Back Issue #2 by TwoMorrows Publishing

THE ULTIMATE COMICS EXPERIENCE! TOTALLY!

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matt wa gner and diana sc hutz

ST E T A GRE RIES LD STOVER TO NE

PLUS: MIKE W. BARR’s view of the DC Implosion in OFF MY CHEST!

TOTALLY ’80s: HUGHES! WAGNER! DAVIS! RUDE! STEVENS!

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ing t a r s b Cele t Comics, es B e s, ’80 h 0 T 7 ’ he of t Today! &

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

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

It’s our totally tubular, The Ultimate Comics Experience!

Volume 1, Number 2 February 2004 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, and Today! EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Robert Clark PROOFREADERS Eric Nolen-Weathington Joshua Snyder SCANNING AND IMAGE MANIPULATION Rich Fowlks COVER ARTISTS Adam Hughes Rick Magyar COVER COLORIST Tom Ziuko CONTRIBUTORS Bill Alger Mike W. Barr Dario Carrasco Michael Eury Bo Hampton Wally Harrington Mike Hoffman Adam Hughes Dan Johnson Bruce Jones Val Mayerik Steve Rude Bob Schreck Diana Schutz Allison Sohn Ken Steacy Dave Stevens Matt Wagner Bill Wray TRANSCRIBER Brian K. Morris SPECIAL THANKS Lee Dawson Adam Philips Bob Greenberger Rose Rummel-Eury Patricia Lange Consultants Grand Comic Book Database

(almost)

totally ’80s issue! EDITORIAL ......................................................................................................................................................................2 Remembering the decade of big hair, techno-pop, breakdancing, and comics’ new wave COMICO THE COMIC COMPANY HISTORY AND CHECKLIST ...........................................3 Learn about the home of many of the 1980s’ most groundbreaking comics and creators PRO2PRO: MIKE W. BARR AND ADAM HUGHES ..........................................................................7 The writer and artist of The Maze Agency recall their collaboration with their series editor, Michael Eury PRO2PRO: MATT WAGNER AND DIANA SCHUTZ ....................................................................28 Creator Matt Wagner and editor Diana Schutz reveal the roots of Grendel THE GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: SPACE GHOST VS. THE HERCULOIDS ..................................................................................................44 Find out what would have happened in the Space Ghost sequel ROUGH STUFF: ADAM HUGHES SPOTLIGHT ................................................................................48 From the late 1980s to today, pencil artwork by awesome Adam Hughes BEYOND CAPES: TWISTED TALES AND ALIEN WORLDS .....................................................60 Dan Johnson examines Bruce Jones’ gruesome series, with interviews and rare art galore OFF MY CHEST: GUEST EDITORIAL BY MIKE W. BARR.........................................................72 An insider’s perspective of the infamous DC Implosion and Cancelled Comics Cavalcade BACK IN PRINT: STAR WARS: A LONG TIME AGO ....................................................................84 A review of Dark Horse’s collected editions of the 1970s’ Marvel Star Wars comics, plus peeks at two new projects from DC Comics: Detective No. 27 and DC: The New Frontier BACK TALK ...................................................................................................................................................................87 Reactions to our first issue

BACK ISSUE™ is published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605. Michael Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. BACK ISSUE Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 5060A Foothills Dr., Lake Oswego, OR 97034. Email: euryman@msn.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $30 Standard US, $48 First Class US, $60 Canada, $66 Surface International, $90 Airmail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. The Maze Agency TM & © 2004 Michael W. Barr. Ellery Queen TM 2004 Manfred Lee and Frederic Dannay. Death Hawk TM & © 2004 Mark Ellis and Adam Hughes. Grendel and Kevin Matchstick (Mage) TM & © 2004 Matt Wagner. Space Ghost, Herculoids, Jonny Quest, and related characters TM & © 2004 Cartoon Network. Alien Worlds and Twisted Tales TM & © 2004 Bruce Jones. Justice League, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Creeper, Deadman, the Ray, Team Titans, and all other related characters TM & © 2004 DC Comics. X-Men, She-Hulk, and Wolverine TM & © 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc. Star Trek © 2004 Paramount Pictures. Star Wars and all related characters TM & © 2004 Lucasfilm Ltd. Gumby TM & © 2004 Art Clokey. Robotech TM & © 2004 Harmony Gold U.S.A., Inc./Tatsunoko Prod. Co., Ltd. Elementals and Fathom TM & © 2004 Comico. All editorial matter © 2004 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

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Time after time passed, and I still hadn’t found what I was looking for. And then I met Rose. Every little thing she did was magic, and I knew (ooh, ooh) she’d make-a my dreams come true. I was walking on sunshine! We’re in this love together, we pledged. After a white wedding we settled into our love shack, and with Rose’s wind beneath my wings, I found my muse. I sold articles to Amazing Heroes magazine and scripts

DUDE!

to Marvel Comics. I was “in” the comics biz!

(And my grody-to-the-max, gag-me-with-a-spoon ’80s puns end here. But not my story.)

In January 1988, I was hired by editor in chief

Diana Schutz to be an editor at Comico (pronounced “Ko-meek-oh”) the Comic Company. If you’ve been reading comics since the ’80s, you probably haven’t This issue, we celebrate that decade most rad, the totally awesome ’80s!

thought of Comico in a while. If you’re newer to the field, you’re likely unaware of Comico. But you’ve certainly heard of some of the talented folk whose

The ’80s were a different world, and they hit me with a Wham! It was time to cut footloose, so I told my family “goodbye to you” and moved out of our

work was published there: Adam and Andy Kubert, Dave Stevens, Doug Wildey, Gene Colan, Arthur Adams, Mark Wheatley, Bill Willingham, Steve Purcell,

! t n e l l e c ex house (in the middle of our street). “Let’s hear it for

the boy!” Dad cheered. Hiding her tears (for fears),

Mom asked, “If you need help, who ya gonna call?”

I winked at her through my Ray-Bans while I sputtered off in my Chevette. Dad advised, “Son, don’t

wear your sunglasses at night!” “Papa, don’t preach,” Mom chided. I was overjoyed by their power of love. My journey had begun. It was time to follow my

sweet dreams, and nothing was gonna break my stride. When you’re young, everybody wants to rule the world (everybody also wants to have fun tonight), so, hungry like the wolf, I set my sights on two goals: to work hard for the money in comics and to find a love that’s true. I moved into my own apartment and practiced writing while working a variety of jobs to pay the bills.

Bob Burden, Mike Leeke, the Pander Bros., Tim Sale, Steven T. Seagle, Jill Thompson, Len Wein, Mark Evanier, Bob Schreck, and Joe Staton. Ooh, la la! Oh,

yeah, let’s not forget Adam Hughes, Mike W. Barr,

Alan Davis, Matt Wagner, and Steve Rude, all featured

in this issue.

Comico was only one of several influential inde-

pendent publishers of the 1980s. Pacific Comics was another of those trailblazers, and this issue’s “Beyond Capes” examines the two series Bruce (The Incredible Hulk) Jones spearheaded there, Twisted Tales and Alien Worlds. Of course, the ’80s were also the era of First and Eclipse Comics—and it was the decade of landmark Marvel and DC series like the Claremont/Byrne X-Men, Watchmen, and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Daredevil—but we’ve got to save some

But before long I was blinded, and not by science. I was tempted by an angel in the centerfold, a true

content for future issues, don’t we? And just to prove we’re not totally stuck in the

fer ! e r u sh

material girl—yeah, I knew it was risky business, but one thing leads to another—and I became addicted to love, quite an obsession. Dr. Huxtable warned that I

was too shy for this maneater, and he was right: Soon

I was so lonely, the king of pain. “Relax,” Doc told me. But I couldn’t. I knew that love stinks, so on a cruel

’80s, Mike Barr offers an insider’s perspective on the

infamous DC Implosion of the late 1970s in an “Off My Chest” guest editorial.

Think you can find a magazine more excellent

than Back Issue? As if!

summer evening I shrieked to the heavens, “Do you really want to hurt me?!!” My neighbor yelled back,

Michael Eury, the editor formerly known as “Mickey”

“I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it!”

Oh, Mickey, you’re so fine. . . (Sorry. It’s a hard

(That super freak scared me. Bad.)

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habit to break.)

f o f o y r y o r t o s t i His eH he Th T

O C I M O C

Michael Eu

y anny pa m p o m C o c C i m c i o Com thhee C t Comico the Comic Company was the little publisher that could. For a while, at least. In 1982, a trio of pals from art school—Gerry Giovinco, Bill Cucinotta, and Phil LaSorda—launched their own publishing company to nurture their creative itches. Their early black-and-white efforts (Slaughterman, Skrog, and Az) were primitive, but another art student they invited along on their venture, Matt Wagner, stood out among the pack. His character Grendel debuted in 1982’s Comico Primer #2, and today is still going strong at Dark Horse Comics. Administration/marketing mogul Bob Schreck jumped on board in late 1984, with editor in chief Diana Schutz following in early 1985. Cucinotta stepped aside and Giovinco took a less active role. Dennis LaSorda became co-publisher, his brother Phil ascending to executive officer. Meanwhile, Schreck and Schutz infused unbridled creativity and editorial professionalism into the company, and cultivated new talent like Tim Sale, Bill Willingham, Jill Thompson, and many others who have since gone on to wide acclaim. In 1987, Rick Taylor was hired as art director, exquisitely polishing the design of Comico’s comics. I became an editor there in January 1988, and assistant

No Day in the (Jurassic) Park

editor Shelly Roeberg (now Bond) joined the company

Things look bad for Gumby and Pokey

later that year.

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After Comico . . . . . . series like Grendel, Mage, The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine, The Maze Agency, and Robotech found homes at other publishers. This early Matt Wagner page, incidentally, is from the original Grendel miniseries. Grendel © 2004 Matt Wagner.

distribution of Comico’s titles in 1989, to little avail. The staff, one by one, departed the company for other jobs, although Rick and Shelly stayed the longest, valiantly working to hold the publishing line together. Comico finally went under in the early 1990s (it was briefly revived in the mid-1990s by a financier who, sadly, tarnished some of the luster of this once-mighty organization). The creative accomplishments of Comico fortunately outweigh its infamous

COMICO THE

COMIC COMPANY

demise. “While we were all making it up as we went along,” Schreck recalls, “in retrospect, we had a great time in those Comico days and I’m very proud of what we all accomplished there.”

The following list includes titles published during the company’s original incarnation only. The Amazon #1-3 (1989)

Ginger Fox #1-4 (1988)

Ribit! #1-4 (1989)

Az #1-2 (1983)

Grendel vol. 1 #1-3 (1983-1984)

Rio #1 (1987)

Black Book (1987)

Grendel vol. 2 #1-40 (1986-1990)

[graphic novel]

Bloodscent #1 (1988)

Grendel: Devil by the Deed (1986)

Comico Christmas Special #1 (1988)

[collected edition]

Grendel: Devil’s Vagary (1987)

The Comico Collection (1987) [slipcased set, with exclusive Grendel: Devil’s Vagary

Robotech: Masters #1-23 (1985-1988)

Gumby’s Summer Fun Special #1 (1987)

Robotech: The New Generation #1-25 (1985-1988)

Comico Primer #1-6 (1982-1984)

Gumby’s Winter Fun Special #1 (1988)

Robotech in 3-D #1 (1987)

[1st app. Grendel in #2, 1st app. the Maxx in #5]

Jezebel Jade #1-3 (1988)

Robotech Special #1 (1988)

Elementals vol. 1 #1-29 (1984-1988)

[Jonny Quest spinoff]

Robotech the Graphic Novel #1 (1986)

Elementals vol. 2 #1-25 (1989-1993)

Jonny Quest #1-31 (1986-1988)

Elementals: The Natural Order (1988) [collected edition]

Jonny Quest Classics #1-3 (1987)

The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #1-2 (1988-1989)

Elementals Special #1-2 (1986, 1989)

Justice Machine vol. 2 #1-29 (1987-1989)

E-Man vol. 3 #1 (1989)

Justice Machine Annual #1 (1989)

E-Man vol. 4 #1-3 (1990)

Justice Machine Featuring the Elementals #1-4 (1986)

Collection]

Empire Lanes vol. 2 #1 (1989)

•

[formerly Macross]

and a newsletter]

plus nine random Comico titles, a poster,

[black, white, and red exclusive; see Comico

Robotech: The Macross Saga #2-36 (1985-1989)

Jonny Quest Special #1-2 (1988)

Sam and Max, Freelance Police Special #1 (1989) Silverback #1-3 (1989-1990) [Grendel spinoff]

Skrog #1 (1983) Slaughterman #1-2 (1983)

[Keyline Books imprint]

Macross #1 (1984)

Evangeline vol. 1 #1-2 (1984)

[becomes Robotech: The Macross Saga]

Fathom #1-3 (1987)

Star Blazers vol. 1 #1-4 (1987)

[Elementals spinoff]

Mage: The Hero Discovered #1-15 (1984-1986)

Fish Police vol. 2 #5-17 (1988-1989)

The Maze Agency #1-7 (1988-1989)

Trollords vol. 2 #1-4 (1988-1989)

Fish Police: Hairballs (1987)

Morningstar Special #1 (1989)

The Trouble with Girls vol. 2 #1-4 (1989)

[collected edition]

[Elementals spinoff]

The World of Ginger Fox (1986)

Fish Police Special #1 (1987)

Next Man #1-5 (1985)

[graphic novel]

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Space Ghost #1 (1987)

Star Blazers vol. 2 #1-5 (1989)

Barr and Hughes revisit:

el Eury

I was fresh off the comics-geek boat when I started editing at Comico in 1988 and had been

by Micha ribed An interview 19, 2003, and transc st gu Au on conducted . Morris. by Brian K

a fan of Mike W. Barr’s DC work, so being assigned his new title, The Maze Agency, was quite a thrill. It also became a valuable learning experience. Mike’s professionalism (the man couldn’t miss a deadline if he tried) and ultra-polished scripts taught me a great deal about editing and writing. It was my pleasure working with Mike on Maze, and I’m happy that this interview has allowed us to rekindle our friendship. Another joy of The Maze Agency was the “discovery” of Adam Hughes. Adam had a few pinups and black-and-white short stories under his belt in ’88, but showed such promise, everyone at Comico knew he was headed for greatness. The first time I met him in person, at a 1988 Comico portfolio review at Rich Rankin’s comics shop, Adam had already been hired to draw Maze, but politely stood in the portfolio line to meet his editor.

interview

He was nervous and sweating profusely (something I won’t let him forget), but I found his courtesy refreshing—and when I recently saw him at the 2003 San Diego Comic-Con, he’d gotten that sweating thing under control! The Maze Agency was a special series for all three of us. During our chat, Mike, Adam, and I navigated a virtual maze of memories and, like good

The A-Maze-ing Adam Hughes

detectives, reconstructed the history of this wonderful

A rare Adam Hughes/Rick Magyar Maze Agency

project. —Michael Eury

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MICHAEL EURY: Let’s start with a flashback: 1988, Mike W. Barr, popular author of Camelot 3000, Batman and the Outsiders, and Detective Comics. MIKE W. BARR: Well, I wasn’t the author. Because an “author” is someone like Frank Miller, who does the whole package, writing and art—I’m a writer. ME: You got it. “Writer.” Adam Hughes, you were a promising young artist at that time. This was your first regular series. ADAM HUGHES: Yep, I was wearing long pants and ready to shave. ME: (laughs) And yours truly, Michael Eury, a newly hired editor at a relatively small, but cutting-edge, comic-book publisher in the “metropolis” of Norristown, Pennsylvania. So, do we feel ancient yet? MWB: Yes, I have for some time. (laughs) It’s got nothing to do with this conversation, I assure you. ME: Mike, in case anyone reading this interview is unfamiliar with The Maze Agency, why don’t you define the series? MWB: Back in 1985, ’86, I’d wanted to do a creatorowned detective series. By “detective series,” I mean in the sense that it would have actual mysteries, actual whodunits, which would be solvable by the reader if the reader was sharp enough to pay attention to the clues.

Super-Sleuth Team-Up

Based, of course, on my love of the classic detective stories of Ellery Queen. Later, of course, I would pay homage to

Barr’s Ellery Queen

Queen by using Ellery Queen in Maze Agency #9.

homage, from

ME: And even though you were writing some super-hero

The Maze Agency #9.

whodunits to that degree.

Ellery Queen is a TM of Manfred Lee and Frederic Dannay.

MWB: Well, I did to some extent, about as much as I wanted to. But I felt that if you write Batman, you’re honor bound simply by the fact it’s Batman to have a certain amount of physical action in there. And I have no problem with that and I don’t regard that as any part of compromise, or a weakening of the material, if you’re

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Beginnings:

Ellery Queen’s M ystery Magazine , May, 1973 (prose Detective Comi ) cs #444

Milestones:

doing Batman. But I had the urge to do a series that might not necessarily have physical action in every issue, that would always concentrate, primarily, on the puzzle and the relationship of the characters. So I made some

(Elongated Man script)

Batman and the Outsiders / Came lot 3000 / Detective Comi cs / Batman: So n of the Demon Batman: Full Ci / rcle / The Maze Agency / Star Trek: Gemi ni (prose novel)

Work in Prog ress:

Sorcerer of Fortu ne (on

line fantasy strip)

a new Star Trek

notes and I contacted the best artist I was working with

(as yet unname d)

novel

Cyberspace:

at the time, which was Alan Davis, with whom I was working on Detective Comics. Alan was very interested

www.moderntal es.com (Sorcerer of Fortu ne, with Dario Carra sco)

in the idea and did some model sheets and drew the first story, which I used to sell the series, and which later

Caricature by Dario Carrasco .

appeared in an issue of the Innovation [a now-defunct comics publisher] run of the book. That was about 1986 to early ’87. ME: Barr and Davis, reunited. MWB: I had it lettered by Todd Klein, who also designed the logo and pasted up the cover, and pasted up the balloons in the story as well. And I had some ashcans printed up and sent those out to publishers, mostly

Beginnings:

smaller independent publishers, who I thought would

Eagle #6 (pinup)

Milestones:

get what I was trying to do. ME: Were publishers other than Comico interested in

Justice League America / Legion naires / Ghost / Gen 13: Ordinary Heroes / Tomb Ra ider covers / Star Trek: Debt of Honor / The M aze Agency / Wonder Woman covers

the series?

Work in Prog ress:

Rose & Thorn co vers

Cyberspace

www.gaijinstu : dios.com

Caricature by Adam Hughes.

The Right Choice Letterer Todd Klein’s three The Maze Agency logo samples. The Maze Agency is a ™ of Michael W. Barr.

D C

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AH: Wow! MWB: I’m sorry? AH: No, I was just wowing. I didn’t know that. Wow. MWB: I just found my notes, and what actually happened was this: “Black Friday” was actually Monday, February 27, 1989. At about 12:15 P.M., I got the call from Diana, telling me of Comico’s financial difficulties, and saying many artists were being told to stop work on all titles, as the titles were being put “on hiatus.” Maze’s “hiatus” began after the publication of #7, which was to go on sale in June. Diana said I could leave the book with Comico for possible resumption of publishing after a minimum six-month interval—and contract renegotiation—or I could contact other publishers. I opted for the latter, but was later told by Phil LaSorda, one of Comico’s founders, that Comico had not cancelled Maze, and they

Hopping to DC Hughes was quickly recruited to one of DC’s top books when The Maze Agency

were still considering publishing it. Comico was also holding onto the unpublished artwork, still owed me $1430, and owed the rest of the creative team, too.

went on hiatus.

artwork was released and I was “allowed” to take Maze to Innovation. The Comico brass got harder and harder I am, back in the Village.” (laughs) The whole distribution deal has always been a sore point to me because not long after I got the call from

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$1430, let alone whether everyone else was paid. I was just glad to get out. Natch, this ate up the good will

Diana, I spoke to David Campiti of Innovation. I mean,

between me and Comico, though I remained friends

this was like minutes later. And David said, “I love the

with Diana, who had nothing to do with Comico’s

book, would love to do it here.” And I said, “Well, that

legal maneuvering.

sounds pretty good, depending. Let me talk to Adam.”

During all this I talked to DC about possibly taking

So I called Adam, and you said, “DC told me, ‘Look, The

on The Maze Agency before I took it to Innovation, you

Maze Agency is dead. Come over here instead.’” So when

know, trying to convince DC to use their power for good

I say “a sore subject,” I didn’t mean with Adam, but

(laughs), and DC really had no interest in doing Maze,

with DC.

despite the fact that the first issue had done pretty well

DC sort of swooped down and said, “Look, your

2 4

to find, so I’m still not sure whether I was ever paid the

and the series had been nominated for the Eisner and

future’s over here because that other thing was dead,”

Harvey Awards. DC’s attitude was, “We’ve got the

even though it wasn’t. Obviously, DC saw the distribu-

artist, we don’t need the book.”

tion deal as a chance for them to do away with more

ME: That’s interesting, too, because one thing I will say

competition and raid some nests.

to DC’s credit is that they’ve often taken chances with

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genres and types of material. Even your own Camelot 3000 is a good case in point. MWB: That wasn’t taking so big a chance, when you’ve got Brian Bolland drawing guys and babes in armor killing aliens, and rocket ships; although I will concede that for that day, it was somewhat different than the kind of thing that they had been doing. And they rejected Camelot 3000 twice before they finally bought it. ME: What about crime comics today? There has been an explosion of them, and many are fueled by forensics. There are a lot of crime-detection programs on TV. What would it take to bring The Maze Agency characters and premise into the 2000s? MWB: Well, I don’t think it would take anything at all, actually. Despite the fact that the characters were in the ’80s, and that this is appearing in the “Totally ’80s” issue of Back Issue, I don’t think that the series is at all dated, or in any way stuck in the ’80s. I could easily return to the characters and the setup tomorrow. They weren’t tied to a certain era, either the relationship or the type of stories that they were involved in. ME: Agreed. MWB: But Maze is very different from TV shows like C.S.I. or Crossing Jordan. To quote Laurence Olivier from Sleuth, “that’s detective fact, not detective fiction.” There’s no poetry, no imagination in those series. And in great detective fiction, whether from Queen, Doyle, Poe, or anyone else, there’s both poetry and imagination. I recall The Maze Agency, both at Comico, and even later when it went to Innovation, as some of the most fun that I’ve had in comics in that I was the creator, and could call the shots; [there was] no staff editor more worried about office politics than doing a good book. And I was, to some extent later on, the de facto editor

of the book. I was fortunate to work for editors and/or publishers that were willing to take a chance on some-

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Wagner and Schutz:

Creator Relations ichael Eury

ed by M and transcrib An interview 15, 2003, September on . d is te rr o uc .M cond by Brian K

interview 2 8

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Diana Schutz opened my eyes. When she hired me in January 1988 to edit at Comico the Comic Company, my myopic view of comics was limited to the mainstream, mostly super-heroes and humor. Through Diana I quickly got a crash course in how some extremely talented artists were (and still are!) reinventing the medium and exploring its full artistic and storytelling potential. One of those artists was Matt Wagner, whose Grendel was in its sophomore year at the time. Being a good little

Beginnings:

arance) st Grendel appe

#2 (fir Comico Primer

Milestones:

el / Batman: / Batman/Grend Grendel / Mage r / Trinity / te ea n Mystery Th Faces / Sandma vers Green Arrow co

ress: Work in Prog other big-ass project for DC) d (an To be announce

Cyberspace:

ner www.mattwag m comics.co

Catholic boy from small-town North Carolina, I was at first taken aback by Matt’s sharp assessment of Catholicism and religion (in the “God and the Devil” arc), but quickly grew to appreciate his voice and his unique approach to comics. Matt Wagner and Diana Schutz are related by marriage (Di’s sister Barb is Matt’s wife), and have worked together since 1985. They share a personal and creative symbiosis: They often finish each other’s sentences, as you’re about to read, and as a writer-artist/editor team have produced some of the most important works in comics in the past twenty years. —Michael Eury

Beginnings:

Robotech, The M across Saga #3 (first co mic-book editin g credit)

Milestones:

MICHAEL EURY: Matt Wagner, Diana Schutz, thank you for being here. So, we’ve just celebrated Grendel’s twentieth anniversary. MATT WAGNER: Yep, of Grendel.

Grendel / Usagi Yojimbo / Amer ican Splendor / some of the Sin City series/trade s and The Art of Sin City / 300 / W ill Eisner’s Last Day in Vietnam proofreading Ce / rebus text piece s for seven year Grendel: Devil Ch s! / ild (writing)

Works in Progress:

ME: That was in ’83, the first published issue.

The Will Eisner Sketchbook / M other, Come Home grap hic novel by Paul Hornschemeier / Neil Gaiman and Mic hael Zulli’s Creature s of the Night

MW: Was it? DIANA SCHUTZ: No, ’82. MW: Yeah, ’82. ME: What has changed with your take on the character in twenty-something years?

Cyberspace:

MW: Oh, nearly everything, nearly everything. When it was initially created, I never pictured it beyond the initial

www.darkhors e.com

incarnation of Hunter Rose. It was a character created in college, so it was kind of a dark reflection of my own early-twenties mindset. And I eventually followed it, and

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But I knew I didn’t want to just repeat myself—I’d just finished Devil by the Deed and Mage at that point, and I was feeling very cautious because I was getting a lot of strokes, and a lot of pats on the back, and a lot of people leading me to believe that I was doing everything exactly right. And that, too, made me suspect, because I think, for an artist, you can’t fall into that trap of feeling you’re doing everything exactly right. You always need to harbor a continual amount of dissatisfaction to drive yourself to different heights. ME: Is Diana a good barometer for you in that regard? MW: I don’t know. (to Diana) Are you? I’m a pretty good barometer myself, lately. DS: I think so. But Matt has never needed an editor in that particular capacity. MW: Creatively, I don’t need a— DS: He needs a schedule master, somebody to crack the whip, make sure the trains keep running on time, that kind of thing—somebody to nag him and fix his

Fabled Renditions In the 1980s, Bill Willingham, currently writing DC’s Robin and Eisner Award-winning Fables, drew this illo of Hunter Rose (background) and this Comico Christmas card, the latter of which

features Mage’s Kevin Matchstick and the Elementals’ Fathom.

spelling! MW: But even that, I don’t need somebody to nag me to work. I work all day. DS: Matt loves to work. And creatively, he’s in control, and pretty much alwayshas been in control, and doesn’t

need someone for that aspect of things. MW: I’ve always had the attitude that my work is my life force—we were joking [before the interview] that being part of an ‘80s issue dates me. I feel as vital now in the industry as I did back then. I’m never going to be one of the Todd McFarlanes of the world, but I’m never going to be an unknown, either. And part of my approach has always been that it needs to be interesting for me first. If it’s not interesting for me, it’s not going to be interesting for my readers. Part of my job is to take them someplace they might not have suspected. The only way I can do that is to take you someplace that I wouldn’t suspect. ME: Diana, let’s reconstruct the Comico timeline. When did you come on board?

Girl Grendel

DS: Sometime in early 1985, shortly after my famous

The first twelve issues of Grendel vol. 2 featured

four days at Marvel. [In 1985, Schutz worked for four

Christine Spahr giving in to her aggression.

days as X-Men editor Ann Nocenti’s assistant, but the

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corporate atmosphere of the company and the New

the perspective of other

York lifestyle were not to her liking.]

young kids that I work with

MW: I met you just as we were getting ready to go on

now. But I was sure a bitch

the Mage Tour.

in those days, there’s no

DS: Bob [Schreck] had already started there, maybe in

question of that.

late ‘84. We moved to Pennsylvania in May of 1985. We

MW: And you’re not now?

used to commute from New York, go down for a day or

DS: I think I’m much less now.

two a week prior ‘til then, and we finally moved there.

MW: Okay.

We would drive down and spend a day or two there

DS: Don’t you?

and sleep overnight in that horrible house. (laughs) [See

MW: I guess. (laughs)

this issue’s Comico history for an explanation of the

DS: That wasn’t very

Comico house.] Then we’d drive back to New York. It

convincing. (laughs)

wasn’t so terrible—of course, Bob did most of the driving!

ME: Matt, in your earlier

MW: It couldn’t have been so bad when you were young

work, before Diana, was

and you were, like, forging your own independent venue?

there an editor?

DS: At that time, Bob and I were thirty, you were that

MW: Uh-uh. Nope. I guess

much younger, and we basically had a small company

Gerry Giovinco ostensibly

that we could help define and help grow. So there were

gave it a shot. The whole

a lot of long hours and hard work, and not very much

set-up in the early days of

Never Pander to Your Audience . . .

accounting, I’m sorry to say. (laughs) Michael, when did

Comico was that we all did

. . . unless you have the Pander Bros.

you start? When did I hire you?

our own books, the four

as illustrators. The original to Grendel

ME: I interviewed with you in December of ‘87 and I

books. Skrog, Az, Slaughterman,

vol. 2 #10, page 9 (1987).

started right after New Year’s, ‘88.

and Grendel. And they were all

DS: You came in wearing a purple jacket (laughs) and a

poorly executed. They were all

yellow tie, if I’m not mistaken.

the thinly disguised Ids of each

ME: That was the ‘80s, wasn’t it? I no longer have

of the creators, and you were

that jacket.

just kind of responsible for your

MW: Would you admit to it if you did?! (laughs)

own gig, you know? There was

DS: Despite the purple jacket and yellow tie, I remember

no editor, there was nobody

Keeping Track of Diana Schutz

the reason that I actually had you in for a job interview

correcting artwork, or anything.

“Completely mellow” Dydie on a

was because you knew that commas and periods go

2003 railway journey.

inside quotation marks. (laughs) That was in your

Photo by Frank Miller.

reference letter. ME: I’ve told you this before, but you scared the crap out of me early on. MW: (mocking) No! (laughs) DS: Oh, you know, I think I scared the crap out of a lot of people. MW: (mocking) No! (laughs) DS: Unlike Matt, I have gone completely mellow, I think. I don’t know, because it’s hard for me to see myself from

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Your Your Two Two Favorite Favorite Cartoon Cartoon ShowsShows-

Space Ghost and The Herculoids– NOT in one Comic Book Together! NOT in one Comic Book Together! by

Michael E

ury

I never thought I’d consider World’s Finest drawn by Steve Rude to be bad news. But when “the Dude” (one of my favorite artists) told me, back in late 1988, that he had committed to pencil a DC Comics miniseries starring Superman and Batman (two of my favorite heroes), the news was sobering. At the time, as an editor at Comico the Comic Company, I was tapped by editor in chief Diana Schutz to shepherd the sequel to Comico’s successful 1987 Space Space Ghost © 2004 Cartoon Network.

Ghost one-shot. The Space Ghost comic, in case you missed it (if you did, hit the back-issue bins or eBay now!), wonderfully recreated the atmosphere of CBS-TV’s Space Ghost—not the diluted TV version that appeared on NBC’s Space-Stars in 1981, or the easily agitated talk-show host played for laughs on the Cartoon Network’s Space Ghost Coast to Coast, but the Alex Toth-designed super-hero whose Saturdaymorning cartoon ran from 1966 through 1968. While mildly seasoned with humor (usually through the comic-relief character Blip the monkey), the original Space Ghost program was replete with action. Forget the loonies on Coast to Coast—Space Ghost’s redoubtable rogues’ gallery took tremendous steps to try to destroy their nemesis. The Comico comic’s splash page so flawlessly mimicked the animated series’ title frame it brought to mind the eerie Space Ghost TV theme, and painter Ken Steacy’s palette gave each panel the look of an animation cel. Being an ardent fan of Hanna-Barbera cartoons (DNA tests have proven that I am a direct descendent of Joe Rockhead, a Water Buffalo lodge buddy of Fred Flintstone’s), the prospect of editing Space Ghost II was incredibly exciting. Steve Rude’s love of Space Ghost far exceeds mine. Anyone who has the pleasure of knowing him is aware that the Dude, as a little dude in 1966, was captivated by the Space Ghost TV show. “Space Ghost was serious drama for me,” Steve remembers. “He was strong and powerful. I loved the executioner’s style mask. The posing of

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his body was cool. I’ve always responded to things like that, much in the same way that Jack Kirby’s characters always had cool poses to them.” Another aspect of the show that impressed the Dude was its soundtrack: “The music was driving and powerful. If the music wasn’t like that, it would have been like sprinkling water over a blazing fire. I often think about just how important music—and all those

other things, down to instinctively perfect timing—is to a show. Some shows just seem to have all those things lined up in a perfect way.” Drawing Space Ghost was the realization of a dream for fan-favorite Rude, and the comic’s success was largely the result of his artwork. The concept of a Space Ghost sequel hinged upon the Dude’s participation, and Steve was happy to do it. For the second installment, Rude assumed a larger role in the writing process. Regarding Mark Evanier, who scripted the first Space Ghost, Steve contends, “I don’t think Mark quite ‘got’ the show the way I did. On the first book, I had sent Mark videotapes of Space Ghost, and my impression is that after he watched them, he simply reacted to the surface things and just set about his professional duty in writing a script. Mark is older than I am and was probably moving onto other things when Space Ghost came on in ‘66. Mark has turned out some stunning work in the books we’ve done together, but I think deep down, he’s much more comfortable doing books that are more humor than serious drama.” Animation writer/designer Darrell McNeil kept no secret from Rude his desire to be involved with Space Ghost II. “Darrell was always making such a pest of him-

A “Strong and Powerful” Pose

self back then,” Rude jokes, “he kind of weaseled his way into the development

A 1994 convention sketch by the Dude.

of the second issue.” Rude and McNeil brainstormed some ideas, and Rude typed

Courtesy of the artist.

a four-page, single-spaced first draft of the plot, titled “The Trial,” dated Sunday,

January 31, 1988. An accompanying fifth page provided the Dude’s recommendations to his writing partner on how to best capture the voices of Space Ghost and his foe, Black Widow Herculoids © 2004 Cartoon Network.

(in reading some of the dialogue, I imagined voice actor Gary Owens reciting the lines, a testament to their accuracy). After plot discussions and a February 21, 1988 list of revisions, McNeil helped expand Rude’s story into a double-spaced, 12 1/2-page detailed outline. “The Trial” resumes immediately after the conclusion of “The Sinister Spectre” (Comico’s first Space Ghost story), with Space Ghost, teen twins Jan and Jace, and Blip returning home to Ghost Planet in the star-spanning Phantom Cruiser. The insidious Sandman is lurking in

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feature

with Rick Magyar’s inks.

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Hughes’ cover rough and the finished product,

be more of a pinup artist,” Adam Hughe s told Mike W e Agency, and . Barr, me, their edito r, in this issue At this early st ’s le ad “P age of his care ro2Pro” interv iew. er, Adam show ed he could de liver the good s.

writer of The Maz

“I wanted to

M A Z E A G E N C Y #1 • 1 9 8 8

Michael Eury es, to Adam Hugh ks n a th l ia ec n) (sp ally Harringto W d n a , rr a B . Mike W

t i m e l i n e s

t i m e l i n e s Note Adam’s changes between the first cover rough

the back cover to Maze Agency #2.

and the final penciled version. Version C was used as

M A Z E A G E N C Y #4 • 1 9 8 9

er” theme Jack the Ripp of n ur et “r e sex ations on th suspense and ted three vari us just enough pl Adam submit h— pt de of . eated a sense e most impact Maze. Each cr rsion A had th ve t bu for this issue of — ts en r cont er to the interio to lure the read

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Dan Johns

GO WEST, YOUNG MAN (AND WOMAN) In the early 1980s, Bruce Jones took a cue from 1950s comics and gave readers an old idea—anthology books—but delivered them with a new jolt of creativity and skill (and graphic violence and sex, too). The results were Twisted Tales and Alien Worlds. The genesis of these books came when Bruce met his wife, April Campbell. Their meeting occurred at a time when Bruce was considering heading to California from the Midwest; both were interested in exploring prospects in film and television. At the same time, Steve and Bill Schanes were starting up Pacific Comics in San

Bruce Jones and

Diego. When Steve Schanes invited Bruce to do some books for the company, Bruce

April Campbell

saw this as a good chance to make the move to the West Coast.

Ken Steacy was nice

Twisted Tales #1, cover dated November 1982, hit the stands with a cover (and

enough to send this

interior story) by none other than Richard Corben. Getting an artist of Corben’s

photo of his favorite

caliber was a major coup and it helped establish Bruce’s books in terms of quality.

author/editor tag-team,

“Corben, [Bernie] Wrightson, and [Russ] Heath all helped make me a name at

Bruce and April, taken at

Warren [Publishing], and I wanted them on my books both to pay them back for

the 1983 San Diego

helping me early in my career and because they were all wonderful artists and

Comic-Con, around the

good friends,” Bruce tells BACK ISSUE. “It was very hard to get this premium talent,

time Twisted Tales and

because everybody wanted them and they were always booked months in advance.

Alien Worlds were on

I think I only got them because of our friendship, not because they really needed

the stands.

the work. It was an extremely fortuitous time, the likes of which I doubt we’ll ever see again. The only thing I can compare it to would be the Warren days, perhaps. So much great talent crowded into too few years. But it was gold while it lasted.” Jones followed up his horror title with the science-fiction series Alien Worlds. The first story was by Al Williamson, a lucky move on the part of Bruce given Williamson’s stature and the name he had made for himself at EC Comics. Bruce is the first to agree that Williamson is a master of his craft: “Al and I go way back,

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Twisted Sister orben’s Delgado in C iss M r te ac ar The ch ) was wisted Tales #1 “Infected” (T ell. r April Campb modeled afte

Bruce Jones’ Cosmics and Gories

and it was a joy to work with him again on Alien Worlds, as I had for the Warren books. Al is in a league of his own when it comes to space opera and otherworldly women.” Twisted Tales #2 kicked off with “Over His Head,” Mike Ploog’s only job

#1 – #10 Twisted Tales Dec.1984) (Nov. 1982 –

for the title. The definitive horror artist at Marvel in the 1970s on books like Werewolf by Night and Ghost Rider was perfectly at home in the pages of Twisted Tales. “Nightwatch,” about soldiers who wait out the night and attacks by giant

#1 – #9 Alien Worlds Jan. 1985) (Dec. 1982 –

rats, was the first story Ken Steacy did for Jones and the only one he did for this book. “I hate horror,” Steacy confides. “I got the script and there was nothing really horrifying except that [the soldiers] get attacked by giant rats. But when the book came out, I saw the other stuff, and there was some pretty yucky stuff

-D #1 Alien Worlds 3 (1984)

in there!”

STEVENS ROCKETS TO ALIEN WORLDS Dave Stevens provided the cover for Alien Worlds #2 and his only interior pencil work with “Aurora.” “‘Aurora’

Who Needs W ords? “I had started

drawing the sequel [to Aurora, first seen in Al ien Worlds #2 ] when Pacific im ploded,” says artist Dave St evens. This splash page is from that unpublished story. Courtes y of the artist. © 2004 Dave

Stevens.

was created for the Japanese company, Sanrio, back in 1977,” Stevens tells BACK ISSUE. “It was to be one of many comics series featured in a magazine format, similar to the French periodical, Metal Hurlant, which was very popular all over the world at that time. They spent a lot of time and money putting the material together, but the magazine ultimately was never published. Oddly enough, the Moebius stylings in ‘Aurora’ were something that they’d specifically asked me to do. Apparently, they really wanted to duplicate the success of the [French] periodical, right down to the artwork itself!” Of all the stories done for either Twisted Tales or Alien Worlds, “Aurora” was the one that might have ended up with a sequel. In fact, Stevens actually

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“The Secret Place” in Twisted Tales #4 stood in stark contrast to many of the stories that appeared in the title up to that time: There was no gore or nudity, but instead a well-crafted story about a boy who doesn’t speak, but who learns friendship from an alien. “The Secret Place” had some fine artwork by Bruce Jones, as well as a solid script. Based on my conversation with Jones, I get the feeling that he undersells himself in the art department, and that is a shame, because his work here was great. Dave Stevens turned in the cover for Alien Worlds #4 and inked Bruce’s pencils on “Princess Pam.” The issue’s next tale, “Girl of My Schemes,” about an agency that books fantasy vacations, was drawn by Bo Hampton. “‘Girl of My Schemes’ was one of my top-five favorite stories [I’ve] worked on,” Hampton tells BACK ISSUE. “[Alien Worlds #4] was a great issue, with Bruce Jones drawing and Dave Stevens inking ‘Princess Pam,’ [and its] beautiful use of photo reference and just flat-out terrific figure drawing! Cool story, too, and Joe Chiodo’s color . . . WOW! And after my story [there was] a reprinting of ‘Savage World’ by my other mentor and former boss, Al Williamson. Double WOW!” Alien Worlds #4 also had “Land of the Fhre,” with artwork originally from Williamson’s epic, “Savage World.” “There were [published stories] of Al’s I very much wanted to use in Alien Worlds,” says Jones. “I wrote another story for it around the existing artwork so older fans would have something new to read. The original art was just lovely.” Twisted Tales #5 showcased “Scritch. . . Scritch. . . Scritch. . . ,” perhaps Bill Wray’s best-remembered piece for this comic. Ever had a night when you just couldn’t sleep because you heard something crawling around inside your house? That is the problem faced by Rick, a character that Wray had Dave Stevens model for.

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Say “Cheese”! Rocketeer Do you think “Rats!” Stevens cried creator Dave model y asked him to when Bill Wra character in for the main . . .”? ritch. . . Scritch “Scritch. . . Sc pear with the The photos ap Dave Stevens. permission of Bruce Jones. Story © 2004 Bill Wray. 04 20 © Art

“BANJO LESSONS” SPARKS CONTROVERSY Just by flipping through Twisted Tales, it is plain to see that this title pushed the envelope in the early days of the direct-sales market. Still, Bruce produced the occasional tale that shocked even the most jaded reader. In issue #5, that story was Rand Holmes’ “Banjo Lessons.” “Banjo Lessons” was about the trial of a man who killed three of his best friends for no apparent reason, and the exposure of a dark secret involving racism and cannibalism. “I really thought of it as no more than just another horror story when I wrote it,” Bruce says. “You don’t set out to be controversial or make little classics. In fact, you can’t manufacture stuff like that; it just happens.”

Even the freedom of the direct market couldn’t ensure that Bruce would not have some interference with his books. “I held complete autonomy,” Bruce explains, “but Steve Schanes was distributing the books and had some reservations about the content and possible political ramifications of ‘Banjo Lessons,’ as far as Diamond Distribution was concerned. As it turned out, I think he was right; Diamond and several others hated the story. But just as many people championed it as were disturbed by it. My own feeling was that if it was disturbing you, then it accomplished the whole point of the series—they were horror stories, after all. April wrote the editorial for the story, the only such kind we ever ran, and I’m sorry now that we did. I think it came off as slightly apologetic where no apology was really needed.”

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You Can’t Spell “Implosion” Without “I”: A Bottom-Rung Bottom-Rung View View of of One One of of A DC Comics’ Comics’ Darkest Darkest Hours Hours DC Editor’s note: Mike W. Barr is best known in the world of comics as the author of such landmark series as Detective Comics, Camelot 3000, Batman and the Outsiders, and the subject of one of this issue’s “Pro2Pro” interviews, The Maze Agency. But

It was in late June of 1978 when DC Comics editor

did you know that Barr started his comic-book

Jack C. Harris entered my office and closed the door. Jack thrust out his

career in the late 1970s

right hand and I automatically rose and shook it, without knowing the occasion.

as the DC Comics proof-

“Congratulations,” Jack said, “we get to stay.”

reader? He has an inter-

I had met Jack when I had begun work at DC in September of the previous year,

esting perspective on the

and though we weren’t close friends, we shared several enthusiasms such as DC

infamous DC Implosion

Silver Age comics. I had even done a little writing for him. Though I saw a lot of

that he’d like to get off

Jack every day—his office was right next to mine as DC proofreader and general

his chest . . .

man-of-all-work—for him to close the door before he spoke was both unique and a trifle ominous; now I knew why.

guest editorial by mike w. barr

I had known—as had the entire office—that Something Was Up. Rumors had

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drifted down that the higher-ups of Warner Communications, Inc., DC’s parent firm, were unhappy with DC’s performance and were determined to take further action. Like their initial action wasn’t severe enough: DC’s plan to increase the price of many of their monthly titles to 50¢ (from 35¢) with an increase of story pages to 25— the much-ballyhooed “DC Explosion”—had had the rug pulled out from under it by corporate heads at Warner Communications after only three months. An excellent report in The Comic Reader #159, August 1978, said that the Warner execs had wanted to sell more comics (and who

treme “The most ex n shutting dow story had DC comics f all original publication o the “big keeping only immediately, an, perman, Batm Su f o es tl ti three” reprint man alive as o W er d n o and W sence newsstand pre a ep ke to ks boo alive.” dising interest n a ch er m d n a rr – Mike W. Ba

didn’t?) by methods involving an overhaul of the distribution system. The Warner execs felt DC’s comics stood a better chance of going head-to-head with their competitors (read: Marvel) if DC’s books more closely approached the price point and physical package offered by Marvel. DC’s production immediately dropped from 32 books a month to 23, a drop of almost 40%. However, some titles, released in the experimental “Dollar Comics” format, did well, so that format was kept for some existing books. Of course, much of the cancelled material saw print in DC’s in-house publication, Cancelled Comics

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Cavalcade, more about which in the companion article. (What methods, if any, were taken to “overhaul. . . the distribution system” remain unknown to me, and seem a proper subject for an article by an informed person. The DC titles affected by the Implosion were returned to 17 pages of editorial content, yet at a price increase of 40¢, from 35¢, a high hurdle for even improved distribution to take.) So Warner execs—none of whom had to worry about their incomes being reduced—had already slashed DC’s output from 32 books a month to 23, yet it was rumored further action would be taken, though what form that action would take, no one yet knew. The most extreme story had DC shutting down publication of all original comics immediately, keeping only the “big three” titles of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman alive as reprint books to keep a newsstand presence and merchandising interest alive. None of us quite bought that, but the degree of our worry could be measured by the fact that none of us categorically ruled it out, either. When the Implosion fell, I and other DC staffers were given a list of freelancers whose assignments had just been cancelled with orders to tell them to stop work

DC Heroes Get the Boot Sadly, many editors, writers, and artists did, too.

immediately. Even I knew that was nothing more than a signal to a freelancer to pull an all-nighter to finish the assignment before delivery. Amazing how many

freelancers I contacted had finished the jobs they were working on just before I told them to quit. But. . . “We get to stay”? I hadn’t known things were that bad. Few people had. The mood at the office in the days immediately preceding what

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Similarly, morale around the office couldn’t help but be affected by the demands of the Implosion. Part of this had to do with those dismissed. Al Milgrom, for example, was easily the most informal and fun of all the DC editors. His door was always open to shoot the breeze for a few minutes to take the edge off a hectic day (barring fire, flood or deadline, of course) and, as an excellent artist, he was always available for an

“If the DC Implosion had no other positive benefits, it at least made the remaining DC staffers and freelancers much more attentive to their tasks.” – Mike W. Barr

emergency art correction too complicated to be trusted to the Production department. It was Al who, once we had heard that our 1977 Christmas gift from DC would be red baseball jackets, led much of Editorial in a march down the hall to then-Publisher Jenette Kahn’s office, leading the chant of “Blue, blue, blue, blue!” our preferred color. And the jackets we received for the holidays were as blue as Superman’s tunic. The DC offices, whose mood was casual without being relaxed, became even more rigid, more “businesslike.” A long-standing custom, the monthly bagel

Not-so-solid Steel!

“birthday party,” was done away with. Hi jinks like the stunt where Al Milgrom led

Gerry Conway’s Steel, The

chanting outside Jenette’s door evaporated, and you got the impression that some

Indestructible Man was another

people liked it that way, not realizing that a disciplined, dignified, austere comic-

victim of the DC Implosion

book office is a contradiction in terms.

meltdown. Pencils from DC’s Cancelled Comic Calvacade.

Even DC traditions of decades’ standing threatened to be altered by the Implosion. Detective Comics, one of DC’s oldest, yet lesser-selling titles, was cancelled, while

The Batman Family, a Dollar Comic, was left intact. It was decreed this would not stand, and Detective was revived as a Dollar Comic, “featuring The Batman Family.” Kudos to those who kept alive the title from whose initials DC Comics took its name, largely Paul Levitz, [then the] new editor of the Batman titles. News of the DC Implosion was greeted with crocodile tears or indifference by most of the rest of the comic-book business. Warren and Western’s [readers] had little overlap with DC’s audience, and even less with DC’s freelancer pool. The majority of editors and personnel of Marvel felt for the DC employees who had suddenly been let go, but the public face of Marvel’s response—and the remarks of some Marvel staffers, always in hearing of their superiors—to DC’s dilemma was basically “more [market share] for us.” The summary cancellation of a number of DC’s titles was positioned by Marvel as a judgment of the quality of those titles, and of DC in general, which was an unfair verdict. Those DC titles that had “exploded” hadn’t been on sale long enough to generate sales figures. Some at Marvel even took glee in the fact that Marvel now had a much deeper and wider talent pool to dip into, apparently never stopping to wonder if the bell would toll for them, too, if Marvel’s owners might

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Michael Eu

A Long Time ago... STAR WARS Dark Horse Comics, 2002 Vol. 1 • “Doomworld” • 376 pages, color • $29.95 Vol. 2 • “Dark Encounters” • 368 pages, color • $29.95 Vol. 3 • “Resurrection of Evil” • 344 pages, color • $29.95

After a franchise of films, hundreds of action figures, video games galore, and a library of paperback books and comics—plus trading cards, Pepsi cans, apparel, and plastic light sabers—it’s hard to think of George Lucas’ Star Wars as anything but an empire. During the summer of 1977, however, many of us were standing in long lines for what was, at the time, one of the first summer blockbuster movies (the blockbuster originated with director Steven Spielberg’s Jaws in 1975). This was a time—admittedly a long time ago—when “May the Force be with you” was not etched into the vernacular, and when stars Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill were the screen’s latest hotties. And this was a time when the expansion of the Star Wars universe was only beginning. One of the first places that development occurred was Marvel Comics’ Star Wars #1, a monthly comic book cover dated July 1977 (going on sale, incidentally, before the movie opened), launching a long and successful run that continued through September 1986’s issue #107. Dark Horse Comics revived the license with its best-selling miniseries Star Wars: Dark Empire #1-6 (1991-1992), and continues to publish new Star Wars comics today. Dark Horse has chronologically reprinted roughly half of the Marvel run in a trio of meaty trade paperbacks. Vol. 1, “Doomworld,” collects Star Wars #1 through #20; vol. 2, “Dark Encounters,” collects Star Wars #21 through #38 and Star Wars Annual #1; and vol. 3, “Resurrection of Evil,” collects Star Wars #39 through #53; and they do so beautifully. The Marvel stories’ colors have been painstakingly recreated, and with glossy paper stock and contemporary printing techniques

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gracing these trade paperbacks, the hues sparkle much more than they did on their original, duller newsprint. The first six issues of Marvel’s title adapt the film to comics, a brisk interpretation by writer Roy Thomas and illustrator Howard Chaykin. The fun really starts with Star Wars #7, when Thomas and Chaykin boldly go where no—sorry, wrong sci-fi series. Thomas and Chaykin usher readers “Beyond the Movie! Beyond the Galaxy!” (or so the hyperbolic cover blurb proclaims) in issue #7’s “New Planets, New Perils!” Picking up at the conclusion of Star Wars, Han Solo and Chewbacca—the most audacious protagonists from the film—say goodbye to Luke, Leia, and the droids and zip back into the cosmos in the Millennium Falcon. On a journey spanning several issues, they encounter a cadre of colorful characters and cretins, including (in issue #8) a human-sized, green-furred rabbit named Jaxxon (“Jax for short,” he tells Solo). Don’t make the mistake of regarding Jax as the forerunner to the cutesy klutz Jar Jar Binks: On the second page of his first appearance, Jax gut-kicks a space freak who calls him a “rodent”—this is no funny bunny. And the new characters keep coming, at a dizzying pace, with Luke, Leia, Artoo, and Threepio sharing or rotating the spotlight in future issues. These reprinted Marvel tales maintain their original verve: They’re imaginative and often electrifying, although it must be noted that they are not part of official Star Wars continuity (“brand management” was looser back in those days). The stories also showcase the work of many lauded comics pros: Archie Goodwin succeeds Thomas as Star Wars scribe (and editor) with issue #11, maintaining that post throughout most of the three collections, with fill-in tales penned by Chris Claremont, Mike W. Barr, and others. Much of the art is, well, a marvel: Chaykin handles full art chores on Star Wars #1—a stunning job, pure 1970s’ Chaykin— although his subsequent work (#2 through #10) appears rushed at times, and revolving-door inkers make it seem a bit schizophrenic. Penciler Carmine Infantino, no stranger to science fiction, signs on with Star Wars #11 and, like Goodwin, stays in view for most of volumes 1 and 2, brilliantly inked either by Bob Wiacek or Terry Austin. Vol. 2 concludes with a well-remembered Luke-andLeia tale penciled by the astonishing—and too seldom seen—Michael Golden. Vol. 3 starts with Marvel’s adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back, lavishly rendered by Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon. It is a feast for the eyes, and if you’re still unconvinced about this third trade in the series, several of its later tales feature art by Walter Simonson.

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