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A chilling look back at Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s

HALLOWEEN HEROES AND VILLAINS: SCARECROW • SOLOMON GRUNDY • MAN-WOLF • LORD PUMPKIN • and RUTLAND, VERMONT’s Halloween Parade

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Volume 1, Number 60 October 2012 Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

The Retro Comics Experience!

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks COVER ARTIST Tim Sale COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek

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BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 FLASHBACK: Looking Back at Batman: The Long Halloween . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Tim Sale and Greg Wright recall working with Jeph Loeb on this landmark series INTERVIEW: It’s a Matter of Color: with Gregory Wright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 The celebrated color artist (and writer and editor) discusses his interpretations of Tim Sale’s art BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: The Scarecrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 The history of one of Batman’s oldest foes, with comments from Barr, Davis, Friedrich, Grant, and O’Neil, plus Golden Age great Jerry Robinson in one of his last interviews FLASHBACK: Marvel Comics’ Scarecrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Yep, there was another Scarecrow in comics—an anti-hero with a patchy career at Marvel PRINCE STREET NEWS: A Visit to the (Great) Pumpkin Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Karl Heitmueller corrals comics’ creepiest for an All Hallows’ Event BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Black and White and Dead All Over: The Solomon Grundy Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Born on a Monday, Grundy keeps coming back to bedevil. With Conway, James Robinson, and Thomas BACKSTAGE PASS: Rutland Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Al Bradford’s Polaroid-packed peek into the costume parties that most of us only know through their fictional comic-book incarnations BEYOND CAPES: That’s Not a Man, That’s a Man-Wolf, Baby! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 The horror series that spun out of Spider-Man’s web. With Isabella, Kraft, and Slott FLASHBACK: Dead Avengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 Resuscitating the classic Avengers storyline “The Korvac Saga” BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Life, the Ultraverse, and Everything: The Reign of the Lord Pumpkin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Dan Danko, Steve Englehart, and Aaron Lopresti illuminate the lore of the Malibu menace 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 Tim Sale. Batman and the Scarecrow 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. Prince Street News © 2012 Karl Heitmueller. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. Halloween Heroes and Villains Issue

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SPECIAL THANKS Scott Andrews Tony Isabella Frank Balkin David Anthony Kraft Mike W. Barr Josh Kushins Bat-Blog Aaron Lopresti Al Bradford Robert Menzies Jarrod Buttery Dennis O’Neil Dewey Cassell James Robinson Nicholas Connor Jerry Robinson Estate Gerry Conway Patrick Robinson Bob Cosgrove Rootology Jonathan Crane Brian Sagar Dan Danko Tim Sale Alan Davis Bill Schelly DC Comics John Schwirian Scott Edelman Dan Slott Mike Friedrich Aaron Sultan Joe Giella Roy Thomas Len Gould John Wells Grand ComicDavid Wenzel Book Database Randy Wiggins Alan Grant Wikipedia Robert Greenberger Gregory Wright Karl Heitmueller Heritage Comics Auctions David Hyde

Michael Eury

My second cousin Khettie recently alerted me to the fact that the Riddler in the Batman: Arkham City video game looks a lot like yours truly. Yikes! I’m not sure if I should be flattered, or weirded out, or if I should contact my lawyer. Or maybe I should consider this the ultimate inspiration for a Halloween costume…

SEPARATED AT BIRTH?

Batman #237) about this real-world town and its Halloween happenings and wishing I could attend its parades and costume parties. Thanks to Al, I can, at least vicariously, through his fun-filled photo gallery from the dawn of the Bronze Age—which shows those spandexedwhippersnappers strutting through today’s comic-cons that cosplay ain’t nothin’ new, baby! Yep, this crowd-pleasing issue fills your goodies bag with enough Halloween treats to keep you stuffed with comics history for weeks!

Haven’t you forgotten the greatest of Halloween villains, you cretin?!

TM & © DC Comics.

(By the way, the fellow to my right in the photo above is Eddy Zeno, one of the nicest chaps I know, and the author of the mustread book, Curt Swan: A Life in Comics. The photo was taken by my wife Rose at the 2008 Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois. Eddy occasionally contributes to BACK ISSUE, and returns next issue with a look at DC Comics’ The Bible.) Resemblances to ye ed aside, the Riddler is spotlighted in this issue’s cover feature, an issue-by-issue examination of Batman: The Long Halloween, the 1996–1997 murder-mystery maxiseries masterfully maintained by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. If you’re strictly old school (Golden, Silver, or Bronze Age only), The Long Halloween is a more “recent” (actually, it’s 16 years old!) series that you really must read. And we offer a BIG thank-you to Randy Wiggins for rescuing this feature from the dreaded deadline doom and delivering it in record time! The rest of the issue explores the histories of many of comics’ creepiest characters: Jonathan Crane, the fearsome Scarecrow; Marvel’s missed-him-if-you-blinked anti-hero, also known as the Scarecrow; one of our favorite swamp things, Solomon Grundy; Man-Wolf, the Spider-Man spin-off spawned during the monster craze of the ’70s; and the Ultraverse’s resident reprobate, Lord Pumpkin. Also, Len Gould defibrillates the World’s Deadest Heroes as he looks at the Avengers’ “Korvac Saga” and Karl Heitmueller plows through the pumpkin patch for another hilarious “Prince Street News.” I don’t often play favorites with BI features, but I’m particularly enamored with Al Bradford’s recollections of his Rutland, Vermont, experiences in this issue. During my youth, I remember reading comic-book stories (such as the classic “Night of the Reaper” in 2 • BACK ISSUE • Halloween Heroes and Villains Issue

Now, Norman, we’ve got to give some other folks their due! Besides, you’re no stranger to BACK ISSUE. Before anyone else complains about the absence of their favorite spooky hero or villain, check out BI’s back issues for these previous articles: • #6 “Halloween Issue” (Tomb of Dracula, Swamp Thing, Man-Thing, Godzilla) • #10 “Pulp Fiction” (The Shadow) • #15 “Weird Heroes” (Werewolf by Night, Deadman, the Demon, Phantom Stranger, Ragman, Ghost Rider) • #17 “Super Girls” (Tigra the Were-Woman) • #18 “Big Green Issue” (Green Goblin) • #20 “Secret Identities” (Moon Knight, the Question) • #21 “The Devil You Say!” (Daredevil, Hellboy, Son of Satan, Blue Devil) • #24 “Magic” (Dr. Strange, Dr. Fate, Amethyst, Silverblade, Zatanna) • #31 “Steve Gerber” (Man-Thing, the Zombie) • #36 “Villains” (Hobgoblin) • #37 “Monsters” (Frankenstein, Vampirella, Morbius, Swamp Thing, Patchwork Man, Man-Bat, Anton Arcane, Dr. Thirteen, It, Golem) • #44 “Spider-Man” (Green Goblin) • #50 “Batman” (Nocturna) • #52 “Mystery Comics” (Horror Hosts, Black Orchid, Madame Xanadu, Scooby-Doo)

[Editor’s note: This article, which surveys the 1996–1997 maxiseries issue by issue, contains spoilers regarding its murder-mystery plot.]

Randall C. Wiggins

In 1996 DC Comics introduced the maxiseries Batman: The Long Halloween by writer Jeph Loeb artist Tim Sale. They had previously worked together on a revival of Challengers of the Unknown and had enjoyed the creative process and wanted to work together again. Thus began a series of one-shots produced with editor Archie Goodwin: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight one-shot Halloween stories Halloween Special #1 (Nov. 1993), Madness (1994), and Ghosts (1995). With each progressing work, Loeb and Sale developed their skill with the mythology of the Dark Knight. Sales dictated a demand for more and maybe longer work from the pair, so they worked out a scheme with Goodwin that became a maxiseries capped with prestigeformat bookends—Batman: The Long Halloween (TLH). When the first issue, “Crime” (Oct. 1996), hit the stands, I was reaching the end of a seven-year run as a comic-book store owner, so I wouldn’t get to see how well this series would sell or how its influence would impact the world of the Batman—not firsthand, anyway. I do remember that when I was first introduced to the amazing work of the Loeb/Sale team I was skeptical, but interested, and ready to see where things would go. I came from the generation of comics fans where Batman was drawn by Jim Aparo, Gene Colan, Don Newton, and the other incredible artists from the 1970s and 1980s. Tim Sale’s style was an unknown for me and it took a little getting used to, but in time I did just that and he has become one of my all-time favorite Batman artists. Writer Jeph Loeb is a master of suspense, plotting, and character development, and over the years he has only improved to become a leading writer for both DC and Marvel.

HAUNTING HUES AND HOLIDAY HORRORS One of the most important, yet often overlooked elements of a comic book is color. We take it for granted as part of the art and just enjoy the story and art as a whole. Batman: The Long Halloween changed that for many people, me included. The Long Halloween, set during the early years of Batman’s career as a crimefighter, tells the story of a serial killer who kills crime figures each month on a real or appointed holiday; because of this, he is given the moniker “Holiday.” Gotham Police Captain James Gordon, District Attorney Harvey Dent, and the Batman team to identify and capture the killer, while Dent is also working to bring down the Carmine “the Roman” Falcone crime family.

The Usual Suspects Inside back cover from TLH #3, colored for BI by designer Rich Fowlks. (All other Long Halloween art reproduced herein features Gregory Wright’s colors.) TM & © DC Comics.

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Sketching the Dark Knight (left) A 1992 sketch of Batman by Tim Sale, illustrated for Frank Balkin, who kindly shares it with BACK ISSUE. (right) TLH #1 cover. TM & © DC Comics.

the Man of Steel, with the well-regarded Superman for All Seasons.) “Jeph was a writer/producer in movies and TV, and had a relationship with Jenette Kahn, who was DC’s president and publisher in the 1980s,” Sale tells BACK ISSUE. “Kahn had an interest in expanding DC’s properties into those fields, while Jeph also had a desire to write comics, having loved them since being a kid, as many of us do. I had some non-superhero work under my belt that was coming to an end and was looking for work, so I went for the first time to the San Diego Comic-Con— at the time still about comics, primarily—where I met Barbara Randall [Kesel], Jeph’s key editorial contact at As the year goes on and the body count rises, various DC, and she put the two of us together.” Batman rogues make their appearances in the series, Sale’s interpretations of the characters that fill the making Batman’s job all the harder in tracking Holiday. Batman universe are radically different from what might Nearly every Bat-villain makes an appearance in one or be called a company “house style.” According to the more issues of this series and usually in a highly artist, “DC has always been generous about altered state, as Loeb and Sale took strides allowing me to bend the characters to my in bringing the old alive in new ways. own whims and ideas. When we later Gregory Wright brought out the expanded to Dark Victory, I very much fine detail work of Tim Sale’s art with enjoyed drawing the character of a very basic color design. Janice Porter, and more Two-Face.” Regarding the magnetic appeal Sale’s noir style of art seems of the noir style of his art combined to have influenced film director with Gregory’s color, Tim Sale says, Christopher Nolan. I told Tim that I “it was definitely a conscious choice had read that his work had influenced on all our parts. Jeph and I had the production design of Nolan’s first worked for years with Greg Wright, Bat-film [Batman Begins, 2005] and and we had a comfortable relationship. asked if he had any input in its Jeph had his own strong opinions, production. “No, I did not,” he jeph loeb and even though I am color blind, responds. “But I have read that as I did as well. I spoke often with Greg well. I suppose we just matched about a limited color palette; I just am drawn to noir, somehow in the images we are drawn to, which is, and letting the black and white shine.” of course, very flattering to me.” (Sale and Loeb formed such a successful partnership, The writing of The Long Halloween, according to Sale, they went from Batman to the next obvious candidate, was predominantly left to Loeb, whose work as Head of

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Television for Marvel made him unavailable for this BACK “It is entirely to Jeph’s credit, his concept, to have ISSUE interview. In regard to the writing of TLH, Sale a holiday theme each month, although the images notes, “It was all Jeph. I had opinions, but it was all were up to me,” Sale says. “That idea—to have a Jeph.” But Loeb allowed Sale room for interpretation: thematic thread running through all the covers— “He is generous, but I learned very early to give few changed the way I think about comic covers that are notes, if I had them, after his scripts, and stay out part of a mini- or maxiseries. of the way until he sent me something, as “The color choices were entirely Greg’s,” he was so much better at it than me! Sale continues. “By this point he knew We would talk about what we thought my preference for flat, somewhat muted was fun in general terms, agree on colors, but the colors themselves are that, and he would, as he called it, entirely Greg’s, and I love them.” ‘percolate’ and send me a script. Gregory Wright adds, “Tim did the Much of Jeph’s generosity is how much cover design; I colored them with Tim’s he respects my ability to visually tell the input. I suggested all the color, but he story he has written. He has always had very simple graphic color in mind.” insisted that our credit be as ‘storytellers’ BATMAN: THE LONG and not as ‘writer’ and ‘artist.’” HALLOWEEN— ISSUE BY ISSUE One of the most important Issue #1: “Crime” (Oct. 1996) aspects of a comic book is the cover. tim sale The cover of the first issue features a It is the first thing the prospective black cat behind a jack o’ lantern with buyer sees, and it has to grab that scratches on its face. There is a deep person’s attention fast because it is in competition with hundreds of other titles. Batman: The Long Halloween red background with the title border at the top. The cat did its job every single month with amazing covers; signifies Catwoman, the pumpkin is for Halloween, each one simple, yet highly effective in drawing the eye and the scratches on its surface would be the scratches directly to the center, where the image rested amongst a on Carmine’s face made by Catwoman back in the sedate pale color. Each month’s cover featured a holiday Batman: Year One storyline, written by Frank Miller. The issue opens with the wedding of Carmine or an image linked in some way to signify a holiday. Falcone’s nephew, Johnny Vitti. Bruce Wayne and

Halloween Heroes and Villains Issue

The Shadows Know Really, you’d have to search far and wide to find an artist who masters mood better than Tim Sale. Two pages from TLH #1: (left) page 15, with a certain cat burglar at work, and (right) page 27, with Batman and his rooftop allies, Gordon and Dent. TM & © DC Comics.

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Batman in Black and White A glimpse of Sale’s amazing line art, rife with mood and contrasts. Double-page spread pages 42 and 43 from the final issue of Batman: The Long Halloween, #13 (Oct. 1997). Autographed original art courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

TM & © DC Comics.

Jeph took great delight in not telling me the whole Tim Sale recalls the special features assembled story, to see when I’d figure it out. He was delighted for the collected editions: “The collections of Long that I didn’t figure it out right away.” Halloween were put together long before I had a scanner Figuring out who did it—the identity of Holiday— or a computer, so whatever extras are there were had was a puzzle even the Riddler couldn’t solve to be scrounged from here and there on the when put to the task by Carmine “the Internet, for the most part. What we did Roman” Falcone. So, how many readhave was the four extra pages that I had ers figured it out? I didn’t. I thought penciled that didn’t fit in the monthly for sure it would be Sofia Falcone, books, and that Archie had promised Alberto’s sister, but I was off base … us would make it to the collections. I don’t guess it would be much of I was overjoyed that those made a spoiler at this point in time to say I their way in.” had the wrong Falcone sibling, As a parting question, I asked would it? Well, that bullet’s out of Sale how he felt about the popularity the old .22 now, but knowing whoof TLH and the effect it has had on the dunit does not diminish the mysBatman franchise. “I never know tery and impact of TLH. quite how to answer that question,” As with all great limited series, he modestly replies. “I kinda feel it’s archie goodwin eventually there comes the compinot for me to say. Other people see lation hardcover followed by the things I don’t, I know that.” softcover, and if popularity and sales warrant it, the In addition to the collected editions mentioned Absolute Edition. Batman: The Long Halloween has above, you can probably find the 13 original single appeared in all three formats. The collected editions issues of the series in the include a Jeph Loeb introduction, “It’s All Archie’s secondary market for not Fault,” referring to the project’s editor, the late Archie much more than their original Goodwin, as well as an afterward by Tim Sale, and a retail price. Whatever format few pages of sketches with notes from Tim Sale about you choose, have a scary where they would have gone if those pages had not Halloween reading Batman: been deleted from the story. There is also a helpful chart The Long Halloween. of the crime families in Gotham, which is more or less a RANDALL C. WIGGINS is a comic-book who’s who of Holiday’s victims, since almost everybody on collector and writer of various things, the list got knocked off by the holiday-happy serial killer. living in Georgia. This is his first TLH’s Absolute Edition features a slipcase, creative-team work for BACK ISSUE. He wishes to interviews, Loeb’s original proposal, and sketches by thank Robert Greenberger for his assistance with this article. Sale, in this deluxe format’s mega-size.

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Gregory Wright is a colorist and writer (and former editor) for various comic-book companies. His color work includes a number of projects with Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale including Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory. – Randall Wiggins RANDALL WIGGINS: When you got the job on Batman: The Long Halloween (TLH), did you make the color choices? GREGORY WRIGHT: Yes. I made all the color choices. Tim [Sale] and I always discussed the color and how it would look. My style has always been to try and tell the story with the color. Both Tim and Jeph [Loeb] are amazing storytellers, so all the work we did together had a very cohesive fit. Tim’s style was always evolving, so we discussed how to do it better and different each time. I also felt (as did Tim) that in these series, I should rethink the color for all of the characters in the same by R a n dall C. Wiggins way he rethought them in the drawing. conducted on May 28, June 6, and June 8, WIGGINS: So, you’ve worked with Tim a good bit over 2012 the years? WRIGHT: The first work I did with Tim was some Batman/ Predator pieces for Dark Horse. We went on to Madness, The Long Halloween, Gambit/Wolverine, and Dark Victory. WIGGINS: The combination of his art and your color made TLH special. How did you come to make the choices you did for the series? WRIGHT: I like simple, bold strokes of color, not bright color. I find that when the art is as good as Tim’s, using less color can bring out more of the original line art. For me, it’s about showcasing the art and telling the story. WIGGINS: When I think about TLH and Dark Victory (DV), I think of the color scheme as being muted, which is probably not the correct word for it, but the way it worked with the noir style of the stories worked so well. WRIGHT: When you’re telling stories that take place in the dark, the less color, the more it conveys darkness. With Tim’s art I was able to take my style and preferences to more absolute levels. The style I use with Tim doesn’t work with most other artists. And many artists asked for it, but mostly, they didn’t have the ability to compose a panel, or a page in the manner Tim can. WIGGINS: He does have a singular style. WRIGHT: I wouldn’t say it was singular. It has evolved quite a bit, but what remains is his impeccable composition gregory wright and storytelling. WIGGINS: Even the art and color for the Batman/Predator project was very different than either LTH or DV. WRIGHT: True. If you look at Gambit/Wolverine, it’s very different—more standard. I’m not sure that’s the right term, maybe it was more Marvel… Tim and I evolved the style you’re talking about with The Long Halloween. Even Madness looks far more

Less is More Wright’s “simple bold strokes of color” in play on the opening page of Batman: The Long Halloween #1. TM & © DC Comics.

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Shady Characters Instead of overloading a page with color, Greg Wright’s controlled use of shades leads the eye to carefully explore the wonders rendered therein by artist Tim Sale. The villain-rich double-page spread (pages 20 and 21) from Batman: The Long Halloween’s final issue, #13. TM & © DC Comics.

film. Comics are very much like film. I started coloring random pages and had to learn how to mimic other colorists. I particularly liked the color of Christie Scheele. WIGGINS: I’m not familiar with her work. WRIGHT: Christie did Daredevil for years over JR Jr. [John Romita, Jr.]. I was also one of the first colorists to add rendering and highlights to that basic color. WIGGINS: Can you explain rendering for the readers who may not understand the term? WRIGHT: Rendering—adding form to a flat drawing with shadows and highlights. [I was one of the first but] not the first. Steve Oliff had been doing amazing stuff like that unnoticed for several years on Akira and Alien Legion at Epic. Barry Windsor-Smith also did a lot of rendering and highlights on the stuff he colored over his own art. And, of course, there were colorists who were actually painting color on what we called blue lines. That stuff had lots of rendering. I was able to do more with color as technology advanced and we were allowed to do limited airbrushing. Now, of course, the sky’s the limit. WIGGINS: True, anything can be done with computers. WRIGHT: Funny thing is, the color I am most proud of and get the most respect for are the simple color jobs where I really am thinking about the color. WIGGINS: Such as? WRIGHT: Like the Tim Sale stuff. Simple, flat tones, but with tremendous thought about exactly what colors are going to be used and why. The color being done on Mike Mignola’s work is also very well thought out. And actually using color well in a simple way is my favorite. WIGGINS: On Hellboy? WRIGHT: Yes, Hellboy. It’s got more complexity now, but it used to be very simple and flat, awesome stuff. WIGGINS: Tim Sale’s art speaks to the reader, as I’m sure it spoke to you as the colorist. That must have been something to see in black and white. WRIGHT: Absolutely. Tim’s art is inspiring in black and white. A colorist can destroy a page or an entire story. Or, hopefully, really elevate it. What should never happen is for the color to take over the art. WIGGINS: I admit I am not a fan of a lot of the computer coloring 18 • BACK ISSUE • Halloween Heroes and Villains Issue

that companies are doing now. What do you think of all of this? WRIGHT: Some of it is really good. Some of it isn’t. There used to be a whole lot of people going way overboard, but that’s calmed down now. WIGGINS: What are you working on now? WRIGHT: I just finished a project for Image called Wild Children. And I did a good bit of Elephantmen. And I’m finishing a project called The Squeeg. WIGGINS: Tell me more about The Squeeg. WRIGHT: The Squeeg was created by David Lieto. It was a screenplay. He decided to make a comic to help sell it. He first enlisted Tom Grindberg, and Tom brought me in. WIGGINS: What is it about? WRIGHT: It’s about a guy who needs redemption and gets it in an odd way. He finds a magic squeegee that changes him into a superhero. WIGGINS: That’s new. WRIGHT: Sounds silly, but no more than Thor. A guy finds a cane in a cave, smacks it against the wall, and POOF!—Thor. I felt the screenplay needed to be more tongue-in-cheek, so the comic is a bit funnier; and most of the characters mock the Squeeg. That is, until he shows what he can actually do. And he’s learning to be a superhero in a world that doesn’t have them. So it’s a pretty fun read. WIGGINS: What did you do on the project? WRIGHT: I wrote it based on the screenplay and I lettered and did gray tones on the art. It’s taken a while and it’s still not done, but David has been very patient. It should be completed this summer and be on sale as a trade paperback. WIGGINS: Is this the first comic-book project that you have written? WRIGHT: Oh, no. I used to write Silver Sable, Morbius, Deathlok, Nick Fury: Agent of Shield, Daredevil, and assorted bits here and there with The Punisher and Spider-Man. WIGGINS: Nothing for DC? WRIGHT: Not much writing … I wrote one story, but I colored lots for them as well. I did Batman, Starman, Nightwing, and all the big Marvel/DC crossovers. WIGGINS: Thank for your time and for a great interview. WRIGHT: Looking forward to the article.

Bryan Stroud Perhaps one of the most important facets to the world of the Batman is his impressive and voluminous rogues’ gallery. Arguably, no other hero has such a long list of equally memorable and dangerous villains to vex them. Before Bane, Ra’s al Ghul, and Poison Ivy; before the Riddler, Two-Face, and even the Penguin, there was the Scarecrow. It was 1941, a little over a year after the Joker and Catwoman were introduced in the pages of Batman #1 (Spring 1940) and slightly over two years since the debut of the Caped Crusader himself in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939) when this bizarre new nemesis would enter the pantheon of Batman foes in World’s Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941).

STRAW MAN IN THE GOLDEN AGE In “Riddle of the Human Scarecrow,” we are introduced to Jonathan Crane (apparently based loosely on Ichabod Crane from Washington Irving’s classic short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”), who liked to frighten birds as a boy. After that bit of foreshadowing we learn that he later became a professor of psychology at Gotham University, taking a particular interest in fear and using unorthodox teaching methods, such as firing a loaded pistol into a flowerpot during a lecture to make a point. He later overhears his colleagues on the faculty ridiculing his appearance in his shabby dress, likening him to a scarecrow. Brooding over these remarks, Crane, who spends his money on books rather than at the haberdashery, feels that he’d garner the respect he deserves if he had money. The idea takes root until he conceives a plan: “So I look like a scarecrow—that will be my symbol— a symbol of poverty and fear combined! The perfect symbol—the scarecrow!” Crane proceeds to act upon his inspiration, donning a ragged brown scarecrow costume with his face concealed by burlap. A large, floppy hat covers his head and his calling cards are the straws that embellish the garb. He embarks on his new career by offering his services to a businessman. The Scarecrow will frighten the businessman’s partner into dropping a lawsuit against him. He utilizes his pistol to emphasize his point, ultimately murdering the partner.

Boo! Detail from artist Jason Pearson’s cover to the 1998 Scarecrow one-shot. TM & © DC Comics.

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TM & © DC Comics.

From that point forward, the Scarecrow’s course is When asked about the story conferences between set, using his intimidating persona along with smoke Bob Kane, Bill Finger, George Roussos, and himself, bombs and gunplay to incite fear and terror for a Robinson shared that “we’d have story conferences price. Batman and Robin put Jonathan Crane behind where we’d work out the sketches and I would do a bars within the constraints of those first 13 layout and bring it in and we met together and pages, but he vowed to return. discussed the pros and cons of the visual.” Jerry Robinson, who inked that From a technical standpoint, Robinson first appearance, in a September said, “The only thing I can think of 2011 interview recollected with with regard to actual rendition is that BACK ISSUE the creative thought more of it was done with a brush process involved: for the clothing. Batman was first “I remember working on the done with pen, but a brush was first issue with the Scarecrow used to give more of the feeling and where we were developing his darkness on the Scarecrow.” visual. I remember working out the In the early days of comic books, problems of how he was going the villains tended to be pretty to move and what he’d look like generic. Street toughs, second-story and giving him some human men, thieves, and hoods were very jerry robinson characteristics and still having him much the norm in the urban jungle, carry out the visual of the but then came something new: Scarecrow. It was fun to devise. It was kind of a really adversaries worthy of the costumed heroes, equally colorful out-there character. Of course, at the time we were noted and one of a kind arrived on the scene. The era of the for bizarre characters what with the Joker, the Penguin, supervillain had come and comics were forever changed. and so forth. It was in that same series of bizarre villains.” Jerry Robinson took some pride in this innovation: “In all the comics in the early days, these are the ’30s, you remember. Late ’30s, early ’40s, and the villains of the day were gangsters and bank robbers: the Pretty Boy Floyds and the Machine Gun Kellys and Dillingers and so forth. Hijackers. And that’s where a lot of the villains came from. “I think we were really the first to introduce the concept of the supervillain, á la the Joker, who I think was the first. The stronger the villain, the stronger the hero. Some people thought that making the villain too strong would detract from the hero. We approached it from the other end, trying to make the villain almost the equal or more the equal than the hero. It added to the suspense. I knew from my studies of literature at the time that all great heroes had a protagonist. Everything from Arthur Conan Doyle and Professor Moriarty to David and Goliath.” [Editor’s note: Golden Age great Jerry Robinson died December 7, 2011, less than one month shy of his 90th birthday. His conversation with Bryan Stroud for this article is among the last interviews conducted with the artist best known as the co-creator of the Joker.] The Scarecrow next appeared in the pages of Detective Comics #73 (Mar. 1943). In a tale appropriately titled “The Scarecrow Returns,” Jonathan Crane takes on a slightly different M.O. by using a technique that may have been foreshadowing the Riddler. He begins to leave clues as to where he will strike. Additionally, he has some henchmen to assist him. It’s all for naught, however, when pitted against the World’s Greatest Detective. Despite leading Batman and Robin on a merry chase, the Scarecrow is again apprehended and incarcerated, apparently for the long term because … he isn’t seen again for over two decades.

Face Front World’s Finest #3’s cover (above) offered no hint of the Scarecrow’s debut, but the villain’s return in Detective #73 (Mar. 1943, left) earned him a cover shot. TM & © DC Comics.

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Silver Age Scarecrow Revisited Artist Joe Giella, who inked penciler Carmine Infantino’s eerie cover to Batman #189 (left), confesses he had always “had a problem with Carmine’s original pencil job” and argues that “Batman’s arm would not fall that way.” Bat-editor Julius Schwartz wouldn’t allow Giella to fix that arm—so over four decades later, Giella has taken it upon himself to perform some minor “surgery” via this commissioned illo (right).

Following this third published appearance, the Scarecrow started to gain traction in a big way, even TM & © DC Comics. being tapped as the villain for the landmark issue #200 of Batman (Mar. 1968). “The Man Who Radiated Fear” was written by Mike Friedrich in his professional FEARMONGERING DURING BATMANIA debut. Friedrich relates his approach to writing a story The first sighting of the Scarecrow in the Silver Age featuring the Scarecrow: is in the pages of Batman #189 (Feb. 1967). “At that point in my life I had rapidly Batmania was still in full swing as evidenced accumulated a near-complete collection by the “Holy cliff-hanger!” on the cover. of Batman and Detective Comics (I never “Fright of the Scarecrow!” begins could afford the first couple of years with a recap of the Scarecrow’s origin, of Detective, but I had almost everytaken straight from the panels of thing past that), and so would have his debut, which seems like a good been familiar with the early ’40s idea considering his long absence. Scarecrow. The ’40s version would The costume hasn’t changed and have been my inspiration more he is again availing himself of the than any more recent appearances use of gang members, but more in the ’60s, which I don’t recall now. significantly, for the first time, “I was attracted to the idea of a courtesy of writer Gardner Fox, villain who turned one of Batman’s Jonathan Crane uses chemically strengths (his supposedly fearsome mike friedrich induced fear via a hallucinogenic appearance to criminals) against derivative to aid him in his crimes. him. In those days we didn’t think It is a technique that will become part and parcel of much about backstory, so I didn’t go any deeper than the Scarecrow moving forward. that surface contrast.” Halloween Heroes and Villains Issue

TM & © DC Comics.

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his greatest fear, because she has the character he lacks and refuses to give in to the hatred and need for vengeance that has twisted him. This story was an excellent trip into the psychoses that drive Jonathan Crane and the dark tones, shadows, and subdued coloring enhance the trip through the Scarecrow’s nightmare. The Scarecrow’s ascent in the world of the Batman continued its sinister journey in other storylines, such as the much-heralded The Long Halloween series, which is covered in depth elsewhere in this issue.

WANT TO SEE SOMETHING REALLY SCARY?

Scarecrow in the Media Jonathan Crane’s creepy alter ego, as seen in (top left) the film Batman Begins (2005), as portrayed by Cillian Murphy; (top right) in CGI in 2010 for DC Universe Online; and (bottom) in 1992 for TV’s Batman: The Animated Series. Scarecrow TM & © DC Comics.

Riddler, who mercilessly jeer at his inability to scare Ms. Albright into paralyzed inaction. Upon successful escape, Crane is determined to regain his precious self-respect and to make Becky Albright pay for her impudence, so with the help of his henchmen, who seem to be copies of Jake and Elwood Blues, he begins his campaign, intent on breaking her. He stalks his prey, learning of her habits to aid him in his schemes until ultimately striking and using everything in his formidable arsenal, to include specific fears like agoraphobia and claustrophobia and then dismantling her mental defenses to get to her core. What makes Becky Albright afraid? What he ultimately discovers is what he feels is a kindred soul. Huddled against the psychological onslaught, she relives her own torments as a bullied crippled child, which triggers Crane’s memories of abuse at the hands of his peers on the playground as they call him a scrawny freak and … a scarecrow. His final push at the end of the story is to offer her a costume he has designed, similar to his, with an offer to join the ranks, indeed to take her revenge on those who caused her pain, but she flatly rejects his overtures. The Batman arrives to subdue the Scarecrow before he can do Becky lasting harm and informs the incredulous miscreant that she is, in fact,

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Leave us not forget Scarecrow’s appearances in animated form and on the big screen, the former in Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The Scarecrow made his film debut as a major character in Batman Begins, along with a cameo appearance in the follow-up movie The Dark Knight, both terrifically portrayed by Cillian Murphy. Interestingly, rather than the classic full body costume, the Scarecrow is simply given a burlap mask, but the classic elements of fear gas are utilized to the full extent along with Jonathan Crane’s profession as a coolly calculating psychologist. More recent incarnations of the Scarecrow include the “Scarebeast,” (picture the Scarecrow on steroids or as a derivative of Bane) and his recruitment into the Sinestro Corps in the “Blackest Night” series. Through every shift and change in his over 70 years of existence, the Scarecrow has remained, at his core, one of the most intriguing of Batman’s foes. He continues to outwardly manifest his own inner demons to torture the society that has rejected him, using base fears and terrors to haunt us all. So when it gets dark, when the moon is at its apex, and when things do not appear quite as they should, be on the lookout for the cause of that chill down your spine, that feel of gooseflesh and that bump in the night. The Master of Fear, Jonathan Crane, alias the Scarecrow, may be lying in wait to cause your latest nightmare in his endless reign of terror. BRYAN STROUD is a longtime fan of DC Comics, particularly the Silver and Bronze Ages, and has been contributing to the website of his lifelong best friend, Ron Daudt, for over a decade, doing reviews of those classics. Beginning in 2007, Bryan seized an opportunity to begin interviewing the creators of the comics he’s loved and has been fortunate enough to conduct over 70 to date at www.thesilverlantern.com.

Dewey Cassell

The Scarecrow. It depends on how old you are as to what image that name first brings to mind. For some, it is Dorothy’s companion played by Ray Bolger in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. If you are slightly younger, it may be the DC Comics’ supervillain who was introduced in the pages of World’s Finest #3 in 1941. Or perhaps if you are even younger—and you didn’t blink—the name might bring to mind an anti-hero with a frightening visage who sprung forth from the canvas of a painting, as first depicted in Marvel Comics’ Dead of Night #11 (Aug. 1975). This Scarecrow was the product of writer Scott Edelman’s imagination, though he credits the name to Roger Slifer. The character had a straw body but possessed superhuman strength. He was susceptible to fire, but could be regenerated through the painting. In a 1976 interview from #11 of the newspaper COMPASS, Edelman described the background behind the Scarecrow: “There was a dimensional doorway through which [the evil] Kalumai would come to earth to do all the nasty things. There had been a huge magical war and the final act of Kalumai’s dying adversary was to produce the painting over the doorway with his life force. Whenever Kalumai tries to break out, that life force reaches out to take over somebody. There’s nothing to hold it. When the danger is over, it returns to the painting. So the Scarecrow would only come out when there was a danger from the beings within Kalumai [and] the demons.” Edelman elaborated on the fitful beginnings of the character in the letters page accompanying Scarecrow’s first appearance in Dead of Night: “Little did Len Wein realize when he finally approved the plot for this first story that there had been twelve separate and distinct ‘first’ stories written for the character before he had even heard of it.” Examples of concepts Edelman had considered included an actual scarecrow possessed by a microscopic man from the home world of Psycho-Man; a young man who learns to control the emotions of others and wears a scarecrow costume; a pulp hero killed in the 1940s who was sent back to Earth; and a messenger of God responsible for maintaining the balance between good and evil.

TITLE-HOPPING TATTERDEMALION The task of finding a home for the Scarecrow was also not an easy one. It was originally planned to be a rotating series with Tigra and Frankenstein in the pages of the black-and-white magazine Monsters Unleashed. Before the Scarecrow could make its debut in Monsters Unleashed, though, there was a change in editorial direction. Edelman then heard that Len Wein was looking for backup features for the Giant-Size books and it was decided to place the Scarecrow series in Giant-Size Werewolf by Night. But then Marvel determined that their reprint books needed a boost in sales, so the

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John Wells

When one thinks of creatures from the swamp throughout comic-book history, one tends to picture green, plantlike monsters that are accurately described as mossencrusted. From Hillman Comics’ Heap in 1942 to Marvel and DC’s Man-Thing and Swamp Thing in 1971, such characters adhered to a strict template that stemmed (pun intended) from Theodore Sturgeon’s short story “It!” in the Aug. 1940 issue of the pulp magazine Unknown. DC Comics’ Solomon Grundy was something different.

GRUNDY’S ROOTS Rising out of Gotham City’s Slaughter Swamp in 1944, Grundy shambled like the monsters that came before and after, but his chalk-white flesh, tattered black clothing, and general lack of chlorophyll distinguished him from the herd. He could also speak and, in his inarticulate way, informed a group of thugs that he had no name but had been “born on Monday.” Inspired, one of the crooks named him Solomon Grundy after the old nursery rhyme and the general framework of the story grew from there, spanning a week just as the short verse did. Adopted by those small-time hoods as their front man, the superhumanly strong Grundy was an almostunstoppable force to the Golden Age Green Lantern. Hobbled by severe head injuries, GL kept fighting even without his magical power ring and, encouraged by his friend Doiby Dickles, ultimately threw the creature directly into the path of an oncoming train. GL pieced together the details afterwards, discovering that a rich man named Cyrus Gold had been murdered in Slaughter Swamp in 1894. Decomposing in the bog, Gold’s corpse was transformed through unknown means. “Bits of rotten wood and leaves built themselves into the monster of Solomon Grundy,” the hero explained. Since his power ring failed to function on wooden objects, the creature was uniquely invulnerable to anything that Green Lantern threw at him other than naked fists. Published in All-American Comics #61 (Oct. 1944), “Fighters Never Quit” was illustrated by Paul Reinman from a script by Alfred Bester, later to gain acclaim for

Born on a Monday… Gruesome Grundy, as rendered by Scott Kolins for the cover of Solomon Grundy #1 (May 2009), a series spanning seven issues followed by a collected edition. TM & © DC Comics.

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The Origin of Solomon Grundy (left) Ol’ chalk-face’s first appearance, in All-American Comics #61 (Oct. 1944). Cover art by Paul Reinman. (right) Grundy’s origin, based upon the nursery rhyme “Solomon Grundy” and culled from the pages of All-American, as presented in DC’s house ’zine The Amazing World of DC Comics #11 (Mar. 1976). TM & © DC Comics.

his 1950s science-fiction novels The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination. The author recalled to Lou Mougin in Comics Interview #32 (1986) that the story had been a rush job for editor Sheldon Mayer that he had to write with a one-day deadline. Bester freely admitted that Sturgeon’s short story had been his inspiration. “I told Ted about it,” he revealed. “I said, ‘Ted, I’m very grateful to you, and if you want a piece of my check’—it was, like, a hundred and nineteen dollars— I said, ‘You’re welcome to it. But I want you to know that I did extrapolate what you had done with ‘It’— I think that you should have developed ‘It’ further.” Inevitably, Solomon Grundy returned (in 1945’s Comic Cavalcade #13), now consumed with hatred toward his nemesis Green Lantern. The feud even carried over into a Gardner Fox-scripted full-length Justice Society of America adventure in 1947’s All-Star Comics #33, where the character was able to hold his own against the entire team. Six-year-old Roy Thomas encountered the monster here, later writing in The All-Star Companion #4 (2009) that Grundy “sent shivers up my young spine.” Imprisoned on the moon in a bubble of Green Lantern’s magical energy at the conflict’s conclusion, Grundy returned to Earth in 1947’s Comic Cavalcade #24. Writer John Broome endowed him with a surprising degree of intellect and scientific knowledge and even the ability to shape-shift into normal human form. His obsessive loathing of Green Lantern was gone, too, but the creature was hardly pleased when GL imprisoned him at the Earth’s core.

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SILVER AGE RETURN Within a few years, Green Lantern and the entire JSA joined Grundy in limbo. By 1963, though, the heroes had returned in a revival spearheaded by editor Julius Schwartz and writer Gardner Fox. Slowly but surely, the JSA’s enemies were coming back, too. For Solomon Grundy, that day came in Showcase #55 (Mar.–Apr. 1965) in a tryout for a Dr. Fate/Hourman series written by Fox and illustrated by Murphy Anderson. (Perhaps anticipating an objection from the Comics Code Authority, the script noted that the creature was a manifestation of sunlight interacting with the peculiar Slaughter Swamp but not that he was the animated corpse of Cyrus Gold, a detail reminiscent of zombies and strictly forbidden by the CCA.) Fox simply picked up where he’d left off in AllStar Comics #33, unaware of Broome’s follow-up. Thus, Grundy escaped from the moon again rather than the center of the Earth and conveyed in his childlike speech patterns that he still wanted to kill Green Lantern. Matters weren’t helped by the fact that, in this pre–Environmental Protection Agency era, Hourman’s Tyler Chemicals was routinely flushing radioactive waste into Slaughter Swamp that only augmented the Marshland Monster’s mighty power by giving him telekinetic control of wooden objects. The irradiated water also enabled Grundy to temporarily transform guest-star Green Lantern into a chalk-skinned counterpart of himself before Fate and Hourman halted the rampage. Sticking his foe in a force bubble for the fourth time and sending him into orbit, GL hadn’t yet accepted that—even with his power augmented by Dr. Fate’s magic—this trick never worked for very long.

Without This Ring, You Be Dead (top) The Marshland Menace disables Green Lantern— while Hawkman wings to the rescue— in this undated recreation by Sheldon Moldoff of Solomon Grundy’s Golden Age adventures. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). (below) Grundy vs. Dr. Fate and Hourman in Showcase #55 (Mar.–Apr. 1965). Cover art by Murphy Anderson. TM & © DC Comics.

Amidst dozens of supervillains revolving around gimmicks or themes, Solomon Grundy was a comparative rarity as a being of pure, brute force. It was a characteristic he shared with the Blockbuster, a misunderstood monster who’d recently fought Batman in Detective Comics #345 and 349. That sort of raw power made them ideally suited to fight the Justice Society and their modern Justice League counterparts in the teams’ fourth annual team-up (1966’s Justice League of America #46–47). Grundy and Blockbuster finally wound up battling each other, but were too evenly matched to achieve anything more than a draw. That in itself was enough to forge a primal mutual respect and the two bruisers closed out the story with big smiles on their faces. They’d virtually “knocked the hate out of each other!”

BRONZE AGE BEHEMOTH Rather than antagonizing Grundy with another prison, the JSA evidently decided to just drop him off at Slaughter Swamp with the expectation that he wouldn’t cause trouble as long as no one bothered him. That lasted until JLA #91–92 (Aug.–Sept. 1971), when a lost extraterrestrial boy named A-Rym stumbled into the Marshland Monster’s domain with the JLA and JSA in hot pursuit. Empathizing with the child’s plight, Grundy felt his own feelings of isolation and persecution surge and he went on a new rampage. Issue #91’s cliffhanger had the creature standing amidst the unconscious bodies of several heroes with Superman himself hoisted above his head. The key to victory lay in a detail that Solomon Grundy did not comprehend. The Justice League was from a parallel world called Earth-One while the Justice Society that he was familiar with lived on Earth-Two. The two planets had many similar heroes, however, and the conceit of this particular two-parter was that every JSA guest-star was appearing opposite their JLA counterpart. As the story neared its conclusion, Alan Scott—the Green Lantern who was Grundy’s primary foe—pooled his power with that of Hal Jordan—Earth-One’s Green Lantern—to defeat the creature and form a force bubble around Slaughter Swamp that would contain him therein. Scripted by Mike Friedrich, the adventure was part of a new era that saw the fans of DC’s Silver Age comics come into their own and revive the characters

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Keep On Creepin’ On (top) What could be cooler than Solomon Grundy (and Batman) painted by Swamp Thing’s Bernie Wrightson?? From the 2010 one-shot Batman: Hidden Treasures. (inset) Grundy in the “Blackest Night” crossover, and (bottom) DC’s Dan DiDio encounters a befuddled bog beast at the 2011 New York Comic-Con. TM & © DC Comics.

On the eve of the Blackest Night miniseries in which the dead of the DC Universe rose from the grave, an addled Cyrus Gold—not Solomon Grundy—emerged from Slaughter Swamp in 2009’s Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy #1 (by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins). Through some magical means, the creature’s progenitor had been resurrected for one week. If he could determine who had killed him in the 19th century, the mystical Phantom Stranger explained, the cycle of rebirth would cease. Writer/artist Scott Kolins continued the story in Solomon Grundy #1–7 (May–Nov. 2009), revealing that Gold had been a thief and murderer who’d dumped bodies in Slaughter Swamp. When his crimes caught up with him, he hadn’t been murdered. Rather, he’d committed suicide. That recovered memory broke the curse, but it only meant that Cyrus Gold’s soul had gone to Hell. Solomon Grundy would still be reborn but as “an empty husk” without Gold as his template. Revived as a Black Lantern during the Blackest Night event (Superman/Batman #66–67), the creature fancied himself a monster-hunter and took on Bizarro, himself a chalk-skinned being who wasn’t strictly alive. The match didn’t end well for Grundy, who was tossed into the sun and vaporized. Chronologically speaking, Solomon Grundy made no further appearances after that, but he was readily available in stories set in the past. In the 1990s, Swamp Thing co-creator Bernie Wrightson had finally tackled DC’s other famed bog dweller when he drew a Grundy tale—told entirely in splash pages and captions—for Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. Written by Ron Marz, the story somehow never got published following the 1998 death of editor Archie Goodwin. In 2010, the episode was finally exhumed and saw print in Batman: Hidden Treasures #1. Grundy had also made a comeback in 21st-century animation. In the 2001–2006 Justice League/Justice League Unlimited series (where his vocals were delivered by Mark Hamill), the creature’s origin was tweaked to make him mobster Cyrus Gold who’d died a mere quarter-century in the past. The Batman (2004–2008) declared Grundy (played by Kevin Grevioux) a 19th-century urban legend whose image was appropriated by Clayface in one episode. (The real Solomon Grundy surfaced in two issues of the tie-in comic book, The Batman Strikes #19 and 37.) And in Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008–2011), the character was an undead crimelord who could only mumble orders to his men since his mouth was sewn shut. Diedrich Bader—who vocalized Batman himself—also played this Grundy. And there was more. Grundy was a figure in both DC Universe Online and the Batman: Arkham City video game. In comic books, as James Robinson revisits the Justice Society and its heirs in 2012’s Earth 2 comic book, he’s already reintroduced a certain Marshland Monster. Is this the end of Solomon Grundy? Not by a long shot. JOHN WELLS, the so-called Mark Waid of Earth-Two, is a comics historian specializing in DC Comics. He’s written for a variety of publications over the past quarter-century ranging from The Comics Buyer’s Guide to Alter Ego. John recently assisted with Paul Levitz’s 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking.

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Al Bradford

(with a BIG assist from Bob Cosgrove)

I first met Tom Fagan in 1969 at my friend Marty Greim’s apartment. He was in Boston for the Boston Globe Book festival, where he ran a booth for Tuttle Publishing, a Rutland-based company he worked for. Marty and Tom had already known each other for at least a year, and Tom had contributed articles to Marty’s fanzine, Comic Crusader. Almost immediately after being introduced, Tom invited me and my girlfriend Sue O’Neil (who would later be my first wife) to the upcoming Rutland Halloween Parade and after-parade party. This was a more naive time—at least I was more naive—and I said that I doubted our parents would allow an overnight trip for the two of us. Right away, Tom exhibited his Puckish nature, and said it would be okay since he was a priest. (How times have changed, eh?) Not only did we believe him, but our parents bought it, too, and agreed to let us stay overnight together at “Father Fagan’s”! Even more unbelievable, perhaps, is that though when we arrived Tom confessed that he wasn’t a priest (although he nearly became one). He did insist that since our parents let us take the trip believing him to be a reliable chaperone, we stay in separate rooms while at Clement House. In addition to his day job at Tuttle, Tom had landed a gig as caretaker for the Clement Estate, a large old mansion on spacious grounds. It looked a bit like the Addams Family manse, only much better kept—perfect for a big party, which was exactly what Tom planned.

Rutland is Real! Bronze Age comics readers saw frequent appearances of annual festivals of costumed crusaders and cosplaying fans (see sidebar), like this one in Justice League of America #103 (Dec. 1972)—but awesome Al Bradford’s article and photo gallery whisk us out of the four-color pages into the Kodachromed real world of these Vermont shindigs! TM & © DC Comics.

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Night Owl (right) Batman #237 (Dec. 1971), the most famous Rutland comics appearance, featured (bottom) the Dark Knight crashing the party. (top) Speaking with “Thor” is Denny O’Neil, who wrote this classic. And that’s Len Wein as Cain in the foreground. Art by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. TM & © DC Comics.

We parked in the large, circular driveway and Tom greeted us at the door, along with wife Mary and daughter Deanna, then, I think, about 13. Deanna’s name was a token of Tom’s devotion to his film hero, James Dean. It’s a pretty name for a girl, though I’ve sometimes reflected that it’s a good thing for his daughter that Tom’s tastes didn’t run more towards, say, Elvis. Marty Greim, his [then-]wife Ellie, and Bob Cosgrove had already arrived. They had planned insect-themed outfits, as Yellowjacket, the Wasp, and the Fly, respectively, and Tom had created a float backdrop just for them, blowing up a drawing Bob did for the occasion. Sue and I would be riding on the Batman float, since we were dressing as the Joker and Catwoman. There was a good bit of woods behind the estate, and I recall Tom taking us for a walk, accompanied by “Satan” and “Diablo”—“the boys,” as Tom more familiarly called them—his two huge German Shepherds. He showed us the dammed pond, which was later to be featured in the Rutland Batman story, “Night of the Reaper.” It seemed that every year we went to Rutland someone walking around the edge of that pond would slip on the grass and get their feet wet. That was my year.

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Other fans started to arrive, among them many of New York’s TISOS crowd. At the time, the meaning of “TISOS” was secret, but it’s now common knowledge that it stood for “The Illegitimate Sons of Superman.” I’ve seen most of the TISOS crowd on other occasions, so it’s hard now for me to sort out just which members were present. Rich Rubenfeld was there. Rich dressed as the Flash (Barry Allen). Andy Yanchus was present, with a dead-on Phantom Stranger costume. Two other TISOS members were there: one, Len Wein, in his pre–Swamp Thing days, portraying Cain, the horror host of DC’s House of Mystery book, and the other, Mark Hanerfeld, made up as Abel, host of House of Secrets. Both presented dead-on likenesses of their characters—not surprisingly, since Joe Orlando had designed the characters based on Len and Mark. Arriving with Len was his pal, Marv Wolfman. Len and Marv were just knocking on the doors of pro-dom in those days. I knew both from their fanzine work. Marv had published Stories of Suspense, hosted by— surprise—a wolfman. Copies of that little treasure— reproduced by ditto machine—will today set you back a small fortune, particularly the issue where Marv had the foresight to publish the first appearance of author Stephen King, who, I think, went on to write one or two other horror things. Marv himself would later do distinguished work not with a wolfman but with another horror icon, Dracula. Most of my conversations with Tom’s other guests I remember about as well as I do any other conversation that happened 40 years ago—that is to say, not at all or hardly at all. For some reason, though, I still recall a few. Marv was excited that DC had acquired the rights to Tarzan, and that Kubert—I say “Kubert” because at that point, the only one in the business was Joe— would be doing the books. Marv was dismissive of the Gold Key Tarzan adaptations by writer Gaylord Dubois, observing that Dubois was a “70-something-year-old man.” Marv and I were then both young enough to fit

A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF RUTLAND COMICS APPEARANCES Parade, party, and Tom Fagan appearances. Avengers #83 (Dec. 1970) – Marvel Batman #237 (Dec. 1971) – DC Marvel Feature #2 (Mar. 1972) – Marvel Thor #206 (Dec. 1972) – Marvel Justice League of America #103 (Dec. 1972) – DC Amazing Adventures #16 (Jan. 1973) – Marvel

Thor #207 (Jan. 1973) – Marvel Avengers #119 (Jan. 1974) – Marvel Thor #232 (Feb. 1975) – Marvel Doctor Spektor #18 (Dec. 1975) – Gold Key Freedom Fighters #6 (Jan.–Feb. 1977) – DC Justice League of America #145 (Aug. 1977) – DC DC Super Stars #18 (Jan.–Feb. 1978) (story: “The Gargoyles”) – DC

Ghosts #95 (Dec. 1980) (story: “All the Stage is a Haunt”) – DC Defenders #100 (Oct. 1981) – Marvel Thunderbunny #5 (Feb. 1986) – WaRP Graphics Animal Man #50 (Aug. 1992) – DC Generation X #22 (Dec. 1996) – Marvel Superboy and the Ravers #16 (Dec. 1997) – DC

comfortably into the “never trust anyone over-30 crowd,” and occasionally I recall our conversation and wonder, now that we’re both closer to Dubois’ then-age than we are to 20, whether his opinion has changed. I love Kubert, and I enjoyed both his take on Tarzan, and later, John Buscema’s, but in my opinion, the Dubois adaptations illustrated by Russ Manning turned out to be the best of the lot. Roy Thomas was there, and quite pleased to see that a character he had worked with John Buscema to design, Yellowjacket, had come to life via Marty Greim’s costume. Roy himself made a convincing Spider-Man, and his then-wife, Jean Thomas, made an attractive Invisible Girl. Though quite pretty, facially Jean didn’t too much resemble Sue Storm, but, hey— neither does Jessica Alba. I remember Roy revealing plans for a new Marvel comic: Conan. He was quite excited about it, but I was less than thrilled when he mentioned that the artist was to be Barry Smith. At this point in his career, he was little more than a third-rate Kirby imitator. Obviously, to paraphrase the man turned into a newt in Holy Grail, he “got better.” Other professionals were there as well. I think Denny O’Neil was there—again, I may be recalling a different occasion. Who else is lost to the mists of time. I don’t believe that Neal Adams, who later collaborated with Denny on “Night of the Reaper,” by far the best of the Rutland Halloween parade-inspired comic-book stories, ever actually made it to a parade … more’s the pity. The hour arrived. A mass of us, in costume, made our way to the center of town to get lined-up for our debut. Superheroes seem to wear the same costumes summer and winter. I can only observe that October 31 was cold for superheroes as well. On our way, we passed a Friendly’s, yielding briefly to the temptation to stop in and request a “table for 25.” And then we were on our floats, waving, tossing candies to kids, generally making fools of ourselves, and having a fabulous time. Later, back at the mansion, the party continued. Tom was, I’m sure, holding his ubiquitous Black Label. Refreshments flowed. In truth, befitting our four-color identities, we were a pretty un-rowdy crowd, “high” on comics, fantasy, and fellowship. At the Clement Estate there was one chair in particular that had a striking look, like something Loki or Dr. Doom might sit in, and a number of us, including Roy Thomas and Bob Cosgrove, took turns having our picture taken in it.

Al Bradford says: (top) Sue O’Neil and me as the Catwoman and Joker. Photo courtesy of Marty Greim, from the pages of Comic Crusader #8. I put DayGlo green poster paint in my hair. I wish I had a color picture of this costume! (1969) (bottom) Roy Thomas and his first wife Jean as Spidey and Sue Storm. Photo from Comic Crusader #8, courtesy of Marty Greim. (1969)

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(top) Andy Yanchus as Man-Bat. Fiberglass rods support vinylmembrane wings. (1970) (2nd row left) Tom Watkins as Solomon Grundy and Andy Yanchus as Man-Bat in the Clement House ballroom. (1970) (2nd row right) I wish I could take credit for planning this awesome un-retouched shot of Andy Yanchus posing on the balcony of Clement House with glowing eyes, but it was just pure, dumb luck! (1970) (3rd row left) Bob Polio as Prince Valiant. Bob was the first fan I met since the few I’d known in elementary school. It was through him that I met Bob Cosgrove, Marty Greim, Tom Fagan, Don Phelps, and all the other fans I knew in the late ’60s and ’70s. Bob does production work for the New England Comics chain, and lettered The Tick comics. He hand-carved the beautiful and authentic-looking Singing Sword and its scabbard from wood. (ca. 1970) (3rd row middle) Carl Gafford as the late, great Vaughn Bodé’s satirical fantasy character, Cheech Wizard. (1973) (3rd row right) Tom Hegeman as the Flying Dutchman, with Mercy Van Vlack as Batgirl. Photo by Ben Poindexter. (1979) (bottom left) Unknown Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. (1973) (bottom middle) Tom Hegeman’s mom made this classic Captain Klutz outfit for him, to his specifications. He later sent the costume to Klutz creator and MAD artist Don Martin, and received a page of original Captain Klutz art in exchange! Ah, those were the days. Although Hegeman did wear this costume in Rutland, I took this particular photo the next summer at the NY Phil Seuling con. (1973) (bottom right) Unknown participant as the Scarlet Witch. (1970) 58 • BACK ISSUE • Halloween Heroes and Villains Issue

When I suggested writing an article on John Jameson— Man-Wolf—I thought it would be an easy assignment. After all, you only need to look at a handful of battles with Spider-Man and his brief run in Creatures on the Loose, right? Well, once again, my memory had deceived me and I soon found myself ascending the slippery slope that is Man-Wolf’s history—a history filled with confusion and contradiction.

REAL MEN OF VALOR

John Schwirian

The character of John Jameson is almost as old as Spider-Man himself, with John making his debut in Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Mar. 1963). On the fourth page of this classic tale, J. Jonah Jameson holds up a photo of his son as he rants: “The youth of this nation must learn to respect real heroes—men such as my son, John Jameson, the test pilot! Not selfish freaks such as Spider-Man!” Later, a despondent Peter Parker finds himself at the airfield to watch John Jameson’s launch into orbit around the Earth. However, part of the guidance equipment breaks free from the capsule, leaving John no way to steer his spacecraft. Enter Spider-Man with a plan. He grabs a replacement guidance unit, convinces a pilot to fly him up where he intercepts the wayward capsule, leaps on, and installs the module. Back in control, John Jameson opens the safety parachute and Spidey rides along gently to Earth. Of course, J. Jonah blames Spider-Man for the whole thing, but John remains grateful for the save. Several years later, Colonel John Jameson returns in Amazing Spider-Man #42 (Nov. 1966). At Kennedy Airport, we watch as John suffers a dizzy spell as spores contracted during his last space walk begin to transform him into a man capable of functioning under the extreme gravitational pull of Jupiter. Stark Industries quickly whips up a suit to help John control his new powers while J. Jonah convinces his son to go after that “crook” Spider-Man (who now looks guilty of having robbed a bank when in fact he was “stealing” a bank bag filled with explosives). Of course, a fight ensues, and Spidey deduces that whatever gave John these powers is also affecting his sanity. So, the wily Spider-Man lures his opponent into a power station, where he knocks John into a generator. The ensuing power overload in the suit suffices to burn out the spores and returns John to normal—for now.

“JAMESON! THAT THING … WHAT IS IT?” “IT’S … MY SON!” To fully understand the inspiration for John Jameson’s transformation into the Man-Wolf, one has to look back to 1973. Gerry Conway, writer on Amazing Spider-Man,

That’s My Boy! J. Jonah Jameson’s “skeleton in the closet” was his astronaut son’s penchant for sprouting hair and fangs under a full moon. (And you think your kids cause you problems!) Detail from the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #124 (Sept. 1973). Cover art by John Romita, Sr. © 2012 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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in some alternate dimension. Using his knowledge of science, he creates a large radio, which he uses to contact She-Hulk’s friend Richard Rory on Earth. Meanwhile, the warriors of Other Realm retrieve the magic shadow cloak from the Defenders’ HQ, snaring Hellcat in the process. Kraft chuckles, “I always liked Hellcat, so I thought, ‘Why not toss her in too?’” The warriors need to find She-Hulk, for she is the cause of the disastrous events befalling their world. Somehow, Other Realm became trapped in a collapsing microscopic universe that currently resided in the She-Hulk’s bloodstream. Her “volatile physiology” was somehow accelerating their doom. In a complex series of events, She-Hulk and Hellcat are transported to Man-Wolf, who has She-Hulk hold a giant focusing gemstone over her head while he returns to Other Realm and sends the destructive energy back to the gem. Somehow, it all works—Other Realm is saved and Hellcat, She-Hulk, and Man-Wolf all safely return to Earth.

DUST TO DUST After all this work to restore Man-Wolf to the mainstream universe with renewed potential, the word came down from on high that John Jameson was to be cured of his lycanthropy. Kraft tries to explain this decision: “Well, you know, different people have different ideas. They wanted an end to the Man-Wolf—bring him back to Earth and cure him. And I’m thinking, ‘No, here’s what you’re not realizing. You’ve actually got a good character here. All the groundwork is done, you just need to run with him. Instead, you’re trying to solve a character.’ But that was my opinion. So they gave me the opportunity to write that story, which was not what I wanted to write at all. Still, I would rather write it myself than let somebody else do it; somebody to whom the character wasn’t important at all. It was one of those things where, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do, whether you like it or not. So, do you want to write it?’ ‘Well, all right, if somebody has to do it—I’ll do it,’ but my heart wasn’t really into that, either.” The result was Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #3 (1981). Back on Earth, Man-Wolf goes on another rampage, including another confrontation with Spider-Man. Come dawn, John Jameson seeks shelter from Kristine Saunders. Spider-sense leads Spider-Man to Kristine’s apartment, where John begs for help. Joined by JJJ,

Spidey takes them to Dr. Curt Connors (a.k.a. the Lizard), who has experience with unwanted transformations. Using a “magnoverter,” Connors manages to get John’s body to reject the moonstone, which then fell from his throat and crumbled into dust. The end, right? Well, not exactly…

CAP WOLF John Jameson would pop again in the pages of The Avengers, where he served as Captain America’s personal Quinjet pilot. When John mysteriously disappeared, Captain America set out to find him. This turned into a seven-issue storyline titled “Man and Wolf” that ran through Captain America #402–408 (Early July–Oct. 1992). Writer Mark Gruenwald brought in every lupine character he could think of, including Man-Wolf, Jack Russell (Werewolf by Night), Wolfsbane, Feral, Ferocia, and Wolverine. Additionally, he threw in Cable and Dr. Druid. The villains— Nightshade, Moonhunter, and Dredmund Cromwell—used blood from Jack Russell to create an army of werewolves, a serum that they also applied to Captain America when he stumbled upon their operations. Dredmund had also obtained the crumbled remains of the moonstone and magically restored it, but it wasn’t the stone that changed Jameson. The moonstone was responsible for drawing werewolves to the lab, but it was an injection of Jack Russell’s blood that restored Jameson’s lycanthropy. Dredmund used the moonstone to transform himself into the cosmic-powered Starwolf, a transformation that only lasted minutes as the lupine Captain America tore the stone from Dredmund’s throat and Cable crushed it beneath his boot. The heroes forced Nightshade to administer a serum to cure her victims of their lycanthropy, and things returned to normal once more for John Jameson.

CIVIL WAR: THE BEAST RELEASED ONCE MORE Eventually, John left his position with Captain America and the Avengers and slipped out of sight. However, in Sensational Spider-Man #25–27 (June–Aug. 2006), he became the bestial Man-Wolf yet again when Stegron the Dinosaur Man used a strange meteorite to bring out the beast in humans. Using his Spider-Armor, Spidey neutralized the meteorite, but he did not save Jameson…

I MARRIED A SHE-HULK Dan Slott had reintroduced Jameson in his She-Hulk stories about the same time Stegron unleashed his meteorite. While Slott used Jameson as a love interest for She-Hulk, he had other reasons for bringing him into the series, including “their connection from the time they met in the first ever She-Hulk series, John’s time from when he served as Avengers backup crew, and the timing worked out right for his introduction/appearance in the Spider-Man [guest star] issue.” Slott had Jameson renew his contact with the spiritual essence of the starstone and regained his powers as the Stargod. Under the influence of Starfox (Eros of Titan), John is briefly married to She-Hulk. He even gets to punch Thanos during this time. When last seen, John was still in full control of the Stargod powers and poised to turn Man-Wolf from a mindless villain into one of Marvel’s heavyweight heroes. By day, JOHN SCHWIRIAN is a mild-mannered high-school English/special ed teacher, but by night, he dons the role of comic-book historian. In addition to his passion for all things Teen Titans, he explores the sunken regions of the DC Universe in his selfpublished fanzine The Aquaman Chronicles.

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Len Gould

Comics have always had a fascination with the cycle of death and rebirth. Today’s shelves are so clogged with derivatives of this premise that it no longer resonates with the veteran reader. Heroes die and heroes return. Villains die and villains return. Knowing this, the ultimate endgame means there is little suspense as these cardboard deaths are meaningless. Thirty years ago these story arcs were rare, and substantially more meaningful. Sure, Wonder Man came back from the dead, but it took him 141 issues to do so! Bit players may have come and gone, but the big guys—well, you knew they would always return next month. They would only die in “What If?” scenarios, which, while fun reads, were never really relevant. All of this changed with “The Korvac Saga” in The Avengers. Not only did heroes die, they were annihilated in a way that had the reader wondering just what the heck was going on. “The Korvac Saga” is usually among the all-time favorite yarns for fans of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The yearlong tale culminated in a blistering story entitled “The Hope … and the Slaughter,” in Avengers #177 (Nov. 1978). It is one of the most fondly remembered adventures of the Bronze Age. David Wenzel, the penciler for the final four issues of the tale, recalls, “I have a lot of memories from doing those issues. I was very honored to be following up on a story that George Pérez had started. Developing the stories was an interesting task, as up until that comic I had always had the writer present me with a script, but Jim Shooter was head editor in those days and decided to give me the story breakdowns over the phone. So each issue I would have to take copious notes as to how Jim wanted the plot to be developed. It was difficult, but it was also great because as Jim evolved the various plot threads, I had input and was able to witness how his thought process worked. His proposal to essentially ‘kill’ all of the Avengers was pretty heady for comics in those days.” Korvac was a god amongst gods. To summarize the entire saga would be an article unto itself. For the sake of this piece, let’s just assume that the Avengers take a bus (seriously!) to Long Island to confront “Michael” and his love, the Collector’s daughter, Carina. Korvac was very upset when the Avengers arrived with tagalongs Captain Marvel and Starhawk. Now Korvac, tired of being pestered by the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy over the past few months, goes off the deep end. How impactful is this? Well, after the obligatory full-splash recap page, on page two, the following denizens of the Marvel Universe feel the impact: The first to notice is the ever-vigilant Hemidall on the Rainbow Bridge to Asgard. And he knows,

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A COMICS HISTORY GAME-CHANGER!

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES THE

Order the first volume (covering 1960-64) IN OCTOBER’S PREVIEWS!

This ambitious new series of FULLCOLOR HARDCOVERS documents every decade of comic books from the 1940s to today! Each colossal volume presents a year-by-year account of the comic book industry’s most significant publications, most notable creators, and most impactful trends.

This ongoing project enlists TwoMorrows’ top authors, as they provide exhaustively researched details on all the major events along the comics history timeline! Editor KEITH DALLAS (The Flash Companion) spearheads the series and writes his own volume on the 1980s. Also in the works are two volumes on the 1940s by ROY THOMAS, the 1950s by BILL SCHELLY, two volumes on the 1960s by JOHN WELLS, a 1970s volume by JIM BEARD, and more volumes documenting the 1990s and 2000s. Taken together, the series forms the first cohesive, linear overview of the entire landscape of comics history, sure to be an invaluable resource for ANY comic book enthusiast!

Look for the 1965-69, 1970s, and 1980s volumes in 2013!

BACK ISSUE #61 The magazine that covers COMICS’ BRONZE AGE AND BEYOND presents a whopping TABLOID-SIZE ISSUE, spotlighting all the giant Marvel Treasury Editions and DC oversized comics of the 1970s! With commentary from and art by NEAL ADAMS, JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ, MIKE GRELL, JACK KIRBY, JOE KUBERT, JOHN ROMITA SR., ALEX TOTH, and more. And don’t miss ALEX ROSS’ new wraparound cover painting, paying homage to MIKE GRELL’s classic Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes Limited Collectors’ Edition cover! Order a month early, in the OCTOBER issue of Previews, for November release!

TwoMorrows—A New Day For Comics Fandom. TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 E-mail: store@twomorrowspubs.com • Visit us on the Web at www.twomorrows.com

And also in the October issue of Diamond’s PREVIEWS catalog:

Jarrod Buttery

“Once, long ago in a land far away, there existed the most beautiful of kingdoms known to man. The region was ruled by a wise and kind King who brought a prosperity to the people they had never known before. The beautiful Queen was loved by all as well. And one day the entire kingdom would fall to its heir … the gentle young Prince. One day the gentle young Prince accidentally blinded one of the servants with which he was playing. This greatly disturbed the kind King. So he went to his court magician and bade him that he create a playmate for the young Prince. “So the magician created a friend for the young Prince. And he gave the friend arms to hug the young Prince. A brain to teach him … a mouth to sing to him … but most importantly, the magician gave the friend an eternally burning magic candle, to guide the young Prince when all was dark … to keep him warm from the winter chill … and give him hopes in the depths of night. “The gentle young Prince was quite pleased with his new friend. He named him Lord Pumpkin, and together the two played all kinds of games. “And played… “And played… “And played… “Until one day… “Lord Pumpkin played no more.”

PORTENTOUS BEGINNINGS Malibu Comics operated out of Calabasas, California. Apparently, the city’s name is derived from the Spanish calabaza, meaning “pumpkin” or “squash.” In the late ’80s, Malibu published original titles such as Ex-Mutants and Dinosaurs for Hire, as well as licensed properties like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Robotech. In 1988, Dan Danko was a college graduate looking for an internship. “I was a huge comics fan, but up until the time I started work there I didn’t know Malibu existed,” admits Danko. “Malibu was Tom Mason, Dave Olbrich, Chris Ulm, and Scott Rosenberg, plus the accountant, the receptionist, and a guy in shipping. We later bought a library of characters that became dan danko our line of comics called Protectors. We updated and redesigned the characters and attempted to launch a unified universe with the limitations of the company budget. “And about that time—this is what changed everything—Image Comics was formed. And those guys wanted to form their own imprint. Apparently, Marvel wasn’t interested and so we approached the Image guys with a 90/10 cut, and even that 10% alone turned out to be a phenomenal amount of money. The Image guys were selling millions of comics per

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Back Issue #60