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THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

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STAR WARS

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at Dark Horse Comics!

LICENSED COMICS ISSUE: Indiana Jones • Edgar Rice Burroughs—Beyond Tarzan • Man from Atlantis and an interview with Carol Serling, wife of “Twilight Zone” creator Rod Serling

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 #44

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DIEDGITIIOTANSL BL AVAILA

BACK ISSUE #41

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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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BACK ISSUE #46

BACK ISSUE #47

BACK ISSUE #48

(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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BACK ISSUE #49

BACK ISSUE #50

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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!

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

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

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

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $2.95

Volume 1, Number 55 April 2012 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, '90s, and Beyond!

The Retro Comics Experience!

EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks COVER ARTIST Brian Koschack COVER COLORIST Dan Jackson COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg

SPECIAL THANKS Scott Allie Kevin J. Anderson Michael Aushenker Jeremy Barlow Mike Baron Mike W. Barr Haden Blackman Eliot R. Brown Jarrod and Jamie Buttery John Byrne Paul Chadwick Brian Ching Chris Claremont Bob Cooper Dark Horse Comics Daniel DeAngelo Mark DiFruscio Chuck Dixon Jo Duffy Shawn and Matt Fillbach Preston Fowlks Alex Freed Carl Gafford Adam Gallardo Gary Gianni Ian Gibson Chris Gossett Grand Comic-Book Database Paul Gulacy Heritage Comics Auctions Eric Houston David Innes Pete Janes Dan Jurgens Michael W. Kaluta Cam Kennedy

Karl Kesel Dave Land Rick Leonardi Lucasfilm Pop Mahn Ron Marz Bob McLeod David Michelinie Allen Milgrom John Jackson Miller John Nadeau Jerry Ordway John Ostrander Steve Perry Thomas Powers Ron Randall Mike Richardson Anthony Snyder Herb Solow Chris Sprouse Michael A. Stackpole Randy Stradley Roger Stern Tom Taylor Roy Thomas Herb Trimpe Timothy Truman Tom Veitch Chris Warner Alan Weiss Doug Wheatley Whiskey Media Rob Williams Colin Wilson Ryder Windham Judd Winick Marv Wolfman Jim Woodring

BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 FLASHBACK: Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Weird Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Wolfman, Kaluta, and Weiss recall their DC Comics journeys to Barsoom, Venus, and beyond BEYOND CAPES: John Carter Lives! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Monthly adventures on Barsoom in Marvel Comics’ John Carter, Warlord of Mars BACKSTAGE PASS: Who Shot Down Man from Atlantis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 The cancellation of this Marvel TV adaptation might not have been a result of low sales INTERVIEW: The “Twilight” Saga: A Conversation with Carol Serling . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 The widow of Twilight Zone mastermind and Planet of the Apes screenwriter Rod Serling shares her fond memories FLASHBACK: Star Wars at Dark Horse Comics: The Force is Strong within Them! . . . .30 Dozens of creators comment on Dark Horse’s two decades of expanding George Lucas’ sci-fi universe FLASHBACK: When Adventure Had a Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Exploring Marvel Comics’ The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones BEYOND CAPES: Indiana Jones: Riding a Dark Horse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 How the publisher that takes licensed comics seriously revitalized movies’ favorite archaeologist GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Indiana Jones Unplugged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Dr. Jones’ dealings with Wilford Brimley and other unseen epics BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 Reader feedback 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. Six-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 Brian Koschack. Star Wars © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. 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 China. FIRST PRINTING. Licensed Comics Issue

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PROOFREADER Rob Smentek

Michael Eury

During much of the BACK ISSUE era of the 1970s and 1980s, licensed comics were the ugly stepchild of the business. They got “no respect— no respect at all” (with apologies to the late Rodney Dangerfield). That wasn’t always the case. Comic books based upon “external” properties had been around since the Golden Age—actually, the first comic books almost exclusively featured licensed material, being reprints of newspaper comic strips. Newsstands during the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s were loaded with comic books headlining stars from other media, mostly film and television characters. If you started reading comic books during any of those decades, chances are some media favorite such as Mickey Mouse or The Three Stooges or Bugs Bunny was your gateway title. And among collectors today, photo covers from Hollywood movie and TV entries in Dell’s Four Color series are highly prized. By the time the Bronze Age rolled around in 1970, licensed comics were mostly TV cartoon tie-ins offered by smaller publishers. Granted, this era witnessed several licensed-comics standouts, such as Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, Planet of the Apes, and Star Wars, and DC’s Tarzan and The Shadow, yet despite those highpoints, among professionals licensed titles generally interested only those writers and artists wanting to break into the business. Frequently, licensed comics carried the editorial baggage of a “meddling” licensor, the protector of a brand who often didn’t quite understand the lead time required to produce a comic book or the particulars of the medium. Eleventh-hour licensor-mandated changes were common, and contractual snags often delayed (or at times deep-sixed) projects in development.

In many cases, licensed comics started out with a bang, then sputtered. Even the cream of the licensing crop, including the aforementioned Marvel and DC titles and later add-ons like Micronauts, Godzilla, and ROM: Spaceknight, stumbled as their issue numbers increased. With all this baggage, it’s a wonder that Dark Horse Comics’ Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley even considered adding film franchises to their line. But we’re glad they did. Mike and Randy (and Dark Horse’s other founders) wanted to produce comics they would like to read, so why not publish series based on movie blockbusters like Godzilla and The Terminator? Dark Horse picked up the baton (or is that lightsaber?) dropped by Marvel after it abandoned its long-running Star Wars series, and now we’re pleased to spotlight the 20-year anniversary of Star Wars comics from Dark Horse—as well as a look at its continuations of Lucasfilm’s other big franchise, Indiana Jones! Today, largely thanks to Dark Horse’s successes with adapting media properties, licensed comics often attract top talents and become bestsellers and critical hits. To those longtime BI readers hyperventilating over this “new” material hogging space in this issue—fear not, True Believers! The Bronze Age is on display in this issue with our articles on DC’s Edgar Rice Burroughs series and Marvel’s Man from Atlantis, John Carter: Warlord of Mars, and The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones. We also flirt with the Silver Age as we speak with, in an exclusive interview, Carol Serling, the wife of Twilight Zone creator and Planet of the Apes screenwriter Rod Serling. There’s something for everyone in these pages—and to you new readers who picked up this issue because of its Star Wars coverage … welcome to Retro Land! Don’t be a stranger—come back again.

LICENSED COMICS COVERED IN PREVIOUS ISSUES #1: Tarzan (DC and Marvel) #2: Space Ghost vs. Herculoids #5: Star Trek #6: Godzilla (Marvel) #9: Star Wars (Marvel) #10: The Shadow (DC), Doc Savage #11: Conan the Barbarian (Marvel), The Wiz #14: Star Wars newspaper strip, Planet of the Apes (Marvel) #16: G. I. Joe, Gumby, Transformers, He-Man, ROM and Micronauts, Captain Action #18: Green Hornet (Now Comics) #23: The Secrets of Isis; Disney (Gladstone); Star Trek writers roundtable; Welcome Back, Kotter #24: Michael Golden interview (Micronauts) #25: Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman

#26: James Bond, Mr. T #27: Prince #30: Gary Owens and Steve Rude interviews (Space Ghost), Astro Boy (Now) #32: ROM: Spaceknight #33: James Bond, Jr. #34: Logan’s Run #39: Big Boy #40: ThunderCats #41: Team America #43: Rima, the Jungle Girl; Conan; Red Sonja; Korg: 70,000 B.C. #46: The Wolf Man #47: The Phantom (Charlton, DC); Justice, Inc.; Man-God #49: Planet of the Apes #52: Scooby-Doo

A long time ago—December 1993, my first year as an editor at Dark Horse Comics—my wife Rose and I hosted a Christmas party at our house for Dark Horse’s “orphans” who were too far away from home to go home for the holidays. Killian Plunkett (whose art you’ll see in this issue’s Star Wars feature) surprised me with this gift: a Flintstonesmeets-Star Wars painting! Yabba dabba doo! Star Wars © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. Flintstones TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions.

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® by

Jim Kingman

Terror at the Earth’s Core Cover detail from DC Comics’ Weird Worlds #2 (Oct.–Nov. 1973), featuring David Innes, star of Burroughs’ “Pellucidar” series. Cover art by Joe Orlando and Carmine Infantino. © 2012 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. (ERB, Inc.)

National Periodical Publications (DC Comics) acquired the rights from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. in 1971 to publish the serialized comic-book exploits of the science-fiction/adventure writer’s fictional characters. The more popular Tarzan and Korak (the ape-man’s adopted son) received their own separate titles, debuting in in early 1972, and both books continued the numbering from their previous publisher, Gold Key. An added bonus—especially to devoted Burroughs fans—were all-new backup features starring many of

Burroughs’ lesser-known adventurers. Unfortunately, weak to no product placement on the Tarzan and Korak covers kept the “lesser-known” aspect of these characters in place, although a Burroughs anthology book, Weird Worlds, allowed two of them more exposure. Still, to this day they all remain, with one notable exception, obscure and overlooked. That is a shame, because the four series—“John Carter of Mars,” “Carson of Venus,” “Pellucidar,” and “Beyond the Farthest Star”—are very good. Licensed Comics Issue

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THE FIRST PHASE (1972–1974) JOHN CARTER

Master of Adventure (center) Edgar Rice Burroughs in a 1929 photographic portrait. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com).

installments. The series was brought to an abrupt close when it was decided that a new feature, Howard Chaykin’s “Iron Wolf,” would take over Weird Worlds with issue #8. “John Carter, Warlord of Mars,” the adventures of an Writer Marv Wolfman chronicled Carter’s ex-Confederate soldier mystically transported to adventures from displaced alien to revered the savagely inhabited, decaying red planet, warrior, adapting Burroughs’ A Princess of made its first DC appearance as a backup Mars and The Gods of Mars, although feature in Tarzan #207 (Apr. 1972), Wolfman was not credited for the first edited by Joe Kubert. The series three installments of the series. continued in issues #208 and 209, Veteran comics artist Murphy with no mention of its existence on Anderson illustrated episodes 1, 3, any of the three covers (nice Tarzan 4, 5, and 6, with Gray Morrow illustrations by Kubert, though). pinch-hitting in episode 2, and upWhen DC dropped its thenand-coming artist Sal Amendola 52-page format and reverted to the taking over with episodes 7 standard 36-page size, which also through 10 when Anderson moved dropped the story page count from over to Korak, Son of Tarzan to draw 38 to 24, a new Burroughs book, its lead feature. Joe Orlando also Weird Worlds, edited by Denny O’Neil, provided inks on episode 7. was created to give John Carter a home, Wolfman discusses his experience where he was awarded half the book and writing John Carter for DC with BACK ISSUE: several cover appearances. The Warlord of “Joe was a really good editor with specific views Mars appeared in issues #1 through 7 (Aug.–Sept. 1972 through Sept.–Oct. 1973), for a total of ten of what he wanted. Denny rarely said anything and seemed to have no opinion of the material, but then, he was more of a realistic writer and maybe not into the space opera of Burroughs material. I would have loved to have worked closer with Murphy because he was a huge John Carter fan, but that wasn’t the way things were done back then. “The problem with DC’s John Carter at the time [was], every time I’d start a story I was told the book was going to be canceled, so ‘Wrap it right up.’ Then we were told to do another one. Then, as I’m writing it, we were told the book was being canceled and ‘Wrap it up.’ The stories came out disjointed and marv wolfman subpar. I loved the character, but, sadly, only when I was at Marvel did I feel any control over what I was doing. The DC run was fun to do, but didn’t really work.” Despite the disjointedness of the series, it remains a thrilling read. John Carter went from being chased by Native-American Indians, to being somewhat inexplicably transported to Mars, to acquiring great strength due to Mars’ lesser gravity, to being captured by Tharks (a fourarmed, green-skinned race), to punching and killing Tharks with one punch (which worked for and against Carter’s stature), to escaping the city with his immediate new love, the princess Dejah Thoris—all in the first five episodes. In the final five chapters, having been purposely separated from Dejah, Carter and his new ally, the Tharkanian Tars Tarkas, encountered many diverse creatures, beasts, and civilizations on Mars, including the plant men of the Valley Dor; the Holy Therns; Thuvia, master of the lion-like Banths; the Black Pirates; and Issus, Goddess of Life and Death. When Carter finally reached Helium,

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home of Dejah, he was greeted with a hero’s welcome, wed to the princess, and knighted the Warlord of Mars. Wolfman packed a lot of action, adventure, history, and geography into this series, briskly adapting two novels. John Carter would next appear on the cover of Tarzan Family #60 (Nov.–Dec. 1975), beginning a flat-out confusing progression of appearances that I will elaborate on shortly.

CARSON OF VENUS “Carson of Venus,” the exploits of a wayward American who catapulted for Mars but wound up on the floridly lush, savagely inhabited second planet from the sun, debuted as the second feature in Korak, Son of Tarzan #46 (May–June 1972). Unlike “John Carter” in Tarzan, “Carson of Venus” remained in Korak in the aftermath of the format change, continuing through issue #56, and was, again unlike “John Carter,” noted three times on the cover (#46, 48, and 53). Writer Len Wein scripted the first eight episodes of “Carson of Venus,” complemented by exquisite artwork from Michael W. Kaluta. The duo successfully adapted Pirates of Venus, even as Wein left the series towards the end of PoV. Kaluta remained as writer and artist on a sterling, albeit truncated, adaptation of Lost on Venus. Joe Orlando edited the first three installments, followed by Joe Kubert on the back eight in Korak. The last episode, number 12, found a different home, which some may not be aware of. Korak was abruptly canceled with issue #56 in November of 1973 (cover-dated Mar. 1974), with no announcement of the title character and Carson moving to the expanded 100-page Tarzan in January of 1974. With no more than a five-page appearance in Tarzan #230 (Apr.–May 1974), “Carson of Venus” was curtly cut off, almost midway through Kaluta’s adaptation of Lost on Venus. The comic-book series would never be concluded. Kaluta recalls his involvement with “Carson of Venus” to BACK ISSUE, starting with how he got the assignment: “I’d wandered by Joe Orlando’s office at DC (when the offices were on Third Ave. in the FDR Post Office Building, sharing the floor with the Independent

News Agency, distributors); he was excited that DC had just got the ERB stuff away from Gold Key. He said: ‘We’ve got all of Burroughs’ stuff; is there some story of his you’d love to draw?’ Everyone already knew Joe Kubert was going to handle Tarzan. I said, ‘Sure! The Barsoom Stories!!!’ Joe was quick to tell me that Murphy Anderson had that sewn up—Murphy had been wanting to draw John Carter of Mars since he was a kid. So I asked if I could do the Venus stories. Joe was unfamiliar with them. ‘Are they any good?’ I brought him a copy of Pirates of Venus and got the nod for the backup series within a day or two. ‘This stuff is really great!’ said Joe O. “Joe Orlando was very ‘hands off’ as editor,” Kaluta continues. “He looked everything over and loved the material as it came across his desk. He claimed it made him feel like a kid again. Orlando was in favor of adapting the books as closely as we wanted. Once the strip went over to Joe Kubert, Joe K. expected action, action, action. “Meanwhile, Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson were beginning their Swamp Thing masterpiece. It was 20 pages every month, and very close to Len’s heart. He and Bernie were spending a lot of time getting a handle on where they were going to take Swamp Thing, so I guess Len cleared the decks a little. Licensed Comics Issue

Destination: Mars Wrong turn for the man who would become known as Carson of Venus. From Korak, Son of Tarzan #46 (May–June 1972), by Len Wein and Michael Kaluta. (left) Tarzan welcomes readers to Weird Worlds #1. Cover by Joe Kubert. © 2012 ERB, Inc.

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The cut-above tale occurred somehow between panels 3 and 4 on page 6 of episode 7 of “Pellucidar” (Weird Worlds #6). David Innes stumbled upon a village ruled by one single Mahar, as chronicled by writer Elliot S. Maggin and artist Gerry Talaoc in Tarzan Family #66 (Nov.–Dec. 1976). However, any defects in storytelling were overshadowed by what tales were being touted on the covers of Tarzan Family and what tales were actually being published inside the book. I was forced to construct a scorecard just to keep track of the discrepancies. John Carter received his own illustrated picture on the cover of Tarzan Family #60, but no story within. A blonde princess in pink apparel accompanied the John Carter banner on TF #61, but again there was no John Carter story inside. To confound matters, a Thark was depicted over an “Other Worlds” blurb on #61’s cover, but the “Other Worlds” story inside was actually the aforementioned “Beyond the Farthest Star” episode. Matters righted themselves on the front of TF #62: Carter was on the cover, and Carter had a new story on the inside. Carter was replaced by a spaceship on the cover of #63, while his story continued inside. The sultry princess under the “Other Worlds” banner on TF #63 was actually in the John Carter story. The “Princess of Barsoom” spotlighted on the cover of TF #64 is that issue’s concluding John Carter feature. During this spell, more Martian females (four) are featured on the covers of Tarzan Family than John Carter himself (twice). Even the cover illustrations themselves showed some confusion. For example, if you look closely at the boxed illustration for “Carson of Venus” on the cover of Tarzan Family #64, it appears as if Carson is battling a trio of Mahars from Pellucidar to rescue a princess from Mars. For the most part, “Carson of Venus” avoided any publishing discrepancies, returning in Tarzan Family #60 as an ongoing reprint of Wein and Kaluta’s original series, and would continue through #65. Colorist Carl Gafford recolored each episode. “By the time those stories came up for reprints in Tarzan Family,” Gafford explains, “DC was no longer holding color film negatives of the Tarzan books. This might have been because Tarzan was a licensed comic, and DC couldn’t sell the pages to other countries, like they could the regular DC comics’ characters and stories. At any rate, they needed new coloring and separations, and I jumped at the chance.” And as with the original series, the “Carson of Venus” reprint was abruptly cut off, wrapping up in a single sentence in Tarzan Family #65. According to a 1976 Daily Planet upcoming-comics features page (vol. 76, issue 4), Paul Levitz was to adapt Swords of Mars beginning in Tarzan Family #65. Instead, a reprint from John Carter’s earlier series in Tarzan was published. In the back of Tarzan Family #65, it was announced that the adaptation of Swords of Mars would begin in TF #66. Instead, another John Carter reprint appeared. Alas, there would never be an adaptation of Swords of Mars published by DC. Meanwhile, beginning in 1975, Writer/artist Neal MacDonald’s full-page “Fantastic Creatures of Edgar Rice Burroughs” feature appeared in Tarzan #240, 242, 245, 246, and 258 and Tarzan Family #65 and 66. With the cancellation of Tarzan Family with issue #66, as well as Tarzan with #258, the adventurous publishing history of four esteemed adventurers concluded at DC. Marvel Comics had picked up the license to the Burroughs characters in 1976 and began publishing Tarzan (starting with a new #1) and John Carter, Warlord of Mars in early 1977. At the beginning of this article I mentioned the one notable exception to those overlooked Burroughs adventurers, and that would be John Carter of Mars, whose continuations are chronicled in the article following. I wish the character success, because it may lead to well-deserved revivals of Carson Napier, David Innes, Tangor, and possibly new interest in DC’s high-quality take on their fantastic worlds. Grand adventure should never languish in neglect and obscurity. JIM KINGMAN purchased his first comic book, DC’s World’s Finest Comics #211, on a family road trip in March of 1972, and has been reading and collecting comic books ever since (with no end in sight). He has been writing about comics since 1993, and edits and publishes Comic Effect, a small-press fanzine emphasizing the fun in reading comics.

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For many comic-book fans, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter novels were as important to their adolescence as Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man. Before their young eyes, John Carter, gentleman from Virginia and ex-Confederate soldier, awoke to find himself transported to the fantastic, barbaric world of Mars. Known as Barsoom to the natives, the planet’s lesser gravity made him strong, agile, and, like the Man of Steel, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He rescued and married the beautiful princess Dejah Thoris, bested and befriended the fearsome, four-armed, eight-foot-tall green warrior Tars Tarkas, and won the love and respect of all Barsoom. Sixty years after the first of the novels saw print, a group of likeminded fans turned professionals brought John Carter to the comics page in Marvel’s 1977 series John Carter, Warlord of Mars. Combining amazing covers and breathtaking interiors by the likes of Dave Cockrum and Gil Kane with wholly original and stunningly faithful stories penned by Marv Wolfman and Chris Claremont, the series brought Carter and his world to life so successfully that these new tales rivaled those of Burroughs himself. Unfortunately, as is often the case with licensed properties, Warlord of Mars ended all too soon, fading from the memories of fans and becoming something of a forgotten classic. But now, with Disney’s new John Carter film in theaters and the mighty Marvel comics finally back in print in a volume of Dark Horse Comics Archives, BACK ISSUE feels it is time to travel once more to the world of Barsoom to revisit these classic, little-known tales and to learn the fascinating behind the scenes story of John Carter’s life and death at Marvel Comics. by

Eric Houston

THE MOONS OF MARS It seems that Marv Wolfman was always destined to pen a John Carter comic, even if it took him three tries to write the one he wanted. A Burroughs fan since his early teens, Wolfman’s first professional assignment was to write the John Carter adaptations in DC’s short-lived Burroughs anthology Weird Worlds, the turbulent story of which can be found elsewhere in this magazine. Suffice to say, that series ended without sating Wolfman’s desire to write John Carter. “DC’s version had a number of problems,” Wolfman recalls. “We were led to think every issue might be our last, so there was no forward momentum. When we were finally told it would continue, I started a big story and it was canceled.” Wolfman got his second chance to write the character five years later when Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. contacted him to script a John Carter comic that they would self-publish and release in Europe. For this project, Wolfman teamed with Dave Cockrum, already a fan favorite thanks to his work on X-Men and DC’s

In the Mighty Marvel Manner Edgar Rice Burroughs’ hero returns to comics at the House of Ideas. Cover to John Carter, Warlord of Mars #1 (June 1977), with minor graphics alterations for this article. Cover art by Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum. © 2012 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. (ERB, Inc.)

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willingness to take sword against your adversary,” Claremont explains. “Her father and grandfather were both renowned generals as well as respected leaders of their states. Why not Dejah Thoris? The idea that a woman on Barsoom could take up arms in defense of the state didn’t seem that far fetched. Besides, it was a lot of fun.”

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Star Warlord Chris Claremont and Carmine Infantino’s unfinished final John Carter, Warlord of Mars story was cannibalized into Star Wars #53 (Nov. 1981) and 54. Cover to #53 by Walter Simonson. Star Wars © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™.

Despite Claremont and company’s fun and innovative story, John Carter, Warlord of Mars was canceled with issue #24 (May 1979), three issues shy of the planned conclusion of “The Master Assassin of Mars.” Fortunately, only a month later, the book received a brief, four-issue reprieve, allowing it to conclude the current story. As for why the series was canceled, no one is quite sure, but sales seem to have been the culprit. “I believe that Marvel’s circulation department had decided to cancel the book,” says Roger Stern. “Then, they discovered that Marvel was contractually obligated to produce a certain number of issues, so it was temporarily reinstated a month later. Cancellation is almost always sales-related. I don’t know what the book’s circulation was, but there may well have been further complications due to Carter being a licensed property. Sometimes licensing fees can eat up too much of the profits of a modestly selling book.” Whatever the reason, John Carter, Warlord of Mars breathed its last with issue #28 (Oct. 1979), an inventory story from Peter Gillis and Larry Hama. Meanwhile, a plotted and partially drawn story by Claremont and Carmine Infantino was overhauled a year later and set a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away in Marvel’s Star Wars #53–54. “It’s amazing how Dejah Thoris can turn into Leia Organa,” muses Claremont. While the stories Miller’s second professional assignment,” recalls Marvel did publish were amazing, it is easy to wonder Claremont. “It was way cool because it was all a Tars what might have been. Not only would there have Tarkas fight. Frank was demonstrating his likely been more stories from Claremont with chops to everybody because he sat down collaborators like George Pérez and a and figured out how a four-armed, sequel to the Tars Tarkas issue by Frank eight-foot-tall critter could fight with Miller (both rumored in letters swords, and it rocked.” columns), future issues could easily Roger Stern remembers giving have seen Marvel’s best and brightest Miller the job: “Frank had just drawn tackle the warlord. You need only a Captain Marvel inventory story, imagine John Carter stories by John which involved Mar-Vell encountering Byrne, Gene Colan, Roy Thomas, or a bunch of aliens somewhere out Steve Gerber to get a sense of the true in space. As a goof, Frank had drawn tragedy of John Carter’s cancellation. a Thark amongst the aliens, and it Still, John Carter lives at Marvel looked so good that I asked Chris to Comics. Spurred by the new John plot a Tars Tarkas story for Frank. We roger stern Carter film from Wall-E director Andrew based the story on an inventory Stanton and Walt Disney Pictures, cover that John Byrne had drawn. the House of Ideas has returned the I remember thinking that Frank did a pretty good job warlord to monthly comics, both in the form of movie on it, and that I should find some more work for him, tie-ins and a new comic adaptation of A Princess of Mars. but before I could, Frank got the gig drawing Marvel and Dark Horse Comics have both put the classic Daredevil, and the rest is history.” series back in print via a pair of color and black-and-white For her part, Dejah Thoris quickly evolves from collected editions. And Chris Claremont has even turned damsel in distress to 20th-century heroine over the his Star Wars tale back into a course of Claremont’s run. After all, the crux of “The John Carter story for a new prose Master Assassin of Mars” is the story of the princess anthology entitled Under the taking up arms in her mission to avenge her fallen Moons of Mars. With Barsoom husband. Even after she is joined by the revived John once again on the rise, a whole Carter, Dejah continues to take point, bravely continuing new slate of fabulous adventures her impersonation as the Assassins Guild’s foremost may yet await Dejah Thoris, agent and, in issue #23 (Apr. 1979), boldly engaging Tar Tarkas, and the warlord in a deadly trial by combat against four fierce female himself, John Carter. assassins while Carter looks on in chains, a delightful Occasional BACK ISSUE contributor inversion of the couple’s normal roles. For many, this development was long overdue. ERIC HOUSTON lives in Saint Paul, “The thing about Barsoom was that it was a very political Minnesota, and is a television environment and one aspect of the politics was the producer and life-long comics fan.

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Michael Aushenker

Remember Patrick Duffy on the phenomenally popular TV show Dallas, the “Who shot J. R.?” cliffhanger, and all that jazz? Shortly before Duffy joined the CBS prime-time soap, the actor’s biggest claim to fame was his breakout role as the titular character of a high-profile, yet short-lived, science-fiction series, Man from Atlantis. Man from Atlantis (MFA), the comicbook series, originally “surfaced” as Marvel Comics Group’s tie-in to 13 episodes of the television show (1977–1978), which had followed four highly rated TV movies. To some, a Marvel comic based on this fleeting program would seem improbable and, at best, redundant. Marvel already had an underwater character (the company’s very first character, in fact…) in the Sub-Mariner, whose own books had failed to “stay afloat.” Nevertheless, Marvel greenlighted a comic book based on this NBC series. Before the comic even launched, Atlantis already had fans internally at the company. “As I recall,” Marvel editor/artist Al Milgrom tells BACK ISSUE, “some of the females in the office were big Patrick Duffy fans and were jazzed about the idea of doing a comic based on that show.” The letters-column editorial in MFA #7 suggested that the book’s assistant editor, Jo Duffy, was one of those females. “I was a big fan of that show,” the writer, who at the time went by Mary Jo Duffy, admits to BACK ISSUE. “Hey, Patrick Duffy in a bathing suit! Hello!” Editor Archie Goodwin was assigned the MFA book, and Goodwin knew just the guy to write this puppy: the reliable Bill Mantlo. For whatever reason, positive (he was quick and good with deadlines) or negative (his writing was reviled by some of Marvel’s editorial higher-ups), Bill Mantlo became something of the go-to licensed-character series scribe in his heyday at Marvel in the late 1970s–early 1980s, when he scripted such titles as ROM: Spaceknight, Micronauts, Team America, and Transformers. “Mantlo wrote a lot of them,” Milgrom tells BACK ISSUE. “He was a real pro. He would say okay and he would do it. When I first came on [at Marvel] as an editor, [Marvel editorin-chief] Jim Shooter was not a fan of Mantlo’s writing.” And so, in 1977–1978, Mantlo collaborated with the two Franks––Robbins and Springer––on a pair of high-octane, power-packed comic-book series: one was The Human Fly (see BACK ISSUE #20) … the other was Man from Atlantis. Loosely based on the show, MFA comics, chronicling the adventures of Mark Harris, an amnesiac merman taken in by a government-funded Foundation of Oceanic Research team for study, was, for a brief moment, flying high (or swimming high, as it may be). For seven colorful issues, this unlikely book shined on the strength of the Caniffian-derived art of Frank Robbins and Frank Springer. Then things fell apart. The show was canceled. A final story, hinted at in the cliffhanger within issue #7, was never consummated. Marvel’s Man from Atlantis was no more.

That Sinking Feeling While many amorous viewers would have gladly given mouth-to-mouth to TV star Patrick Duffy, nothing seemed to be able to resuscitate the short-lived Man from Atlantis Marvel Comic. Slightly submerged cover art to issue #1 (Feb. 1978) by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott. Man from Atlantis TM & © Solow Production Company.

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Next Stop, Dallas TV Guide cover proof of Bob Peak’s fantastic painting of Patrick Duffy as the Man from Atlantis. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions. © 1978 TV Guide. Man from Atlantis TM & © Solow Production Company.

when the plug was pulled. Usually, they gave a couple of issues to wrap things up. On Star Wars, for instance, they were pulling the plug, so suddenly they paid for seven more pages so we could wrap up the storyline. Bill didn’t get that luxury on MFA.” Duffy doesn’t remember when word came down that MFA was to swim no more. “All of those cancellations have mushed together,” she says. However, she has some solid theories on what went wrong. Since Marvel had budgeted for a certain amount of titles per month, the impulse was to cancel weak titles, such as MFA, to create spinrack space for spin-offs of hot books, such as X-Men. Recall that Mantlo hinted that, with MFA’s cancellation, another aquatic book on the horizon. Duffy confirms, “They were going to do another Sub-Mariner series and we [didn’t].” She considers the two aquatic characters polar opposites and not as interchangeable as some may think: “The Man from Atlantis was a gentle, happy-golucky character … [his] was a space alien story.” Duffy loved the facetious spirit of Mantlo’s closing editorial. “It was a blast, completely fun,” she says. “That letters column … had my blessing.”

THE UPSHOT

with them. Frank Springer was not only a terrific artist but one of the most charming men on the planet.” Marvel received the telescripts from the MFA show. “We were told to do self-contained stories that did not contradict anything on screen, preferably using as many characters as we could,” Duffy continues. “The actor [Kenneth Tigar] had left that series. Dr. Miller Simon, his character, was going to leave the series. So he would leave our book as well.” Duffy remembers how Mantlo “liked these oddball assignments. He was really good at them. I always enjoyed dealing with Bill tremendously. Obviously, everybody got a bit down when Jim got down on Bill. I used [Mantlo] a lot. “Bill could take a toy and see a great backstory. He did it time and time and time again. Bill didn’t need the toy company to come up with the supporting cast of characters. Bill had a brilliant skill and a lot of people didn’t appreciate what a gift Bill had.”

SO, WHAT HAPPENED TO MFA? Duffy shoots down any suggestion MFA’s cancellation was a political move to spite Mantlo. Too early: “I don’t think Bill’s relationship with Jim [Shooter] was as contentious as it was going to become,” she says. “But there was an attitude toward the media tie-ins.” Duffy also dispels the notion that just because it took a few issues to unfurl a letters column, it indicated a book’s lack of popularity. “It used to take six months to produce a comic book from the writer sitting down to write the first script to getting it in the store,” Duffy says. “Therefore, you were working on issue #9 while you were getting letters from issue #1. There was never a letters column until issue #4. “It was clear the TV show was not going to set the world on fire. If there was an artistic drive behind it, some things went on forever [such as Star Wars and ROM]. There was a perception that MFA was not going to have legs and it was viewed with some disdain.” Although Duffy does not recall where Mantlo’s Merry the harlequin storyline was headed, she does confirm “he was writing the next one 24 • BACK ISSUE • Licensed Comics Issue

Shooter is not talking. Milgrom and Duffy have their theories. Solow blames Joe Barbera. In April 2011, while promoting Cave of Forgotten Dreams, his documentary about the images within the Chauvet cave in southwestern France filled with images created 32,000 years ago, filmmaker Werner Herzog put it best in a Los Angeles Times interview: “What were they thinking, the people who made this art?” Herzog pondered. “We enter the cave but we cannot enter their minds, so we will never know?” Alas, there’s an element of that with MFA. “It’s entirely possible,” Milgrom opines, “that they may have felt, ‘Well, why are we doing the character if there’s no show to support it?’” Let’s face it: If MFA had sold extremely well, Marvel would have brought the book back, TV cancellation be damned. And perhaps it turned out for the best that Solow was unaware of the Marvel machinations. After all, the producer was against the comic-book spin-off. While MFA comics may have ultimately followed the TV show down to Davy Jones’ locker, the project did spawn another idiosyncratic Robbins run, which were relatively rare. In the end, the licensed-character-book sword bears a double edge: While nostalgic readers yearning to see Mantlo’s terrific, trashy runs on Human Fly, Man from Atlantis, ROM, and Micronauts reprinted as Essential editions can forget about it, as rights issues will prevent that from happening. Likewise, these B-books are protected, as the current Marvel regime cannot strip-mine these concepts for inferior remakes, rehashes, and revivals. Meanwhile, somewhere in the bargain bins of America’s comic-book backwaters, copies of some really fun Bronze Age books are floating around, waiting to be purloined for a pittance. Buried deep within those longboxes is the underwater treasure that is Man from Atlantis. Special thanks to Javier Hernandez for the Man from Atlantis #1–7 hook-up! MICHAEL AUSHENKER is a Pacific Palisades, CA-based writer and a humor cartoonist. Visit CartoonFlophouse.com; read CartoonFlophouse.blogspot.com daily.

Michael Aushenker conducted February 2011

Those odd opening titles. Those haunting four notes, repeated ad nauseum into the infinite cosmos. That familiar logo. Those classic episodes… The Twilight Zone––the black-and-white television series created by, written and produced by, and memorably hosted by the eternal Rod Serling––has left its indelible mark on our pop culture. Likewise, the 1959–1964 TV sci-fi anthology has greatly influenced comics … both figuratively and literarily. Western Publishing, under its Dell Comics and Gold Key imprints, produced a comic book based on the TV show in the 1960s–1970s, while NOW published a version in 1990. Artists Mike Sekowsky, Lee Elias, Dan Spiegle, Jerry Robinson, Alex Toth, Reed Crandall, Frank Thorne, and Joe Orlando, along with writer Harlan Ellison, are among the talents who brought this offbeat concept to life in comics. And yet, nobody has been closer to Serling’s creative process than The Twilight Zone creator’s wife, Carol Serling, who was by his side from the beginning—and before. In a rare interview, the widow of the late screenwriter and producer reveals to BACK ISSUE writer Michael Aushenker that the de facto backyard of The Twilight Zone is Pacific Palisades, California, where Aushenker happens to reside, and Ithaca, New York, where Aushenker attended college… …Weird, huh? Cue those four notes… MICHAEL AUSHENKER: When were you and Rod married? CAROL SERLING: 1948. We were both in college at Antioch College in Ohio. We got married and spent two more years in school for our bachelor degrees. In 1963, we returned to Antioch and he spent a few months as a professor in residency. When [Rod] started, he just came back from World War II and started college right after the war. His major originally was physical education. He switched to literature and language. I was majoring in psychology. AUSHENKER: Did you read those Twilight Zone scripts after he wrote them? SERLING: Oh, yes. I was his harshest critic all through the years. AUSHENKER: Where did he write the scripts for those great shows? SERLING: He worked at home. When he finished a section, he’d run it into the house. He had a study in the back. We lived over in the Riviera [the eastern-most section of Pacific Palisades] at the time. [Writer’s note: Pacific Palisades is an affluent neighborhood north of Santa Monica and bordering the ocean on Los Angeles’ Westside. Today, such entertainment figures as Steven Spielberg, Adam Sandler, and Tom Hanks live in the Palisades. The latter star in recent years has bought up a lot of real estate in the Riviera. Back in the 1950s, when Los Angeles was less developed, Pacific Palisades was sleepier and

Submitted for Your Approval Amid our recreation of The Twilight Zone’s opening credits are three vintage Serling family photos: (top) Carol and Rod, 1950; (center left) Jodi, Nan, Carol, and Rod, 1959; and (lower right) Rod and Carol in 1963. Special thanks to Carol Serling. The Twilight Zone © Cayuga Productions, Inc.

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The saga of Dark Horse Comics supplying the comic-art vision of the Star Wars franchise is one worthy of celebration indeed! Since December 1991, with the premiere of Dark Empire, a six-issue limited series, Dark Horse has been crafting classic comic-book tales taking place in creator George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away to fan acclaim, and the publisher’s sequential storytelling prowess is as skillful as ever. Spanning the time of the Old Republic, through Episodes I–VI, and into the New Republic era and the distant future of Star Wars: Legacy, Dark Horse has added an array of new characters and layers of epic storytelling integral to the entire Star Wars Extended Universe (EU). Before I begin to discuss select highlights from this incredible collaborative journey, I would like to thank the many writers, artists, and editors who contributed to this special article. Their enthusiastic, detailed commentary truly tells the story of how and why Dark Horse has consistently maintained a fine level of excitement and quality with their Star Wars comics over the years.

DARK HORSE COMICS: A NEW HOPE FOR STAR WARS FANS

To m P o w e r s

Starting with its six-issue adaptation of A New Hope (July–Dec. 1977), Marvel Comics depicted the comic-book adventures of Luke Skywalker and company for an impressive 107 issues, a four-issue adaptation of Return of the Jedi, and three annuals. [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #9.] Marvel even offered spin-off series under its Star Comics imprint with Droids #1–8 (Apr. 1986–June 1987) and Ewoks #1–14 (May 1985–July 1987). Unfortunately, when Marvel canceled its flagship Star Wars title with issue #107 (Sept. 1986), toys sales were on the wane, the promised prequels were not being produced in the immediate future, and fan interest in the Star Wars universe was apparently fading. Although Blackthorne later produced a trio of Star Wars 3D comics (Dec. 1987, June 1988, and Sept. 1988), there was not much industry movement in terms of publishing additional comic books for this beloved franchise. During this era, comparable to Han Solo’s frozen tenure in carbonite, writer Tom Veitch and artist Cam Kennedy concocted an ambitious continuation of the post–Jedi timeline with their proposal for Star Wars: Dark Empire. Veitch, reflecting upon the early days of this ambitious project, explains, “Cam Kennedy and I did a creatorowned series for Epic/Marvel called The Light and Darkness War. After the six issues were published, in 1989, we wrote a letter to George Lucas and asked if we could revive Star Wars as a comic book. We just knew there was more life in the series, and it was sitting there with no takers. In our letter, we offered to send Mr. Lucas the L&D War as samples of our work. Three days later, I got a phone call

Celebrating 20 Years of Star Wars Comics Dave Dorman’s wraparound cover painting for the trade paperback collecting Star Wars: Dark Empire II. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Star Wars © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™.

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A Long Time Ago… Before Dark Horse took on the franchise, Marvel produced a long-running Star Wars title—supported in its later years by kid-friendly Ewoks and Droids series— followed by a few Star Wars 3D issues from Blackthorne. © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™.

from his secretary saying George wanted to see our work. told our Lucas contact at a comic-book convention that We sent him the six issues of L&D War, and, within a week, Dark Horse’s publisher, Mike Richardson, was a comics we were offered the Star Wars comics franchise— visionary who did a great job with film-related not just the writing and art, you see, but the properties. I showed her the Aliens comics. actual business itself of publishing new That same day, she approached Mike, Star Wars comics! At the time, I was not and the next thing I know, Mike called me into the business side of things, only the and said he now had the franchise and creative. So I passed the project to wanted us to sign up the Dark Empire Archie Goodwin at Epic Comics, project with Dark Horse. Our first and he accepted it enthusiastically.” editor there was Barbara Kesel—one of Although Veitch, Kennedy, and the best editors I ever worked with.” Goodwin were excited about the In addition to continuing the project, “the turning point,” Veitch adventures of Luke Skywalker and divulges, “happened after Archie left company as they attempt to establish a Marvel to go to work for DC Comics. New Republic, Star Wars: Dark Empire Jim Shooter, who was editor-in-chief at #1–6 (Dec. 1991–Oct. 1992) daringly tom veitch Marvel, believed Star Wars was passé, resurrects the Emperor and Boba Fett, and had really only accepted the project both of whom seemingly perished in because Archie wanted to do it. Anyway, after a period Jedi. To shed light upon how he was able to accomplish of some months in which the project bogged down, we this storytelling feat, Veitch says that when the project was convinced Lucas’ people to talk to Dark Horse. I personally still at Marvel, he and Goodwin sent several pages of ideas to George Lucas. He adds, “One of our ideas was to bring back Darth Vader! We thought that the Empire would keep him alive by putting somebody else inside his costume, so that Vader could continue to strike fear in the hearts of planets all over the galaxy. George said, ‘You can’t do that, but you can bring back the Emperor, if you can figure out a way to do it.’ That led to the somewhat obvious idea of cloning the Emperor—and that the Emperor had been cloning himself for quite a while, inhabiting each clone in succession through the dark power of the Force.” Veitch continues, “As for bringing back Boba Fett— that was Cam’s idea. Boba Fett was his favorite character. So we proposed to Lucas that Fett had not really died when he was swallowed by the Sarlacc. He said, ‘Sure.’’’ In regard to the art for this groundbreaking mini, Cam Kennedy’s illustrations are dark and appropriately evocative of the Original Trilogy’s look. Kennedy comments, “I had always been au fait with drawing machines and hardware, so I took to the story like a duck to water. I decided not to go for true likenesses of the main characters, instead opting for how I thought they should look in a comic-strip version.” He adds, “On the illustration side of the books, I decided to try and produce artwork that was particular in its appearance, which is why I opted to hand-color my pages, not going for the new computer coloring that people were suggesting. I was using German waterproof watercolor inks on handmade British watercolor paper, and this allowed me to layer one color on top of another, giving a depth to some scenes.”

ANCIENT JEDI AND DARK LORDS OF THE SITH! Upon hearing old Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi tell Luke about the time of the Jedi Knights protecting the Old Republic in A New Hope (ANH), we were captivated by the backstory of Lucas’ electrifying universe. One Obi-Wan line in particular—“For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic”—grew in our hearts and imaginations. While we always knew that Lucas would eventually produce the prequels, we could only dream about a time long before even the adventures of a younger Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker. Fortunately, in 1993, with Tales of the Jedi #1–5 (Oct. 1993–Feb. 1994), some of whose storyline first premiered in Dark Horse Comics #7–9 (Feb.–Apr. 1993), writer Tom Veitch brought us back an astonishing 4,000 years before ANH. When asked what attracted

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him to writing Tales of the Jedi (TOTJ), Veitch answers, the source, so I asked Lucasfilm licensing for all the visual “While I was working on Dark Empire, LucasArts asked reference they had for the Old Republic. They said me if I wanted to write Indiana Jones comics. they didn’t have anything, and that retroI said, ‘I have a better idea—what about designing the galaxy was my job, which doing stories about the ancient Jedi, was the most exciting thing anyone had from a time 4,000 years before the films?’ ever told me up to that point. I did the ‘Oh,’ they responded, ‘George will never first drawing of an Old Republic–era go for this. But we will ask him.’ Sith Lord, the first drawing of He liked the idea immediately.” Mandalore, the first drawing of a Veitch adds, “After that, it was a double-bladed lightsaber, a curvedmatter of submitting long lists of handled saber. I was out there all on ideas to George Lucas. For Tales of my own. It was awesome.” the Jedi, I also included questions such Tom Veitch wrote several additional as, ‘Can you tell us something about TOTJ miniseries, eventually collaborating the religious aspect of the Force?’ with author Kevin J. Anderson on His answer was, ‘Look to Buddha.’” TOTJ – Dark Lords of the Sith #1–6 cam kennedy When asked why he chose to (Oct. 1994–Mar. 1995). Reflecting focus on a female lead with Nomi upon writing with Anderson, Veitch Sunrider and if her story trajectory is somewhat similar comments, “Kevin and I met in San Francisco and put to Luke Skywalker’s, Veitch replies, “She is one of those our heads together. He wanted to write novels in the characters that is sort of inevitable. There had to be women Jedi—and very great ones—in the past. I don’t think her story is all that similar to Luke’s, unless you think of Luke’s as not that uncommon. Many young men took up the Jedi way after tragedies befell their ordinary lives. In Nomi’s case, she was married and had a child. Her husband was murdered. Then she took up the Jedi training. Her daughter, Vima, became a Jedi, in turn.” Original TOTJ artist Chris Gossett, when questioned about his approach to the visuals of this substantially earlier period in the Star Wars timeline, says, “It’s important to note the year: it was 1992. My task was to be the first visual designer who had ever tackled the Old Republic. They wanted me to work ‘4,000 years before Luke Skywalker.’ The first thing I always do is go to

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Dark Jedi Knight (left) Detail of Luke Skywalker from Dave Dorman’s cover painting to the 1991 Dark Empire trade paperback. (right) A moment of truth for Luke, from Dark Empire. Words: Tom Veitch. Art: Cam Kennedy. Star Wars © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™.

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“Look at this. It’s worthless—ten dollars from a vendor in the street. But I take it, I bury it in the sand for a thousand years, it becomes priceless.” – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

® by

Mark DiFruscio

Comic-book collectors, like archaeologists, tend to be inordinately preoccupied with the past. A very special form of patience and dedication is required to spend countless hours sifting through a sea of polybagged detritus and sepia-toned nostalgia in hopeful anticipation of rescuing some precious panelological artifact from its musty longbox tomb. Yet as any obtainer of rare of antiquities can surely attest, unearthing time’s discarded fragments from the soil of neglect can become a lifelong obsession. And no character in popular fiction more colorfully exemplifies this quixotic hunt for prized relics and lost treasures than that of archaeologist/ adventurer Indiana Jones. Myriad creative influences coalesced in the conception of Indiana Jones, first introduced in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, including the Saturday matinee movie serials that so greatly inspired filmmakers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, as well as pulp magazine proto-superheroes like Doc Savage, H. Rider Haggard’s safari hunter Allan Quatermain, Ian Fleming’s superspy James Bond, and even real-life adventurers such as Hiram Bingham and T. E. Lawrence. Of course, comic books— that close descendant of the pulps—also played an integral role in the creation of Indiana Jones, most directly in the form of legendary comics artist Jim Steranko, who illustrated the concept designs upon which the character’s distinctive appearance was based. Befitting these ties to the medium, Indiana Jones promptly made his four-color debut in Marvel Comics’ Raiders of the Lost Ark #1 (Sept. 1981). Written by Walter Simonson and penciled by the inestimable John Buscema, the three-issue limited series offered a faithful and entertaining graphic adaptation of the blockbuster film. Yet Simonson, an award-winning artist, was hardly an obvious choice for scripter considering his relative lack of solo-writing experience at the time, with just four issues of Marvel’s Battlestar Galactica under his belt. As Simonson recounted in his interview with Roger Ash in TwoMorrows’ Modern Masters vol. 8: “Archie [Goodwin] was supposed to write the adaptation. He was buried in work, as he often was. He stopped me in the hall one day and asked if I’d be interested in writing this adaptation of a new movie about to come out called Raiders of the Lost Ark, because he’d read the issues of Battlestar Galactica [written by Simonson] and he’d really liked them … Raiders was writing over John Buscema. John is one of the two or three best storytellers and draftsmen comics have ever had… When I got the artwork back, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. It really was. I had the script, I had John Buscema’s layouts; it was hard to go wrong. It was really a delight.”

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Whip It! (left) A Howard Chaykin-illustrated montage graced the cover of the 1981 color magazine Marvel Super Special #18, collecting the Walt Simonson/John Buscema/Klaus Janson adaptation of Raiders of the Lost Ark. (right) Terry Austin’s snappy cover to the premiere issue of Indiana Jones (Jan. 1983). Indiana Jones © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™.

“SOMETHING’S GONE WRONG AGAIN!” In sharp contrast to Simonson’s delightful experience on the Raiders adaptation, creator John Byrne had a far more vexing time as writer and artist on The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #1 (Jan. 1983), the first issue of Marvel’s follow-up ongoing series. Although Byrne had previously established himself as a fan favorite at Marvel with popular runs on Uncanny X-Men and Avengers, his work on The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones has become something of a footnote in comics history due to his speedy exit from the title after just two issues. When contacted by BACK ISSUE for comment on his brief stint, Byrne’s reply was fittingly curt, saying only, “I’d just as soon forget I ever worked on this! And on THAT you can quote me!” To read a detailed explanation from Byrne himself, he does divulge the specific reasons for his departure on his website www.byrnerobotics.com. However, as other sources have also described (such as Brian Cronin’s long-running online column Comic Book Legends Revealed), the main conflict stemmed from Byrne’s problematic dealings with Lucasfilm’s licensing liaison, which seemed to have difficulty grasping the lead time required to publish a monthly comic book, as evidenced by a reported habit of demanding major changes after the artwork had already been finished and approved.

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Nonetheless, it remains a tantalizing point of conjecture to theorize on just how differently the book might have fared had it continued under the direction of Byrne given his splendid success revitalizing Fantastic Four and Superman during these same years. In the wake of Byrne’s resignation, contentious dealings with Lucasfilm would set the stage for a routine of instability and creative turnover on the book, eventually leading to its quiet demise at the House of Ideas with The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #34 (Mar. 1986). Indeed, this final issue is rather apropos of the series itself given its title, “Something’s Gone Wrong Again!” In retrospect, Further Adventures can be characterized as a trouble-plagued expedition from the start, which ultimately failed to match the success of Marvel’s other high-profile licensed properties like Star Wars, Conan the Barbarian, and G.I. Joe. Offering some insight into the reasons for this is Eliot R. Brown, who worked on the book for much of its history. After initially serving as an assistant to series editor Louise “Weezie” Simonson (nee Jones), Brown was promoted to series editor himself with Further Adventures #14 (Feb. 1984). Yet by Brown’s own admission, it was a role he was ill prepared to assume, causing him to be fired off the book after just eight issues.

“MR. TECHNICAL” Although longtime Marvel staffer Brown, a.k.a. “Mr. Technical,” is primarily known for his technical drawings on encyclopedic guides such as the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and Iron Man’s Iron Manual, he actually got his start at Marvel as a typesetter on regular features like “Bullpen Bulletins,” a monthly column written by Marvel’s then-editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. [Editor’s note: Learn more about Eliot by reading BACK ISSUE #32.] In fact, the premiere issue of The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones included a “Bullpen Bulletins” wherein Shooter specifically singled out Brown for praise within the Marvel

offices, opining, “Eliot is our resident technical expert. down from on high. But I was lucky enough to have never If something’s broken, he can fix it—if you’ve got a had them given directly to me—everything I knew I got problem, he can solve it. He draws—and he’s especially from Weezie, tossed over her shoulder as we were dashing good at technical drawing, like blueprints, diagrams, from book to book. [But] it was hard working with cutaways, mechanical drawings—he inks, he colors, Lucasfilm, getting scripts to them with time enough he designs, he does boardwork, and other stuff, too, for changes, and they didn’t want anything of theirs that I can’t think of. Best of all, he’s a real trouper changed or even suggested at—situations who’s stayed here at the office all night many but especially if it involved their characters. times helping desperate artists and editors David Michelinie, I believe, was the writer make deadlines.” Adding a further layer during those middle books, and was a of irony to the proceedings is the fact great believer in using the movie that it was this very tendency—namely characters. Michelinie coped very well Brown’s willingness to do whatever it within the system—he seemed to have takes to make a deadline—that finally any number of alternate plots lined up led to his dismissal from the book. and could fire them off like a machine, In talking with BACK ISSUE about which was the sort of thing needed to his experiences on Further Adventures, keep up with re-writes and approvals. Brown recalls, “I had become Weezie’s “[So] I never had to worry with a assistant sometime in 1983, so I not guy like Michelinie doing the writing,” JOHN BYRNE only read [the early issues], I pored Brown continues. “He was a bloodied over them! In #1, I took home some vet of the process and had proved pages to do backgrounds on—if you flexible with plenty of alternate ideas look carefully you can see a balding fellow with rattling around. Dave did a masterful job of working within round glasses in the crowd wearing a shirt that looks these awful confines—his Indy books are quite good.” suspiciously like Indy’s. [This balding fellow would be As Michelinie settled into place as the regular writer on Eliot “Massachusetts” Brown, who makes a return the series, the art reins were passed in quick succession appearance in Further Adventures #13 (Jan. 1984) via a from Byrne to Gene Day, Richard Howell, Ron Frenz, one-page humor strip called Raiders of the Late Book.] Howard Chaykin, and finally Kerry Gammill, who almost With respect to Lucasfilm’s involvement, Brown adds, became the regular penciler. Notwithstanding some truly “The storylines did have concerns that had been handed stellar contributions on his part, Gammill left the book Licensed Comics Issue

No Smoking Zone (left) Writer/penciler John Byrne’s Dr. Jones is quite sure of himself on this page from Indiana Jones #1. Inks by Austin. (right) A dastardly dip awaits our hero on the Byrne/Austin cover to issue #2. Indiana Jones © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™.

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Daniel DeAngelo “How fortunate our failure to kill you, Dr. Jones. You survive to be of service to us once again.” – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Having origins based in pulp magazines and action serials, it was inevitable that the adventures of Indiana Jones would find their way onto the comic-book page, starting with the Marvel adaptation of the first movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark (Sept.–Nov. 1981), and—perhaps fittingly— ending with its adaptation of the (then) last movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Oct.–Nov. 1989). In between, Marvel published The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, an ongoing monthly series that ran for 34 issues (Jan. 1983–Mar. 1986). For publishers like Marvel Comics in the 1980s, comics based on movies were a low priority, but in the 1990s, licensed properties found a new home in the stable of Dark Horse Comics.

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BACK IN THE SADDLE “The major companies had their own characters they owned, so they put their best talent [on those books],” Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson explains. “They weren’t counting on the strength of a particular film property’s box-office performance to account for their sales. We didn’t look at it that way. We wanted to get the best talent that we possibly could get.” Dark Horse Comics started out in 1986, publishing comics like Boris the Bear and the anthology series Dark Horse Presents. “We received a lot of critical success on our early work, but we seemed to have reached a ceiling as far as how many books we could sell,” Richardson recalls. “We realized that the bestselling books were about longstanding characters that readers were already familiar with, and it occurred to us that maybe taking on movie characters might help with that.” The first Dark Horse licensed comic was a Godzilla, King of the Monsters one-shot (Aug. 1987), which turned out to be successful enough that DHC began looking for more movie properties to license, following with Aliens, Predator, and Terminator. This continued string of successes gave Dark Hose the confidence to pursue a deal with Lucasfilm. Marvel still held the Star Wars license at that time, but Dark Horse shared with Lucasfilm its own vision and approach about Star Wars, which was very different from Marvel’s. “At the time, Marvel wasn’t putting out many Star Wars comics,” Richardson says, “and I thought we could do a better job. We talked with [Lucasfilm representative] Lucy Wilson and we proposed exactly what we wanted to do, which turned out to be Dark Empire.” This first six-issue Star Wars miniseries (Dec. 1991–Oct. 1992) proved to be another big hit for Dark Horse, so the obvious next step was to go for Indiana Jones. “Raiders has always been one of my very favorite films,” says Richardson. As with most of its licensed comics, Dark Horse chose to publish Indiana Jones as a series of four-issue story arcs rather than as an ongoing monthly, because it was more difficult to produce monthly comics with a property like Indiana Jones. “Almost every story has a similar type of plot,” Richardson explains. “It’s always Indy finding out about some sort of [artifact] or lost city, fighting against the Nazis, finding something that usually has unexpected consequences, overcoming whatever the situation is

that he’s faced with, and then it’s back to teaching [laughs]. So it becomes harder to come up with new ideas on a monthly basis. It’s not like Star Wars, where you have untold numbers of characters in a vast universe. You don’t have to use Luke Skywalker in every Star Wars story, but Indiana Jones is different because it’s about Indiana Jones, and he has a specific pattern that he follows within both the movies and the comics. It’s difficult to keep from becoming formulaic month after month and wearing the character out. But we’re constantly trying to come up with fun, new ideas, and each time we do, we go talk to Lucasfilm and release another comics series.” This may explain why Dark Horse has avoided the conflicts that Marvel seemed to have with Lucasfilm. By not having a monthly deadline to deal with, the creators are able to take their time and come up with a story that meets with the approval of Lucasfilm before releasing each series’ first issue.

That Sinking Feeling

would take. “We were trying to put [something] together that was consistent with the game,” Richardson explains. “So we had to build a story around FINDING THE LOST EMPIRE [those] elements.” The first Dark Horse Indy series was In an article by Jeffrey Lang in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Amazing Heroes #189 (Mar. 1991), Atlantis #1–4, (published bimonthly, Messner-Loebs said, “Parts of the Mar.–Sept. 1991), written by William videogame were still under developMessner-Loebs, Dan Barry, and ment when I started working on the Mike Richardson; penciled by Barry; plot outline.” The late Dan Barry and inked by Barry and Karl Kesel. (1923–1997) also said in AH #189, Originally titled “Indiana Jones and “I tried to insert little bits of Indy the Keys to Atlantis,” the story was mike richardson Jones humor into the framework based on a videogame released by of the story, especially in the fight Lucasfilm Games, written by game scenes … Also, I felt it was important designers Hal Barnwood and Noah Falstein. Similar to to get the period details right … The story takes Indy a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, the game all around the world, so I had to do research on places allowed players to make decisions at certain points as diverse as Iceland, Mexico, and Leningrad.” of the story that would decide which direction Indy

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(left) Cover to Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis #1 (Mar. 1991). Cover painting by Dave Dorman. (right) Indy makes a discovery on page 22 of issue #3. Art by Dan Barry and Karl Kesel. Indiana Jones © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™.

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Back Issue #55