imagined…) Alien-esque creatures.
© 2008 the respective copyright holder.
a pair of kidnapped Japanese brothers (#2); and to retrieve a stolen jet (#3). The art—by Marie Severin, Jim Mooney, and Alan Kupperberg, respectively—was flat. Nobody’s heart seemed invested in this slapdash licensed property, accelerating the comic’s demise. Yet the title had a few charms. The awkward caricatures echo those ’70s cameo-laden Hanna-Barbara cartoons (i.e., The New Scooby-Doo Movies, guest-starring Don Knotts, Sonny and Cher, etc.). There’s something entertaining about T’s recurring catch phrases and flying phobia. It’s almost comical (pun intended) how the spectacularly unfunny Murdock’s “out there” antics and “insane” non-sequiturs fall flat (remember, he was the loony tunes A-Teamer…). With #3, A-Team folded. But it would not be the last time Mr. T would grace a comic book. One thing would change: In every subsequent comic-book series, Mr. T would get top billing.
A-Team from the Makers of X-Men Detail from the cover art to Marvel’s A-Team #1 (Mar. 1984), penciled by John Romita, Sr. and inked by Marie Severin. A-Team TM & © Stephen J. Cannell Productions.
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“I Pity the Undead Fool…!” Denver-based cartoonist Stan Yan, artist on Ape Entertainment’s SubCulture, launched his Celebrity Zombicatures in 2007 with this monster “T”-ribute. Find this and more zombified celebs at www.squidworks.com/Zombicatures. Dr. Doom, Dexter’s Lab, Teen Titans, Gumby, and the Hulk. T takers outside of cartoons included the Spice Girls, AC/DC, Weezer, Halo 2, Osama bin Laden, Bill O’Reilly, John Wilkes Booth, Kathie Lee Gifford, even Stephen J. Cannell. Mr. T vs. Everything also went flash animation (www.newgrounds.com/collection/mrt.html).
STILL A HATER? TOUGH TURKEY!
SOMETHING OF A T-NOMENON
© 2008 the respective copyright holder.
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Still not convinced that Mr. T and the medium are tight? T’s career in comics is not merely limited to comic books. He’s an online comic-strip pioneer, too. Mr. T vs. Everything became a cult sensation after a University of Idaho law student created Mr. T vs. Superman, circa the mid-1990s. This absurdist comic—in which Lex Luthor offers a gaggle of gold chains to T in exchange for wiping out Superman—spawned some 258 fumetti-style comics in which T calls out a cheap-ass adversary. Other face-offs pitted T against Spider-Man,
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For more on Randy Emberlin, visit randyemberlin.com. Visit Tony DeZuniga at http://uptil3.com/LeRoid/tonydezuniga.html. Tough guy Mr. A would like to show his vulnerable side and thank his Mom, Marlene Aushenker, for her infinite love and support. MICHAEL AUSHENKER is a Los Angeles-based writer and cartoonist. His comic books include the El Gato, Crime Mangler series, Cartoon Flophouse, and Those Unstoppable Rogues. Visit cartoonflophouse.com.
Photo credit: Marlene Aushenker.
When Mr. T rebooted at Mig.Biz in 2006, the first issue was topical and tropical: Hurricane Katrina. For the cover of Mr. T #1, the legendary Jim Steranko came out of comic-book semi-retirement to render the streetwise hero. Consider T one very lucky hombre to be among the select characters blessed by Steranko’s talented hand. Echoing Steranko’s classic Nick Fury covers, the glorious black-and-white montage, more appropriate for an exotic international man of mystery à la James Bond or Shang-Chi, appeared in solicitations and Wizard magazine in anticipation of the book… which died on the vine. “I inked the whole thing,” says Emberlin. “He rides in a helicopter and he jumps into the disaster area and saves someone falling into the water off the roof of a house. As far as I know, it didn’t get printed.”
“It should have been left alone as a TV character,” DeZuniga writes BACK ISSUE. “That character was forced [into] the comics because he [was] very popular [at] that time, but it didn’t work out.” Perhaps, Tony. But while they may remain disposable vanity projects or celebrity cash-ins to the casual collector, Mr. T comics united some of the brightest luminaries— even legends—of the field (including DeZuniga). Some even dug the Mr. T experience. “I really enjoyed writing T's adventures,” says Baron. “I wrote by drawing out each page. I had a Mr. T rubber stamp that I used for most of his appearances.” Proud of his T-Force contributions, Breyfogle comments, “I actually work best when under pressure because it forces me to be more spontaneous.” “I thought it would be cool to work on a Mr. T comic,” says Emberlin. “I’m looking at the Mr. T Preview #1 cover. That is the one that I take with me when I go to conventions and people get really excited about it. He looks like the black Hulk… running toward you… explosions are going off. Looks… like Brian Hitch artwork.” And besides, observes Breyfogle, “Mr. T turned out to be the best-paying job of my comics career!” To paraphrase a ’90s tough guy, rap star DMX, “T ain’t goin’ anywhere, he right here!” Mr. T has enjoyed a career in comics spanning three decades; a feat that eluded other ’80s phenoms, such as Boy George and Pee-wee Herman. Heck, you don’t see no ALF returning to comic shops every decade, now do you, fool? That goes double for you, Punky Brewster! Mr. T keeps returning to comics… and the comics keep returning to T. “He is a comic-book superhero,” says Emberlin. “He’s bigger than life.” In other words: Pity the fool who underestimates the positive power of Mr. T!
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Dewey Cassell
What if there was one man who had the capability to redeem all mankind? Someone who had the potential to ensure the salvation of the world. Someone who could be reincarnated through successive generations to fulfill his destiny. And what if he didn’t know? Such was the basis of the story The Redeemer, created by Joe Kubert in 1983. Kubert was well known and respected for his seminal work on characters like Hawkman (in The Brave and the Bold), Sgt. Rock (in Our Army at War), Tarzan, Tor, and Enemy Ace (in Star Spangled War Stories), but he had taken a hiatus from illustrating sequential comics for almost ten years, devoting time to his role as editor and cover artist for DC Comics, as well as heading up a school for aspiring cartoonists. With The Redeemer, Kubert planned to get back into the saddle and was looking forward to it. He explains how it started: “It’s difficult to really recall what provoked this whole thing, but nevertheless, I was always looking to do something with which I would be attached permanently. That is, creator-owned. I always felt that there would be an advantage to doing that. At that time, of course, DC was open for that sort of an arrangement with me. I came up with the idea of The Redeemer. I showed them exactly how I intended to handle this thing. They agreed and they wanted it.” The Redeemer was intended to be a 12-issue monthly maxiseries, published by DC Comics and distributed exclusively through the direct market (avoiding the Comics Code). The story was to be written, illustrated, lettered, and colored by Kubert. The title character, the Redeemer, was a man named Jim Torkan. Torkan would be reincarnated through many generations, each time striving to make the right choices amidst moral ambiguities. Kubert elaborates on his concept: “The premise of the story is that there is one character, the character that was the Redeemer, who exists in these different time frames, as the main character in the variety of stories that I was doing. In each story, the Redeemer kept coming in and the whole thing was a battle against evil. The evil character was sustaining and permanent throughout. Each time, the Redeemer was vanquished, but came back again. He came back again to change and alter and redeem the evil and pull it back to good again. That was the premise of the story. A constant battle between good and evil over a long period of time, with the same character.
Redeemer TM & © Joe Kubert.
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Infernal Logic (top) The Infernal One contemplates spritual matters on a page from the unpublished first issue, and (bottom) déjà vu for Torkan. TM & © Joe Kubert.
By the time Kubert stopped work on The Redeemer, not quite half of the maxiseries was finished. Kubert notes, “I had blocked out where all 12 books were going. I had about four or five of them already completed. They’re not all colored. I think the first two are.” Kubert had also drawn at least one cover. At the time, Kubert was getting paid on a salary basis by DC Comics for the editing and other work he was doing, and DC made a commitment to pay him for The Redeemer at the same time. Kubert explains, “Before I knew it, they had paid me for the whole job and I had finished only about half of it. When we decided, both DC and myself, that I just didn’t have the time and I couldn’t physically do it, I bought the whole thing back. I paid DC for all the money they had paid me to do the work. All the work that I’ve done and the whole concept and the whole story is now my property.” The end of the maxiseries would not have been the end of the story. While it might have brought some resolution to the thread, and some greater awareness for Torkan of his purpose, Kubert intended to leave the story open-ended. As Kubert indicates, “It’s the kind of story that could go on forever, for as many different stories as I wanted to do. It was like an open door for me to take any genre, any kind of background at any time sequence, and do a story about the character that was involved in the things that I described. I liked the story. It sure as hell challenged me. I liked getting into the research that I had to do, in each case, in each one of the chapters.” Kubert hopes to resurrect The Redeemer one day. He believes that The Redeemer is still a relevant and compelling story, 24 years later. “I still think it’s a pretty good concept. I hope that someday, the character will see print. It could be done without having all 12 stories. If I were to publish it, I think I would want to change some of the text, some of the dialogue. None of the drawing. I think the thing holds together pretty good, but I might sharpen the text up a little bit. At that time, we didn’t have computer coloring available to us and I think I’d like to do that, too.” Could there theoretically be a point where Torkan succeeds in “redeeming” and would no longer be reincarnated? Kubert was dubious. “Yeah, when we have a Heaven on Earth, that could happen. The possibilities are, I think, kind of remote.” Seems we’ll always need a Redeemer. Sincere thanks to Joe Kubert for the interview, conducted via telephone on September 14, 2007, and copyedited by Joe; and to Pete Carlsson for his help with the logistics. DEWEY CASSELL is a frequent contributor to BACK ISSUE, as well as the author of the book The Art of George Tuska, available from TwoMorrows Publishing. He is currently writing a book about Marie Severin.
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Upon first glance, it might be difficult for a reader to take a comic book that uses a pun as its title seriously. For that matter, it might be hard to imagine the creators of a book called Ms. Tree taking their book seriously. Generally, puns are reserved for texts that joke, wink, and play. But when Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty created Ms. Tree in 1981, they were dead serious about the tone and direction of their title character. Michael Tree (yes, a woman) was a hard-edged, tough-as-nails private investigator who, while operating within the familiar framework of crime fiction, defied many of the expectations of the genre. For the next 12 years, Collins and Beatty crafted a narrative that directly engaged the hardest, most controversial social issues of the time. How they managed to pull this off and stay afloat in a medium dominated by teenaged, mutant, and ninja superheroes makes Ms. Tree… well, a mystery indeed. Collins and Beatty didn’t initially set out to craft a book that would join the surge of alternative comics in the 1980s. Ironically, Collins—a writer probably best-known in comics circles for his graphic novel Road to Perdition— hadn’t intended to be a comics writer at all. “I began as a crime novelist who also happened to be a comics fan,” Collins says. “I’d never thought about writing comics, though up through junior high I’d hoped to be a cartoonist, writing and drawing comics. It was discovering the mystery fiction of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Mickey Spillane that sent me down the road to perdition of crime writing, so to speak, and I dropped my comics aspirations but not my comics enthusiasm. My first two novels, Bait Money and Blood Money, had a secondary character who was a comics fan/aspiring cartoonist, and the novels are full of comics references. Those novels were what attracted the attention of the Chicago Tribune Syndicate editor, who was looking for a mystery writer to take over Dick Tracy. So my entry into the world of comics scripting was through my mystery/crime fiction, and my Tracy work attracted attention among comics fans and also editors, since it was grounded in both Gould and what’s now called noir fiction and film.”
Alex Boney
She’s No Soccer Mom Ms. Tree promotional art that was produced for DC but unused, contributed by its artist and character co-creator, Terry Beatty. © 2008 Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty.
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