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JILL THOMPSON, GAIL SIMONE, & BARBARA KESEL in a Pro2Pro interview!

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BIG BARDA • MS. MARVEL • PHOENIX SAVAGE SHE-HULK • STARFIRE • VALKYRIE

LADIES!

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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!

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(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!

(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!

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(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!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Dead Heroes”! JIM (“Death of Captain Marvel”) STARLIN interview, Deadman after Neal Adams, Jason Todd Robin, the death and resurrection of the Flash, Elektra, the many deaths of Aunt May, art by and/or commentary from APARO, BATES, CONWAY, GARCIA-LOPEZ, GEOFF JOHNS, MILLER, WOLFMAN, and a cosmically cool cover by JIM STARLIN!

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(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “1970s Time Capsule”! Examines relevance in comics, Planet of the Apes, DC Salutes the Bicentennial, Richard Dragon–Kung-Fu Fighter, FOOM, Amazing World of DC, Fast Willie Jackson, Marvel Comics calendars, art and commentary from ADAMS, BRUNNER, GIORDANO, LARKIN, LEVITZ, MAGGIN, MOENCH, O’NEIL, PLOOG, STERANKO, cover by BUCKLER and BEATTY!

Special 50th Anniversary FULL-COLOR issue ($8.95 price) on “Batman in the Bronze Age!” O’NEIL, ADAMS, and LEVITZ roundtable, praise for “unsung” Batman creators JIM APARO, DAVID V. REED, BOB BROWN, ERNIE CHAN, and JOHN CALNAN, Joker’s Daughter, Batman Family, Nocturna, Dark Knight, art and commentary from BYRNE, COLAN, CONWAY, MOENCH, MILLER, NEWTON, WEIN, and more. APARO cover!

(NOW WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “AllInterview Issue”! Part 2 of an exclusive STEVE ENGLEHART interview (continued from ALTER EGO #103)! “Pro2Pro” interviews between SIMONSON & LARSEN, MOENCH & WEIN, and comics letterers KLEIN & CHIANG. Plus JOHN OSTRANDER, MICHAEL USLAN, and longtime DC color artist ADRIENNE ROY! Cover by Englehart collaborator MARSHALL ROGERS!

Bronze Age Mystery Comics! Interviews with BERNIE WRIGHTSON, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, GERRY TALAOC, DC mystery writer LORE SHOBERG, MARK EVANIER and DAN SPIEGLE discuss Scooby-Doo, Charlton chiller anthologies, Black Orchid, Madame Xanadu art and commentary by TONY DeZUNIGA, MIKE KALUTA, VAL MAYERIK, DAVID MICHELINIE, MATT WAGNER, and a rare cover painting by WRIGHTSON!

“Gods!” Takes an in-depth look at WALTER SIMONSON’s Thor, the Thunder God in the Bronze Age, “Pro2Pro” interview with TOM DeFALCO and RON FRENZ, Hercules: Prince of Power, Moondragon, Three Ways to End the New Gods Saga, exclusive interview with fantasy writer MICHAEL MOORCOCK, art and commentary by GERRY CONWAY, JACK KIRBY, BOB LAYTON, and more, with a swingin’ Thor cover by SIMONSON!

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Volume 1, Number 54 February 2012 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, ’90s and Beyond!

The Retro Comics Experience!

EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow GUEST DESIGNER Jon B. Cooke COVER ARTIST Bruce Timm COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS John Byrne Chris Claremont Gerry Conway DC Comics Tom DeFalco Kevin Dooley Jo Duffy Steve Englehart Jim Ford Carl Gafford Grand Comic Book Database Jean Grey Charles Hatfield Karl Heitmueller Heritage Comics Auctions Barbara Randall Kesel James Kingman David Anthony Kraft Daniel Lang Alan Light Andy Mangels David Michelinie Jonathan Miller Doug Moench Brian Reed Shannon E. Riley Peter Sanderson Steve Sherman Gail Simone Anthony Snyder Jennifer K. Stuller Joel Thingvall Roy Thomas Jill Thompson Mike Vosburg

BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 FLASHBACK: Big Barda – She’s Strong, She’s Sexy, and She’s Liberated! . . . . . . . . . .3 Jack Kirby’s former Female Fury and her rollercoaster ride through DC lore FLASHBACK: The Ride of the Valkyrie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 From her Lady Liberator roots to her service as a Defender, our gal Val has earned her wings FLASHBACK: Ms. Marvel: A Binary Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 The tumultuous, and sometimes troubling, career of Carol Danvers PRINCE STREET NEWS: High Heel Fighting! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Karl Heitmueller re-toons with a fashion statement about superheroines PRO2PRO: Women in Comics Roundtable with Barbara Randall Kesel, Gail Simone, and Jill Thompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 A lively discussion with three popular and influential creators BEYOND CAPES: Swords & Science & Starfire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 No, not the golden-hued Teen Titan, but the sword-wielding DC warrior BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Phoenix Rising… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 The story of an X-(Wo)Man transformed FLASHBACK: The Humble Beginnings of the Savage She-Hulk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 Despite a shaky start, the Hulk’s cousin went from knock-off to actual character in the space of 25 issues BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Reader feedback on issue #50 Background image: Women In Comics 1978 Convention program cover by Marie Severin, Delaware Valley Comicart Consortium. All characters TM & © 2012 their respective copyright holders.

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 Bruce Timm. Big Barda TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2012 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING. Liberated Ladies Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

I’ve always been surrounded by strong women. My mom was no bra burner, and I doubt she’d consider herself “liberated,” but during the Women’s Liberation era she managed to work a full-time job, raise two boys and take care of her husband, cook dinner each night, volunteer at church, zip around to her sons’ school-related activities, sew many of her own clothes and mend clothes for family and neighbors, feed pets, and keep our household in order. She’d always perform these herculean tasks with a smile and with warm, Southern grace, but could get tough when she needed to—like the time she read the riot act to an eccentric neighbor who fired warning shots over my eight-year-old head when I was trying to keep my dog from chasing her (zoning regulation-defying) backyard chickens. Today my mother, Aggie Eury, is 78 years young, and while some might mistakenly call her a “little old lady,” she works part-time as a caregiver for … little old ladies. Mom assists those whose deteriorating minds and bodies no longer allow them to perform what most of us would consider routine tasks—and she does so with her patented kindness. My Aunt Sue is indeed a liberated lady, and was probably born that way, 73 years ago. She’s big and boisterous, has always been outspoken (even during a time when women, like children, were supposed to “know their place” and hold their tongues), and is an absolutely riotous storyteller. No meek woman, she. Aunt Sue tends to hold court at family and social events and have people rolling out of their seats. I always enjoy seeing her, because I know I’ll be showered with love and laughs. My wife Rose is another incredible woman. She also never burned a bra (during the ’70s and ’80s she often didn’t wear one, either), but, unlike Mom or Aunt Sue, she considers herself a feminist. She believes in equal opportunities not only for women but for all people regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation. Flying against the tide of high divorce rates, the remarkably resilient Rose has stuck by my side for 25 years, through myriad challenges such as my struggles with adult-onset hearing loss. My lifelong affiliation with these and other amazing women has positively imprinted me, and I’m a better man for knowing them. And thus I’m privileged to share with you this issue’s theme of “Liberated Ladies,” examinations of comic-book heroines who stepped out of the kitchen and into your face: Big Barda, Valkyrie, Ms. Marvel, Starfire, Phoenix, and She-Hulk. If you’ve come to ogle good-girl pin-ups, you’ve picked up the wrong issue. But if you’re ready to be inspired by fabulous females—including comics-industry wonder 2 • BACK ISSUE • Liberated Ladies Issue

Michael Eury

women Barbara Randall Kesel, Jill Thompson, and Gail Simone—then prop up your feet and prepare to be dazzled!

EDITORIAL PREEMPTIVE STRIKE DEPT. Before you write ye ed asking, “How could you omit [fill in the name of your favorite Bronze Age superheroine here] from your ‘Liberated Ladies’ issue?” I refer you to BACK ISSUE’s own back-issue bin, where you’ll find articles on the following characters in these issues: #5: Lynda Carter Wonder Woman #8: Storm #13: Death of Romance Comics, Marvel’s ’70s Love Comics #14: Wonder Woman and the Star Riders #17: “Super Girls” issue, with Tigra (and the Cat), Supergirl, Diana Prince–Wonder Woman, SpiderWoman, Donna Troy, Flare, the original Batwoman #18: Death of Gwen Stacy #19: She-Hulk (the Movie) #23: Mary Jane Watson/Peter Parker 20th Wedding Anniversary, Isis #24: Amethyst, Zatanna, Conjura #26: Black Widow, Ms. Tree #28: Terra #33: Power Girl, Kitty Pryde, Firestar #36: Vampirella #37: Wonder Woman’s return to WWII #38: Batgirl, Huntress #39: Sensational She-Hulk #40: Catwoman, Vixen, Josie and the Pussycats, Black Cat, Hellcat #41: Twelve Trials of Wonder Woman, Thomas/Colan Wonder Woman #42: Shanna the She-Devil, Rima the Jungle Girl, Red Sonja #45: Daredevil and Black Widow, the Vision and Scarlet Witch, Cloak and Dagger #46: Black Canary unpublished miniseries #48: Elektra #50: Joker’s Daughter, Nocturna #52: Madame Xanadu, Black Orchid #53: Moondragon And coming up: #56: Mockingbird #57: A cover-featured, career-spanning interview with former DC Comics president and publisher Jenette Kahn!

This article’s title contains three perfect descriptions of Big Barda: strong, sexy, and liberated. She was also rough, tough, and smart, and would not take flak from anyone. Though in peerless command of her emotions due to relentless military training, she was capable of displaying great sensitivity and naivety. She was not above confronting what she felt was personal weakness to make herself a better person. In the early 1970s, she

Jim Kingman

may have been the most physically and emotionally balanced of all the characters in writer/artist Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, published by DC Comics (then National Periodical Publications) in four ongoing titles: Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, The New Gods, The Forever People, and Mister Miracle. Big Barda was an extremely beautiful woman, whether traipsing around in a weapon-adorned red

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REJECTING HER DARK SIDE Big Barda’s statuesque body and strong facial features were inspired by actress and singer Lainie Kazan, while aspects of her personality came from right at home, that of Kirby’s beloved wife, Rosalind (Roz). “One thing notable about Barda,” explains Charles Hatfield, comics scholar and author of Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby, “is that, like Medusa of the Frightful Four/Inhumans in Fantastic Four, she began as a sort of anti-heroine, or at least someone with a checkered past. Medusa is a good point of comparison, because in both cases Kirby played up sensuality in the character’s design: for all of Barda’s fearsomeness, when she’s first introduced it’s with a strong element of sexual titillation (just look at her first scene with Oberon, in Mister Miracle

Big Plans (above) Courtesy of The Jack Kirby Collector, Kirby’s unfinished splash for his proposed Big Barda spin-off book, circa 1972. TM & © DC Comics.

bikini while hoisting up a large cannon, lunging into battle in full Apokoliptian military attire, or leaping into the fray in a comely skirt to protect friends from harm. Looks were not everything, of course. Barda’s loyalty was fierce, her sense of humor biting, her maternal instincts impressionable, her desire for peaceful moments commendable, her love for battle insatiable, and her temper quick to ignite. Foremost of all was her unconditional devotion and love for Scott Free, Mister Miracle. Yet Barda was not raised and trained to be emotionally balanced, or a pin-up girl, or a liberating force. She was molded in Granny Goodness’ “orphanage” on the planet Apokolips to be a warrior woman supreme, and her leadership qualities won her command of the Female Furies, an elite military unit in the service of Darkseid, the epitome of evil in Kirby’s Fourth World saga. This service did not last long, however, because Barda was meant for greater achievements. She has attained all but two: her own comic book and her own ongoing back-up series, although in both instances she certainly came close.

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Woman of Wonder! (below center) Kirby’s great splash page from Mister Miracle #5 (Nov.–Dec. 1971) featuring the bodacious Barda and her curvaceous physique. Inks by Mike Royer. TM & © DC Comics.

#4). Both characters combine an almost regal quality with a certain overheated sexiness (note the zaftig body type: it’s clear that Kirby thought Barda was sexy, and, of course, the Female Furies as a whole are a kinky bunch). This was some version of Kirby’s notional ‘good bad girl,’ I would guess.” Barda’s dramatic debut and series of appearances in Mister Miracle #4–8 (Sept.–Oct. 1971 through May–June 1972) unveiled where she came from, her connections to Scott Free, what her strengths (and few weaknesses) were, and the many dynamics of her personality, but no real explanation of why a loyalist of Apokolips would turn traitor. As an officer on Apokolips, Barda was issued a mega-rod, which, coupled with her great strength, made her a formidable adversary. The mega-rod was capable of a number of impressive feats, including allowing her to fly short distances and instant transportation with more than one person across whole galaxies. This was not the kind of device you would want in the hands of a turncoat, and devout turncoat Barda proved to be, battling a number of

former allies such as Baron Bedlam, Virman Vundebar, members of her own squadron, the Female Furies (Mad Harriet, crazed wielder of power spikes; Stompa, endowed with powerful feet; Lashina, armed with metal whips that she could peel off her uniform; and Bernadeth, master of the deadly Fahren-knife), Kanto the assassin, and Granny Goodness herself (not to mention engaging in a classic conversation with Funky Flashman in Mister Miracle #6, which also introduced the Female Furies). It was not until the extraordinary flashback episode set entirely on Apokolips, published in Mister Miracle #9 (July–Aug. 1972), that readers learned the tragic event that helped motivate Barda to leave Apokolips. In the climatic sequence of MM #9’s “Himon,” Scott and Big Barda raced on foot to outdistance themselves from a barrage of heavy artillery fire. Scott shouted to her, “Barda! What you’re doing is unheard of here! Why are you helping me?” Barda shouted back, “Because I like to help fools!—Because I couldn’t save Auralie! I don’t know!” Barda did know. In the midst of deadly danger, with

Wedding Crasher (above) Anyone who read 1965’s classic Fantastic Four Annual #3 knew that Kirby couldn’t resist throwing chaos, not rice, at groom Scott Free and bride Barda when it was their turn to walk down the aisle. Cover to MM #18 (Feb.–Mar. 1974) by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer. TM & © DC Comics.

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Jonathan Miller

Marvel Comics’ Valkyrie made her first appearance on the cover of The Avengers #83 (Dec. 1970), an iconic image that heralded a new age in mainstream comics in terms of the depiction of women in the medium. Flanked by a quartet of A-list Marvel heroines, the Wagnerian warrior stood over the defeated forms of the male Avengers and announced that the era of their predominance had passed. Inside (“The Revolution’s Fine”), she related her origin—a typical comic-book tale of a scientific laboratory accident, but in this case one facilitated by male chauvinism and arrogance—and converted the heroines to her cause, namely the humiliation and defeat of their male counterparts. Her argument used nothing more than the way female characters such as themselves had historically been sidelined, ignored, or dismissed altogether, and in truth her claims were hardly exaggerated.

LADY LIBERATORS So motivated, the newly formed Lady Liberators surprise their men friends at Rutland, Vermont’s famous Halloween parade and proceed to thoroughly kick the crap out of them. It is only following this that Valkyrie’s story, motives, and indeed her very identity are revealed to be entirely false, a ruse perpetrated by longtime Avengers nemesis and perennial femme fatale the Enchantress, recently jilted by erstwhile partner-incrime the Executioner and looking to revenge herself on the entire male population. Their newly found cause celeb thus betrayed, the heroines must then quickly

reverse their positions and rally to their fellow good guys’ side. Although the final panel has the Scarlet Witch defiantly proclaiming that their movement towards equality would not be sundered by the betrayal of their leader, the status quo of gender roles seemed comfortably in place once more by the next issue. Cultural critic and author of Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors Jennifer K. Stuller takes issue with the characterization of feminism, particularly the way “the Wasp walks in and refers to their group as a ‘Powderpuff Protest Meeting’—again suggesting that women who seek better treatment in the workplace are simply girly-numbskulls who ask too much and don’t know their place, and even women think so, too. But as the Valkyrie monologues about her origin story and her mistreatment at the hands of men, the women, including the Wasp, are quickly recruited into Valkyrie’s cause. As they jump to become the Lady Liberators, we are given the impression that women are easily brainwashed and will do anything for a seemingly abstract concept they call sisterhood. And brainwashing it is … or at least in this case, magic. “Though ironically, most of what the Valkyrie says to convince the women to band together is true: The male heroes grab all the attention for themselves, men write newspaper headlines that neglect contributions of women allies, and that the Black Widow is just a female Spider-Man (something she herself has already admitted elsewhere). Though the girls pony up, it is later revealed, as it so often is with depictions of other

Sisters Doing It for Themselves! (above) The very first appearance of Valkyrie also gave us the singular appearance of the Liberators! Art by John Buscema and Tom Palmer from The Avengers #83 (Dec. 1970). © 2012 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Busting Up the Boys Club! (below) Ya can’t blame us for not resisting one last detailed gander at Val’s debut, on the striking cover of The Avengers #83 (Dec. 1970), with art by John Buscema and Tom Palmer. She’s a feisty one, she is! © 2012 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Valkyrie becomes custodian of the disgraced Moondragon and in the end sacrifices herself to defeat the malevolent Dragon of the Moon, but happily this is not the end of her story. Thanks to her role as a chooser of the slain, she resurfaces in Strange Tales v. 2. #5 (Aug. 1987) along with several of her teammates, also recently deceased, continuing the battle along the borders of the Land of the Dead. She is shortly revived in Doctor Strange vol. 3 #3 (Mar. 1989) as part of the Dragon Circle, occupying yet another host, Sian Bowen, but this incarnation didn’t prove as lasting as the last had, and she was largely absent from Marvel Comics for the ensuing decade. As the mainstay of the original title, Valkyrie could hardly be left out of the second Defenders series, and when she returns thanks to Kurt Busiek and Erik Larsen, it is once again in the form of the long-forgotten Samantha Parrington. When the revival of the title faltered after considerable critical disdain, Valkyrie languished once more, until Ed Brubaker elected to revive the original version for his Secret Avengers. One of her more notable appearances during the 1990s had been Valkyrie #1 (Jan. 1997), which sported a cover image by Pablo Raimondi informed by the aesthetic of male fantasy propagated by the contemporary badgirl trend, demonstrating just how far the culture had shifted, but a more recent eponymous

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one-shot (Sept. 2010) from writer Bryan J. L. Glass and artists Jay Anacleto and Phil Winslade saw a return to the classic vision of Norse mythology, an eternal warrior for a new era. Comparisons to Wonder Woman aside, Valkyrie has proven a likable and original character, suitable as a role model for any reader, male or female. As in Wagner’s Die Walküre, the sum of her use by various writers at Marvel Comics came to define her character through her compassion and her steadfast determination to do the right thing even if it required personal sacrifice. As her co-creator Roy Thomas says, “Haven’t read enough comics to know if the Valkyrie has fulfilled her potential, but if she’s been around for years, she’s probably come close.” Indeed she has.

J O N A T H A N MILLER once met Gloria Steinhem after attending one of her speaking engagements and he’s been a big fan of liberated women ever since. He suggested the theme for this issue.

Alex Boney

One of the most difficult things about writing (and writing about) superheroes that have existed for decades is that it’s hard to continually recapture the context and zeitgeist surrounding their creation. If comic books are mirrors for society, and their characters reflect specific historical moments and movements, then superheroes start losing a bit of their relevance as soon as the moment of their creation is over. Dazzler, Luke Cage, and even Superman are very much products of their time. Some have worn better than others because their symbolism is more enduring or better able to adapt.

Danvers Defiant! A melange of Ms. Marvel imagery. Main figure is our heroine detailed from the cover of Ms. Marvel vol. 1 #18 (June 1978), and background triptych (from left) is Carol Danvers in her spiffy new costume (cover, Ms. Marvel #20, Oct. 1978); as Binary (cover, Uncanny X-Men #164, Dec. 1982); and her modern-day threads (standing in as her guise as Warbird) from the cover of Ms. Marvel #12 (Apr. 2007). First three are by Dave Cockrum and last is by Greg Horn. © 2012 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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has suffered differently. Despite all of this—perhaps even because of it—Ms. Marvel has remained one of the most resilient, enduring, and determined heroines in comic-book history. And when it comes to “liberated ladies” of comics, she provides a useful and instructive case study.

CAROL DANVERS

Danvers’ Debut (above) The future Ms. Marvel was first introduced within the Marvel Universe as foil for Captain Marvel, the Kree warrior, in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (Mar. 1968). Words by Roy Thomas and art by Gene Colan and Paul Reinman. © 2012 Marvel Characters, Inc.

But when time passes, and American society shifts toward new interests and concerns, creators struggle to make extant superheroes keep up with that change. Sometimes they take drastic measures to keep characters relevant, and sometimes the heroes end up worse for that wear. One of the characters who has experienced some of the greatest, most drastic, and most troubling transformations over the last 35 years is Carol Danvers. Originally created as a bit supporting character for Marvel’s 1960s Captain Marvel series, Carol went on to become Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird, and Ms. Marvel (again). In some ways, Ms. Marvel is the Marvel equivalent of DC’s Power Girl. Both characters were created during a rising tide of feminism in the 1970s, both have been powered up and depowered frequently by male creators, and both have suffered extraordinary physical violations including rape and mysterious supernatural pregnancies. It’s easy to make the case that superheroes (male and female alike) have suffered various forms of horrible torment over the decades. After all, torment creates drama. But there’s something peculiar and almost fetishistic about the gendered nature of the torments devised for Carol Danvers—a character who was created to be an embodiment of feminine strength and willpower. Carol hasn’t necessarily suffered more than her male counterparts. But she

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Although Ms. Marvel debuted in the late 1970s, Carol Danvers had already been a part of Marvel continuity for nearly ten years. Carol debuted in Marvel SuperHeroes #13 (Mar. 1968) as a background character in the story that introduced Captain Marvel (or Mar-Vell— an alien officer who was sent by the technologically advanced Kree Empire to spy on Earth’s space-age capabilities). General Bridges, a commander at an unspecified Cape (presumably Kennedy at the time), introduces Carol Danvers in the following way: “Dr. Lawson, this is Miss Danvers! Man or woman, she’s the finest Head of Security a missile base could want!” This was high praise for a woman who had achieved such a lofty military position in the 1960s, and it established Carol as a tough, independent career woman from the very beginning. When Captain Marvel graduated to his own ongoing series a couple months later (May 1968), Carol came with him as a recurring part of his supporting cast. She was not just strong-willed, but almost precognitive. Carol immediately distrusted Dr. Walter Lawson (Mar-Vell’s stolen secret identity), who she correctly thought was hiding a secret. While her initial skepticism was based largely on intuition (and Lawson’s suspicious behavior), it was also egged on by Lawson’s regressive attitude toward women in power. In Captain Marvel #5, Lawson tells Carol that her wariness is “perfectly obvious! You’re a woman—a lovely woman, in fact! And you’ve been given a very masculine role in life! Naturally, psychological conflicts must arise when a beautiful young woman is asked to play at policeman!” This sort of condescension was part of the humorous wink/nudge appeal of Carol’s role in those early issues. While she was strong and professional, she occasionally acted “like a skittish girl” (Captain Marvel #6) and served as a love interest for Mar-Vell during the book’s first couple years. She continued to distrust Lawson while fawning over MarVell—a romantic-triangle dynamic that changed considerably in Captain Marvel #18, which proved to be a major turning point for Carol Danvers. When Yon-Rogg (another Kree officer) travels to Earth to attack his arch-foe MarVell, Carol is caught in the middle of the battle. She finds herself trapped in a cavern when a Kree device

Marvelous Ms. (right) Panel from Ms. Marvel #1 (Jan. 1977), with words by Gerry Conway and art by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott. (below) Snagged from the Fireside book, The Superhero Women, by Stan Lee (1977), is John Romita, Sr.’s frontispiece to the Ms. Marvel tale, itself a detail originally from his Spidey Super Stories #22 (Apr. 1977) cover. © 2012 Marvel Characters, Inc.

called the Psyche-Magnitron explodes and bathes her with energy. While Carol is seemingly still alive at the end of the issue, she disappears from the book for several years. When Carol appears again in Captain Marvel #34 (Sept. 1974), she has moved on from her position at the Cape to become the Security Advisor for the Defense Department. While she demonstrates no physical side-effects of the Psyche-Magnitron, she has had to deal with the professional fallout of her time at the Cape: “Ever since the Walter Lawson/Captain Marvel foul-up at the Cape, I’ve been on the spot with some four-star chauvinists—so I’m running this show tight.” Carol’s reappearance in a couple late issues of Captain Marvel connected her back to Mar-Vell’s beginnings, but her status as a major supporting character was clearly at an end. She’d have to wait a few more years to step back to the front of the stage.

MS. MARVEL (ORIGIN) In a premiere issue cover-dated January 1977, Gerry Conway and John Buscema reintroduced Carol Danvers as an independent career woman in a completely different context. Whereas Stan Lee (editor), Roy Thomas and Arnold Drake (writers), and Gene Colan (artist) had presented Carol as a security officer in a decade of military escalation, Conway and Buscema adapted the character to a new decade and repackaged her as Marvel’s strong, vocal representative of the Women’s Liberation Movement. When Ms. Marvel #1 hit the stands, Carol Danvers was no longer a military officer or security advisor of any sort. Rather, she was the editorin-chief of a new magazine (published by J. Jonah Jameson, of course) called Woman. If the name and professional position looked familiar, it was by design. Feminist author and advocate Gloria Steinem had started a magazine called Ms. five years earlier. The gendered nature of Ms. Marvel wasn’t just apparent from the title and the protagonist; feminist sensibilities were woven through the entire book. The cover of Ms. Marvel #1 announced her as “A bold new superheroine in the senses-stunning tradition of SpiderMan!” The thugs attacking her in the first few pages call her “dame” and “broad.” One bystander says, “I’ve seen tough—but that little lady makes Lynda Carter look like Olive Oyl!” After the street fight, a little girl says, “Mommy, I’ve never seen a woman like that— have you? Wow! When I grow up—I wanna be just like her!” And naturally, J. Jonah Jameson’s chauvinism is introduced as a major thematic antagonist to Carol’s progressive leanings. Jonah laments that “Lately … I haven’t had the time to devote myself to our magazine department—particularly, our women’s magazines— and let me tell you, Miss Danvers, it shows. Articles on Women’s Lib, interviews with Kate Millet, stories about careers for women—yecch.” Even the end of that first issue is important. For the letters-page back-matter of Ms. Marvel #1, Gerry

Conway wrote a letter that remains one of the most significant statements about Ms. Marvel as a character (and men writing female characters) ever written. In the letter, Conway argues that “you might see a parallel between her quest for identity, and the modern woman’s quest for raised consciousness, for self-liberation, for identity. In a way, that’s intentional. Ms. Marvel, because of her name if nothing else, is influenced, to a great extent, by the move toward women’s liberation. She is not a Marvel Girl; she’s a woman, not a Miss or a Mrs.—a Ms. Her own person. Herself. But she doesn’t know who she is…. Naturally, in time, she’ll learn her true identity (in two issues, to be exact, if you’re statistically inclined), but that search for self will continue for as long as the character lasts. Ms. Marvel is many things, but most of all she’s a growing personality, constantly reaching for a better understanding of herself as a human being.” While it seemed clear that the socio-political winds of change provided the driving force behind the creation of Ms. Marvel, Conway now looks back on the creation of the book with a more practical perspective. “It actually came about for fairly uncreative reasons,” Conway recalls. “I had been brought over to Marvel to be an editor-in-chief, and that didn’t turn out so well for me. I didn’t really enjoy the time I was there, and the people who were under me were not happy with having to work for me, and it just became more hassle than it was worth. One of the things I had been attacked for by people there was the idea that I was kicking them off books in order to take over [writing] their books. This Liberated Ladies Issue • BACK ISSUE • 23

Trio of Titanic Talent (from left) Barbara Randall Kesel, Gail Simone, and Jill Thompson in photos taken this summer on the convention circuit by Shannon E. Riley.

They’ve made significant contributions to the world of comics, making inroads for other female creators and leaving their own personal mark on some of the biggest icons. Now, the always brilliant, funny, and passionate Barbara Randall Kesel, Gail Simone, and Jill Thompson talk to BACK ISSUE in an exclusive “Pro2Pro” interview— sharing their thoughts on the industry, the power of Barbara Gordon, and the rise of social media. – Shannon E. Riley SHANNON E. RILEY: Barbara, let’s start with what I think is one of the best stories I’ve ever heard about breaking into the comics industry. You wrote a tenpage letter to DC editor Dick Giordano about the portrayal of women in comics—and he was so impressed, he hired you! Tell me about that letter and how it came about. BARBARA RANDALL KESEL: Well, it starts with an attempted abduction. Mine. No, really. When I was in college, a tiny, little thing who looked much younger

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than I was, I worked at the library in Pomona, California. I was early and walking along the row of antique stores on a closed-off section of street when this guy ran up behind me, put his arm around me, and cheerfully told me how happy he was about our trip to the mountains. This was before the first Terminator movie, but I had the eerie experience of “seeing” instructions in the air in front of me kind of like the Terminator POV: “Stay calm, keep responding to keep him talking, you have 100 yards to get away from him and safe or he’ll catch up to you,” and “Oh, by the way, all of these stores are closed.” Then I saw an open door on the left and bolted. I ended up inside a used bookstore with a startled couple behind the center desk. I raced into the stacks shouting, “I’m not here and you don’t see me!” The guy followed me in and asked them if they’d seen his girlfriend. They told him she’d gone out the other door into the parking lot. They then locked that door behind him and asked if I needed the police. Well, today? Instant AMBER Alert.

Shannon E. Riley

conducted throughout May, June, and

Back then? I said no, because even though I knew I was in serious danger, he never spoke a direct threat, he carried no weapon, and I wasn’t even sure I could describe him. I was afraid that the only result would be an incident report with my name and address on it that he might be able to get his hands on somehow. “But I’ll take one of every one of those comic books on the rack behind you,” I said. I was just under 20, and I’d never lived near a store when I could buy new comics every month. I’d found new ones on road trips and used ones from the little used bookstore next to the Kroger in Seabrook, Texas, but never had a reliable source before that. That store must have gotten half my salary for the next couple of years. And I got to know Carl and Frances Pfeiffer and some of the cast of store regulars enough to grouse about how lame the women in some of the stories were. Frances was the one to suggest I write in and tell them my opinion—it hadn’t occurred to me that they were happening now and I could comment! So I only

July 2011

ever wrote six letters before the big one. In the lettercol of one of the Batman books, a writer had asked how come DC’s women weren’t as complicated as characters as the men, and suggested DC hire more women creators. Dick Giordano’s editorial reply was that he didn’t think it mattered. So I wrote a tome. I was at Cal Poly getting my theater degree at the time, so I outlined a dozen things they could do to make their characters better—tricks we use as actors, playwrights, and directors, and how they could apply to comics. So Dick called me and asked how far Diamond Bar was from San Diego, and could I come to the convention there to meet him? He hired me to write the Batgirl back-up in Detective when I didn’t take the job he offered me because I wanted to finish off my degree. After I graduated, I took the next editorial opening. Tah dah! So … I’m in comics because I didn’t end up as a body in a canyon. Or a refrigerator! RILEY: Speaking of which … Gail, your website “Women in Refrigerators” similarly cast a light on Liberated Ladies Issue • BACK ISSUE • 37

Beginnings: Batgirl back-up stories in Detective Comics #518–519 (Sept.–Oct. 1982)

Milestones: The Fury of Firestorm / Hawkman / Secret Origins / Batgirl Special / Teen Titans Spotlight / Who’s Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes / Hawk & Dove / Who’s Who in the DC Universe / Spelljammer / Comics’ Greatest World: Golden City / Ultragirl / WildC.A.T.s / Superboy / Superman: Lois Lane / Elseworld’s Finest: Supergirl and Batgirl / Meridian / Sigil / The First / CrossGen Chronicles / Aqua / Rogue Angel: Teller of Tall Tales

Works in Progress: Working with Cat Staggs on a new character for the Womanthology project / Graphic novel to be announced soon

Cyberspace: Find Barbara Kesel on Facebook

BARBARA RANDALL KESEL

Detective Debut (inset right) Barbara Randall got her start as writer in the comics field scripting Batgirl back-ups in Detective Comics #518 & 519 (Sept. and Oct. 1982, respectively). Cover art by Jim Aparo. TM & © DC Comics.

the treatment of women in comics. You generated an extensive character list and their respective fates—starting with “All of Savage Dragon’s girlfriends (dead)” to “Zatanna (powers severely limited).” Was there a specific storyline that prompted you to take action and let your voice be heard? GAIL SIMONE: There were a couple, but I should add here that I think the list is the weakest part of the site … I didn’t write it, I asked readers at the ComicBook Resources.com website to make their suggestions and not all the answers fit the criteria established, as much as one would hope. Erik Larsen, for example, takes understandable umbrage with the Savage Dragon mention. I haven’t read his work, so I don’t really know. However, the point of the list and the site was pretty spoton, and most of the pros I talked to about it at the time, they agreed, they knew

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immediately what I was talking about. There was a Green Lantern story where the hero came home and found his very likable and interesting girlfriend chopped up and stuffed in a fridge, and there was also the shooting of Barbara Gordon, Batgirl, in the industry classic, Batman: The Killing Joke. [Author’s note: Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend, Alex, is killed and stuffed into a refrigerator by the villain Major Force in Green Lantern #54 (Aug. 1994).] It’s silly on one level—it’s all just stories, right? But at the same time, all these guys were wondering online all the time, “Why don’t women read comics?” And the sheer immensity of the violent and often sexualized portrayals really weighed down on me as a reader—I quit reading for a good while. Male heroes sometimes died, but not in the same manner … the girls were being killed just to make the hero’s quest for vengeance more justified. It got hugely boring on top of being nasty as a gender issue. We should have started with a fun question! RILEY: Were you surprised by the response you got from fellow fans and creators in the industry? SIMONE: Well, not from creators, a lot knew exactly what I was asking. Some disagreed, that was fine, but almost all were very respectful. As for fans, I’ve heard so much nonsense that isn’t on the site over the years—for example, the site is asking a question, not stating a proposition, you know? And the words “sexist” and “misogynist” are never used. But I’m still being called vile names from people who never even read the site all these years later. It’s good fun, I have to laugh at it now. But at the time, I think it was an unexpectedly powerful bit of almost unintentional activism. The phrase has gone far beyond comics and is used in other media, as well. And it made a difference, I wouldn’t have said it did for a long time, but I have been in high-level meetings at comics companies where it came up, and the people there didn’t even know I’d made the site. It made people aware, at least a little bit, that there are female readers, something that just wasn’t really acknowledged for a long, long time. RILEY: How do you think things have changed since “Women in Refrigerators”? SIMONE: Oh, it’s better. The trope still exists, but now we have enough female creators, editors, and readers that even the goofiest of goofs has to admit they’re part of the readership. JILL THOMPSON: There are more women [working in the industry]. They may not be working necessarily at the two bigger companies… When I started working professionally in comics, one of the reasons that I was actually able to get my foot in the door or [that] people saw my portfolio was, I was easy to spot. I was “that girl that

wanted to draw comics,” because I was pretty much that one girl. There were maybe five of us, and if we weren’t at the same convention at the same time, [it was] “There’s that one girl with the portfolio!” [laughs] Now I’m so happy that there are little girls that come up to me and show me their comics. They say that I inspire them. I’ve met so many girls now that come up to me at comic conventions, which I would have never had years ago. The last convention I was at [I had] 12 girls—which was amazing to me—they said they are going to the American Academy of Art because I went there. It makes me feel great—they’re my kids! And they want to draw comics. It’s like, they want to learn all about illustration and stuff, but they love comics. And manga, too, but they really, really love this form of storytelling no matter what the style is. That’s what I’m really proud of. RILEY: Barbara, how about since you wrote your letter to Dick Giordano? KESEL: Well, there’s been one extraordinary change: 30 years ago, [if you] did a lineup of comics creators and had 30 people in line, you had 29 white males and one “other.” Nowadays, if you take a random selection of comics creators and you line them up, you can still set it up [so] that you only get a lineup of 30 white males, but there’s so many more voices represented. Technology has allowed so many more people to tell their own stories. Technology’s been the biggest change, since pretty much anyone can produce a fourcolor comic on their Mac and then send it off to the same printer the big boys use. The only barrier is money. There’s [also] a hugely broader accepted range of what makes a comic book. The biggest change has been from the point of educators and librarians. The same people who historically pooh-poohed comic books as “not literature” have grown up, have done

studies, there have been scholarly reports where all of a sudden they realize, “Oh, sh*t, this makes kids into better readers. This makes slow readers into better readers because the integration of both lobes of the brain using both the text and the artwork causes you to focus, to figure through the side where you’re deficient and sum up the story better,” so on a scholarly level people have realized that comics [are] this incredible teaching tool. It still frustrates me that it doesn’t feel like anybody is truly taking advantage of this. I worked on one property with Marvel where they tried to do this through a textbook company [with] a graphic novel for kids’ programs. That’s fine, except kids don’t like to read crappy stories any more than adults do and when you have something that’s been piecemealed to death by a textbook company, it’s just bland prechewed food. There may be some good ideas in there, but it’s [watered down] out of fear that someone will be offended. I mean, Harry Potter has shown us you can find a dozen people who will be offended by any one thing [in the series], and yet it’s this extraordinary, rich story that has a whole spectrum of different kinds of characters involved in it. This is my particular passion: I want to do comics that are socially complicated without being overtly sexual or overtly violent so they will fit comfortably in any school library … but I don’t want to do them through any kind of textbook company because I want to be able to do them with character peculiarities. Then I want to graft teaching materials onto that where you have information that’s both been embedded in the comics to be used that way or inspires people to come in and say, “Oh, look, you can pluck this, this, or this out of it,” and create a teaching tool there that somebody might actually really enjoy being taught by. Right now you have a lot of kids learning from comics. If they’re looking at mainstream comics, what they’re mostly learning is violence and death, violence and death, violence and death … which is exciting and dramatic and, you know, it’s been a staple of saga and opera and stories for the entire life of human beings, but there’s plenty of smaller drama not being explored, those first moments of embarrassment or disappointment or betrayal. Oh, and I don’t want to be dumping on the comics

Barbara by Barbara Many a BRK fan first encountered Barbara Randall Kesel’s work during her memorable stint writing Batgirl. Here’s her Batgirl Special #1 (1988) with cover art by a young Mike “Hellboy” Mignola. Barbara’s artist partner on her first stint chronicling Barbara Gordon’s heroics was Trevor von Eeden, who drew the piece at left. TM & © DC Comics.

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Co-Star Starfire OTHER STARFIRE APPEARANCES After the end of her series, Starfire made a few appearances, some of which seemed wildly out of continuity. Following is a listing and description of the further adventures of Starfire.

Star Hunters #7 (Oct.–Nov. 1978) Starfire and Claw the Unconquered are revealed as two of the “eternal champions of the Sornaii” on an alternate world in the dimensional multiverse.

Who’s Who in the DC Universe #22 (Dec. 1986) Mike Vosburg illustrated the one-page capsule summary on Starfire in DC’s monthly encyclopedic tome.

Swamp Thing vol. 2 #163 (Feb. 1996) Courtesy of the artist, Mike Vosburg pin-up of his memorable character Starfire. Starfire TM & © DC Comics.

tremendously, and hopefully during the run of the book I improved a good bit as an artist.” And what has become of the “Siren of Sword and Science”? As you’ll see from our sidebar, she’s made a few appearances, still fighting the good fight for freedom … and asymmetrical jumpsuits.

The dark character Nightmaster is unstable and apparently creating alternate realities with his subconscious mind. Among those created are the characters of Starfire, Stalker, and Claw. No other story has referenced this plot point.

All interviews were conducted in July 2011. Artwork is courtesy Dave Michelinie, Mike Vosburg, the collection of Andy Mangels, and Heritage Comics Auctions.

Starman #55 (July 1999)

ANDY MANGELS is the USA Today bestselling author and co-author of 20 books, including the recent TwoMorrows release Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation, as well as Iron Man: Beneath The Armor, and a lot of comic books. A d d i t i o n a l l y, he has scripted, directed, and produced S p e c i a l Features for over 40 DVD releases. His moustache is infamous. w w w. A n d y Mangels.com

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In a Rashomon–style story, Space Cabby, Space Ranger, and Ultra the Multi-Alien tell a flashback story involving Starfire being saved from Jarko the space pirate by two of the DC Starmen. Amusingly, each story features a different Starfire: one features Leonid Kovar, the Russian Starfire from the Silver Age Teen Titans book (later known as Red Star); another features the sword-wielding heroine of the 1970s; and the third features the buxom, goldenskinned Koriand’r from the New Teen Titans series.

Time Masters: Vanishing Point #2–5 (Oct. 2010–Jan. 2011) Starfire is one of several characters that take part in the storyline, along with Booster Gold, Rip Hunter, Superman, Green Lantern, and Claw.

Starfire Forever!

Jim Ford

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ardous, surged toward the station, threatening them all. Jean piloted the shuttle while the X-Men were secured inside a shielded compartment. She hoped that her talents would allow her to survive the solar flares long enough to get home. In X-Men #100 (Aug. 1976), Jean gave her life so that others might live. It would not be the final time that she would have to make that choice.

OLD SCHOOL Jean was introduced in X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963) as the newest student to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. She was given the name Marvel Girl and learned that she was among four other students who all had special mutant talents. Together they would become the X-Men. As the only young woman on a team with five other men (including her teacher, Professor Xavier), Jean was the center of attention. It was Cyclops, a reserved 18year-old, who caught her eye. Jean was 17. She started flirting with him in X-Men #3 (Jan. 1964), but he was painfully shy, afraid of the devastation his uncontrollable optic blasts could cause should he relax his guard. Jean, with Cyclops, whose real name is Scott Summers, continued their nervous flirtations until after Jean had left the team for Metro College. A flashback in X-Men #138 (Oct. 1980) showed that they had proclaimed their love for each other behind the scenes of X-Men #32 (May 1967), but they were not shown as a couple until X-Men #48 (Sept. 1968). Marvel Girl’s talents were subtle, even demure. She was able to lift small objects using telekinesis. Later, with experience, and as the demands of the story required, the strength of her telekinesis grew and she was given the power of telepathy. Marvel Girl may have been the weakest of the X-Men. All that changed.

ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT

Mutants in Love! Teammates Scott (Cyclops) Summers and Jean (Marvel Girl) Grey officially became an item in the pages of X-Men #48 (Sept. 1968). Cover art by John Romita. (inset right) X-Men cocreator Jack Kirby and inker Chic Stone’s pin-up from X-Men #9 (Jan. 1965). © 2012 Marvel Characters, Inc.

“Hear me, X-Men!” Jean Grey shouted as she soared into the sky. “No longer am I the woman you knew! I am fire! And life incarnate! Now and forever—I am Phoenix!” Bathed in a corona of fire, her mind burning, Jean then plummeted unconscious and barely alive in X-Men #101 (Oct. 1976). That she had survived at all was miraculous. That she was now transformed, a Phoenix forged from solar flame, was unimaginable. Jean was a mutant with the talents of telepathy and telekinesis. She was kidnapped in X-Men #98 (Apr. 1976) and found herself, along with Wolverine and other members of the X-Men, held captive aboard an orbiting space station. Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men, had led a team to rescue her. Their space shuttle was critically damaged. Solar flare activity, unusually heavy and especially haz-

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A new creative team took over the series with GiantSize X-Men #1 (1975). Writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum were the architects of the new team of XMen. Chris Claremont became writer with the first regular issue, X-Men #94 (Aug. 1975). Cyclops remained as the only original member while Jean unceremoniously left her life as Marvel Girl behind in that issue. Wein told Peter Sanderson in an interview for Fantagraphics Books’ 1982 volume The X-Men Companion (TXC), “She was meant to come back in just a few months. The two of them couldn’t stay apart and she was going to show up again … with redesigned powers. We were going to revamp her not quite into what Phoenix became, but make her a different character, because we all thought she was a wimp, that she wasn’t worth it. We had to pretty much reconstruct Jean Grey as a character.” As for her redesigned powers, the final page of X-Men #100 suggests Jean was bombarded with cosmic rays. The “tac-tac-tac” sound effect is reminiscent of Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961), when cosmic rays penetrated the command capsule of Reed Richards’ rocketship. The original intention may have been that her mutant powers would be augmented by the same means as the Fantastic Four received their powers.

Cockrum initially did five different versions for Phoenix’s new costume: all-white with gold gloves, boots and sash. The all-white costume was rejected by then-editor-in-chief Archie Goodwin because readers would be able to see the opposite printed page through the costume. Goodwin directed Cockrum to use Marvel Girl’s original light-green colors for her costume. “I was really miffed about it for a long time,” Cockrum admitted in TXC. He wanted Jean, who was a green-eyed, redhead, “…to look terrific and be terrific, and she kind of got clichéd—became a cliché—unfortunately.” Cockrum explained, “Because before Farrah Fawcett became big she was doing Wella-Balsam commercials and things like that and occasionally appearing in [Cosmopolitan] and I thought she was terrific, and so that’s who Jean became. And then she had to un-become Farrah Fawcett after Farrah became a big deal.” Recalling that Jean had become a bathing-suit model when the team disbanded in X-Men #48, Cockrum further explained that they all wanted her to be more flamboyant than what she had been as Marvel Girl. “First, Dave and I deliberately set out to make her more independent and attractive before we made her into Phoenix,” Claremont said in TXC. “I saw no reason why a young, intelligent, attractive, courageous, heroic young woman should look like a Republican frump.” Claremont was building a reputation for writing strong women. One such woman was Misty Knight, a supporting character from Iron Fist. Misty had moved into a fashionable apartment with Jean in New York’s Greenwich Village and welcomed Jean’s release from the hospital in Iron Fist #11 (Feb. 1977). Perhaps Claremont intended to suggest that Jean’s newfound style was influenced by Misty Knight. Phoenix was more than simply Marvel Girl with a new look. Jean learned the full extent of her powers in X-Men #105 (June 1977) when Professor Xavier was attacked by Firelord, a former herald of the worlddevourer Galactus. With a thought, Jean transmuted her clothing into her costume. She shot into the air, burning the atmosphere around her. She slammed Firelord with telekinetic bursts of incredible force and shielded herself from his starbolts, the same blasts of energy that had stopped Thor. “Dave and I kind of liked the idea that we had a female character who was cosmic,” Claremont said in a 1979 interview with Margaret O’Connell in The Comics Journal #50. “No one else did. Len [Wein, then editor of Thor] objected strenuously to our using Firelord if Phoenix beat him. We couldn’t have a lady character who’s cosmic, because— well, his argument was that it made the rest of the XMen superfluous.” With her powers now rivaling that of gods, she felt an exhilarating—almost frightening— feeling of ecstasy. It was intoxicating, and had she allowed her emotions to dominate, she would have killed Firelord. “We got around it,” Claremont continued, “by having the fight be a draw. And by making sure Phoenix got the last shot, which is blasting Firelord ten or twelve miles into New Jersey.” Phoenix then demonstrated how cosmic she was by energizing a star-gate, allowing the X-Men to pursue their prey across the galaxies. Later, she even brought a meteor from outer space crashing to the ground. There seemed nothing she could not accomplish. The plasma rippling around Phoenix manifested itself as a fiery raptor. “Well, I did the bird, but I didn’t do it the way [John Byrne] does it, and I like his better,” Cockrum said, again in TXC, talking about the unique

Phoenix effect he had created to represent Jean’s power. “Mine was more Kirby-crackle, brush-scratch sort of thing, and he refined it into the very elegant, sweeping stylized bird that it is now.” John Byrne replaced Cockrum as penciler with X-Men #108 (Dec. 1977), when the series began monthly publication. “My early Jean Grey was Raquel Welch,” Byrne remarked in TXC. On a planet in the distant Shi’ar Empire, Phoenix saved the universe in X-Men #108. The X-Men found themselves pawns in a galactic civil war. Within an extra-dimensional doomsday device called the M’Kraan Crystal, Jean was tortured by nightmarish visions of dying. She realized that she had already died and been reborn. “We agonized over what the hell she did,” Cockrum said in TXC, “‘Well, she can die and be resurrected with some super-power.’ I don’t know if we made it all that clear to the readers, but we knew she died up there and recreated herself, and later on we made it more clear, but beyond that it took us a long

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Malevolence Soars (above) The Marvel Universe senses things are amiss as Dark Phoenix takes to the stars on this X-Men #135 page. Words by Claremont; art by Byrne and Austin. (inset) Cyclops despairs over the fate of his beloved on Byrne and Austin’s moody cover of X-Men #136 (Aug. 1980). © 2012 Marvel Characters, Inc.

tem. Despite the debt of gratitude they owed Jean, they could not allow her to continue to threaten the universe. The original ending of X-Men #137 was different than what was published. Jean was to be stripped of her power by means of Shi’ar technology and returned to the care of the X-Men. “I saw what was going to happen to Phoenix in issue #137, and I did not feel that it worked,” Jim Shooter said in PTUS. “I thought that it was out of character for the X-Men. I felt that it was a cop out. I had a big problem the way the story was resolved. I mean, this lady had wiped out an inhabited planet, then destroyed a starship full of people…. I was very unhappy with it. I felt that the way the story was originally designed to end, it did not have enough consequences for what happened—it wasn’t an ending. I found that the story was kind of … in a way, it wimped out. It ended with her being back with the X-Men, seemingly without much concern on their part about what she had done, which struck me as being out of character for them.” Shooter requested that the ending be changed after the pages had already been penciled

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and lettered. Claremont and Byrne agreed that it was Shooter’s prerogative to ask for the changes, but were angered that the directive came at the last minute. Over the next few days, a new ending was written. The final six pages and certain panels were redrawn and several word balloons and captions were rewritten. Shooter said, “I want to make it clear that it was less my moral problem with a character who was a mass murderer than it was a problem from a story sense. I don’t think the situation was being credibly addressed.” The X-Men defended Jean from the Shi’ar Empire in a duel of honor. In the final moments of X-Men #137, Phoenix shattered the psychic barriers Professor Xavier had erected after seeing Scott struck down in battle. The X-Men rallied to stop her before the rage, fear, and sadness she felt overwhelmed her. Jean begged, but they could not find the will to end her suffering. Weakened and exhausted, Jean again dissociated herself from Phoenix, as she had in XMen #108. She could only cope with the atrocities she had committed by believing she was two beings, Jean Grey and Phoenix, symbiotic and inseparable. Jean was a troubled young woman who had given more to the universe than any person should be asked. Her mind was so beautiful it would not let her die, but having survived death, it broke. On the dark side of the Moon, in the ruins of an ancient alien colony, Jean Grey killed herself. She was just 24 years old. Rather than risk the death of the man she loved, the deaths of her friends, or of the entire universe, Jean gave her life so that others might live. Scott once told her, “For love of the X-Men, you sacrificed your life. For love of me, you resurrected yourself. For love of the whole universe, you almost died a second time to save it. Know nothing of love?” he asked, bewildered. “Jean, you are love.” JIM FORD knows his friends are tired of him talking about comics all the time, so he is glad for the opportunity to write some of it down. He was especially excited to be able to write about the “Dark Phoenix Saga,” his single favorite superhero story.

She stumbled out of the blocks, but the She-Hulk went from knock-off to actual character in the space of 25 issues There are characters that make was doing the Hulk TV show,” says by D o u g l a s R . K e l l y writer David Anthony Kraft. their entrances fully formed, exploding onto comics pages or televisions “Apparently, their attorneys or or movie screens with definitive qualities that somebody over there thought they hook readers and viewers from the start. It’s hard to pic- had discovered a loophole and that they could basicalture James Bond as anything other than a super-cool ly spin the Hulk off without having to license it from spy, Wonder Woman as anything other than a powerful Marvel. The word at the time was that Universal was Amazon princess, or Adrian Monk as anything other working on some female form of the Hulk. So Marvel than a brilliant detective who’s afraid of milk. had to spring into action and Stan basically cranked out The She-Hulk doesn’t fall into this category. In fact, something really quick, just to get it out there.” when the decision makers at Marvel Comics decided, in In order to launch the character as quickly as possithe fall of 1979, to launch a new title based on the ble, they turned to artist John Buscema, another storycharacter, the only thing they knew for sure was that it teller in the Marvel fold who could turn out high-qualwould be a female version of the Incredible Hulk. “The ity work as fast as the legendary Stan Lee. “Stan not genesis of the whole book was that Universal Television only works incredibly quickly, he’s somebody who can

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