Issuu

82658 27762

July 2

RELEVANCE IN COMICS PLANET OF THE APES KUNG-FU FIGHTER DC SALUTES THE BICENTENNIAL FOOM & AWODCC & MUCH MORE!

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE

N$o7..4995 011

1970s Time Capsule Issue

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

Go to www.twomorrows.com for other issues, and an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE!

BACK ISSUE #38

BACK ISSUE #39

DIEDGITIIOTANSL BL AVAILA

BACK ISSUE #35

BACK ISSUE #36

BACK ISSUE #37

“Villains!” MIKE ZECK and J.M. DeMATTEIS discuss “Kraven’s Last Hunt”, history of the Hobgoblin is exposed, the Joker’s short-lived series, Secret Society of Super-Villains and Kobra, a Magneto biography, Luthor and Brainiac’s malevolent makeovers, interview with Secret Society artist MIKE VOSBURG, plus contributions from BYRNE, CONWAY, FRENZ, NOVICK, ROMITA JR., STERN, WOLFMAN, and a cover by MIKE ZECK!

“Monsters!” Frankenstein in Comics timeline and a look at BERNIE WRIGHTSON’s and Marvel’s versions, histories of Vampirella and Morbius, ISABELLA and AYERS discuss It the Living Colossus, REDONDO’s Swamp Thing, Man-Bat, monster art gallery, interview with TONY DeZUNIGA, art and commentary from ARTHUR ADAMS, COLÓN, KALUTA, NEBRES, PLOOG, SUTTON, VEITCH, and a painted cover by EARL NOREM!

“Comics Go to War!” KUBERT/KANIGHER’s Sgt. Rock, EVANIER and SPIEGLE’s Blackhawk, GEORGE PRATT’s Enemy Ace, plus Unknown Soldier, Wonder Woman’s return to WWII, the Invaders, Combat Kelly, Vietnam Journal, Sad Sack, the Joe Kubert School, art and commentary from AYERS, HEATH, KIRBY, ROBBINS, ROMITA SR., SINNOTT, and the return of GERRY TALAOC! JOE KUBERT cover!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

BACK ISSUE #40

BACK ISSUE #41

BACK ISSUE #42

“Family!” JOHN BYRNE’s Fantastic Four, SIMONSON, BRIGMAN, and BOGDANOVE on Power Pack, LEVITZ and STATON on the Huntress, Henry Pym’s “son” Ultron, Wonder Twins, Commissioner Gordon & Batgirl’s relationship, and Return of the New Gods. With art and commentary from BUCKLER, BUSIEK, FRADON, HECK, INFANTINO, NEWTON, and WOLFMAN, and a Norman Rockwell-inspired BYRNE cover!

“April Fools”! GIFFEN and LOREN FLEMING on Ambush Bug, BYRNE’s She-Hulk, interviews with HEMBECK, ALAN KUPPERBERG, Flaming Carrot’s BOB BURDEN, and DAVID CHELSEA, Spider-Ham, Forbush-Man, Reid Fleming, MAD in the 1970s, art and commentary from DICK DeBARTOLO, TOM DeFALCO, AL FELDSTEIN, AL JAFFEE, STAN LEE, DAVE SIM, and a Spider-Ham cover by MIKE WIERINGO, inked by KARL KESEL!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Cat People!” Catwoman, Black Cat, Hellcat, Vixen, Atlas’ Tiger-Man and Cougar, White Tiger and the Sons of the Tiger, Wildcat, Thundercats, Josie and the Pussycats, and the Badger! With art and commentary from BOLLAND, BRENNERT, COLON, CONWAY, DITKO, GOLDBERG, LEVITZ, MILGROM, MST3000’s MIKE NELSON, and more. Cover by JOE STATON and FREDDY LOPEZ, JR.!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Red, White, and Blue” issue! Captain America and the Red Skull, CHAYKIN’s American Flagg, THOMAS and COLAN’s Wonder Woman, Freedom Fighters, and Team America! With art and commentary from JOHN BYRNE, STEVE ENGLEHART, ROGER STERN, CURT SWAN, MARK WAID, LEN WEIN, MIKE ZECK, and more. Cover by HOWARD CHAYKIN!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Wild West” issue! Jonah Hex examined with FLEISHER, DeZUNIGA, DOMINGUEZ, GARCIA-LOPEZ, GIFFEN, HANNIGAN, plus TRUMAN’s Scout, TRIMPE’s Rawhide Kid, AYERS’ Ghost Rider, DC’s Weird Westerns, the Vigilante’s 1970s revival, and more! Art and commentary by ADAMS, APARO, DIXON, EVANS, KUNKEL, MORROW, NICIEZA, and more. Cover by DeZUNIGA!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

BACK ISSUE #43

BACK ISSUE #44

BACK ISSUE #45

BACK ISSUE #46

BACK ISSUE #47

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Jungle and barbarian” issue! Shanna the She-Devil feature and gallery, JONES and ANDERSON on Ka-Zar, LARRY HAMA interview, Beowulf, Claw the Unconquered, Korg 70,000 B.C., Red Sonja, Rima the Jungle Girl, art and commentary by AZZARELLO, BOYETTE, CHAN, GULACY, KUBERT, MICHELINIE, REDONDO, ROY THOMAS, WINDSOR-SMITH, cover by FRANK CHO!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Spider-Man in the Bronze Age!” Drug issues, resurrection of Green Goblin and Gwen Stacy, Marvel Team-Up, Spectacular Spider-Man, Spidey Super Stories, CBS and Japanese TV shows, Clone Saga, CONWAY, ANDRU, BAGLEY, SAL BUSCEMA, DeFALCO, FINGEROTH, GIL KANE, STAN LEE, LEIBER, MOONEY, ROMITA SR., SALICRUP, SAVIUK, STERN, cover by BOB LARKIN!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Odd Couples!” O’NEIL and ADAMS’ Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Englehart’s Justice League of America, Daredevil and Black Widow, Power Man and Iron Fist, Vision and Scarlet Witch, Cloak and Dagger, and… Aquaman and Deadman (?!). With AUSTIN, COLAN, CONWAY, COWAN, DILLIN, HOWELL, LEONARDI, SKEATES, and more. New cover by NEAL ADAMS!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Greatest Stories Never Told!” How Savage Empire became The Warlord, the aborted FF graphic novel “Fathers and Sons,” BYRNE’s Last Galactus Story, Star*Reach’s Batman, Aquaman II, 1984 Black Canary miniseries, Captain America: The Musical, Miracleman: Triumphant, unpublished issues of The Cat and Warlock, BLEVINS, DEODATO, FRADON, SEKOWSKY, WEISS, MIKE GRELL cover!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Thrilling Days of Yesteryear!” The final DAVE STEVENS interview, Rocketeer film discussion with DANNY BILSON and PAUL DeMEO, The Phantom, Indiana Jones, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ heroes, Dominic Fortune, Sherlock Holmes, Man-God, Miracle Squad, 3-D Man, Justice, Inc., APARO, CHAYKIN, CLAREMONT, MILLER, VERHEIDEN, and more, Rocketeer cover by DAVE STEVENS!

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 (Digital edition) $2.95 • Now shipping!

Volume 1, Number 49 July 2011 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, and Beyond!

The Retro Comics Experience!

EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks COVER ARTISTS Rich Buckler and John Beatty, from a layout by Charles Costas COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore

FLASHBACK: Relevance in Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Chaykin, Conway, DeMatteis, Englehart, O’Neil, and Thomas sound off on the trend that gripped ’70s comics

PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Neal Adams Mark Arnold Michael Aushenker Bob Bailey Michael Bailey Dave Ballard Mike W. Barr Alex Boney Jerry Boyd Frank Brunner Bruce Buchanan Mike Burkey Jarrod Buttery KC Carlson Gary Chaloner Howard Chaykin Grand Comic-Book Database Gerry Conway J. M. DeMatteis Mark DiFruscio Steve Englehart Bertram Fitzgerald Jim Ford Carl Gafford George Gladir Bob Greenberger P.C. Hamerlinck Jack C. Harris Allan Harvey Heritage Auction Galleries Lee Hester Joe Hollon

BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 “The Bronze Age’s Biggest Events” surveys 40 innovations that shaped the industry

WHAT THE--?!: Fighting Both Sides of a Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Spinning the story behind the recording Spider-Man: Rock Reflections of a Superhero Fast Willie Jackson Dan Johnson Rob Kelly James Kingman Rob Kirby Paul Levitz Nigel Lowery Elliot S. Maggin Marvel Comics Franck Martini Alan Maxwell Michael Mikulovsky Jonathan Miller Ian Millsted Doug Moench Al Nickerson Dennis O’Neil Mike Ragogna Shannon E. Riley John Roche John Romita, Sr. Bob Rozakis Jim Salicrup Philip Schweier Lynn Shiloh Jim Steranko Ty Templeton Roy Thomas Don Vaughan Karen Walker Brett Weiss John Wells

INTERVIEW: Roy Thomas Remembers the Mighty Marvel Calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Betcha had these on your wall back in the funky ’70s BEYOND CAPES: Dragon’s Twists: Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Re-evaluating DC’s tardy foray into the kung-fu craze of the 1970s BEYOND CAPES: Planet of the Apes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Flashing back to when Apes dominated comics … and mankind FLASHBACK: FOOM and Amazing World of DC Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Jim Salicrup and Jack C. Harris discuss these fondly remembered fanzines BACKSTAGE PASS: Stick with Captain Sticky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 The story of Richard Allen Pesta, a real-life superhero (sort of…) FLASHBACK: Different Comics, Different Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 A look at some good comics you didn’t get to see on a spinrack INTERVIEW: Bert Fitzgerald and Fast Willie Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 The golden legacy of the “Black Archie” FLASHBACK: DC Comics Salutes the Bicentennial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 The publisher’s star-spangled celebration of an American milestone FLASHBACK: Reading by Fireside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Starting with Origins of Marvel Comics, Fireside Books popularized collected editions BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Reader feedback on issues #45 and 46 BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year 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. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $60 Standard US, $85 Canada, $107 Surface International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Rich Buckler and John Beatty, after Charles Costas. Deathlok TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2011 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING. 1970s Time Capsule Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 1

While some dismiss the 1970s as an era of excess, glitter, and kitsch, we’ve got bragging rights when it comes to the decade known as the Bronze Age of Comics. Groundbreaking characters, revolutionary creators, and new genres and formats built upon the foundation left behind by the pioneers of the Golden Age and the innovators of the Silver Age, pointing the way toward a maturation of the medium. So put on your boogie shoes, because we’re taking you to funnybook town as we survey…

O’NEIL AND ADAMS ON BATMAN Detective Comics #395 (Jan. 1970) marked the first pairing of writer Denny O’Neil and artist Neal Adams on Batman, and together this pair transformed the campy Caped Crusader into the gothic Gotham Guardian.

GREEN LANTERN/ GREEN ARROW Green Lantern #76 (Apr. 1970) shattered superhero conventions as O’Neil and Adams combined two mismatched crimefighters and explored real-world problems. While shortlived, the GL/GA series remains a classic.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN Roy Thomas and Barry (Windsor-)Smith brought Robert E. Howard’s fantasy hero to Marvel with Conan the Barbarian #1 (Oct. 1970), initiating a long run for the title (as well as Thomas) and comics’ sword-andsorcery fad.

KIRBY IS COMING! Jack Kirby leaving Marvel for DC seemed as inconceivable as Captain America joining the Justice League! But “the King” vacated the House of Ideas he helped construct, and his hitand-miss DC output created several mainstays including Darkseid.

KRYPTONITE NEVERMORE! Once Julius “Julie” Schwartz inherited the Man of Steel from retiring Super-editor Mort Weisinger, Superman #233 (Jan. 1971) updated comics’ premier hero and began an editorial run for Schwartz that would continue until 1986.

SPIDER-MAN DRUG ISSUES In Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 (May–July 1971), writer/editor Stan Lee defied the iron hand of the Comics Code Authority and presented a poignant exploration of America’s growing drug problem through a pillpopping Harry Osborn.

BLACK-AND-WHITE MAGAZINES Although Warren had been publishing B&W comics mags like Creepy since the 1960s, with Savage Tales #1 (May 1971) Marvel began to explore a format that would bear great fruit throughout the decade.

RELAXING OF THE CCA The Comics Code Authority, implemented in the mid-1950s to neuter supposed corruptive content, began to allow depictions of the undead, igniting an explosion of monster comic books.

SWAMP THING Enthusiastic response to Len Wein and Berni(e) Wrightson’s sympathetic muck monster’s throwaway tale in House of Secrets #92 (June–July 1971) led to a Swamp Thing series, with a monster comics craze soon following.

100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULARS DC one-upped its 80-Page Giants of the Silver Age by releasing Weird Mystery Tales (1971), the first of its 100-Page Super Spectaculars. Golden Age stories were exposed to a new generation thanks to this (mostly) reprint format.

JONAH HEX Infusing subtle horror elements into an Old West setting, John Albano and Tony DeZuniga’s Jonah Hex first rode into the pages of All-Star Western #10 (Feb.–Mar. 1972) and breathed new life into the sagging cowboy genre.

TOMB OF DRACULA Publishing a comic book starring an antagonist may have seemed like risky business when Tomb of Dracula #1 (Apr. 1972) was released, but this long-running title became one of Marvel’s most popular series.

LUKE CAGE Hero for Hire #1 (July 1972) not only gave the medium its first black superhero headliner, it paved the way for a multicultural Marvel Universe, with more non-white heroes— and DC—following this lead.

TABLOID COMICS Thanks to this Christmas 1972 one-shot, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer illuminated a new format for reprints (and later new stories), hoisting comics off the spinracks and onto the newsstands themselves.

STARLIN’S COSMIC ODYSSEY Jim Starlin’s Captain Marvel #25 (Mar. 1973) began the writer/ artist’s long career of concocting cosmic epics—with Thanos, Warlock, Dreadstar, Death of the New Gods, and many other series to follow.

2 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

Michael Eury

DEATH OF GWEN STACY The team of Gerry Conway, Gil Kane, and John Romita nailed the lid on the coffin of Silver Age innocence with Amazing Spider-Man #122 (July 1973), featuring the unforgettable death of Peter Parker’s girlfriend.

MASTER OF KUNG FU It’s true—in the ’70s, everybody was kung-fu fighting! Special Marvel Edition #15’s (Dec. 1973) Master of Kung Fu premiere kick-started comics’ martial-arts mania and featured a minority character in the lead.

THE PUNISHER Presented as a villain in Amazing Spider-Man #129 (Feb. 1974), Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, quickly became a Marvel anti-hero and a template for other assassin protagonists that followed.

DEATHLOK THE DEMOLISHER Rich Buckler’s signature character debuted in Astonishing Tales #25 (Aug. 1974), bringing cyborgs and alternate futures to the mainstream—as well as inspiring the makers of Robocop to crib from his creation!

WOLVERINE Introduced on the cover of Incredible Hulk #181 (Nov. 1974) as little more than a “Canadian super-hero,” Wolverine instantly clawed his way into the Marvel firmament, becoming a sensation.

ATLAS COMICS In 1975, upstart Atlas Comics challenged Marvel’s market dominance by parroting the House of Ideas’ series, leading to a product glut and a quick demise for the company. Atlas’ Grim Ghost, Phoenix, and Wulf have recently returned.

GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1 Chris Claremont, Len Wein, and Dave Cockrum salvaged this failed Marvel superteam by adding Wolverine and other international heroes, spawning not only a hit title but ultimately a lucrative franchise.

WONDER WOMAN ON TV Lovely and likable Lynda Carter brought DC’s Amazon Princess to live-action television in a 1975 pilot movie that was followed by a threeseason run—and TV success for The Incredible Hulk and The Amazing Spider-Man, too.

HOWARD THE DUCK This unlikely every“man” waddled out of the pages of Man-Thing into his own series with Howard the Duck #1 (Jan. 1976). Its writer, Steve Gerber, would soon become a champion for creator rights with his copyright lawsuit against Marvel.

SUPERMAN VS. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Big events don’t get much bigger than this! In January 1976, DC’s and Marvel’s top titans tangled in the publishing houses’ second crossover (the first being a Wizard of Oz adaptation), with Lex Luthor and Doc Ock along for mischief.

AMERICAN SPLENDOR An outgrowth of the underground comix of the late 1960s, Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor #1 (1976) birthed the self-indulgent genre of cartoonist autobios and introduced readers to Pekar’s peculiar but compelling voice.

JENETTE KAHN AT DC It seemed to happen in a flash in 1976: Carmine Infantino was out, and 28-year-old Jenette Kahn was in as DC Comics’ publisher. Kahn would later be named president and lead DC through countless innovations before moving on in 2002.

LIBERATED MARVEL HEROINES The Marvel Universe was no longer a boys’ club with the release of Ms. Marvel #1 (Jan. 1977). On her heels were SpiderWoman and She-Hulk, as well as Marvel’s other female characters maturing beyond their initial girlfriend/domestic roles.

2000 A.D. This British sci-fi anthology title premiered on Feb. 26, 1977. Besides breakout star Judge Dredd, 2000 A.D. is best known for grooming a generation of writers and artists that would migrate to American comics in the ’80s.

HEAVY METAL The “adult illustrated fantasy magazine” Heavy Metal #1 (Apr. 1977) introduced American comics readers to European artists and a sensibility that transcended the mainstream. Before long, Marvel would follow suit with Epic Illustrated.

1970s Time Capsule Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 3

STAR WARS George Lucas’ mega-movie became a cultural phenomenon in 1977, and with Star Wars #1 (July 1977), Marvel legitimized the licensed comic book. Star Wars enjoyed a long life at Marvel, and an even longer one at Dark Horse.

“THE DEFINITIVE BATMAN” Artist Marshall Rogers joined new ’Tec-writer Steve Englehart for their brief but landmark Detective Comics run with issue #471 (Aug. 1977), imprinting later depictions of the Dark Knight and inspiring the 1989 Batman movie.

CEREBUS THE AARDVARK Originally a self-published swordand-sorcery parody, Cerebus the Aardvark #1 (Dec. 1977) morphed into writer/artist Dave Sim’s sophisticated magnum opus, eventually running 300 issues.

CLAREMONT/BYRNE X-MEN In issue #108, the momentum writer Chris Claremont had been building with the reboot of X-Men was bolstered by the addition of penciler John Byrne (inked by Terry Austin), beginning a long and popular run.

THE DC IMPLOSION An aggressive mid-’70s expansion of DC titles, including a touted “DC Explosion” of increased page counts and new backups, glutted the market. Adverse market conditions in 1978 triggered the unexpected cancellation of dozens of DC titles.

ELFQUEST Wendy and Richard Pini’s Elfquest, one of the medium’s most enduring fantasy concepts, was introduced in Fantasy Quarterly #1 (Spring 1978). This anthology one-shot also included a 6-page non-Elfquest tale illustrated by Dave Sim.

BIRTH OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy’s Sabre (Aug. 1978) was the first graphic novel created for distribution exclusively in the emerging direct-sales market. Will Eisner’s lauded A Contract with God and other graphic novels followed.

SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE “You’ll believe a man can fly” touted the hype for director Richard Donner’s seminal film, released in December 1978. Superman: The Movie was the first superhero screen project to become a box-office blockbuster.

FRANK MILLER DAREDEVIL Artist Frank Miller joined DD scribe Roger McKenzie with Daredevil #158 (May 1979), but within the next year the visionary billy-clubbed his way into writing the title as well, his most enduring contribution being Elektra.

THE FIRST MINISERIES DC Comics introduced the miniseries—a title intended to have a finite run—with World of Krypton #1 (July 1979), which ran three issues. The concept would soon expand to limited series of longer lengths, such as the 12-issue Secret Wars.

OTHER BRONZE AGE MILESTONES A New Breed of Writers

The Coming of Comic Shops

At DC, the stodgy, by-the-book scripters of Golden

In the late 1970s, small businesses combatted sketchy

and Silver Age comics were crowded out by a wave of fan-grown writers who honed their chops on horror and war short stories, while at Marvel, line expansion and

distribution by catering to comics consumers. Soon, non-returnable titles were produced exclusively for this “direct” market. This 1978 photo from Greenville, NC’s

Stan Lee’s promotion allowed new voices to be heard. Those making their mark during the Bronze Age include Chris Claremont, Gerry Conway, Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, Len Wein, and Marv Wolfman.

Nostalgia Newsstand’s “Greenville Comic Book Trading Day” is courtesy of Bob Bailey. Shown are (left to right) David, Freddie, shop owner Charles Lawrence, and BI editor Michael Eury.

The Age of the Artist The journeymen artists of the previous generation sweated bullets as innovative new illustrators—many of whom doubled as writers—burst onto the scene. Bronze Age breakouts include John Byrne, Howard Chaykin, Dave Cockrum, Michael Golden, Paul Gulacy, Mike Grell, Michael Kaluta, Frank Miller, George Pérez, Marshall Rogers, Walter Simonson, Jim Starlin, Barry WindsorSmith, and Bernie Wrightson.

4 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

Alex Boney

During the past 40 years, the term “Relevance in Comics” has become synonymous with “Green Lantern/ Green Arrow.” And with good reason. Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ run on Green Lantern during the early 1970s marked the first sustained attempt to make social commentary the norm in mainstream superhero comic books. But while O’Neil and Adams’ work was pioneering and influential, the creators were not the first—and certainly not the last—purveyors of relevance in comics. Comics have acted as a mirror for society for as long as the medium has existed, constantly reflecting the realities, trends, and developments of American life. But during the ’70s, comics began looking directly at the social transformations that rapidly enveloped American society. And the result was a medium-wide genre shift that altered the distance between comicbook characters and the world their readers inhabited. Some of the first “relevant” superhero comic-book stories actually come from some of the first superhero comics. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s early Superman stories were very much focused on their hero’s connection to his adopted world. Action Comics #1 (June 1938) famously dealt with the problems of pervasive crime, domestic violence, and government corruption. But later stories also tackled social concerns like labor/mining safety (Action #3) and juvenile delinquency (Action #8). These early stories are not representative of comics’ overall social awareness, but they do offer early examples of superhero comics demonstrating social awareness. As the 1930s turned into the ’40s and World War II escalated, superhero comics took a sharp turn toward adventure stories and war support. Readers were urged to “Buy War Bonds” and were given clear examples of exactly who the enemies of the world were. Besides the occasional war profiteer (who was always slightly foreign, anyway), this naturally did not include anyone from the United States. If comics were relevant in the ’40s, it was only insofar as they were aware and supportive of America’s war effort. The nationalistic tone of superhero comics waned as the ’40s drew to a close, and Atlas (eventually Marvel) and DC Comics generally steered clear of social concerns during the 1950s. Western, adventure, and science-fiction

“Comix That Give a Damn” Original art by Neal Adams, intended for the front cover of the first of two 1972 Green Lantern/Green Arrow paperbacks. This art was instead used as the back cover, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s image redrawn for print. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

1970s Time Capsule Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 5

WOMEN’S LIB COVER GALLERY

(top left) Lois Lane refuses to be a “girl friend” anymore in issue #80 (Jan. 1968) of her series. Cover art by Swan and Adams. (top right) Valkyrie assembles the Lady Liberators in The Avengers #83 (Dec. 1970). Cover art by John Buscema and Tom Palmer). (bottom left) The last installment of the “Diana Prince— Wonder Woman” story arc was billed as a “Women’s Lib Issue.” Wonder Woman #203 (Nov.–Dec. 1972) cover by Dick Giordano. (bottom right) Mike Grell’s cover to All-Star Comics #58 (Jan.–Feb. 1976) premiered DC’s in-your-face heroine, Power Girl (seen in the background as rendered by Amanda Conner). Lois Lane, Wonder Woman, Power Girl, All-Star Comics TM & © DC Comics. Avengers TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

14 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

The ’70s began somewhat awkwardly, though. On the cover of Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #106 (Nov. 1970), a story titled “I Am Curious (Black)!,” Lois explains that “It’s important that I live the next 24 hours as a black woman!” Written by Robert Kanigher and illustrated by Werner Roth, Lois Lane #106 dramatized a strange convergence of civil-rights causes. But the issue was nonetheless a well-intentioned story about cross-racial understanding. A month later, The Avengers #83 introduced Valkyrie—a female warrior whose mission was to round up several of Marvel’s heroines, form a group called the Lady Liberators, and shake off “the invisible shackles men have placed on you.” Written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by John Buscema, Valkyrie offered a representation of feminism that was more aggressive and threatening than assertive. “I used to be taken to task by my friend Trina Robbins about certain aspects of that ‘Lady Liberators’ story in Avengers #83,” Thomas admits. “I wasn’t trying to make a big statement. I was just doing a story and Women’s Liberation was in the air. I used it, but I don’t think I abused it particularly. But I wasn’t trying to make a big point about it either. I wasn’t out to make a big statement. Maybe I was out to exploit it a little bit, but I don’t think it was in a particularly bad way.” In January 1972, the same year the Equal Rights Amendment passed both houses of Congress,

feminist journalist and activist Gloria Steinem launched a magazine called Ms. The magazine provided a focal point for a movement gaining momentum, and Steinem chose to feature Wonder Woman (in her traditional red, white, blue, and gold costume) on the cover of the first issue. Steinem also wrote a column for the issue in which she criticized DC Comics for having depowered Wonder Woman. According to Steinem, Wonder Woman was a symbol of feminist strength and should be portrayed as such—especially in her own title. According to Denny O’Neil, Steinem was right to raise these objections. “Why does Wonder Woman keep popping up in my life?” O’Neil asks. “They even reprinted that! I have come to agree with Gloria Steinem that that was not anybody’s high-water mark—especially not Wonder Woman’s or mine.” In response, DC restored Wonder Woman to her familiar costume by the end of the year. Wonder Woman #203 (Nov.–Dec. 1972), whose cover curiously announced the issue as a “Women’s Lib Issue,” was the last issue to feature Diana Prince in her white costume. The next issue, #204 (Feb. 1973), saw Diana’s return to her traditional costume. The issue was cover-dated a month after the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in the Supreme Court. February 1973 also saw Marvel Comics trending in the same direction. On the cover of The Defenders #4, Valkyrie rescued and admonished her male teammates:

1970s Time Capsule Issue

Superhero Women (left) Valkyrie charges into The Defenders in issue #4 (Feb. 1973). Cover art by John Buscema and Frank Giacoia. (right) SpiderWoman’s breakout appearance, in Marvel Spotlight #32 (Feb. 1977). Cover art by Kane, Romita, and Giordano. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

•

BACK ISSUE • 15

Mike Mikulovsky

Friendly Neighborhood Supporting Cast Original art to the 1975 Spider-Man pinup by John Romita, Sr. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Jazzy Johnny Romita tells interviewer Mike Mikulovsky that this first Marvel calendar was “Stan Lee’s idea, but Roy Thomas deserves most of the credit. He did most of the details and spent hours making the calendars what they were.” TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

I can remember, as a 13-yearitself was full of Marvel fun facts, trivia, old boy, paging through my and birthdays and photos of the Mighty latest Marvel comics and Marvel Bullpenners. seeing the ad for the 1975 From 1975 through 1982, the Marvel Comics calendar. Marvel calendars became an annual I thought, “I can’t wait to tradition. While most calendars featured get mine!” While looking the whole Marvel Universe, in 1978 in the lower level of my Spider-Man was that calendar’s star; bookstore, on a table not in 1979, the Incredible Hulk, then a far from the science-fiction huge TV star, was the featured hero on book section, I saw the the calendar; and the 1980 calendar calendars for the following featured the Master of the Mystic Arts, year there—including the Dr. Strange. roy thomas 1975 Marvel calendar! Curious about the story behind Its John Romita, Sr. cover these calendars, I asked Marvel showed the main Marvel heroes bursting into action, Comics’ one-time editor-in-chief Roy Thomas about the and even featured Dracula and Conan the Barbarian. origins of these gone-but-not-forgotten gems. Its pinups were beautifully illustrated, and the calendar – Mike Mikulovsky 20 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

MIKE MIKULOVSKY: What do remember about working on the Mighty Marvel Calendars? Those were truly fun for the fans. Besides the beautiful artwork, we got to learn some interesting tidbits about the characters and the Marvel Bullpenners themselves. ROY THOMAS: Here’s what I remember... As I recall, the idea of the calendar was Stan [Lee]’s, and he appointed me to write it. There wasn’t a real template as to what it should be like, so I decided to make it a combination of anniversaries of key Marvel events (based on the cover date by month), real-life birthdays of Bullpenners, a few Astrological signs, and just plain gags. Was it 1975 that was the first one? I don’t know if I have a copy of that one, but I’m pretty sure I wrote the first one. MIKULOVSKY: Yes, the first one was for 1975. THOMAS: I know that Tony Isabella wrote the 1976 one, because I was busy with other things and knew he’d do a good job. That, of course, was the special Bicentennial calendar. MIKULOVSKY: The Bicentennial calendar was my favorite, with the Marvel heroes in Revolutionary War settings. The Hulk at Valley Forge pinup by Herb Trimpe, with the Hulk in Revolutionary War-era garb—with a sword, to boot—was hilarious! And John Buscema’s Thor pinup for May, with the Thunder God giving Benjamin Franklin a helping hand in his discovery of electricity. THOMAS: The thing I loved most about it are Gil Kane’s Conan drawing and Frank Robbins’ Invaders art. I seem to have returned in 1977, whose cover features a few new stars among the usual Marvel hero illuminati—Conan (who had developed into one of Marvel’s most popular characters by then), Howard the Duck, and Luke Cage, Power Man. You don’t often see John Romita drawing Conan! I even made sure to acknowledge Robert E. Howard’s birthday on it.

Heads Up, Ichabod Crane! (top right) Frank Brunner’s Marvel monsters pinup from the 1976 Bicentennial calendar. Courtesy of the artist. (right) Original art by Gil Kane from the 1976 Bicentennial calendar, featuring the unlikely scenario of freedom fighter Conan at the Battle of Lexington. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

1970s Time Capsule Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 21

Surfer and Swinger From the 1981 Marvel calendar, original artwork to the Silver Surfer pinup (left) by John Buscema and the Daredevil pinup (right) by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson. According to Heritage Comics Auctions, from which we obtained the scans, a collector created the appearance of these “unpublished covers” by mounting the originals onto backing boards and adding graphics.

MIKULOVSKY: How did you choose the birthdays to include on the calendar? THOMAS: The way I recall working on the first calendar was that I put lines and rows on 12 sheets of paper, numbered to coincide with the 12 months. I’d managed (I forget just how—probably badgering) to get virtually everybody’s birthday [from the Marvel Bullpen and staff]. I had to go through my bound comics collection to see what event had happened in which month (at least, which cover date—which is far from the same thing, of course). For instance, in October we celebrated Conan the Barbarian #1, because that was the cover

TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

22 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

date of the 1970 first issue, which had actually gone on sale in July or August … but I stuck him on October 12, and asked at the bottom of the box: “And didn’t this used to be Columbus Day?” (I always hated the idea of pretending that everybody was born on a Monday—Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, Martin Luther King.) Production was in charge of getting the proper images to paste up—sometimes it was a very specific image (like Conan from the cover of the first issue, or a photo of someone on his/her birthday), sometimes it was more general, like just a shot of the Fantastic Four (for November, celebrating FF #1’s cover date), or whoever. Naturally, I had to proofread it later, and I’m sure Tony could vouch for the fact that a zillion little things went wrong. In the 1977 calendar I even scattered the questions of a quiz throughout the calendar, and answered them all on the inside back cover. MIKULOVSKY: The calendars sound like they were a lot of work! THOMAS: It was a lot of work and long hours— probably for less money that it made sense to accept for that much work. But it was fun, too. In the 1977 calendar, I gave special thanks on the inside front cover to: “Marie Severin, John Verpoorten, Nanette Jacovitz [a secretary], and Roget’s Thesaurus.” Not necessarily in that order. MIKE MIKULOVSKY is an aspiring freelance writer working on a fantasy/children’s book. He lives in Plymouth, Wisconsin, with his 25 lb. Maine Coon cat Zeus. Mike is looking to buy original comic art from Marvel Preview #9, Man-God, drawn by Tony DeZuniga. He can be reached at michaelwzeus@aol.com.

Jim Kingman

Had the tranquility-seeking, martial-arts master Richard Dragon the ability to look outside the sequential four-color comic-book panels that told his story, no doubt he would have been greatly distressed by the tumultuous activity that went into his production, because Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter (KFF) was published during one of the most chaotic times in DC’s 75-plus year history, which might help explain the many twists and turns his adventures took over the course of two and a half years. In late January of 1975, KFF #1 (cover-dated Apr.–May 1975) arrived on the comics scene to capitalize on one of the great fads of the 1970s, kung fu. Unfortunately, the series debuted right when everyone was just about done kung-fu fighting. Not exactly expert timing, and that’s not all the book had going against it. KFF was one of a large number of comics of various genres that Carmine Infantino, then-publisher of DC, released to meet head-on Marvel Comics’ wave of new titles, subsequently causing quite the saturation of funnybooks at the nation’s newsstands and on comic-book spinner racks. The competition was fierce, especially for a new adventure character loosely based on Dragon’s Fists, a 1974 paperback novel that a good number of people do not even recall seeing. “Kung-Fu Failure” seemed KFF’s epitaph. All these years later, I give KFF a lot of credit for hanging in there as long as it did, because a good portion of the new titles published by DC and Marvel in early 1975, not to mention all of the fledgling Atlas Comics line, were canceled by the end of that year. KFF entered 1976 on a monthly schedule, just as Infantino was ousted and Jenette Kahn replaced him as publisher of DC. While monthly status lasted only five months, the book continued on as a bimonthly until the summer of 1977, ending with its 18th issue. Alas, KFF is neither the highlight of Denny O’Neil’s writing career nor his editing career. It’s also unfortunate that O’Neil, who wrote all but two issues, is reluctant to look back on the series due to legal considerations regarding the title character. Still, I’ve always gotten a kick out of KFF. The series is entertaining, albeit relentlessly busy, incorporating kung-fu combat, strong character development, international espionage, escalating violence and tragedy, and a barrage of colorful villains, most having no training whatsoever in the martial arts. I became irritated with the book, however, during my initial research on the series due to the editorial miscues and oversights that seem to plague every issue of the title. There are peculiarities in plot, pacing, and production. In fact, it was a little bit frightening. To keep myself on track I broke KFF down into four complete phases, plus a brief initial fifth phase, and then the intriguing “coda,” which in one fell masterstroke added some clarity to the series—because I swear, if you study KFF too closely, it will chop you down!

Foot Soldiers Detail from the cover of Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter #2 (June–July 1975). Art by Alan Weiss and Al Milgrom. TM & © DC Comics.

1970s Time Capsule Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 23

Martial-Arts Montage Bill Wray’s Wally Wood homage, from Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #19 (Sept. 1986). TM & © DC Comics.

Hatchett, the Samurai, the Viper, the Axeman, Luke Lewis, and Professor Ojo—none of these men were kung-fu fighters. What most of them had in common, outside of being dastardly, is that they employed henchmen, thugs, lackeys, weapons specialists—you name it—who were trained in some or all forms of the martial arts. The only exception was the Preying Mantis, who learned martial-arts combat by studying insects as they fought amongst themselves.

CODA

TM & © DC Comics.

Four years later, “Whatever Happened to Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter?” was published in DC Comics Presents (DCCP) #39 (Nov. 1981), a short “coda” that tied up some (but not all) plot elements left dangling by the abrupt ending of Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter in 1977. The story was interesting and entertaining on several levels. The creative team of writer Mike W. Barr, artist Alex Saviuk, and editor Julius Schwartz was a surprising departure from the original KFF chroniclers. Schwartz edited all the Superman titles, so the ongoing “Whatever Happened To…” backup series in DCCP had been overseen by him for months. O’Neil’s unavailability to participate was because he was working at Marvel at that time. Alex Saviuk was the regular artist on the backup series. The “big reveal” of Barney Ling as the man who ordered the assassination attempts on Ben Turner was effective and made sense within the context of the original series. The story concluded with a mystery, the disappearance of Ling’s supposedly dead body from his coffin. Was this mystery meant to be solved? And who took the body? Ben? Lady Shiva? The O-Sensei? Or did Ling somehow come back to life? “I pitched the idea for the story to Julie,” recalls Mike W. Barr. “I doubt that he had any knowledge of

30 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

the character before that. Julie’s affection and respect for Denny O’Neil may have played some part in his acceptance of the pitch. The use of the name ‘Denny’ on page 8, panel 3, was Julie’s inclusion. “Barney Ling being behind the assassination attempts was certainly in character for him, so it was following through on O’Neil’s characterization. I don’t think O’Neil ever mentioned any such plot development to me. I recall wanting to include Lady Shiva in my story as well, but Julie bounced this idea, probably thinking—rightly—that the story was crowded enough as is. “The idea of Ling’s body vanishing from its coffin was Julie’s contribution. We were so tickled with the idea, we didn’t give a follow-up story any thought. When I told O’Neil of this twist he grinned and said: ‘Julie’s still got it.’ “I do recall that when I proposed the ‘Whatever Happened To … Dragon?’ story, the DC legal department was unclear about the disposition of the character’s comic-book rights. To resolve this situation, I took to Denny a letter of intent (or whatever the legal term is), written by Paul Levitz, that turned comic-book rights to the character over to DC; this action cleared the way for my story, as well as future uses by DC of the character.”

FINAL KICKS In the post–Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe, Ben (Bronze Tiger) Turner would become a team player in Suicide Squad and Lady Shiva would become a strong supporting character in The Question, also written by O’Neil. Richard Dragon returned in The Question #2, apparently a cripple but still a teacher, intent on humbling an arrogant Vic Sage. As the years passed, Dragon’s origins would be retooled, so by the time he was revamped for a Richard Dragon ongoing series in 2004 the character would resemble the Bronze Age version pretty much in name and appearance only. I collected Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter as best I could from newsstands and convenience-store comic-book spinner racks back in the mid-1970s, acquiring missing books (#2, 5, 6, 18) as back issues years later. Even as an uneven read I don’t recall it ever being as exasperating and exhausting as it has been while reading and researching it as a complete work for this article. So I take my bow, having made my stand, and with a sway of the typing hand, the motion makes me skip, now I’m done with this kung-fu trip. It’s Easter Sunday 1973, and 11-yearold JIM KINGMAN waits in eager anticipation for the photo shoot to end so he can indulge in his candyfilled Easter basket. Of course, if the candy doesn’t meet his standards, he can always fall back on his oneyear-old DC comic-book collection (but not fall back literally, as the comics are yet to be well-protected).

Michael Eury

Editor’s note: Portions of this article appeared, in edited form, in the book Comics Gone Ape: The Missing Link to Primates in Comics (TwoMorrows, 2007).

Planet of the Apes exploits our deepest fears—that our evolutionary cousins, the ones we’ve kept in cages and in cute theatrical costumes, will one day revolt and make monkeys out of us all. Can you blame them, after B. J. and the Bear? Planet of the Apes (or POTA, an acronym first coined on a Marvel Comics letters page, as Marvel UK scholar Rob Kirby reminds us) may be packaged as a sci-fi property, and its rich continuity of musty scrolls and pedantic lawgivers may attract the fantasy buff, but make no mistake about it, it’s the ultimate horror story. Sort of like Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. We should have seen this coming. It’s a madhouse! A madhouse! Planet of the Apes is also the poster child for franchise expansion. It started with a somewhat maligned novel that limped toward becoming a surprise hit movie, which led to men in suits demanding more movies with apes in suits. And soon marched forth an invasion of POTA action figures, TV shows, records, lunchboxes, jigsaw puzzles, and comic books. Let’s test your POTA IQ: Can you name the first artist to draw Planet of the Apes in comic-book form? You might guess Mike Ploog, or George Tuska. Maybe cover painter Bob Larkin. Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. Before this question is answered, let’s backtrack for a quick recap of the genesis of the world where apes rule and humans are hunting targets.

Man-Handled! Original art by Ron Wilson for the cover of the UK edition of Planet of the Apes #75. Courtesy of Anthony Snyder (www.anthonysnyder.com). TM & © 20th Century Fox.

1970s Time Capsule Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 31

The Ape of Things to Come (below) This amazing Jim Steranko painting will be the cover of BLAM!’s forthcoming illustrated novel, Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes. Courtesy of Rich Handley and Drew Gaska. (right) The cover of Handley’s 2010 Apes encyclopedia. TM & © 20th Century Fox.

publisher suggested POTA, I told him that Planet was one of my favorite films and I could have a ball writing that title,” says Templeton. “I suspect my enthusiasm for the characters (as well as our publisher’s familiarity with the movies) was the deciding factor.” Revolution on the Planet of the Apes #6 (Aug. 2006) concluded Mr. Comics’ new POTA material. Templeton had hoped to produce a sequel to Revolution, a miniseries with the working title Empire of the Planet of the Apes, foreshadowed in the backup story in Revolution #5, “where we see that gorillas and chimps eventually have a civil war for control of the Planet of the Apes,” says the writer. Since Revolution “broke a little below even,” however, those plans went unrealized. In July 2009 BLAM! Ventures announced its acquisition of the POTA license in a two-book agreement with 20th Century Fox to produce a pair of illustrated hardcover novels, both set within the world of the original 1968 film. The initial outing, Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes, co-written by Andrew E. C. Gaska, Christian Bernsten, and Erik Matthews, was announced for a Spring 2010 release, then delayed until late 2010, and as of this writing in late February 2011 is still pending publication. Apes historian Rich Handley, whose most recent POTA project, From Aldo to Zira: Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia, was published by Hasslein Books (www.hassleinbooks.com) in December 2010, informs BACK ISSUE that he is now involved with Conspiracy: “Drew Gaska and I are revising the manuscript for BLAM! Ventures and Archaia Comics, and we hope to see a late 2011 or early 2012 release, followed by a second novel, as yet untitled, by late 2012 or early 2013.” BLAM! has procured A-list talent for illustrations in Conspiracy, including painters Ken Kelly and Joe Jusko and cover artist Jim Steranko. Ty Templeton is thrilled about Conspiracy— he’s a character in it! On January 4, 2011, Templeton wrote on his Ty Templeton’s Art Land blog (tytempletonart.wordpress.com) about a discovery he made while reading Handley’s Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes. A previously unnamed American National Space Administration documentary narrator in a DVD extra produced for the 2008 Blu-ray release of the original POTA has been named “Templeton” in BLAM!’s Conspiracy novel as a nod to Ty’s work on Revolution. Planet of the Apes is not only going BLAM!, it’s just gone BOOM! In April 2011, BOOM! Studios launched a new Planet of the Apes comic-book series, penned by award-winning sci-fi/fantasy novelist Daryl Gregory and illustrated by Carlos Magno, with covers by Chad Hardin. BOOM!’s POTA is set within the continuity of the original five films. And with the August 5, 2011 release of director Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a prequel to the 1968 movie, humans might want to look over their shoulders… Special thanks to Dave Ballard, Gary Chaloner, Rich Handley, Rob Kirby, Alan Maxwell, John Roche, Ty Templeton, and Roy Thomas. While he enjoys pop culture from the 1970s, in 2011 BACK ISSUE editor MICHAEL EURY has shed his ’70s baby fat and mop-top haircut. Among the comics-related books he has written or co-written is Comics Gone Ape: The Missing Link to Primates in Comics, published in 2007 by TwoMorrows.

44 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

Brett Weiss

DC has billionaire industrialist superhero/playboy Bruce Wayne; Marvel counters with billionaire industrialist superhero/playboy Tony Stark. DC has lightning-bolt-motif super-speedster the Flash; Marvel counters with lightning-bolt-motif superspeedster Quicksilver. DC has the groundbreaking 12-issue maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths; Marvel lays the foundation for Crisis with the 12-issue maxiseries Secret Wars. Indeed, it seems that whenever DC has an idea, Marvel invariably follows suit; and that whenever Marvel has an idea, DC invariably follows suit. During the early 1970s, when comic-book fandom was in full swing, each company published its own fanzine, with Marvel beating DC to the punch by more than a year. Prior to expounding on Marvel’s FOOM and DC’s Amazing World of DC Comics, a little perspective is in order, namely a brief history of comic-book fanzines. For those unfamiliar with the term, the word “fanzine” is short for fan-made magazine. Most fanzines of the 1960s were reproduced via such crude contraptions as the hectograph (a gelatin duplicator) or the Ditto machine (a spirit duplicator), the latter of which was commonly used by churches, schools, and other organizations to make copies (this was before the proliferation of the photocopier). Anyone over 40 will remember the wet, smelly, purple-printed pages associated with Ditto machines. Science-fiction fandom began during the 1930s, but comic-book fandom didn’t really get off the ground until March 1961, with the publication of Jerry Bails’ seminal comic-book fanzine, Alter-Ego. Bails sent copies of Alter-Ego #1 to addresses published in the backs of such comic books as Justice League of America and Fantastic Four, and to addresses he found in earlier comic-book fanzines (what few there were). Shortly after the publication of Alter-Ego #1, Don Thompson and Maggie Curtis debuted their labor of love, Comic Art, a classy, highly influential fanzine known for publishing work by such legends as Carl Barks and Harlan Ellison. By 1963, comic-book fanzines, including such important titles as The Rocket’s Blast and The Comicollector, were ubiquitous, helping educate, entertain, and unite comic-book fans across the country. In 1964, super-fan Bernie Bubnis organized the first New York Comicon (widely considered the birth of comic-book conventions), further fueling the fire for fandom. Hundreds of fanzines were being published during this time, with Marvel and DC getting in on the act in 1973 and 1974 respectively.

Marvel’s Mightiest The legendary Jim Steranko illustrated this comin’-atcha poster of heroes in 1973 for Marvel’s FOOM fan club. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). © 2011 Marvel Characters, Inc.

1970s Time Capsule Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 45

Advertise With Us! ALTER EGO! • BACK ISSUE! • DRAW! (please inquire for BrickJournal rates) COVERS: 8.375" Wide x 10.875" Tall (plus 1/8" bleed all around) FULL-PAGE: 7.5" Wide x 10" Tall HALF-PAGE: 7.5" Wide x 4.875" Tall QUARTER-PAGE: 3.75" Wide x 4.875"

These rates are for ads supplied on-disk (PDF, JPEG, TIF, EPS, or Quark Xpress files acceptable). No agency discounts apply. Display ads are not available for the Jack Kirby Collector.

Ad Rates: Back cover COLOR: $800 ($700 for two or more) Inside cover B&W: $400 ($350 for two or more) Full-page B&W interior: $300 ($250 for two or more) Half-page B&W interior: $175 ($150 for two or more) Quarter-page B&W interior: $100 ($87.50 for two or more)

Bulk Ad Rates! Run the same size ad for 26 insertions and these discounts apply: Back cover COLOR: $10,000 ($385 per ad) Inside cover B&W: $6000 ($231 per ad) Full-page B&W interior: $4000 ($154 per ad) Half-page B&W interior: $2000 ($77 per ad) Quarter-page B&W interior: $1000 ($39 per ad)

We accept check, money order, and all major credit cards; include card number and expiration date.

Send ad copy and payment (US funds) to: TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Dr. • Raleigh, NC 27614 919-449-0344 • fax 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com

If you’re viewing a digital version of this publication, PLEASE read this plea from the publisher! his is COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL, which is NOT INTENDED FOR FREE T DOWNLOADING ANYWHERE. If you’re a print subscriber, or you paid the modest fee we charge to download it at our website, you have our sincere thanks—your support allows us to keep producing publications like this one. If instead you downloaded it for free from some other website or torrent, please know that it was absolutely 100% DONE WITHOUT OUR CONSENT, and it was an ILLEGAL POSTING OF OUR COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. If that’s the case, here’s what you should do: 1) Go ahead and READ THIS DIGITAL ISSUE, and see what you think. 2) If you enjoy it enough to keep it, DO THE RIGHT THING and purchase a legal download of it from our website, or purchase the print edition at our website (which entitles you to the Digital Edition for free) or at your local comic book shop. We’d love to have you as a regular paid reader. 3) Otherwise, DELETE IT FROM YOUR COMPUTER and DO NOT SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS OR POST IT ANYWHERE. 4) Finally, DON’T KEEP DOWNLOADING OUR MATERIAL ILLEGALLY, for free. We offer one complete issue of all our magazines for free downloading at our website, which should be sufficient for you to decide if you want to purchase others. If you enjoy our publications enough to keep downloading them, support our company by paying for the material we produce. We’re not some giant corporation with deep pockets, and can absorb these losses. We’re a small company—literally a “mom and pop” shop—with dozens of hard-working freelance creators, slaving away day and night and on weekends, to make a pretty minimal amount of income for all this work. We love what we do, but our editors, authors, and your local comic shop owner, rely on income from this publication to stay in business. Please don’t rob us of the small amount of compensation we receive. Doing so will ensure there won’t be any future products like this to download. TwoMorrows publications should only be downloaded at

www.twomorrows.com

Jerry Boyd

Music, clothes, movies, and TV shows were changing rapidly in the early 1970s. Marvin Gaye asked the musical question “What’s Going On?” in his seminal album in ’71. The Carpenters had warbled the musical promise “We’ve Only Just Begun.” The cast of the stage musical Hair summed it all up by announcing, “This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” The US had successfully landed on the moon and safely returned its astronauts to the Earth. Hippie culture—their clothes, their turn-ons and turn-offs, as well as their politics— was everywhere. John Shaft, a super-bad black detective, had exploded onto theater screens nationwide in the cultural expanse of 1970 and ’71. Comic magazines had their own cultural revolution, as well. The new versions of super-people and their super-problems had captivated open-minded popculture analysts in the ’60s. Underground “comix” distributed mostly on the West Coast presented their own comments about superheroes, societal norms, and alternative lifestyles, as seen in their mostly black-and-white efforts. Could the 1970s amplify on all of this burgeoning creativity? Yes, definitely—and as new genres opened up, new venues/outlets were also explored. The reasons are apparent. New readers were sought out to add the growing excitement that sequential art had engendered in the previous decade. Even though comics sales reportedly sagged again after the cancellation of ABC-TV’s Batman in 1968, many creators had not negated the idea of self-publishing, even though many decided to stay where they were rather than venture into that risky world. Still, the industry thrived on risk—and some of comicdom’s best went outside the usual perimeters and provided those of us who were willing to follow with some different kinds of comics in some different, yet interesting, outlets and venues. And we thank them for those efforts. Here are some of them:

BLOCK-ING OUT DRUG ADDICTION The Block © 1971 Supergraphics Press Written and drawn by James Steranko and published by Byron Preiss and Steranko In 1970, Jim Steranko was thinking about making some new inroads into those areas in which comics were strangers. With his friend and business associate Byron Preiss, Supergraphics began as a company. Preiss came up with the idea of addressing the nation’s burgeoning drug epidemic, a problem that had found its way out of the purview of jazz clubs and Counterculture hangouts it had previously been most associated with. In looking back on the project, he noted in Comixscene #4 (May–June 1973), “Despite a newly found profession as paperback illustrator, Steranko WOULD do another

Dr. Deadly’s House of Comics Neal Adams’ cover for Aurora’s Monster Scenes comic booklet of 1971. Note in the right background Vampirella, at the time a hot property for Warren Publishing. © 1971 Aurora Plastics Inc. Frankenstein © Universal. Vampirella © DFI.

1970s Time Capsule Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 55

comics story. He agreed that hard drugs were a problem that deserved as many devices as possible to combat them. He agreed that educating kids to the dangers of drugs was something that should start young, at the elementary level. Further, he agreed that the drug problem was hitting hardest in the urban areas, and that children could benefit from a tale set in this locale. Finally, he agreed to do the comic with no expectation of economic renumeration.” Steranko wrote in the one-page press release for The Block that “comics are written, drawn, and published for the sole purpose of entertaining children. Yet not until recently has it become apparent that comic books can be used to inform, instruct, and educate their readers.” He added in a later paragraph, “It is the first story of its kind ever offered to the public and the first of a series aimed at America’s drug problem.” It was. The Block was unique in its telling of two New York City black kids whose similar lifestyles and strong camaraderie lessens as they approach adulthood. Billy Lee accepts his lot in life, concentrating on just having “kicks” and makes his money through petty theft.

The Block (right) Detail from the cover to Steranko’s Comixscene #4 (May–June 1973). (bottom) Steranko depicted the contrasts between his two protagonists in these panels that showed one lad enjoying a S.H.I.E.L.D. comic adventure! © 1971 Supergraphics Press.

Leroy loves pop music (specifically citing the magic of Motown’s stellar group, the Temptations) and works at honest endeavors, while practicing with a small band. Eventually, drug addiction overcomes Billy Lee and sadly, he dies young, his ridicule of the hardworking Leroy ringing hollow as his friend returns to the ghetto a local celebrity on his way to bigger successes. The Block was distributed through the direct-sales comics shops that were slowly creeping across America. Also, Steranko and Preiss worked through various educational systems so that the target audience— kids regularly exposed to drug dealers and the problems that came from them—would get their message. Jim Steranko told me about this comic in the early ’90s at a con, and later wrote me that “the concept of using the comics’ format to educate kids about drug abuse was very innovative and deeply appealed to me. I was always aware of the power that the Brotherhood of Comics Creators had and was gratified to participate in a project that could actually influence lives—perhaps even save lives. Cutting through the education system’s red tape was sometimes a nightmare, but had Byron and I been requested to continue producing similar material, I would have been gratified to generate more.” Again, Steranko had broken new ground. The Block was applauded by school-district officials, teachers, and PTA members. The newspaper tabloid black-and-white effort would be reprinted later in the aforementioned issue of Comixscene. In it, Byron Preiss wrote, “The Block will not solve the drug problem. It will not stop the flow of heroin in our cities. The Block is not a cure. The Block IS a catalyst. A tool towards a goal. One match for a very large candle. A small piece of hope. A word of caution. A first step.” And so it was. In addition, Preiss and Steranko gave their wonderful project what educators today sometimes call “teaching points.” An educational guide with specific questions for students and narration/reading tips was offered along with the comic. The effort won approval from Rev. Jesse Jackson, Mrs. Hubert H. Humphrey, and many community organizations and parents. And once discovered by comics aficionados in these times, the praise will no doubt continue.

DR. DEADLY’S HOUSE OF COMICS Aurora Monster Scenes booklets © 1971 by Aurora Plastics Inc. and Warren Publishing Drawn by Neal Adams Ahhhh, the ’60s. Baby boomers saw pinbacks, toys, games, pennants, stickers, and cards drawn by Joe Orlando, Jack Davis, Basil Wolverton, Jack Kirby, Curt Swan, Chic Stone, Murphy Anderson, and Carmine Infantino, among others. Neal Adams got a piece of that action, as well. Adams was searching for more lucrative outlets for his newly established Continuity Studios (originally his partnership with Dick Giordano). Mr. Adams had already done the late-’60s Spider-Man model box art for Aurora and his reputation for stunning photorealistic art had been confirmed by fan enthusiasm for DC titles with his covers and interior art. (I was there at the time, and after seeing some early stories he did for House of Mystery … whooo!) Aurora had shifted gears somewhat for the early ’70s—Frankenstein and some new monsters and characters would become part of a Monster Scenes lineup. The company even went after Warren Magazines’ Vampirella [see BACK ISSUE #36] as one of those new stars. Along with Frankie and Vampi

56 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

came a beautiful, terrified “Victim” (that only makes sense, right?) and a deranged scientist, “Dr. Deadly” (and that makes even more sense). The ads for all this madcap mayhem showed up on the back covers of Warren mags and all over the place in mainstream comics. Adams’ work was inside the model boxes this time around. He drew a total of eight pages—four B&W instructional how-to and four sequential art pages in color showing where the Victim ended up after being abducted by Frankenstein. The Man of Many Parts took her to Dr. Deadly’s of course, where he and his lovely assistant Vampirella planned … heeehee … experimentations. Adams explains his involvement: “I run a commercial art studio. Our job is to accept assignments like that. But in this case, I believe we were recommended by [DC’s] Mark Hanerfeld. I could be wrong. It’s just that Mark was around a lot in those days, and he was acting like an expert to these companies. “I did not lobby for it, but we would have if we had known about it first,” Adams adds. “We don’t actually lobby, our reps do what it called ‘cold calling,’ and visiting potential clients.” When I asked if those were the type of advertising projects he was interested in during the 1970s, Adams answered, “Not necessarily. But it’s good to do comics of any sort, and to be paid four times as much as doing comics. Everything paid better than DC Comics! A spot illustration for a printer—a religious drawing of a Catholic church, even charity work for the March of Dimes, and others, paid more. In fact, organizations like that paid four to five times the going [comics] rates, and they apologized for not paying more but that they were ‘were charities and they could not afford to pay top dollar.’” Unfortunately, the Vampirella kit wasn’t warmly received, but the overall sales of the Monster Scenes weren’t fantastic, either. Parents complained about the torture devices in addition to their problems with the sexiness of the Victim and Vampi. Also, the Adams booklets weren’t promoted as “treats within the treats.” (If they had been, my Adams-happy generation would’ve bought the kits then, instead of spending big dollars getting them now!) The Adams booklets were pretty much the same, however, and only differed in the instructional how-to section that differed from kit to kit. Still, though many of us fans missed them the first time around, it’s somewhat nice to know that there’s some more vintage Adams’ Vampirella and related monster comic art out there to be had.

I’M CASPER—FLY ME! AstroComics © 1970 Harvey Publications, in conjunction with American Airlines Written and drawn by various Harvey Comics staffers Harvey Comics was also looking at new outlets. The Enchanted Forest crowd had dazzled youngsters in the ’60s through various TV programs. The Harvey brass had to be thinking, “This is no time to let up.” In the early 1970s, the company wouldn’t exactly leave the airwaves, but they would take to the air. For a few years, American Airlines stewardesses would give out free AstroComics to children on their flights. The books (regular-sized, by the way) featured Casper, Little Audrey and Melvin, Spooky, Richie Rich, Reggie van Dough (Richie’s conniving Loki–like cousin), Little Dot, and Little Lotta. Though Hot Stuff and Nightmare made the covers, research hasn’t turned up any interior misadventures of theirs in any of the issues.

In addition to a few puzzles as well, there were a few pages devoted to the makeup of the airplanes AA used and what made ’em go. Mark Arnold, editor of The Harveyville Fun Times! fanzine, explains how it all began: “I asked Alan Harvey (son of one of the original publishers) a few years ago about this and he said basically that a lot of the promotional tie-ins with Harvey had to do with personal affiliations that Alfred Harvey had at the time (the 1970s). He was friends with the people who handled the Boy Scouts of America, UNICEF, Apollo 16, the American Dental Association, and obviously American Airlines. So, it wasn’t any particular marketing plan on Alfred’s part; he just interested his friends in high places in comic-book tie-ins, and they accommodated his requests. I suppose that once he secured a deal with American, he wouldn’t pursue, let’s say, United or some other airline in order to avoid a conflict of interest, and he probably got some frequent-flyer miles for his efforts.” It was a good idea. I remember my brother and I being pleasantly surprised at getting free comics on 1970s Time Capsule Issue

Huggable Horrors The back (and final) page from the Monster Scenes comic. These groovy ghoulies just want peace and love, man! Art by Neal Adams. © 1971 Aurora Plastics Inc. Frankenstein © Universal. Vampirella © DFI.

•

BACK ISSUE • 57

them to be baby machines! Changing diapers, going nowhere in dead-in jobs … sitting home every night trying to find the time and money to go to a movie or buzz out to the burger stand. What kind of life can they have? No chance to develop, they’ll never catch on to his crazy scheme, they’ll just be his puppets. What a crafty creep!” Then, Spidey webs up and beats down the conscienceless guards on the premises. After disrupting the intended broadcast by smashing through the window, our hero tussles with the villain. Then he unmasks him for the youngsters to see, clogging his throat with a web ball. Finally, there’s another lecture. This time it’s on the last page and inside back cover with images familiar to Spidey fans; the printed pages tell the kids the problems they’ll really face if they start having infants too soon … and where to get answers and more information about VD and where to seek help. I contacted Stan Lee, Marv Wolfman, and Roy Thomas for additional info about this book, but they didn’t remember it. So how’d this “team-up” of Planned Parenthood and Marvel come about? Probably because the House of Ideas was just interested in helping a necessary cause—and if anyone knew about “responsibility,” it was Spider-Man. A Planned Parenthood representative told me the books were given out in their centers for free and in some high schools at the time. Some comics dealers got hold of them in ’78–’79 and sold them for prices that would seem to put them in cahoots with the Kingpin!

Marvel’s Strangest “Team-Up” Marvel Comics and Planned Parenthood co-produced The Amazing Spider-Man vs. the Prodigy in 1976. Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. © 1976 Marvel Comics and Planned Parenthood, Inc.

altered his voice and created an irresistible hypnotic state, and he broadcast his advice to teens over hidden television and radio outlets in his mansion hideaway. (Don’t ask how he could afford a mansion and hired help.) Disguised as a human, he planned to tell adolescents brought to him and others over the airwaves to not worry about sexually transmitted diseases, or parental/ societal disapproval, and so on. He went on to explain that their newborns would be looked after by “experts” (actually, his fellow aliens from the planet Intellectia who planned to commit the children to slave-labor camps on their world while they prepared for the subjugation of others). Sure, that’s a far-out (pun intended) premise for a booklet about being responsible parents, but this was still a Marvel comic and interstellar menaces did that kind of thing all the time in the universe that Stan, Jack, and Steve built. Spidey’s in costume throughout, and hitches a ride to that mansion on a web-connect after his SpiderSense warns him of some kind of danger. He listens to the Prodigy’s nonsense and, able to shrug off the hypnotism involved, decides on a plan. First, however, Spidey debunks the lies told by the Prodigy outside his window. He thinks, “He wants

62 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

So there you have it—different comics and different outlets/venues for their distribution. Are there others? Of course, and the fun part of it is if you’re still “a fiend” for rare comics with artistry by the aforementioned greats—think “differently” and … begin your search. These days, some of these items remain hard-tofind, naturally, since they’ve not been reprinted or collected in one product. However, the Neal Adams Batman material has been compiled (sans records, of course) in the three hardback volumes of Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams published by DC from 2003 to 2005. And we can only hope the others will see the light of day again in bright, new packages. In the meantime, I know that I’m not alone in just being thankful that some of the greatest comics professionals of the Bronze Age put together those rarities for us to one day … discover and cherish. Special thanks to all the participants, George Gladir for contact information, and Mike Burkey. This is respectfully dedicated to the memories of Mike Esposito and Byron Preiss. Jerry Boyd provided most of the images shown from his collection. JERRY BOYD has written numerous articles for fanzines The Jack Kirby Collector, BACK ISSUE, Alter Ego, The Harveyville Fun Times!, and the Spooky Fearbook. He’s proud to have interviewed numerous professionals in the industry as well for those publications. Jerry is a professional schoolteacher and an aspiring screenwriter living in Southern California. As often as he can, he sends copies of rare art to BI for other readers/fans to enjoy.

Fast Willie Jackson was Fitzgerald Publications’ attempt to produce a more racially diverse, hip, streetwise version of “Archie.” Fast Willie is the Archie–like character attending Mocity High School, a more urban setting than Archie’s Riverdale. His close friends include the sexy Dee Dee and Maria Martinez, hip ladies’ man Frankie, muscular Hannibal, radical Jabar, and class clown Jo-Jo. Other cast members include Maria’s father Jose Martinez, fortune teller Sister Zola, Officer Flagg, deli owner Mr. Solomon, feminist teacher Jane Fronda, and Harry the wino. Fast Willie Jackson lasted for seven issues from 1976–1977, and there was brief discussion of a spin-off TM series starring Dee Dee and Frankie. At the time of cancellation, Fast Willie was close to an animation deal with Filmation and sales of issues were at the break-even point. An eighth issue was planned but never published. Fitgerald Publications’ publisher Bertram “Bert” Fitzgerald was the writer of Fast Willie Jackson. Fitzgerald was born November 6, 1932, in Harlem, New York. He was a graduate of Brooklyn College with an accounting degree and also served in the Air Force. His interest in black history, reading, and comic books became a natural combination for an idea for a comicby M a rk Arnold book series, Golden Legacy, which spanned 16 issues conducted July 17, 2010 over a ten-year period from 1966–1976. Fast Willie Jackson artist and co-creator Gus LeMoine is believed to have passed away, as have virtually all of the Archie artists from the same vintage of the 1960s and ’70s. Fitzgerald has not had communication with him in many years. A search for Gus’ daughter, Geri LeMoine (who had a letter printed in Fast Willie Jackson #5), has proved fruitless and she may have passed on as well. In our discussion, Bert Fitzgerald talked in greater length about his proudest achievement, the Golden Legacy comic-book series, that explored the world of African-American history at a time when such topics were virtually ignored in classrooms, much less comic books. Fitzgerald experienced discrimination and racism in both his private and business lives, such as in his dealings with printers and distributors and occasional subject matter in the Golden Legacy series. This spilled over into Fast Willie Jackson, and was one of the reasons why it took four years to get published. Fitzgerald has felt at times that he may have been under surveillance due to his alleged black activism. BERT FITZGERALD At the time he was preparing his 13th volume of Golden Legacy, the biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., he knew that his phone was tapped. He would testify later in court that his “legs could be broken if he didn't stop publishing.” This, coupled with a later copyright trial, had a detrimental effect on Fitzgerald. He had suffered two heart attacks during this time, but ultimately, Fitzgerald was the victor.

1970s Time Capsule Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 63

As 1976 dawned in the United States, it was hard to escape the fact that a significant birthday was coming up. Commemorations of the country’s 200th birthday were increasing by the week, and the likes of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams once again became household names. But nowhere—not in school or on television or in magazines—would you find such historical revelations as the fact that Superman had prevented the theft of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, or that Captain Marvel and Black Adam had buzzed the Boston Tea Party three years earlier. For those, you had to read DC comic books. There are moments during the American Revolution that are burned into the minds of every student—Paul Revere’s horseback warning that the British were coming. George Washington’s Christmasnight voyage across the Delaware. And these words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Declaration of Independence, from which that sentence sprang, served notice to Great Britain that its colonies in North America weren’t going to tolerate its tyranny any longer. The Declaration was formally approved on July 4, 1776, a date that would be known from that date forward as the birthday of the United States of America. Nearly two centuries later, the United States was mired in an intractable war in Vietnam, and its president, Richard Nixon, was caught up in the Watergate scandal that would ultimately see him resign from office, succeeded by Gerald Ford. In the face of national apathy and distaste, plans for a massive exposition centered around Boston and Philadelphia were shelved in 1973.

THE FREEDOM TRAIN The abandonment of a centralized celebration actually seemed to have turned out for the best. Instead, individual communities across the United States were encouraged to organize their own celebrations, thousands of them receiving official sanction from the government’s American Revolutionary Bicentennial Administration (ARBA), retooled in 1974 under new supervisor John Warner. Among ARBA’s initiatives was the Freedom Train, a locomotive carrying some of the country’s most historic documents—including the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution— on a trip across 48 contiguous states. The project drew its inspiration from an earlier Freedom Train that had traveled the country from 1947 to 1949, and would now include modern pieces of Americana such as Judy

DC’s Declaration The Man of Steel witnesses the Founding Fathers’ signing of the Declaration of Independence on this Bates/Swan/ Blaisdell splash from Action Comics #463 (Sept. 1976). Scan courtesy of John Wells. TM & © DC Comics.

68 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

John Wells

Garland’s dress from The Wizard of Oz and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s robe and pulpit. The original traveling exhibit inspired two separate comic-book stories during the spring of 1948. The wicked Dr. Sivana attempted to destroy the Freedom Train’s precious cargo in Fawcett’s Captain Marvel Adventures #85. DC’s All-Star Comics #41 hedged a bit by referring to the locomotive as the “Liberty” Train, but its contents were the same. In “The Case of the Patriotic Crimes,” the Injustice Society stole the entire train and then went after other landmarks like Plymouth Rock and the Washington Monument before the Justice Society of America stopped their spree. DC reprinted the JSA story in mid-1974’s Justice League of America #113, complementing the tale with a two-page feature on the original Freedom Train that incorporated art from various earlier stories. Two months later, Hal Jordan boarded the Spirit of ’76 Train in The Flash #230 (Nov.–Dec. 1974), admiring the artifacts inside that included the pistol that Vice President Aaron Burr had used to kill his rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804. Hal soon leapt into action as Green Lantern when robots dressed as Colonial soldiers flew off with the locomotive car (villains in the DC Universe rarely did anything small) and wound up in a spacecraft face-to-face with the real Aaron Burr. Burr, it was explained in Flash #231, had been plucked away from Earth by aliens on the eve of his duel with Hamilton and replaced by a clone. The extraterrestrials wanted his expertise as a statesman to lead their own society out of chaos, and the former vice president had succeeded to a point. He’d also attracted his share of enemies, one of whom tried to kill him before Green Lantern stepped in. The time differential

related to space travel accounted for Burr still being alive past his 200th birthday, and he further elaborated that his theft of the Spirit of ’76 Train had been motivated by pure homesickness. Setting foot on Earth, Burr fell to his knees and wept but conceded to GL that he couldn’t stay. He’d committed to help the alien race and refused to renege on his promise. Scripted by Denny O’Neil, the story tapped into the writer’s passion for history, actually referencing the nonfiction book Contest of Power that he’d written about presidential elections in 1968. Even as the JLA and Flash issues were going on sale, a four-car Preamble Express was hitting the rails in the summer and fall of 1974 as a test run for the Freedom Train’s official journey scheduled to begin April 1, 1975. In June, the Liberty Express pulled out of a Gotham City terminal in The Brave and the Bold (B&B) #121 (Sept. 1975), and Batman and the Metal Men got into the act. As fanciful as Bob Haney and Jim Aparo’s story was, it played on genuine fears that the upcoming Bicentennial events would be targeted by radical groups. Indeed, the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival at Plymouth Rock had been disrupted by a real Indian-rights group in 1970. On Thanksgiving Day, the American Indian Movement stole a reproduction of the Pilgrims’ Mayflower. In B&B, a trio of Native-American historians took control of the train and threatened to destroy the Declaration of Independence, et al. unless President Gerald Ford granted their people enormous financial and territorial restitution. In the third act, foreign terrorists were revealed to have planted a bomb of their own on the train, forcing the heroes and the Native Americans to join forces before they all perished.

1970s Time Capsule Issue

Riding the Bicentennial Train (left) And you thought Sinestro was the only person Green Lantern dueled with! The splash from the GL tale in Flash #230 (Nov.–Dec. 1974). (right) Haney and Aparo’s Batman/ Metal Men team-up in Brave and the Bold #121 (Sept. 1975) featured the artifactpacked Freedom Train. Scans courtesy of John Wells. TM & © DC Comics.

•

BACK ISSUE • 69

For many of us who collect comic books, there is that special, early memory of the first comic we bought off the newsstand, or that favorite issue we read over and over again until it was barely hanging by the staples. For me, that favorite memory is of a book, Origins of Marvel Comics. It may be hard for those who don’t remember Richard Nixon as president to imagine a time in which we didn’t have trade paperbacks and graphic novels. Today, many fans eschew the comics themselves in favor of the collected volumes. But there was a time, before the Internet and eBay, when just trying to find a back issue of your favorite comic was a hit-or-miss proposition. A friend of mine tells the story of how, back in the early 1970s, he saw an advertisement from Richard Alf for a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 with a “heavily taped cover, but intact” for $25.00. He saved up his money, doing extra chores around the house, and several weeks later mailed off the money to Alf, only to have it returned to him because the issue had already sold. Reprints were also somewhat scarce at the time. Marvel Comics did have a few reprint titles, including Marvel Collector’s Item Classics, which started in 1965, but it was canceled after 22 issues. Marvel Tales became a reprint title in 1966, initially including classic stories from Journey into Mystery, Strange Tales, and Tales to Astonish, then later focusing solely on reprints from The Amazing Spider-Man. Lancer Books was the first to publish a series of paperbacks in the mid-1960s that reprinted selected early stories of The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, The Mighty Thor, and The Amazing Spider-Man in black and white and reduced size. But one of the problems with reprints was that they sometimes omitted panels or whole pages from the stories to make them fit the available space, and learning about the origins of your favorite characters was a challenge. It was not until 1974 that an opportunity arose to read the complete origin stories of the best Marvel characters in color and their original size. When I asked Stan Lee what prompted Marvel Comics to start the Origins series of books, he replied, “Me! I had a zillion requests from fans to write a series of Origins books—and I thought it was a great idea and enjoyed writing them.” But the Origins books were more than just reprints, as Lee described in his January 1974 Soapbox column, “…the great new ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS, the blockbuster book which features the entire early history of your all-time favorites … you’ll have the unedited origin stories, plus more recent yarns, plus page after page of straight-from-the-shoulder secrets of who did what, and how we did it … we’re also reproducing the actual cover of each magazine in which the origin stories appeared, thus making THE ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS the most complete history of Marvel’s golden age ever published!”

Light My Fire(side) Origins of Marvel Comics, first published in 1974 with this John Romita, Sr. cover, ignited the publisher’s popular reprint line with Fireside Books. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

74 • BACK ISSUE • 1970s Time Capsule Issue

Dewey Cassell

Terrific Trio Romita covers grace these three editions: (right) Son of Origins, (inset) Bring on the Bad Guys, and (below) detail from the cover of The Superhero Women. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

To produce the books, Marvel teamed up with Fireside, an imprint of the publishing company Simon & Schuster. Comics were not new to Fireside, who had published books like the Charles Addams collection of New Yorker cartoons entitled Monster Rally in 1950. For the first volume in the Origins series, Marvel chose legendary characters that had launched the superhero revolution of the early 1960s—the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, and Dr. Strange. True to Lee’s word, the book featured not only origin stories of each hero or team, but also other key stories that included characters like the Silver Surfer and the Sub-Mariner. (Although the Sub-Mariner appears on the cover of the book, his origin is not presented.) The original comic-book covers were included for all but the Strange Tales stories. The book also featured a preface and epilogue, as well as introductory remarks for each chapter, written by Lee, in which he discussed his early days at Timely Comics, the artists he worked with, how Fantastic Four was created in response to DC Comics’ success with Justice League of America, and why Steve Ditko drew Amazing Spider-Man instead of Jack Kirby. The book was originally published in hardback for $9.95 and paperback for $5.95. The next year, Marvel followed up the success of Origins of Marvel Comics with a second volume, Son of Origins of Marvel Comics. For this tome, many of the characters selected were considered “second tier” at the time, although several of them enjoyed tremendous popularity in later years. Among the heroes whose origins were featured were the X-Men, Iron Man, the Avengers, Daredevil, Nick Fury–Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Watcher, and the Silver Surfer. Son of Origins followed essentially the same format as its predecessor, although the only additional key stories included were of Daredevil and Iron Man. Fireside subsequently offered a boxed set containing later printings of both Origins of Marvel Comics and Son of Origins. Conspicuously absent after two books was the origin of Golden Age hero and fellow Avenger, Captain America. For the third volume in the series, Marvel turned to the villains in a book entitled Bring on the Bad Guys. The “bad guys” selected were the best of the worst, including Dr. Doom, Dormammu, Loki, the Red Skull, the Green Goblin, the Abomination, and Mephisto, arch enemies of many of the heroes featured in the first two Origins books. Lee confessed his affection for the bad guys in his introduction to this volume, noting, “the main appeal of our frisky little fables must lie with the villains we concoct … you’ve got to be as interested in the scoundrel as you are in the stalwart in order for the story to work.” In fact, Lee said fully half of the fan mail dealt with the villains. With this Origins volume, only Loki and the Red Skull merited additional key stories, and gone were the original comic-book covers, replaced by chapter-title-page illustrations of each character, drawn by John Romita, Sr. The fourth Origins book, published in 1977, was called The Superhero Women. This volume is especially enjoyable in that the stories feature a very eclectic group of heroines, including Medusa, Red Sonja, the

1970s Time Capsule Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 75

Back Issue #49