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TITANS TOGETHER! TEEN HEROES ISSUE!

009 April 2

82658 27762

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FLASH 킬 NOVA 킬 LEGION 킬 FIRESTAR 킬 POWER GIRL 킬 KITTY PRYDE 킬 NEW WARRIORS with BARON 킬 GUICE 킬 NICIEZA 킬 BAGLEY 킬 SKEATES 킬 and TV Billy Batson MICHAEL GRAY

THE ULTIMATE MAGAZINE FOR LEGO ENTHUSIASTS OF ALL AGES! TM

BRICKJOURNAL magazine (edited by Joe Meno) is the ultimate resource for LEGO enthusiasts of all ages. It spotlights all aspects of the LEGO Community, showcasing events, people, and models every issue, with contributions and how-to articles by top builders worldwide, new product intros, and more. Edited by JOE MENO. Begun as a digital-only publication in 2005, the NEW PRINT VERSION (Vol. 2) of BrickJournal launched in 2008, and is available in both print and digital form. Print subscribers get the digital version FREE!

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Volume 1, Number 33 April 2009

The Retro Comics Experience!

Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, '90s, and Today! EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks COVER ARTISTS George Pérez and Gene Ha COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg

FLASHBACK: The Tumultuous Times of the Teen Titans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Adams, Giordano, Rozakis, Skeates, and Wolfman relive the TTs’ troubles and triumphs

Dan Johnson Casey Jones Michael William Kaluta Rob Kelly Paul Kupperberg Paul Levitz Bruce MacIntosh Andy Mangels Christy Marx Bob McLeod Allen Milgrom Ian Millsted Jeffrey Moy Fabian Nicieza Stephen O’Day Alan J. Porter Ruben Procopio Roland Reedy John Romita, Jr. Bob Rozakis Alex Saviuk John Schwirian Alex Serra Jason Shayer Jim Shooter Steve Skeates Doug Smith Joe Staton Roger Stern Roy Thomas Michael Uslan Len Wein Mary Wilshire Marv Wolfman

Nick Cardy’s recreation of his own cover to Teen Titans #23, unveiling Wonder Girl’s groovy new threads. TM & © DC Comics.

FLASHBACK SIDEBAR: Mego Teen Titans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 A look back at one of the most unusual action-figure lines of the ’70s

PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington SPECIAL THANKS Dan Abnett Neal Adams Jim Alexander Alter Ego Mark Arnold Mark Bagley Frank Balas Mike Baron Alex Boney Sal Buscema John Byrne Cliff Chiang Gerry Conway Ron Dante DC Comics Tom DeFalco Mike Gagnon Keith Giffen Dick Giordano Grand Comic-Book Database Michael Gray Mike Grell Jackson Guice P.C. Hamerlinck Valentine Hellman Heritage Comics Auctions Matt Heuston Benjamin Holcomb Adam Hughes Jamal Igle Carmine Infantino Georges Jeanty Geoff Johns

BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

PRO2PRO: Mike Baron and Jackson “Butch” Guice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 The writer/artist duo discuss Wally West’s journey from “Boy to Man, in a Flash” INTERVIEW: Michael Gray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 The kid who cried “Shazam!” tells BI about being both Billy Batson and a teen idol INTERVIEW: Ron Dante: Archie’s Here, Veronica, Too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 A chat with the singing Archie Andrews FLASHBACK: I Was a Teenage Crisis Survivor: The Power Girl Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 The “Earth-Two Supergirl’s” convoluted history, as told by a host of all-stars FLASHBACK: Growing Up with Pryde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Here, Kitty, Kitty—the evolution of one of the X-Men’s most beloved characters ART GALLERY: Legion of Super-Heroes: Fashions of the 2970s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 A runway of talent takes on Cockrum’s and Grell’s funky ensembles FLASHBACK: The Man Called Nova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Before he made the Titans “new,” Marv Wolfman introduced this Marvel teen sensation OFF MY CHEST: Firestar: The X-Man Who Wasn’t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Firestar interviews with Christy Marx, Tom DeFalco, Mary Wilshire, and Fabian Nicieza PRO2PRO: Fabian Nicieza and Mark Bagley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 The writer and artist reveal how Marvel’s teen heroes, the New Warriors, gathered WHAT THE--?!: James Bond, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Come on, you know you don’t really hate this adolescent secret agent… GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: The Secret History of All-American Comics, Inc. . . .72 Chapter Five of Bob Rozakis’ fantasy comics history reveals the company’s new president! INTERVIEW: The Unique Voice and Vision of Steve Skeates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 Continuing (from Alter Ego) an in-depth dialogue with one of comics’ most diverse scribes BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87 Reader feedback on our “Saturday Morning Heroes” and Steve Gerber tribute issues 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@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $44 Media Mail US, $60 First Class US, $70 Canada, $105 International First Class, $115 International Priority Mail. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by George Pérez. New Teen Titans TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2009 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING. T e e n

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This issue’s theme might not have happened were it not for panicky personnel at DC Comics back in in 1940. Their newest hit character, “the Bat-Man,” that grim, midnight avenger, sometimes packed heat in his crime-crushing. When Bob Kane and Bill Finger cranked out their earliest Batman tales, The Shadow, who used pistols and an unnerving laugh as his weapons, was a primary inspiration for their bat-cloaked hero, and so Batman shooting vampires or using firearms when necessary seemed logical (despite its absurdity when one considers that Batman’s very existence was in response to his parents’ murder by a gun). But comics legend tells us that editorial concern about the level of violence in Batman’s early stories led the Darknight Detective to become a Darknight Daddy. And so “the sensational character find of 1940,” Robin, the Boy Wonder, was added to the strip to soften its tone—and to create a figure that would appeal to comics’ target audience, which at the time was roughly the same age as the boisterous Boy Wonder. (Child endangerment apparently never came to mind to DC’s Golden Age editors when mandating Robin’s creation.) On Robin’s Peter Pan-like heels sprinted Marvel Comics’ Toro (sidekick to the original Human Torch) and Archie Comics’ Roy, the Super-Boy (youthful ally of the Wizard), both of whom appeared on the stands in the same month, leading historians to bicker over which character is actually comics’ second sidekick.

Toro © Marvel Characters, Inc. Roy, the Super-Boy © Archie Publications.

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Sidestepping that debate, no one can deny Robin’s impact. The Boy Wonder opened a floodgate of kid heroes, with some operating both alongside adult mentors—like Bucky with Captain America, and Speedy with Green Arrow—or others in their own Little Rascals-inspired clubs such as the Young Allies and Newsboy Legion. And in the decades since, teen heroes have matured out of sidekick status into a genre all their own, no longer needing the super-supervision of a masked mentor. This issue’s diverse lineup of teen heroes is sure to bring a nostalgic smile to almost anyone’s face. We cover a lot of ground and our writers are to be commended for their informative articles and interviews. Two writers deserve special thanks: Alex Boney, who took on the challenge of making sense of Power Girl’s perplexing permutations, and Bruce MacIntosh, who managed to turn his passion for collecting sketches of the Legion of Super-Heroes in their funky ’70s fashions into an incisive art gallery peppered by behind-the-scenes remarks from Mike Grell on the challenges of drawing Dave Cockrum’s elaborate Legionnaire costume designs. We also welcome two teen idols from Saturday morning television, Michael Gray, Billy Batson from Shazam!, and Ron Dante, the lead singer of the Archies, who chime in for a pair of exclusive interviews. And 007 fans will either love or hate our spotlight on James Bond Jr.! (Incidentally, as a follow-up to BACK ISSUE #26’s James Bond in Comics article, in November 2008 Titan Books released the latest compilation of British 007 comic strips in a 128-page, $19.95 trade paperback titled Polestar. These Bond comics have never before been collected, and are quite a treat!) And while we celebrate young heroes this issue, we welcome President Barack Obama to the White House! Sure, FDR read Little Orphan Annie aloud over the radio, but Obama actually collects Amazing Spider-Man and Savage Sword of Conan! Thanks to our intrepid reporter KC Carlson, BACK ISSUE was fortunate enough to snag this photo of our Chief Executive at work. Short boxes in the Oval Office!

TM & © DC Comics.

Titans Together Again! A 1976 DC Comics house ad by George Tuska and Rich Buckler touting the Titans’ return. During this revival’s ten-issue run, penned by Bob Rozakis, six different pencilers and six different inkers drew the interiors, with a variety of artists handling cover art chores as well. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

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As most readers familiar with the history of the Teen Titans know, artist Nick Cardy kept the original series looking dynamic for most of its entire run. But the writing never quite hit the mark—especially in the early stories. Take, for instance, this sampling of dialogue from Teen Titans #3 (May–June 1966), “The Revolt at Harrison High,” where the Titans have been called to Washington, DC, to the office of the President’s Commission on Education: ROBIN: Teen Titans reporting as requested, sir! COMMISSIONER: Glad to see you, Titans! As you know, our country has one teenage problem that’s probably more serious than any other … drop-outs … kids who drop out before they graduate! We’re organizing a national campaign to persuade drop-outs to stay in school! But government officials have one drawback—they’re not teenagers! Our campaign is all from the adult point of view … that’s where you come in, Titans. Here’s Harrison, a typical American town—but with a high number of drop-outs! We want you to go there, study the situation, talk to the kids, give us the teen slant—the inside angle—so our campaign will have a better chance of success! Will you go? ROBIN: You bet we will, sir! And so the Teen Titans head to Harrison and discover that a local hoodlum (and high school drop-out) called Ding-Dong Daddy has been encouraging the local adolescents to forget education and join his gang. The Titans teach the boys and girls that Ding-Dong is just using them and the kids all agree to return to school. “We’d better all get back to school, too,” Kid Flash quips, “or they’ll pin the drop-out tag on the Teen Titans!” Thus would end a typical writer Bob Haney/editor George Kashdan issue of Teen Titans, with the teenagers and adults realizing how silly their conflict was and resolving their differences thanks to the aid of the Teen Titans. Despite the use of “hip” and “mod” slang like “squaresville,” “Daddy-o,” and “Wonder Doll,” the morals of these stories were ones of conformity and conservatism. These tales felt like they belonged more in the clean-cut 1950s rather than the radical 1960s! Quick history lesson: Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash first teamed up in The Brave and the Bold (B&B) #54 in 1964, made their formal debut as “the Teen Titans” (joined by teammate Wonder Girl) in B&B #60 in 1965, and were awarded their own bimonthly series in 1966. These were troublesome times in the real world: The United States had recently been rocked by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Space Race was heating up the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement was gaining steam, and President Lyndon Johnson was escalating the number of US troops in Vietnam. This was a period of great change in American society, with high school and college students at the center of many conflicts, and Haney and Kashdan were a decade out of step.

MEANWHILE, HERE COMES DICK GIORDANO

Hip To Be Square Dig this crazy detail from the cover of Showcase #59, the Titans’ third appearance. While the surfing craze was the rage when this was published in 1965, writer Bob Haney’s teen slang was a decade behind the times. Art by Nick Cardy. TM & © DC Comics.

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In 1968, two important things were happening in DC Comics’ offices: Management wanted DC to be more competitive with the rising popularity of Marvel Comics and was seeking “young gun” writers to bring in new ideas. At the same time, many of the current, established group of freelance writers in the DC stable were negotiating for a pay raise and possibly a shot at creator rights or health benefits. This movement fell apart as management remained firm in its stance and, amidst the fallout, editor George Kashdan was fired and Bob Haney lost many of his writing assignments—including Teen Titans. Enter Dick Giordano (inset). Giordano had been an editor at rival Charlton Comics, and was responsible for recruiting many fresh new faces into the industry during his stay there. With the help of Steve Ditko, Dick Giordano was hired by DC and given Teen Titans as one of his new editing assignments.

Unlike the other titles Giordano inherited at DC, Teen Titans did not see an immediate change in writer and artist. “As I understood it,” Giordano explains, “George Kashdan was informed that I was replacing him on the Friday before I was to start on Monday. I didn’t know I was replacing him until I got there! He had a finished issue on the shelf, a script in the hands of Nick Cardy, and a script being written by, I believe, Bob Haney. I had to see those issues through to production without really being fully involved in their creation. I was merely the overseer of George’s efforts but officially the editor of record for those three issues” [Teen Titans #15–17, the first to carry Giordano’s credit]. While these three issues were being completed, Giordano had time to shop around for his new creative team. “I was told by the executives that Bob Haney was part of the problem and so I didn’t keep him on Teen Titans,” Giordano says. “I did want to continue the look of the book and Nick did some great work on TT, including some to-die-for covers!!” So Cardy stayed and Haney was out— but who would replace Haney? Giordano decided to give newcomers Len Wein and Marv Wolfman a shot at the big time. Marv Wolfman recalls, “We were both starting to make a name in the business. After doing some other mystery stories for Dick and Joe [Orlando], Dick asked if we’d be interested in doing a Titans story. We jumped at the chance.” Wein and Wolfman’s first outing, Teen Titans #18 (Nov.–Dec. 1968), while nothing radical, still had a political edge as the attitudes of Kid Flash and guest star Russian hero Firestar (now known as Red Star) held their own “cold war” during their search for international jewel thief Andre Le Blanc in Stockholm, Sweden. Other than the moral of not judging a person based on stereotypes of their nationality, the only thing that stands out about this issue is that it features neither pencils nor inks by Nick Cardy, but art instead provided by Bill Draut. Writer Mike Friedrich stepped in along with penciler Gil Kane and inker Wally Wood to provide Teen Titans #19, “Stepping Stones for a Giant Killer.” This tale stands out as the true transition from the Haney/Kashdan days to the shake-up of the Giordano tenure. Speedy joins the team while Punch, a teenage supervillain-sidekick wannabe, tries to impress JLA-foe Headmaster Mind by taking out the Titans. At last, the Titans were starting to reflect the real world. This time, when the heroes visit a campus, they find unrest as a group of students attack a young man simply because he is Jewish. While it turns out that the violence was instigated by Punch, it still acknowledges the existence of prejudice and the tension that could easily be ignited on American college campuses. Additionally, continuity in other DC titles was maintained as Aqualad resigned to help Aquaman search for his kidnapped wife Mera in that series.

weren’t going to publish it. I know that at least part of the reason was that I had given the writing assignment to Len and Marv and he didn’t believe they were ready for prime time. Neal Adams (inset) took the story, rewrote it overnight, salvaging some of the Nick Cardy pages, and penciled the balance, having Nick ink it to retain the look of the book. He turned it into a multi-part story and the credits indicate that the creative team remained constant for the three issues with some additional help on the third issue, I believe. Neal saved me by taking on the responsibility but more importantly he helped save Len and Marv’s fragile reputations at the time.” Yup, it was the controversial “Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho” story in Teen Titans #20 (Mar.–Apr. 1969). The original tale as envisioned by Wein, Wolfman, and Cardy (who drew the entire tale, reportedly doing one of the greatest works of his career), was extremely different from what finally saw print. Wein and Wolfman had written a story about unrest in an inner-city African-American community where a hero named “Joshua” tries to prevent a riot with the help of the Teen Titans. As the inner-city youth had been manipulated by a crime syndicate, the story would have continued into the next issue, but publisher Carmine Infantino ordered Giordano to remove Wein and Wolfman from the book.

THROWING A FIT But why was it necessary for Friedrich to fill in for Wein and Wolfman? Were the rookies not yet up to the task of writing a bimonthly title? According to Giordano, it wasn’t really Wein and Wolfman’s fault. “The problem started with [the story that would become] issue #20,” Giordano remembers. “Len and Marv wrote it and Nick did the art chores ... and Carmine [Infantino] rejected the entire issue with only a small window of time to turn the book in! I don’t recall the reason that Carmine rejected it, but just before closing time he tossed the finished pages on my desk and said we

Cold War, Cold Reception Original art page to Len Wein and Marv Wolfman’s freshman Teen Titans outing, from issue #18 (Nov.–Dec. 1968). Little did anyone know that these nascent (and thenproblematic) wordsmiths would later, as editor and scribe, revitalize the Titans. Art by Bill Draut. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

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by Rob Kelly

Courtesy of Benjamin Holcomb. Teen Titans TM & © DC Comics.

MEGO TEEN TITANS

Contradictions. If one word could sum up the legendary Mego toy company, that would be it. Capable of producing breathtakingly cool plastic reproductions of kids’ favorite comic-book, movie, and TV characters, Mego just as quickly could make something so pathetically cheesy that Santa wouldn’t have dared leave it for you under the Christmas tree. And no Mego line is a better microcosm of those inherent contradictions than Teen Titans (TT). Produced in 1977, the Teen Titans line consisted of four figures— Wonder Girl, Speedy, Kid Flash, and Aqualad (Robin having been Mego-ized in 1972). Despite being established characters in the DC Universe, Mego chose not to brand the Titans with its massively popular World’s Greatest Super-Heroes (WGSH) label, and their packaging was different than the standard WGSH design, even though in trade ads they were sold alongside the WGSH line. Within the TT line itself, quality varies wildly. While Kid Flash, Speedy, and Aqualad are spitting images of their comic-book selves (and Speedy coming with a full complement of detailed accessories), Wonder Girl has the creepy, dead-eyed visage of a baby doll, something I doubt any young boy would’ve been caught dead buying. At least you could buy Batgirl or Supergirl because you had feelings for Babs or Kara that you were too young to understand, but Wonder Girl looks like she wants to help you whip up some brownies in your sister’s Easy-Bake Oven.

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Also, Teen Titans would become victims of Mego’s cost-cutting practices at the time. Mego used an inferior, cheaper plastic on them, causing “molting,” where the Caucasian skin tones eventually turn a sickly grey, making the kids look like they’re the stars of Teen Titans Zombies. As many toy manufacturers have learned, kids are an inscrutable bunch, and you never know what will sell. While the WGSH line was a monstrous, industrychanging hit, the TT line flopped. According to Benjamin Holcomb, author of the ultimate WGSH reference work, Mego 8" Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys, “The Teen Titans had an extremely short production life, offered to retailers only once, at Toy Fair in February 1977. With no marketing support, the Teen Titans failed.” (Yet the line lasted long enough to produce one tiny packaging variant and two different sets of arms— one that bent, one that didn’t—for Wonder Girl.) One of the other things going against the line was Mego’s (usually excellent) timing. In 1977, there was no Teen Titans cartoon or movie, and the Teen Titans comic was heading for its second cancellation. Ironically, the Titans would take off to nearly unrivaled heights of popularity under the genius hands of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez just a few years later. Partly because of their unusual-ness (face it, you don’t see a lot of Speedy toys out there, even in today’s DC Direct world) and the fact that they weren’t collected en masse like a lot of the other WGSHs, the TTs now go for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to collectors. Teen Titans Go!

Dan Johnson

cond ucte d Augu st 15, 2008

Kid sidekicks have been a staple of comics ever since the Golden Age. For around fifty years, the following dynamic was in place: The hero led and the sidekick followed and learned. That changed at the end of DC Comics’ continuityaltering maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths when the Flash—Barry Allen—made the ultimate sacrifice, giving his life to save the universe. When the dust had cleared and the final battle was won, DC needed a new Scarlet Speedster to fill Barry’s boots. Wally West, who had previously run by Barry’s side as Kid Flash, became the first sidekick in the history of comics to take the place of his hero. With the passing of the baton, a new chapter in the history of the Flash was begun. Wally West was now the star of an all-new Flash series, the first issue cover-dated June 1987. The authors of that chapter were writer Mike Baron and artist Jackson “Butch” Guice, who share with BACK ISSUE the inside scoop on how Wally West inherited the mantle of the Flash, and in the process, became his own man. – Dan Johnson DAN JOHNSON: Thank you for sitting down to talk with BACK ISSUE about how Wally West became the Flash. JACKSON GUICE: I hope you remember how that happened, Mike, because it’s going to be short otherwise!

MIKE BARON: Well, it’s been a long time [since we worked on The Flash]! GUICE: I was going to say, that was a lifetime ago. I’m going to depend on you to remember the details. JOHNSON: All I ask is that you tell me what you can. GUICE: We can try that. JOHNSON: How did you each come to be involved with the Flash? BARON: [Then-DC editor] Mike Gold asked me if I was interested in taking over the Flash. GUICE: Yeah, you were already in place and then I came onboard. And again, that was Mike Gold contacting me. I think that might have had more to do with the fact that I was approaching DC at that time to pick up work. Suddenly, I was being talked about around the DC office. JOHNSON: Now, you had worked together before Flash, right? Butch, you did a fill-in issue for Steve Rude on Mike’s co-creation, Nexus (#32, May 1987), and you two also did a two-part Hawk story Mike wrote for Teen Titans Spotlight (#7–8, Feb.–Mar. 1987). BARON: That’s true. GUICE: If I remember correctly, wasn’t the Hawk story supposed to get us comfortable working together? DC didn’t want us to start immediately on Flash, so they had us do that story? And you wrote one of your typical scripts that had four million bugs in it! [laughter]

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Big Shoes to Fill As Wally West ran in Barry Allen’s footsteps, so did the 1987 Flash team, dashing forward into new directions for their next-generation Fastest Man Alive. Our art is a composite from the cover of Flash #1 (June 1987), drawn by Jackson Guice and Larry Mahlstedt, and the Silver Age The Flash #135 (Mar. 1963), illustrated by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. TM & © DC Comics.

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The Gipper Meets the Zipper President Ronald Reagan shows up on page 2 of Flash #4 (Sept. 1987)—and so does tech terror Kilg%re. Art scan courtesy of Stephen O’Day (visit his site: myComicArt.com). TM & © DC Comics.

As far as classic villains went, though, that was it. Did you not have any interest in bringing in some of villains from Barry’s rogues’ gallery? BARON: It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested, I just wanted to create some new characters. Also, if I had had more ideas, I would have stuck around and used those characters eventually. JOHNSON: It might have been a good idea to go that way in the beginning. It further helped to make Wally his own man. And you did give him a really good villain by the third issue, Kilg%re. BARON: Yeah, he’s one of my favorites. He was an alien electric virus. GUICE: And he was a great character to draw because it’s always correct. BARON: Dark Horse did a movie a few years later with Jamie Lee Curtis where she is on a ship and an alien virus hits and it starts building contraptions out of whatever is at hand. It was called Virus. JOHNSON: Makes you wonder… BARON: Well, there are no new ideas. There are just amazing synchronicities. JOHNSON: Butch, you left the series early on. What prompted your departure? GUICE: To be honest, I didn’t feel like I was right for the book. As much fun as I was having on the book, I felt I was all wrong for it pretty much from the get-go. BARON: Who did you see for the book? GUICE: Somebody who could draw speed. My characters looked heavy and chunky and I never felt like I was holding up my end of the project in terms of delivering what you were bringing to the table. BARON: Can you name any artist who can do what you are trying to describe? Can you give me an example of someone who can draw speed? 2 0

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GUICE: There are some guys who have come along since then. Actually, if I was on the book today, I would approach it entirely differently. When we were working on the book, that was all pre-Photoshop days, and there are ways now that we could get in there and do certain things with the art to get [the idea of illustrating speed] across. Before the technology today, the best you could do was maybe have a color-hold, some kind of surprint, but it was always complicated drawing layers to go over the tops of things. There are ways you can do things in Photoshop now where you can really put that visual impression across a whole lot more effectively than what production allowed us back then. But on an artistic level, I didn’t think I was doing the book justice. There was frustration at my end and I mentioned that to Mike Gold a couple of times. Eventually, I just decided that I was beating my head against the wall with it and I should step aside and let someone else come aboard with it. BARON: There was a subsequent writer and artist team, and I can’t remember who it was, but they did an excellent job. They had a brilliant way of showing Flash’s speed. They would have things happen between the panels. A hat would end up on a rack or a pizza would disappear, and by jumping over the action itself, and showing the result, they got across that impression of speed. GUICE: Maybe it was also the timing of my career. I just didn’t think I had the chops to be doing that particular book. That was why I was out of there by issue #11. JOHNSON: Well, you did say Gold didn’t want you to use the old trick of using speed lines or multiple images. GUICE: Frankly, the speed lines did come back in eventually. The one suggestion made to me was to do what they did for Johnny Quick where they would draw multiple figures within the panel, but they weren’t sequenced right there together, so you would have six shots of the same guy doing different things. I liked the speed lines though, and they had been established as the iconic way you show the Flash in action. JOHNSON: Since DC wanted to power down Wally considerably, and since Wally was now nowhere near as fast as he used to be, and certainly nowhere near as fast as Barry had been, the lack of speed lines and multiple images helped to illustrate that point. I certainly got the sense that Wally was moving much slower. Now, the big, important thing about Wally is that he was the first kid sidekick who took over for his mentor, and in the process became the first person to replace one of the Silver Age mainstays. DC tried to do the same thing with Green Lantern and Green Arrow, but ended up reversing those decisions. Why do you think Wally has stayed in the role of his mentor while others failed to live up to their legacies? BARON: I think the new guys would have stuck if the writing had been up to the task. I only did 13 issues, so the praise for the Flash’s longevity must go to the writers that followed me. JOHNSON: But still, you did lay that foundation. And you can’t build a solid structure without a strong foundation. I think you both should be credited with what followed. As a Flash fan, let me say thank you for doing what you did. Before we sign off, do you have any final words about the Flash? BARON: Long may he run! DAN JOHNSON is a regular BACK ISSUE contributor whose writing credits include Herc & Thor for Antarctic Press and occasional gags for the daily and Sunday Dennis the Menace comic strip.

P. C . H a m e r l i n c k

cond ucte d on Mem orial Day 2008

From 1974 to 1977, Michael Gray successfully brought to life a hip, likable, long-haired rendition of Captain Marvel’s alter ego Billy Batson on the hit Saturday morning CBS-TV series Shazam! Born in Chicago in 1947, but having grown up in the tropical warmth of Miami Beach, Gray, the child of a manufacturer and a romance novelist, graduated from high school in 1965 and then headed west to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. Three years later, Michael was signed to a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox and landed a variety of small TV and movie roles. In 1972, he nailed a primetime spot on NBC’s The Little People, which catapulted worldwide teenage poster-hanging idolatry as his face was regularly plastered in Tiger Beat and other teen-aimed publications. Filmation Studios knew of enamored teenagers’ admiration for Michael (27 at the time) and cast him as Billy Batson in their new live-action, moralistic, heart-touching superhero series. His popularity continued to grow as Shazam! quickly became a ratings hit. But dark times set in for Michael when the series was canceled, and his fame soon faded away (due to typecasting and an urgent need to detox from prescription drugs that his doctor had given him to cope with Shazam!’s shooting schedule). During the ’80s, he managed to get a few miniscule TV roles, but was eventually forced to work odd jobs around Los Angeles to survive. He went on a blind date with future wife Stacy, who he soon learned was one of those thousands of teenage girls that grew up putting Michael Gray pictures up on their bedroom walls. The couple married in 1994 and purchased and ran her parents’ West Hollywood flower shop; they later moved the business to Beverly Hills. The Grays left behind La La Land, and now happily reside in their ocean-view home along the Northern California coast … where Michael, now 60, is still recognized and remembered as the boy who could “summon awesome forces at the utterance of a single word: SHAZAM!” – P.C. Hamerlinck

“… Appear Before My Seeking Eyes” Michael Gray was 27 years old when he was cast as Billy Batson on CBS-TV’s Shazam! series in 1974. In the inset, Michael Gray as he appears today. Shazam! TM & © DC Comics.

P.C. HAMERLINCK: What kind of childhood did you have? MICHAEL GRAY: My parents, sister, and I moved from Chicago to Miami Beach when I was six years old. I had a pretty normal upbringing … I mean, the housekeeper wasn’t molesting me or anything! [laughs] Miami Beach was a great place to grow up. I’d always be wearing shorts, T-shirts, flip-flops, and go to the ocean all the time. I wasn’t too serious in school and was sort of the class clown … maybe because I was so short I had an inferiority complex! [laughs] I’d always be doing something for a laugh, which got me into trouble all the time. T e e n

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Mark Arnold

condu cted summ er 2008

In 1968, producer and songwriter Jeff Barry assembled a group of musicians and singers under the direction of Don Kirshner for the purpose of recording a soundtrack album for a new TV show based on the popular Archie comic-book series. Kirshner’s idea of working with cartoon characters, as opposed to live actors, was due to the grief he suffered from his previous venture, the manufactured group called the Monkees. This time the singers weren’t “real,” and so he didn’t have to contend with a group wanting to flex their creative and artistic control over their recordings and music. The result was a surprisingly catchy and listenable album that’s held up as well as any other pop-music album issued at the time. In fact, the Archies’ debut album, simply titled The Archies (1968), remains one of the best children’s rock ’n’ roll recordings. Ron Dante was the singer hired to portray Archie on the recordings. To this day, he still tours around utilizing the Archie name as well as his own to promote a fictitious music group that boasts six Top 100 hits, including four in the Top 40, two in the Top 10, and one that made it all the way to #1 in 1969! Their albums didn’t fare as well on the charts, but they contain

Riverdale’s Rock ’n’ Roller Archies lead singer Ron Dante (inset) helped propel the Archies, the first comic-book-based singing group, into super-stardom, eventually topping the Billboard charts! © 2009 Archie Publications.

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dozens of quality songs and music thanks to the strong performances and production values applied to each recording. – Mark Arnold MARK ARNOLD: Tell us a little about yourself and how you got into the music industry. RON DANTE: My first job in the music industry was as a staff writer/demo maker at Don Kirshner’s Aldon Music located at 1650 Broadway in New York. It was an incredible opportunity to work at the hottest musicpublishing firm in the world. I worked alongside such hit-makers as Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. They were the top writers of the day and I got to sing on their demos and watch the way they produced. My songs were also recorded by such artists as Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Bobby Vee, Jay and the Americans, James Darren, and Johnny Mathis. ARNOLD: How was the Archies formed (at least from your perspective and involvement)? DANTE: I auditioned for Don Kirshner and producer Jeff Barry and got the job of singing the lead voice for

ARCHIES DISCOGRAPHY Sugar, Sugar, and Sugar The masterminds behind the very successful Archies albums: Don Kirschner, Ron Dante, and Donna Marie.

The Archies (1968)

Everything's Archie (1969)

Cash-in for new TV series. Featured first hit, “Bang-Shanga-Lang.”

the Archies. I had heard Don was in charge of all the music for this Saturday morning TV show based on the comic-book characters, and since I knew both Don and Jeff, they were happy to see me. ARNOLD: Were the Archies created independently from the comic books, or was Archie Comics actively involved in the process? DANTE: The comic-book people only licensed their characters and never had anything to do with the creation of the series. ARNOLD: Were you a fan or were you aware of the Archie comic books? DANTE: I grew up on Archie comics and loved being a part of their TV show. ARNOLD: Was the group created for the Filmation cartoon show or vice-versa? DANTE: The idea to have the Archies be a group was Don Kirshner’s, and it was the best thing for the series. Filmation loved the concept. ARNOLD: Were you the only person considered to do the vocals, or would they have replaced you if you became more demanding? In other words, did you have any creative input? DANTE: I had heard that Don and Jeff were considering a few other singers from New York City, but once I sang for them it was a done deal. After the success of the first album and its hit singles “Bang-Shang-a-Lang” and “Feelin’ So Good (S.k.o.o.b.y.-D.o.o.),” and the success of The Archie Show on television, it was only natural that a follow-up would be recorded, but no one could anticipate the success of the second album, Everything’s Archie (1969), and especially of its hit single…

Propelled group into mainstream with the #1 hit “Sugar, Sugar.”

Jingle Jangle (1969)

Sunshine (1970)

Major follow-up to “Sugar, Sugar” with the catchy hit “Jingle Jangle.”

Attempts at mature direction with “A Summer Prayer for Peace” and the title cut. No Archies characters or logos are in evidence.

Ron Dante Brings You Up (1970)

Greatest Hits (1970)

ARNOLD: Did you feel that “Sugar, Sugar” would have made it to #1, or was that a total shock and surprise? How about the overall success of the Archies? DANTE: I was not shocked by the worldwide success of the Archies or “Sugar, Sugar.” The creative team behind it was the best in the business for making hits. Don Kirshner headed the most successful music-publishing company of the ’60s and Jeff Barry was the top songwriter of the ’60s with such hits as “Be My Baby,” “Chapel of Love,” “Da Do Ron Ron,” “Hanky Panky,” “Do Wa Diddy,” and “River Deep, Mountain High.” I knew we had the best chance in the world. To prove that the Archies weren’t just a one-hit wonder, a third album was rush-released during 1969, appropriately titled after the new Top 10 hit Jingle Jangle. There was no follow-up single from the album. Strangely, at a time when albums released hit singles, there were a few stand-alone songs that somehow escaped inclusion on an album, and were only released as singles, a concept almost foreign today.

The inevitable compilation, with last hit “Who’s Your Baby?,” originally released in 1969 as a single only.

Dante’s stab at releasing an Archies soundalike album under his own name.

ARNOLD: Why was “Who’s Your Baby?” left off any regular Archies albums? DANTE: This song was cut just as a single and when it didn’t become a huge hit they just left it off the albums. I don’t know why. It was a terrific song with me and Donna Marie [the musical voice of Veronica] singing. Up until now, every song on every Archies album had been featured on the cartoon series, be it called The Archie Show, The Archie Comedy Hour, or Archie’s Funhouse. Less than half of the songs on Sunshine (1970) were telecast, so this album is not really a soundtrack. In fact, this album can be considered the first artistic statement by the Archies, including commentary about the Vietnam War.

This is Love (1971)

ARNOLD: An odd track to me that was seemingly trying to take the Archies in a new direction was “A Summer Prayer for Peace.” What was the idea behind that one? DANTE: I think Jeff Barry wanted to make a statement about the war at that time and “Summer Prayer for Peace” was what he wanted to say with the Archies’ help. That song was number one in South Africa at the time.

The Archies Christmas Album (2008)

Hard-to-find final original Archies album.

Comeback album after 37 years. Dante still in fine voice, sounding like he never stopped.

Sunshine would prove to be Jeff Barry’s final production work with the Archies, as he soon left for work in California shortly after the album’s release. Barry infused varied

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musical styles and as a result, gave the Archies records a lasting appeal. His presence would be missed, but there were still a couple more releases, including a solo album by Ron Dante that sounds suspiciously like a lost Archies album. ARNOLD: Why was Ron Dante Brings You Up (1970) released under your own name? Were you trying to break the Archies image, or was the Archies name slipping? DANTE: I always wanted an album of my own and Don Kirshner promised me a solo album if I would keep doing the Archies vocals for a few years. After the obligatory album The Archies Greatest Hits (1970), which did include “Who’s Your Baby?,” it was back into the studio for the Archies’ final recording, This is Love (1971). Signs weren’t good for this album, because releasing a “greatest hits” compilation usually signified the end of an artist’s career at the time, and this proved to be no exception. Having no TV exposure with any of the songs didn’t help matters. For this final album, Kirshner hired Ritchie Adams as the group’s new producer. ARNOLD: Why was the This is Love album so poorly received? Was it because everyone had moved on to similar groups like the Partridge Family? DANTE: I think the newness of the Archies began to fade as the show on TV was going down in the ratings. I felt it was because they changed the format of the show each year along with the title. ARNOLD: Was there going to be a follow-up album to This is Love? DANTE: No. That was the last album we were to do since the show was going off the air.

Bang-Shanga-Langers Ron Dante, then (top) and now (center), and the Archies in a 2001 pinup by Dan DeCarlo.

That was it for the Archies (although Dante did record a few more songs under the Archies’ name in early 1972 for some non-charting singles). On TV, Archie’s Funhouse became Archie’s TV Funnies in 1971, which completely changed the format of the Archie show, so that Archie and the gang ran a TV station airing programs featuring popular newspaper comic-strip characters like Dick Tracy, Broom Hilda, and Alley Oop, among others. Music was completely phased out, and Ron Dante continued on with other session work, solo albums, and tours.

ARNOLD: Has Archie Comics (or anyone else) ever approached you to do a new Archies album? DANTE: You will be the first to know that I am currently producing the new Archies album for Christmas. It’s called The Archies Christmas Album featuring Betty & Veronica. It will sound like Hannah Montana meets the Archies. [Editor’s note: The CD was released in the fall of 2008.] ARNOLD: Why haven’t all of the Archies’ albums been released to CD in their original configurations? It always seems to be an endless catalog of greatest hits albums. I know you released a couple of them under your own name with different album titles. Do you have any say in the matter? DANTE: I am currently working on getting all the rights to those albums and releasing them next year. I would like to thank Archie historians Jeffrey Branch and Don Charles for their excellent Archies album review website http://lpintop.tripod.com/ oldiesconnection/id29.html and for their information, and to Ron Dante for his gracious time and responses to my questions. MARK ARNOLD is a comic-book and animation historian. He has been a longtime fan of Archie Comics and was a regular contributor to Jeffrey Branch’s long-running Archie fanzine, Riverdale Ramblings.

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® by

Few characters demonstrate that comic books are both a verbal and a visual medium better than Kara Zor-L, the Power Girl of Earth-Two. When Power Girl debuted in All-Star Comics #58 (Jan.–Feb. 1976), she was a kinetic whirlwind of vital energy. In two pages, she closes an erupting volcano, stops to pose and introduce herself to the Flash and Wildcat, and knocks a group of Chinese soldiers off their feet by stomping the ground. In the thirty years since her first appearance, Power Girl has remained one of the DC Universe’s greatest embodiments of strength, assertiveness, and self-assurance. But despite the character’s great strength, Power Girl has also embodies the tangled web that can ensnare the development of even the

Alex Boney

most vital character over the course of three decades. When she said, “Let’s simply say—a lady with powers like mine gets around” in All-Star Comics #58, Power Girl could not possibly have known how prophetic that statement would be. Kara Zor-L has been the cousin of Earth-Two Superman, the granddaughter of an ancient Atlantean sorcerer, and the mother of a child who was meant to bring balance to the universe. She has been a member of the Justice Society, Infinity, Inc., Justice League Europe/International/ America, the Sovereign Seven, and the JSA. As Keith Giffen (who has both penciled and plotted her adventures) says, Power Girl is “second only to Donna Troy on the scale of confusion.” But in the mid- to late 2000s, Kara has settled into a familiar role with her

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Bustin’ Loose Power Girl in a commissioned illustration penciled by Kerry Gammill and inked by Joe Rubinstein. From the collection of Roland Reedy. TM & © DC Comics.

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original team. And as she learns more about herself, and as her convoluted history becomes less knotted, Power Girl is quickly becoming one of the most intriguing and important characters in the DC Universe.

FIRST LOOK Although Power Girl’s first narrative appearance occurred in All-Star Comics, she actually first appeared in print a half-year earlier in Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (May–June 1975). In an issue focused on comics legend Joe Orlando, Paul Levitz previewed the upcoming All-Star Comics book with a teaser design sketch drawn by Joe Orlando. Briefly discussing the new members of the Justice Society, Levitz wrote, “Uh … wait a minute … we forgot that you don’t know who Power Girl is! Well, she’s the Supergirl of Earth-Two … more or less.” Power Girl’s origin may have become muddled over the years, but her beginnings were relatively clear: “I created Kara because I wanted to have another female character in the Justice Society,” Gerry Conway says. “Not just a female character, but a strong female character who could hold her own as a stand-in for

TM & © DC Comics.

“The Supergirl of Earth-Two … more or less” Readers got their first peek at Power Girl in this 1975 Joe Orlando sketch from Amazing World of DC Comics #6. TM & © DC Comics.

Superman. I also thought that here we were on EarthTwo, and there was no real counterpart to Supergirl from Earth-One. But I didn’t want to call her Supergirl, because that would cause more confusion and we wanted her to stand on her own.” And stand on her own she did. Despite the fact that she was only 18 years old when she joined the team, Kara was a commanding presence in the Justice Society immediately—for a number of reasons. Power Girl was one of three new members dubbed the “Super Squad,” which debuted in All-Star Comics #58. Along with the Star-Spangled Kid and Earth-Two Robin, Power Girl was a part of a new guard that injected a youthful energy and attitude to a team that had its roots firmly planted in the Golden Age. Because the JSA never really had a non-mystical heavy-hitter, Kara served as the muscle of the team. Power Girl was effective in fights against Justice Society villains, but her temper also led her into frequent conflict with members of her own team. After Wildcat condescendingly qualifies her fighting prowess in All-Star Comics #59, Power Girl slams the door on him and exclaims, “Wildcat—I—am—not a— ‘BROAD’!” Kara’s antagonistic banter wasn’t limited to Wildcat, though. Three issues later, when Superman encourages her to follow his advice, she replies, “Not any more—I can’t—and I won’t! We were both infants when our parents sent us away from Krypton— is it my fault that my father designed a slower rocket? That I stayed young—in suspended animation— arriving on Earth years after you began your career? I deserve my chance, too!” (All-Star Comics #62). This certainly wouldn’t be the last time Kara would have difficulty asserting her identity. When the Star-Spangled Kid offers her a “P” emblem in the shape of Superman’s “S” for the front of her costume, she replies, “Why, you little chauvinist piglet! That’s just a Superman emblem with a P instead of an S! I thought you understood—I may be Superman’s cousin, but I’m not his carbon copy! I’m my own woman!” (All-Star Comics #64).

LADY IN WHITE In a way, the lack of a symbol on Kara’s costume is a perfect metaphor for her history and her identity. In her first six appearances, Power Girl sported a white costume with a circular window cut out of the middle of her chest. She not only didn’t have a symbol— she didn’t even have fabric. When the gap was closed up in All-Star Comics #64, the front of her costume remained blank. Creator Gerry Conway suggests that the costume is an appropriate reflection of the character: “I don’t think there have been very many white-costumed heroes. And that was what I started with. We added the boots and a cape for some color, but the white actually stands out because there weren’t many other costumes that looked like that. I don’t think it would have been very plain if we had kept the circle. That’s what her symbol was, in effect. It was pretty distinctive.” Power Girl had a strong personality, but it’s nearly impossible to discuss the character without addressing her costume design. While many female character costume designs in the Silver Age were relatively conservative thanks to the Comics Code Authority, Power Girl’s costume called attention to her very … full body shape. Kara was well-developed, and she wasn’t afraid to hide it. The most prominent part of her costume was the open circle placed in the center of her chest.

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Whereas most superheroes sported an identifiable logo on their chest, Kara’s logo was her cleavage. “I designed a lot of the characters I created when I was working at Marvel and DC in the ’70s,” reveals Gerry Conway. “I would sketch out a preliminary design and pass it on to the guys who were drawing it. Sometimes they would modify it or redesign it, but not much changed with Power Girl. She looked like I wanted her to look. I was working with Joe Orlando and Ric Estrada at that time, and I sketched out an early version of Power Girl’s costume that had the open circle on her chest. And that sort of got me in trouble with Jenette [Kahn, publisher of DC Comics at the time].” While Conway, Orlando, and Estrada were all integral parts of creating Power Girl’s look, it was the presence of inker Wally Wood that probably influenced the character’s early look the most. Perhaps the most familiar legend about Power Girl is that Wally Wood made Power Girl’s chest bigger every time he drew her to see how far he could push the limits without anyone in editorial noticing. “Wally inked the character, and his inks always overshadowed whatever pencils he worked with,” Conway says. “He kept making her bust larger. Whatever Ric drew, Wally would bump up a size or two. I think we all approved except for Jenette, who thought it was sexist. In retrospect, she was probably right.” Reading through those early issues, it’s difficult to confirm the legend one way or another. The depictions are pretty consistent from issue to issue. Paul Levitz, who followed Conway as the writer of All-Star Comics, doesn’t recall any specific boundary-pushing, but he does admit that there may have been an inside joke he wasn’t privy to: “I don’t think any of us ever put a tape measure around it,” Levitz says. “But it certainly was something Woody loved to draw in the course of his

career. He was an enormous admirer of beautiful women and drew women as beautifully as any artist I know. Joe Orlando was also a great appreciator and great artist of beautiful women over the course of his life. So I can certainly imagine the two of them sitting there cackling. Because I was a full generation younger and had a sort of innocent-kid look about me, I’m not sure they would have let me in the room while they were sitting there doing the raunchier versions of the jokes, but I’m quite sure they were swapping some of them.” Joe Staton, who took over pencils on All-Star Comics shortly after Levitz began writing the book (issue #66), knew that he was filling some big shoes. Wally Wood had to leave the series in early 1977 due to health issues, but he left behind in Power Girl a visually stunning character who had certain expectations attached to her: “One of my favorite stories,” says Staton, “was told to me by Howard Leroy Davis, a comics fan and writer. His little girl was very young when Power Girl started, and she brought the comic over to him and said, ‘Daddy, since Power Girl’s name starts with a “P,” why is her emblem a “Y?”’ According to Joe [Orlando], when Woody was working on it, Woody would always make the bust bigger every time. Each issue, the bust would enlarge. It was just what he did, what he liked to do.”

Wonderful Woody Magnificent Wally Wood artwork from All-Star Comics #65 (Mar.–Apr. 1977): the title page (left), featuring a cobbledtogether Power Girl logo, and the cover art (right), with our feisty femme closing in on Vandal Savage as that immortal villain clobbers her cousin. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com).

SHE’S GOT PERSONALITY Whether the legend is true or not, there was always much more to Power Girl than her appearance. A character who lasts as long and continues to be as relevant as Kara has to have more going for her than a unique costume design. In a way, Kara was the emotional anchor of the Justice Society throughout the team’s short-lived revival. “I think it was her personality that made her a very different

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Jason Shayer

Kitty Pryde ranked #13 in Wizard’s Top 200 Characters list of 2008 and, what surprised many, was that she was not only the first woman on the list, but also ranked ahead of the iconic Wonder Woman. How could a plucky, resourceful teenager rank ahead of a battlehardened warrior-princess? Approachability. Kitty has been around for thirty years with a few hundred appearances, while Wonder Woman has been around for 65+ years with a few thousand appearances. Kitty is your girl-next-door with a mutant power, while Wonder Woman is an Amazon princess with the backing of the gods of Olympus. Would you rather spend an evening in casual conversation with Kitty or be intimidated by Wonder Woman? Kitty’s notable ranking in the Wizard poll is a direct result of her loyal fans, which in turn is a direct result of a cleverly designed teenage archetype. If you were a teenager in the 1980s and read Uncanny X-Men, you were probably like me and had a crush on Kitty Pryde. Kitty was molded to be a love interest for comic books’ target audience of teenage boys. She was a geek’s dream: She was smart, loved sci-fi movies, excelled at video games, belonged to a superhero team, and kept a pet dragon. Kitty was never drawn as the typical comic-book “babe”; instead, she was drawn as a perky teenaged girl with a glint of fun and mischief in her eyes.

KITTY’S ORIGIN Kitty Pryde was created by John Byrne in 1978. From Byrne’s first sketch of Kitty, he outlined: “My concept here is that Ariel should be not so much a new member of the X-Men per se, but rather the first member of a second team, a kind of ‘X-Men-in-Training’ team.” Byrne’s “X-Men-in-Training” would come to fruition years later in the form of the New Mutants [see BACK ISSUE #29 for the New Mutants’ history]. On the creation of Kitty Pryde, former Uncanny X-Men editor Roger Stern recalls that editor-in-chief “Jim Shooter expressed an interest in seeing the X-Men get back to the original concept of being a school for mutants. Not a bad idea, but it wasn’t easily going to work with Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Cyclops. None of those X-Men were really kids. And could you see Wolverine turning in a homework assignment? [laughs] Yeah, me neither.” Younger readers in the early 1980s might have had difficulty relating to the adult cast of the X-Men, but Kitty was the ideal character through which to view them and their world. She embodied everything the readers wished they could be and they lived the X-Men’s life vicariously through her. “Kitty works because she’s cute and funny,” Louise Simonson, former X-Men editor, said in Marvel Age #11 (Feb. 1984). “She’s a youngster in a group of older people and therefore gives a fresh vision to a lot of the stuff the others take for granted. A lot of questions

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Bruce MacIntosh

Saturn Girl by Adam Hughes (covers and interiors, Legionnaires). TM & © DC Comics.

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Beginning with the Legion of Super-Heroes’ introduction in 1959, the costumes of the team remained unchanged, despite the following decade’s radical changes in popular fashion. By the early ’70s, even DC Comics’ conservative management and creators realized that its readership had become more sophisticated, and a costume update was in order for the 30th Century teen heroes. Whether it was out of desperation or the desire to integrate its readers into the creative process, DC encouraged fans to submit suggestions for costume upgrades for the members of the LSH. Over a dozen proposals were adapted by artists Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, and included in the otherwise-reprint issue #403 of Adventure Comics (Mar. 1971). Reader suggestions for similar wardrobe updates appeared in the pages of another DC teen superhero title, “Supergirl” in Adventure Comics [see BACK ISSUE #17, Aug. 2006]. Few of the suggestions actually appeared in the art of LSH stories and only one (Saturn Girl) “stuck” for any length of time, but the seed was planted. Rookie artist Dave Cockrum was assigned the penciling duties for the short Legion tales appearing as a backup in Superboy. In his early twenties, Dave knew that comics’ readership had matured and were more sophisticated than DC’s middle-aged management and creators gave them credit. So he set out to finally bring the Legion into the 30th Century. Cockrum wrote in the foreword for the Legion of SuperHeroes Archives vol. 10: “The best thing I had going for me in those days was enthusiasm for the job, and a science-fictiony design sense that started early and thoroughly permeated the strip by the time I left. It’s evident in the costuming.” In one of Cockrum’s early LSH penciling assignments in Superboy #191 (Oct. 1972), Murphy Anderson was busy with

(top left) Dream Girl by Casey Jones (Fantastic Four, Excalibur, Jubilee). (above) Dawnstar by Alex Serra (The Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century). (left) Infectious Lass by Cliff Chiang (Green Arrow/Black Canary, Dr. Thirteen). TM & © DC Comics.

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In 1976, before Star Wars and Star Trek: The Motion Picture made science fiction popular with mainstream audiences, Marvel Comics began blazing the cosmic skyways with its “ultimate super-hero” in The Man Called Nova. For the rest of the decade, Nova would go from a normal high school student to planet-saving hero and end up going full circle back to an ordinary teenager by 1981. However, it’s the journey Nova took in that circle that made him one of the best characters ® to come out of the 1970s.

A STAR IS BORN

Doug Smith

However, just as in the real universe, there can’t be a Nova without a Star. The saga of Nova began ten years earlier in 1966 with a black-and-white fanzine called Super-Adventures. This superhero publication was being published by Dave Herring with articles contributed by a young writer named Marv Wolfman. In Super-Adventures’ third issue and Wolfman’s first as publisher, a new hero named the Star made his first appearance. The Star was a creation of Marv Wolfman and his friend and fellow comics enthusiast Len Wein. In the story, a man named Denteen comes across the crashed spaceship of Kraken Roo, an alien from the planet Orion 2. Inside the ship, Denteen discovers a machine which creates pills that grants superpowers to anyone who takes them for five minutes. With these pills and a costume with a fivepointed symbol on its chest, Denteen became the Star. The new hero found himself with a wide variety of powers including flight, laser vision, energy absorption, teleportation, and the ability to create illusions. He could also project energy blasts, radioactive gas and freeze beams from his hands. With these powers, the Star fought a variety of villains both solo and with a group of super-crimefighters called the Law Legion. The subscribers to Super-Adventures received a special bonus when the sixth issue arrived in their mailboxes. Along with the normal fanzine came an offset publication. In this supplement entitled “Who Can Defeat A God?,” Wolfman and Wein gave the Star a major overhaul! The story featured the return of Kraken Roo, who was now an all-powerful being called the Celestial Man. During his battle with the Law Legion, Legionnaire Cosmic Ray and the Celestial Man exchange power bursts and the resulting collision bathed the Star in energy and split him into two beings. The leader of the Law Legion, the Brain, changed one into a new being while Celestial Man absorbed the remaining Star. This new being created by the Brain now permanently had all of the powers of the pills minus the power of flight (replaced with a pair of flying “sky skates”). With this change came a new name and costume as the Star became Black Nova. The evolution of the superhero involved both Wolfman and Wein. “I had wanted to change the character,” recalls Wolfman. “My friend, Len Wein,

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“Having been heavily influenced by John Broome’s writing, as well as Stan Lee’s,” Wolfman remembers, “I thought of Nova in many ways as Marvel’s Flash in terms of the rogues’ gallery—as many characters as I could come up with that fit the concept. Blackout was very deliberately designed to be a Flash-like villain once I had Carmine on the art. The entire story was constructed to be a Flash-like story.” The issue also gave readers an unofficial DC/Marvel crossover with Wally West, DC’s Kid Flash! Nova’s writer admits, “I don’t remember how that came about. But the Blackout story was my tribute to Carmine and John Broome’s great Flash stories, so either I suggested it or Carmine, drawing kids who look like that, drew someone who happened to look like Wally and I picked up on the resemblance and wrote to it. I wish I could tell you now precisely why Wally makes his appearance in that story, but I can’t. I just have a hunch it was simply a fortuitous resemblance I played to.” For his part, Infantino couldn’t recall the details of the event but was surprised with the crossover. “I don’t know how [Wolfman] got away with that,” Infantino remarks. “Didn’t DC complain? It was just the name Wally West? Well, you can’t do much about that now. [If he’d been in the Kid Flash costume,] DC would have gone after them for that if any of that had happened. You can use the name like that if it’s not the same character.” Following this issue, Wolfman and Sal Buscema reunited to team Nova up with the Thing over in Marvel

Two-in-One Annual #3 (1978). It was during their battle with the otherworldly Monitors that Nova discovered he could create a space warp by riding the electron path of an actual star’s nova and traveling faster than light! Later in the series, in The Man Called Nova #21 (Sept. 1978), Marv Wolfman decided to break one of the sacred conventions of the superhero genre. Richard Rider, no longer feeling he could deal with the stress of hiding his Nova secret, revealed the truth of his alter ego to his family! The writer explains that “I never much liked the idea of secret identities. Look at how loosely I handled them in Titans later on. I always felt they were way old school. I couldn’t reveal Dick Grayson’s in Titans because of Batman, but I never tried to play games with them. When I was a kid, I used to hate the ‘Lois searches for Superman’s ID’ stories. So it seemed to make sense with Nova telling his parents. After all, if you can’t trust your parents....”

NOVA GOES INTO A BLACK HOLE The Man Called Nova series concluded soon after with a space-spanning epic that involved numerous superheroes and three separate titles! The Xandar-Skrull War began in The Man Called Nova #23 (Jan. 1979) and continued through the final issue #25 (May 1979). Nova, along with the Comet and Crimebuster (Wolfman’s father/son creations from earlier in the series), Tomb of Dracula villain Dr. Sun, Powerhouse (revealed to be a Xandarian Syfon Warrior who had followed Rhomann Dey to Earth and lost his memory), and Diamondhead, joined the Sphinx to journey to the surviving remains of Xandar. The Egyptian had taken over the Nova Prime Starship in order to journey to Xandar and learn the secret to ending his immortality that he had earlier been unable to force from Nova. However, before they could reach Xandar, the title was canceled. With the book’s cancellation, Marv Wolfman kept the story going in Fantastic Four (another title he was writing) beginning in #204 (March 1979). The Xandar-Skrull War’s storyline ended in Fantastic Four #209 (Aug. 1979) with the war unresolved. The war and the story of Nova would reach its conclusion in another title, ROM: Spaceknight. In ROM #24 (Nov. 1981), writer Bill Mantlo revealed to readers that the war had been ongoing for a year. In a final showdown with the Skrulls and Diamondhead (who had betrayed Xandar), Nova and ROM defeated the Skrulls’ massive invasion and ended the war. However, the leaders of Xandar felt Nova’s power was needed at Xandar to provide security for the future. Given the choice of keeping his powers on Xandar or return to Earth and his family, Richard Rider was faced with a difficult decision: With the gratitude of the Xandarians, Rich Rider chose to return home powerless to the family he had been missing terribly. Although the series only lasted 25 issues, along with various appearances in other titles, the character of Nova would have a lasting impression on fans and future comic-book writers. In the years since the character’s return from the publishing “black hole” in 1989, Nova has appeared in numerous comics including a popular series launched in 2007. Ironically, the new series has Marv Wolfman’s original unused title—Nova! DOUG SMITH lives in Marion, Iowa, and runs the Nova Prime Page (www.novaprimepage.com).

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Editor’s note: Back in the Big ’80s, almost every kid in America knew that Firestar was one of your friendly neighborhood web-slinger’s Spider-Friends. So why didn’t she become a comic-book superstar? Occasional BACK ISSUE commentator Mike Gagnon has some opinions about Firestar that he’d like to get off his chest…. by

Mike Gagnon

In the early ’80s, an exciting new cartoon, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, was launched by Marvel Productions. Many young Spidey fans, myself included, would scurry excitedly to the television on Saturday morning. Perish the thought that we should miss a moment of the action! What made this cartoon unique was it featured the mega-popular Spider-Man, best known as a loner, in a team dynamic, a first for the web-head. Joining Spidey in his college-based adventures was Bobby Drake, a.k.a. Iceman of the popular X-Men comics, and a new character, Angelica Jones, a feisty female known as Firestar. Little did the creators and producers of the show know then that their animated creation of Firestar would later take the leap and cross over into the mainstream comic-book universe of Marvel Comics. Any quick Internet search will turn up dozens of fan pages dedicated to Firestar and discussion threads about her on message boards. It’s not uncommon to find online discussions with fans asking, “Why wasn’t Firestar used more?” or “How come she wasn’t a bigger part of the X-Men?” Many fans, myself included, assumed that our beloved Firestar would take a bigger role, possibly joining Marvel’s X-Men (she was a former member of the mutant clan in the cartoon), or taking on a larger role in her own right, following her initial 1986 miniseries. In this article I’ll attempt to explain and examine the creation of, use of, and plans for Firestar and try to solve the puzzle of any perceived under-use of the character that many fans feel that she may have suffered from. In the process I’ll go directly to the horse’s mouth, so to speak, and will be joined by Tom DeFalco, Mary Wilshire, Fabian Nicieza, and even Christy Marx, the screenwriter who wrote many TV episodes that focused on Firestar and created her origin for the show.

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Given the success in the 1980s of The New Teen Titans for DC and The New Mutants for Marvel’s X-Men group of titles, the possibilities for a teen superhero group rooted in the wider Marvel Universe were clearly there. The New Warriors, by the creative team of writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Mark Bagley, launched with issue #1, cover-dated July 1990. The series’ original run lasted until #75 (Sept. 1996), and Fabian and Mark collaborated on the first 25 issues plus one annual. They kindly share their thoughts on their involvement with the New Warriors with BACK ISSUE readers. – Ian Millsted IAN MILLSTED: Can you tell us something about the creation of the New Warriors? Their first appearance was in Thor #411–412 (both Dec. 1989), by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, who get a “conceived by” credit in New Warriors #1 rather than “created by.” Who would you say were the real creators? How did each of you become involved in the project? FABIAN NICIEZA: That’s always a nebulous term when it comes to shared-universe concepts. Tom and Ron got the credit they did because we all felt that was their role. They conceived the concept based on Tom’s desire to see a youth-oriented Avengers-style title. Mark Gruenwald and Tom had been talking about how Marvel didn’t have a Teen Titans-style title, so Tom went about coming up with one, and as is often the case, bounced his ideas off Ron. They co-created Night Thrasher, but used established characters and concepts beyond that, so their credit was well-deserved. As far as “creating,” well, every story that saw print was created by myself, Mark, and with the very strong editing involvement of Danny Fingeroth (and I mean that in a very positive way!). MARK BAGLEY: The way I remember it … Danny Fingeroth offered me the book (Fabe had something to do with that, I think). The idea was that they would first show up in that Thor issue. I get the feeling that was so Tom and Ron could sorta get “creator” cred. I remember being less than thrilled with the way they were portrayed and thought we had our work cut out for us. I did not do any real character sketches right off the bat, but I really wanted to do something about Nova’s bright red costume, and I came up with the idea that Namorita wasn’t wearing a “costume,” so much as just a bathing suit which she changed all the time. NICIEZA: I was working at Marvel in a staff job— I think I was still the advertising manager at the time, I hadn’t moved to editorial yet—and I knew the

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inter view s cond ucte d Sprin g 2008

project was percolating because I’d talked to Tom about it. I asked Danny if I could pitch, knowing I’d be one among many vying for the job. I also knew that a returning editor, Danny would be very wary of hiring a young talent whose only experience for the most part had been working on a stigma-inducing New Universe line. So I pitched, knowing I was the right choice for the job and knowing I would do a better job than anyone else. And then I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. And then I waited. And by the way, did I mention that I waited some more? And then, by sheer attrition and reluctance on the part of Danny, he gave me the job. [laughs] By then, because the waiting time had taken so long, I’d gotten to know Danny a lot better, plus I’d gotten all kinds of wonderful blackmail photos and tape recordings of him that I was able to parlay into making me the obvious choice. MILLSTED: How were the initial characters selected? NICIEZA: I always joked with Tom that it must’ve been a lot of work to flip through the Marvel Universe Handbook and throw darts at it as the pages turned, but the truth is, Tom and Ron bounced the ideas back and forth, trying to use our limited number of young characters available who weren’t a part of the X-Universe and create a team that had a bit of a gender mix to it. They also knew that each character had to bring in some personal “baggage” which could then be used to tell group stories through their involvement (i.e., the White Queen/ Firestar connection or the Sphinx/ Nova connection). BAGLEY: I do remember that Fabian wanted Richard Rider (Nova) to be © 2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. sort of a scrawny loser since losing his powers. I really had a problem with that idea and talked Fabe into the idea that Richard had tried to compensate for his loss of the Nova powers by pumping up in the gym. It was really selfish on my part … I just didn’t want to draw him scrawny. That was really the first time I felt like a real collaborator with a writer on a book. Fabe really listened to my reasoning and cooperated with me—it was really cool. MILLSTED: Were there any problems with New Warriors characters that were being used elsewhere? Namorita, for example. NICIEZA: We had a few little tiffs regarding Namorita, but in the long run, nothing really major. We were told in no uncertain terms by Tom DeFalco and Mark Gruenwald that Warriors was her “main” book, so that gave me the confidence to stand by my approach to the character. That and the fact our sales kept going up in comparison to other titles we might have been in “competition” with for use of any characters. MILLSTED: Given the teen heroes theme of this BACK ISSUE, to what extent was New Warriors intended to be a Marvel answer to New Teen Titans? NICIEZA: I don’t know if we ever intended to “answer” that series in a tit for tat method in terms of ever thinking we’d be as good or successful. I mean, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez turned Teen Titans into sheer gold in the ’80s. It was one of my favorite regular series by far in its first four years. We obviously followed their example, but I don’t think we ever copied them. Our characters were our own and their stories were their own. I think the Claremont/Byrne X-Men set the standard by which the Teen Titans followed and in turn, the Titans set the standard by which we tried to follow. BAGLEY: I don’t remember if the Titans were ever really a factor in what we were trying to do. We just wanted to make the book as hip as we could. MILLSTED: One thing that interested me was the use of Al Williamson as an inker on the first two issues. I know he did a fair bit of inking for Marvel around that time. How did you (or Danny) get him for New Warriors and why only two issues?

Beginnings: Psi-Force #9 (July 1987)

Milestones: New Warriors / X-Force / X-Men / Thunderbolts Nightwing and Superman (childhood favorite characters) / Captain Action

Works in Progress: Batman Confidential #17–21 / Trinity / Robin

fabian nicieza

Beginnings: Nightmask #9 (July 1987)

Milestones: New Warriors / Amazing Spider-Man Thunderbolts / Ultimate Spider-Man

Work in Progress: Trinity

mark bagley T e e n

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What if … instead of selling his share of All-American Publications to Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz in 1945, Max Charles “Charlie” Gaines had purchased National Periodical Publications (DC Comics) from them? That’s the premise of this fantasy series being divided between the pages of BACK ISSUE and its TwoMorrows big-sister mag Alter Ego and set on “Earth-22,” where things in the comics business happened rather differently than the way they did in the world we know. Just imagine: a comic-book industry in which the Golden Age Green Lantern and Flash, rather than Superman and Batman, are the premier heroes of comics, media, and merchandising. The author, Bob Rozakis, a longtime writer, editor, and production manager for DC Comics, has imagined just that in…

The Secret History of All-American Comics, Inc. The Story of M. C. Gaines’ Publishing Empire Book Two – Chapter Five: Youth Movement

BOB ROZAKIS: AA wasn’t really big on kid sidekicks and teenage heroes in the early days, were they? TED SKIMMER [longtime AA Comics employee]: No, we weren’t. The sidekicks were more of a DC thing—Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff had them in their books, but Julie Schwartz and Bob Kanigher didn’t use them. The earliest ones were in the DC books before we took them over. The Golden Age Batman had a young Robin, the first Green Arrow had Speedy, the Crimson Avenger had Wing. ROZAKIS: Jack Kirby liked them, too. Captain America had Bucky. He brought in Sandy when he took over Sandman. SKIMMER: True. And Jack and Joe Simon were the ones who created the Newsboy Legion and the Boy Commandos. But, as I said, those were all in DC titles. Once those books were canceled, we didn’t have any kid heroes for a couple of years. ROZAKIS: Then Mort took over Green Lantern and introduced Kid Lantern in Sensation Comics. SKIMMER: But he wasn’t a kid sidekick—he was just a younger version of GL. I think the first real sidekick he added was Electron in the Atom stories in All-American Comics. Then came Kid Flash in Flash Comics—that was when Jack Schiff took over the book from Julie. And then Hawklad when Hawkman moved from the back of Flash to the back of Comic Cavalcade. ROZAKIS: Hawklad pretty much replaced Hawkgirl as his partner once Mort took over the strip. SKIMMER: Mort said that the readers preferred kid heroes to female ones and he would point at the much lower sales of Wonder Woman as proof of this theory. ROZAKIS: But that didn’t stop him from coming out with Girl Lantern. SKIMMER: Oh, he had an answer for that, too. As long as she was the backup series in All-American, it was fine. When they gave her the lead in Sensation, after bumping out the Lantern Legion, she couldn’t carry the book. ROZAKIS: Whose idea was it to team up Kid Flash with Electron and Hawklad? SKIMMER: Probably Murray Boltinoff’s. They were still doing Brave and Bold on a rotating basis at that point, though it was no longer a tryout book. They started doing different team-ups in 1963, planning to turn the book into another Comic Cavalcade with two stars sharing an adventure the way Flash and Green Lantern did in CC. I think Murray did the first one… ROZAKIS: Wildcat and Gary Concord, the Ultra-Man. I remember seeing that on the newsstand and thinking that it was an odd pairing, so I bought it. SKIMMER: [laughs] See? It worked! 7 2

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Generation Gap The 1970s saw a return to popularity for the Teen Titans, thanks to appearances like this one with Green Lantern in The Brave and the Bold. (All comics images in this article are © DC Comics.)

ROZAKIS: Then came Hawkman teamed up with Aquaman, Flash with the Atom, and Sgt. Rock with a couple of the other war heroes. SKIMMER: I think that was one by each of the editors, so it would have been back to Murray again. He had been playing up Hawklad in the Hawkman book, even gave him billing on the Showcase issues, so he figured there would be an audience. Turned out he was right. The sales figures came in and Billy told him to team them up again. ROZAKIS: Who thought of adding Wonder Girl to the group? SKIMMER: Maybe Billy, maybe Murray. Marvel’s team books all had a girl in the group. So did the Justice League. ROZAKIS: But no one pointed out that Wonder Girl didn’t really exist? That she was Wonder Woman as a girl? SKIMMER: Maybe someone did, but nobody cared. Only you fanboys worried about continuity. ROZAKIS: But it would have made more sense to put Girl Lantern in the book. SKIMMER: Ah, but Mort wouldn’t let them do that. Just as he wouldn’t let Julie Schwartz play up Green Lantern in JLA, he wasn’t about to have Girl Lantern star in someone else’s book. The problem was that with four characters in the book, there would be too many logos on the cover, so that’s when they came up with the Teen Titans name. You know it was originally going to be called Kid Commandos, don’t you? ROZAKIS: I’ve heard that. Teen Titans is a better name. SKIMMER: It certainly sold well. After they appeared in B&B #60, Billy told Murray to start them in their own book. ROZAKIS: But there was that appearance in Showcase #59. SKIMMER: Convenience. There was nothing else ready for that issue of Showcase, so Billy told Murray he was plugging Teen Titans in it. Teen Titans #1 came out two months later. ROZAKIS: And it did well for a few years. But it seemed like the young heroes ran out of steam toward the end of the ’60s. The Lantern Legion made only a few appearances and Teen Titans was canceled. SKIMMER: Everything has its cycles and that was one of the downturns. The same thing happened over at Marvel to X-Men. But interest picked up again when we went back to the 48-page books in ’71 because we started using reprints of the early ’60s stuff. A new round of readers discovered the characters. The Lantern Legion ended up taking over the Kid Lantern book. The Teen Titans started appearing on a regular basis in Brave and Bold with Green Lantern. And Jack Kirby reinvented the Boy Commandos, characters he and Joe Simon had created in the DC days during World War II, as the DNA Commandos in Doiby Dickles. It was like the superhero business was suddenly having a youth movement. ROZAKIS: Well, so was the company! SKIMMER: That’s true. You and your compatriots came on staff at about the same time, along with a lot of new writers and artists. Seemed like an endless parade of new faces through the office, especially people coming in to see Joe Orlando. ROZAKIS: Well, Joe’s books did provide the biggest opportunity for new talent. He used a lot of short stories in Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science, and the other horror books. That’s where guys like Len Wein and Marv Wolfman got their start, along with artists like Bernie Wrightson and Mike Kaluta. SKIMMER: Seems to me there were a lot of one-shot-wonders in there, too. Guys who did one story and then went out and got jobs in the real world. ROZAKIS: You mentioned that Carmine Infantino once asked you, “Who are all these kids?” after we got hired. What was the reaction among the other old-timers? SKIMMER: [laughs] “Old-timers,” eh? You realize that you are older now than we were when you showed up, don’t you?

Teen Teams Today and Tomorrow (top) The original Teen Titans got their title back in the mid-’70s, following appearances in Brave and Bold and Comic Cavalcade. (bottom) The Lantern Legion returned to prominence by teaming up with Kid Lantern in his book, then took over the title and sent the Kid back to the 20th Century. T e e n

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Back Issue #33