Issuu

COMICS’ BRONZE AGE AND BEYOND!

t 201

6 6 . o N$ 8 . 9 5

SUPERSTAR-STUDDED

TEAM-UP

07 1

82658 27762

ISSUE!

A ugus

MARVEL TEAM-UP • MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE • SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP X-MEN/NEW TEEN TITANS • DC COMICS PRESENTS • SUPER-TEAM FAMILY SUPERMAN/SHAZAM SMACKDOWNS • THE BATMAN OF EARTH B(&B)

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 #56

BACK ISSUE #57

DIEDGITIIOTANSL BL AVAILA

BACK ISSUE #53

BACK ISSUE #54

BACK ISSUE #55

“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!

“Liberated Ladies” eyeing female characters that broke barriers in the Bronze Age: Big Barda, Valkyrie, Ms. Marvel, Phoenix, Savage She-Hulk, and the sword-wielding Starfire. Plus a “Pro2Pro” interview with JILL THOMPSON, GAIL SIMONE, and BARBARA KESEL, art and commentary by JOHN BYRNE, GEORGE PEREZ, JACK KIRBY, MIKE VOSBURG, and more, with a new cover by BRUCE TIMM!

“Licensed Comics”! Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Man from Atlantis, DC’s Edgar Rice Burroughs backups (John Carter, Pellucidar, Carson of Venus), Marvel’s Warlord of Mars, and an interview with CAROL SERLING, wife of ROD SERLING. With art and commentary from ANDERSON, BYRNE, CLAREMONT, DORMAN, DUURSEMA, KALUTA, MILLER, OSTRANDER, and more. Cover by BRIAN KOSCHACK.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

BACK ISSUE #58

BACK ISSUE #59

BACK ISSUE #60

“Avengers Assemble!” Writer ROGER STERN’S acclaimed 1980s Avengers run, West Coast Avengers, early Avengers toys, and histories of Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Wonder Man, with art and commentary from JOHN and SAL BUSCEMA, JOHN BYRNE, BRETT BREEDING, TOM DeFALCO, STEVE ENGLEHART, BOB HALL, AL MILGROM, TOM MORGAN, TOM PALMER, JOE SINNOTT, and more. PÉREZ cover!

JENETTE KAHN interviewed by ROBERT GREENBERGER, DC’s Dollar Comics and unrealized kids’ line (featuring an aborted Sugar and Spike revival), the Wonder Woman Foundation, and the early days of the Vertigo imprint. Exploring the talents of ROSS ANDRU, KAREN BERGER, STEVE BISSETTE, JIM ENGEL, GARTH ENNIS, NEIL GAIMAN, SHELLY MAYER, ALAN MOORE, GRANT MORRISON, and more!

“JLA in the Bronze Age”! The “Satellite Years” of the ‘70s and early ‘80s, with BUCKLER, ENGLEHART, PÉREZ, and WEIN, salute to DICK DILLIN, the Justice League “Detroit” team, with CONWAY, PATTON, McDONNELL, plus CONWAY and GEOFF JOHNS go “Pro2Pro” on writing the JLA, unofficial JLA/Avengers crossovers, and Marvel’s JLA, the Squadron Supreme. Cover by McDONNELL and BILL WRAY!

“Toon Comics!” History of Space Ghost in comics, Comico’s Jonny Quest and Star Blazers, Marvel’s Hanna-Barbera line and Dennis the Menace, behind the scenes at Marvel Productions, Ltd., and a look at the unpublished Plastic Man comic strip. Art/comments by EVANIER, FOGLIO, HEMPEL and WHEATLEY, MARRS, RUDE, TOTH, WILDEY, and more. All-new painted Space Ghost cover by STEVE RUDE!

“Halloween Heroes and Villains”! JEPH LOEB and TIM SALE’s chiller Batman: The Long Halloween, the Scarecrow (both the DC and Marvel versions), Solomon Grundy, Man-Wolf, Lord Pumpkin, Rutland, Vermont’s Halloween parades, and… the Korvac Saga’s Dead Avengers! With commentary from and/or art by CONWAY, GIL KANE, LOPRESTI, MOENCH, PÉREZ, DAVE WENZEL, and more. Cover by TIM SALE!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

BACK ISSUE #61

BACK ISSUE #62

BACK ISSUE #63

BACK ISSUE #64

BACK ISSUE #65

“Tabloids and Treasuries,” spotlighting every all-new tabloid from the 1970s. Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, The Bible, Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles, The Wizard of Oz, even the PAUL DINI/ALEX ROSS World’s Greatest Super-Heroes editions! Commentary and art by ADAMS, GARCIA-LOPEZ, GRELL, KIRBY, KUBERT, MAYER, ROMITA SR., TOTH, and more. Wraparound cover by ALEX ROSS!

“Superman in the Bronze Age”! JULIUS SCHWARTZ, CURT SWAN, Superman Family, World of Krypton miniseries, and ALAN MOORE’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”, art & comments by ADAMS, ANDERSON, CARDY, CHAYKIN, PAUL KUPPERBERG, OKSNER, O’NEIL, PASKO, ROZAKIS, SAVIUK, and more. Cover by GARCÍA-LÓPEZ and SCOTT WILLIAMS! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

“British Invasion” issue! History of Marvel UK, Beatles in comics, DC’s ‘80s British talent pool, V for Vendetta, Excalibur, Marshal Law, Doctor Who, “Pro2Pro” interview with PETER MILLIGAN & BRENDAN McCARTHY, plus BERGER, BOLLAND, DAVIS, GIBBONS, STAN LEE, LLOYD, MOORE, DEZ SKINN, and others. Fold-out triptych cover by RON WILSON and DAVE HUNT of Marvel UK’s rare 1970s “Quadra-Poster”!

“Bronze Age Backup Series”! Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Metamorpho, GOODWIN and SIMONSON’s Manhunter, PASKO and GIFFEN’s Dr. Fate, “Whatever Happened To…?”, Nemesis, Rose and the Thorn, Seven Soldiers of Victory, art and commentary by CARY BURKETT, JOHN CALNAN, DICK GIORDANO, MIKE GRELL, ELLIOT S! MAGGIN, DAN SPIEGLE, cover by GRELL and JOE RUBINSTEIN.

“Bronze Age B-Teams”! Defenders issue-byissue overview, Champions, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inhumans, PETER DAVID’s X-Factor, Teen Titans West, Legion of Substitute Heroes, an all-star chatfest of Doom Patrol interviews, plus art and commentary by ROSS ANDRU, SAL BUSCEMA, KEITH GIFFEN, TONY ISABELLA, PAUL KUPPERBERG, ERIK LARSEN, GEORGE PÉREZ, BOB ROZAKIS, cover by KEVIN NOWLAN.

(84-page TABLOID with color) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

Volume 1, Number 66 August 2013 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, '90s, and Beyond!

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

COVER ARTISTS Gil Kane and Terry Austin (originally the cover of Marvel Treasury Edition #9, “Giant Superhero Team-Up”; inked in 2012 by Austin from a photocopy of Kane’s 1976 pencils) COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg BACK SEAT DRIVER: The Batman of Earth-B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Batman’s bravest and boldest writer, “Zany” Bob Haney

PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS James T. Arnold Michael Aushenker Al Bigley Jonathan Brown Lex Carson John Cimino Chris Claremont Gerry Conway Tom DeFalco Jo Duffy Steve Englehart Jamie Ewbank Danny Fingeroth Peter Gillis David Allen Gold Grand Comic-Book Database Ted Grant Bob Hall David “Hambone” Hamilton

Rich Handley Karl Heitmeuller Heritage Auctions Tony Isabella Dan Johnson David Anthony Kraft Steve Lipsky Andy Mangels Marvel Comics Bob McLeod Allen Milgrom Stuart Neft Yanick Paquette Bob Rozakis Alex Segura Steve Skeates Anthony Snyder Roy Thomas Herb Trimpe Marv Wolfman John Wells

If you’re viewing a Digital Edition of this publication,

PLEASE READ THIS: This is copyrighted material, NOT intended for downloading anywhere except our website. If you downloaded it from another website or torrent, go ahead and read it, and if you decide to keep it, DO THE RIGHT THING and buy a legal download, or a printed copy (which entitles you to the free Digital Edition) at our website or your local comic book shop. Otherwise, DELETE IT FROM YOUR COMPUTER and DO NOT SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS OR POST IT ANYWHERE. If you enjoy our publications enough to download them, please pay for them so we can keep producing ones like this. Our digital editions should ONLY be downloaded at

www.twomorrows.com

PRINCE STREET NEWS: The Rejected Team-Ups of The Brave and the Bold . . . . . . . . . . . .6 From the Bible to Young Love, an oddball octet of Batman outings FLASHBACK: We Are (Super-Team) Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 DC’s most unpredictable team-up title has a warm spot in fans’ hearts FLASHBACK: The Other Spider-Man Title: Marvel Team-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Chris Claremont remembers his Spider-team-time ART GALLERY: Al Milgrom’s Marvel Team-Up Cover Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 FLASHBACK: Idol of Millions: The Thing in Marvel Two-in-One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Ben Grimm’s rollicking ride through 100 (-plus) issues with multiple cohorts and creators BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Super-Villain Team-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Really, can two megalomaniacs form a partnership?? GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: The Search for Swamp Thing #25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Art collector Jim Arnold’s quest for the unpublished Swamp Thing/Hawkman team-up FLASHBACK: Men of Steel: Superman and Julius Schwartz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Super-scribes recall the team-ups of World’s Finest Comics and DC Comics Presents OFF MY CHEST: The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 The Claremont/Simonson Breakfast Club of the Comics Crossover HERO ENVY: Superman vs. Captain Marvel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 An exhaustive look at the rivalry between the Man of Steel and World’s Mightiest Mortal BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Reader letters BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 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 Gil Kane and Terry Austin. All characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. Prince Street News © Karl Heitmeuller. Hero Envy © Reckless Sidekick Productions. All editorial matter © 2013 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. Team-Ups Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 1

Original cover art to Marvel Team-Up #133 (Sept. 1983), co-starring Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. Art by Al Milgrom and John Byrne. Courtesy of Al Milgrom. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks

So, you’re a fan of the Bronze Age Batman, are you? Which one? If you read comics edited by Julius Schwartz, your Batman was “The” Batman—a grim but often gabby detective, a shadowy loner who still managed to be one of DC Comics’ most active team players. If you watched Saturday morning animated cartoons, your Batman was reminiscent of the Caped Crusader popularized during the mid-1960s on TV’s live-action Batman camp-fest (which was still in wide syndication during the 1970s)—a tongue-in-cheek do-gooder and surrogate father figure prone to administering public-service announcements at the drop of a cowl. And if you read comics written by Bob Haney (1926–2004), your Batman was a courageous crimebuster who sometimes flew off the handle, went camel-riding and scuba-diving in pursuit of bad guys, was prone to demon- and Atom-possession, mutated into a Bat-Hulk and a Man-Bat, sustained grave gunshot wounds (only to be miraculously healed by the next issue), and had a serial-killer brother and a Super-Son! This “Bat-guy” (as he was nicknamed by his brave-and-bold buddies by M i c h Green Arrow, Deadman, and Metamorpho) flapped his scalloped ael Eury batwings into the faces of the Darknight Detective’s other writers and editors, yet headlined some of the hero’s bestselling adventures of the day. Holy continuity aversion! Who was this Batman of “Earth-B”?? Just in case you arrived late to the party, during the 1970s, most of DC Comics’ heroes existed on what editor “Julie” Schwartz called Earth-One, home of the Justice League of America. Their predecessors, DC’s Golden Age characters, resided on Earth-Two, home of the Justice Society of America. The JSA returned annually in a summer crossover with the JLA, and occasionally Earth-Two heroes received their own series, such as the Spectre in Adventure Comics and the “Super-Squad”—the rebranded Justice Society, augmented by young protégés—in All-Star Comics. Other Earths were created during the Silver and Bronze Ages to showcase topsy-turvy realities (such as Earth-Three, where supervillains ruled) or to house characters previously owned by other publishers and acquired by DC (like Earth-X, home of Quality Comics’ heroes including Uncle Sam and the Phantom Lady). And then there was Earth-B, a world of stories written by Bob Haney. There were no disclaimers in Earth-B comic books warning readers that they were about to experience an imaginary story or witness events occurring on a parallel world. When you picked up, say, 1971’s The Brave and the Bold #98, co-starring Batman and the Phantom Stranger, you were being sold a comic that looked and felt like DC’s other Earth-One titles—heck, that one was even drawn by Jim Aparo, the regular bob haney Phantom Stranger artist (who was soon to become the main B&B artist as well). Then, on page one, you realized that this wasn’t quite the same Gotham Guardian you knew from Batman, Detective Comics, and Justice League of America: This Batman paid a deathbed visit to a civilian friend and was the godfather to his friend’s son (Batman, family guy?). The next issue, a creepy Batman/Flash Continuity on Ice team-up drawn by Bob Brown and Nick Cardy, pictured the Darknight Detective rummaging through the “Wayne family summer home,” In the second appearance of the Super-Sons, not only reminiscing about his childhood as Bruce Wayne … then “stifling a sob” as does the very existence of Batman’s and Superman’s he surveys an inscribed urn containing his parents’ cremated remains. But, wait a minute—Thomas and Martha Wayne were buried, as we’ve seen in offspring smack continuity buffs in the face, but the countless flashbacks to Batman’s origin, where a vengeful young Bruce, World’s Greatest Detective flaunting a photo of his freshly orphaned, swears by their graveside to dedicate his life to eradicating crime! Are you sure this is the same Batman from other DC titles?? unmasked, Bruce Wayne-looking boy adds insult to injury. The Batman of Earth-B was deputized by the Gotham Police Still, you’ve gotta love the goofiness of the Super-Sons— Department and carried a badge (B&B #102), and was so chummy with Gotham’s top cop that he called his colleague Jim Gordon “Commish.” as well the detail from this awesome Nick Cardy cover, He started many a Brave and Bold adventure working alongside the from World’s Finest Comics #216 (Feb.–Mar. 1973). police—as one of the boys in blue (and in his case, gray)—instead of being Bat-signaled in for special cases. This Batman would brashly TM & © DC Comics. 2 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

admonish street punks and at times show emotional extremes: When trapped in a well in the Sgt. Rock team-up in #108, Batman “sold his soul” to the Devil (or was it Adolf Hitler?) to escape after shrieking an impassioned “Batman wants to live!!” plea, and in an uncharacteristic burst of blood-curdling rage vowed to take the life of the Clown Prince of Crime in the oft-reprinted Batman/Joker team-up in B&B #111: “By God, Joker—you’ve done your last criminal act! I swear this time to hunt you down and destroy you like the mad dog you are!!” The Batman seen in other DC titles would never evoke such an oath, nor would he threaten to kill anyone, even his worst enemy. This Batman of The Brave and the Bold was not alone in turning a blind eye to DC’s norms—many of his teammates followed suit, in sizzling tales churned from Haney’s smoking typewriter. Some examples: • In issue #78 Haney portrayed Wonder Woman and Batgirl as cat-fighters totally ga-ga over Batman, and in #100 he had Black Canary (a brunette, by the way, who wears a blonde wig when fighting crime) miss a call into action because she was nested under a noisy beauty-shop hairdryer! Had he ever actually read a comic starring any of those duty-bound superheroines? • Haney explained in the backstory of frequent B&B teammates Batman and Sgt. Rock that as a young man, Bruce Wayne met Easy Company’s grizzled sarge shortly before D-Day (June 6, 1944), as shown in their initial pairing in 1969’s issue #84. But how could that be, since the Earth-One Batman was a mere 30-ish in the early-to-mid-1970s when “the Rock” continued to battle alongside “the Cowl”? Do the math with me: Were Wayne, let’s say, 22 years of age in 1944, by the time Rock showed up in “current” times (1971) for their second team-up in B&B #96, Batman should have been pushing 50! • Wildcat routinely stopped by the pages of B&B to pair off with the Caped Crusader. But fans knew that Wildcat lived on Earth-Two and was a member of the Justice Society, not on Earth-One with the JLA’s Batman! (The same confusion surrounded the JSA’s Ghostly Guardian, the Spectre, an occasional B&B Batman co-star.) • In two issues roughly one year apart, Haney twice misfired with Green Arrow continuity. In issue #100, the archer—with absolutely no compunction— killed a drug pusher with a shaft through the heart, and when Green Arrow returned as a Bat-ally in B&B #106, his alter ego of Oliver Queen was portrayed as a millionaire. GA’s execution-with-arrow occurred at a time when no DC hero would dream of taking a life, and prompted Denny O’Neil to write a Green Lantern/Green Arrow tale in reaction to the matter (see BACK ISSUE #64 for more info). And readers of JLA and GL/GA knew that Ollie had lost his fortune in recent years, but in Haney’s world, Queen was still a platinum card-carrying member of the 1%. [Curiously, Denny O’Neil, who objected to Bob Haney’s handling of Green Arrow in B&B #100, was assigned to write a team-up featuring Haney’s Earth-B Wildcat and the Earth-One Creeper. This story appeared in Super-Team Family #2, covered later in this issue.]

Zany Haney Scenes like these may have made fanboys’ blood boil, but, hey, they put a lot of readers on the edge of their seats! (top left) This DC house ad for The Brave and the Bold #84 poses a legitimate question; (top right) a miffed Robin yanks a ditzy Black Canary from a beauty parlor in B&B #100; (2nd row) “the hour of the gun” has come for Batman in B&B #104 (he’s firing blanks, by the way, for dramatic effect); (3rd row) a demonic figure reminds Bruce Wayne of his perilous pact in B&B #108; (4th row) the Atom—inside Batman’s very body!—remote-controls the comatose Caped Crusader in B&B #115; and (bottom) a DC comic that survived the Great Disaster (conveniently, an issue of Brave and Bold) inspired the harried humans of Kamandi’s dystopian future to magically summon Batman to their era in B&B #120. Pure gold from writer Bob Haney and artist Jim Aparo, although #84’s ad features Neal Adams cover art. TM & © DC Comics.

Team-Ups Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 3

DC Comics’ Super-Team Family was a fun and interesting title whose run was all too brief. Indeed, at 15 issues, some would say it was little more than a blip on the radar screen of most comic-book fans. Throughout its run, though, readers got to experience a wide variety of match-ups between the company’s superstars with stories that spanned the whole of DC’s universe and its history.

CRISIS ON ISSUE-ONE! Super-Team Family #1 (Oct.–Nov. 1975) was an all-reprint issue, a necessity stated in the book’s editorial page due to a deadline crisis. “There was always the intention to do original stories,” says Gerry Conway, who served as Super-Team Family’s first editor. “As you start out with these things, you’re looking for the best way to introduce [a book] on the market, and DC was trying to expand its brand a bit. Plus the intent of the reprints was to use a larger-size format [with a greater page count] without having to involve the expense of all those extra pages.” The stories in the first issue helped to lay down some of the rules regarding what constitutes a team-up. It also presented some wonderful hits from DC’s Silver Age. This issue started out with a classic example of the most enduring team in comics, Superman and Batman. The story, from World’s Finest Comics #175 (May 1968), was “The Superman-Batman Revenge Squads,” which is most notable for being Neal Adams’ first Batman story. The second tale was a Teen Titans story, “Stepping Stone for a Giant Killer,” which first appeared in Teen Titans #19 (Feb. 1969). The story that really stands out in this issue, mostly because it is the most unusual team-up in the book, was GERRY CONWAY “Tempting Target for the Temperature Twins,” from The Flash #166 (Dec. 1966). Here it is two supervillains, Captain Cold and Heat Wave, who team up, determined to put turn up the heat on the Scarlet Speedster and put him on ice for good. The story illustrated how Conway wanted Super-Team Family to reflect less-traditional team-ups, the kind that reader might not expect to see all that often. “One of the things about team-up books like Marvel Team-Up and Brave and the Bold, is that they are sort of out of continuity,” says Conway. “They’re not intended to carry forward the main storylines of the characters. They give you the opportunity to play with characters that aren’t normally put together. In Brave and the Bold, before they found the Batman formula, they had a lot of stories that were offbeat and strange team-ups. You would see

It’s a Family Affair Detail to Dick Giordano’s cover to Super-Team Family #1 (Oct.–Nov. 1975). This first issue reprinted Superman/Batman, Teen Titans, and Flash stories. TM & © DC Comics.

8 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

Dan Johnson

The Way It Wasn’t (left) The cover of Super-Team Family #2 (Dec. 1975–Jan. 1976), and (below) Dick Giordano’s signed original cover art for same, spotlighting the issue’s new Creeper/Wildcat combo. The powers-thatbe decided that this weirdo team-up lacked commercial punch and truncated Dick’s gorgeous art, bumping it below a snippet from Neal Adams’ Batman/Deadman cover from The Brave and the Bold #69. Note the editorial comment to the artist above the cover art, asking Giordano to enlarge the figures (which was done via Photostatting and a paste-up)—how ironic that in its published version, the figures were reduced! A BIG BI thank-you to Al Bigley (bigglee.blogspot.com/) for putting this unused original cover on our radar. TM & © DC Comics.

these and go, ‘Why would Green Arrow be teaming up with Metamorpho?’ You would look at them and say, ‘That’s pretty odd.’ I think probably the Captain Cold and Heat Wave story was an example of that craziness.” [Editor’s note: For the record, GA and Metamorpho never actually co-starred in the early days of B&B team-ups—instead, the former paired with Martian Manhunter and the latter with the Metal Men.]

THE CREEPER AND WILDCAT Original content began running in Super-Team Family #2 (Dec. 1975–Jan. 1976) with “Showdown in San Lorenzo,” a team-up between the Creeper and Wildcat. This tale was written by Denny O’Neil, with artwork by Ric Estrada and Bill Draut. It had the two heroes fighting one another at first, but then joining forces to save a kidnapped boxer. The story’s pairing again reflected Conway’s desire to have some team-ups in the book with characters that you might not have originally thought would work together. “Anytime you can give some characters a different way of approaching the same sphere of problems, you’re in great shape,” says Conway. “I think that was the gift that Stan [Lee] gave all of us in comics, his turning these stories on their heads by introducing real-world concerns. But that only goes so far, so then you have to start having to come up with ways to show how characters perceive things and approach them in different ways. It’s not just how they solve the problem, but how each of them solves the problem and whether that creates conflict or whether it doesn’t. All of that makes it more interesting for the creators and the readers. [Regarding the Creeper and Wildcat team-up,] the less sense it makes, the better. I was going back to the original Brave and the Bold mash-ups where they would team up these random characters. There would be these strange team-ups of characters from different universes. I think that was the Team-Ups Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 9

Odd Couplings (left) The Atom’s ongoing story arc attracted offbeat allies Aquaman and Captain Comet in Super-Team Family #13 (Oct.–Nov. 1977). Cover by Al Milgrom and Jack Abel. What could be weirder than that? (right) The final issue’s Flash/New Gods match-up, that’s what! Cover by José Luis García-López. TM & © DC Comics.

“To be perfectly honest, I just come up with generalized situations that offer conflicts and then see where they take me. I think I knew that eventually, for [the Atom] to grow, we had to have that character marry Jean Loring.” Beyond the Atom making an honest woman out of Miss Loring, this storyline also delved into Jean’s fragile mental state and laid the groundwork for the Identity Crisis miniseries that was published 25 years later. “If I had known where it was going to end up on the other hand, I might not have done it, given that is part of their history,” says Conway. “[Identity Crisis] makes for a great story, and I think it even was an inevitable story. I’m of a mind that it is not necessary to take [comic-book characters] to that level of reality. But then, I’m the guy who killed Gwen Stacy, so what can I say?”

THE FLASH AND THE NEW GODS … AND THE END Super-Team Family #15 (Feb.–Mar. 1978) featured a standalone story that saw the Flash teaming up with the New Gods in an effort to save Orion, who is growing in size as a result of a plot by Darkseid. “Again, let’s put something together that doesn’t seem to fit,” says Conway about this team-up. “I loved the New Gods and I tried my hand at them a couple of times. I don’t think I ever got them right. [This] was an opportunity to mash something together that didn’t routinely seem like they would fit together. The Flash is this scientist and the New Gods are this kind of mystical science, so that team-up seemed interesting.” STF #15 was also the book’s final issue. The letters page mentions that there would be an issue #16 that would feature a team-up with Supergirl and the new Doom Patrol. This story, which again was written by Conway, was later broken up into three parts and presented in Superman Family #191–193 (Oct. 1978–Feb. 1979), several months after Super-Team Family ended. Despite its short run, by and large, most agree that the book was a success for DC Comics, so much so, that it was decided to up the ante and make the team-ups really … well … super. In the wake of Super-Team Family’s demise, DC Comics Presents was born and took its place. To be honest, it makes sense that DC would go this route. After all, DCCP centered around Superman teaming up with a different hero each month, which allowed the 14 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

Man of Steel to have a new vehicle. This made good marketing sense, as the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie was due to be released by the end of the same year that this book hit newsstands (1978). Also, there had always been a desire to keep Super-Team Family a giant-sized book, but DC Comics Presents would be a standard-sized comic book and required fewer pages than the book it was replacing. “I wasn’t involved editorial at that point,” says Conway when asked about how Super-Team Family came to an end and DC Comics Presents was born. “It’s sort of funny that you would go from a title that has Super in the title and has team-ups with characters other than Superman to a book called DC Comics Presents, which doesn’t have Superman in the title but primarily teamed other heroes up with him. I think that probably would have been a better title for Super-Team Family.” Looking back on its run, Super-Team Family always seemed like it was in a state of flux, changing direction as it went along. But that is part of its charm, in my opinion. It came on the eve of the DC Explosion, and like so many books of the decade, was just trying to survive in the market and along the way make some new fans out of any kids that might stumble across it on their neighborhood spinner rack. In regard to the latter, I can attest it succeed with one young boy. For, you see, part of the reason I wanted to write this article for BACK ISSUE was so I could say “thanks” to this book. Super-Team Family #15 was one of the first three comics I ever bought on my own. It helped spark a love affair with comics that has lasted for 35 years and also sealed my fate to become a comics writer myself. I owe much to the final issue of this series. I can only hope I have paid it back even in the most minute way with this “FlashBack.” DAN JOHNSON is a comics writer whose works include Herc and Thor for Antarctic Press and several books for Campfire Graphic Novels. He is also a gag writer for the Dennis the Menace comic strip and a contributing author to the short story anthology, With Great Power.

Michael Aushenker

Before Spectacular Spider-Man offered additional Spidey soap opera and long before titles such as Web of Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man swung out of the editorial offices of Marvel Comics, a plucky little series called Marvel Team-Up fed the demand for more Web-Crawler action well beyond Marvel’s flagship book, The Amazing Spider-Man. Sure, the Bronze Age saw the likes of Marvel Tales and Spidey Super Stories. However, those were reprints and kiddie comics, respectively. Launched with a March 1972 cover date, Marvel Team-Up offered exciting new Spider-Man adventures—but with a twist! Mostly self-contained stories free of that pesky continuity complicating Peter Parker’s world in Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Team-Up offered done-in-one adventures and a novelty: Every issue featured a special guest hero/heroine/group to “team up” with Spidey. “Marvel Team-Up was a fun mag for people who like to see Spider-Man in action with other heroes (or possibly their favorite hero paired up with Spidey),” says longtime Spider-Man writer and editor Danny Fingeroth of the series’ appeal. (At one point, Fingeroth oversaw all Spider-titles.) “The stories were often only loosely tied into the main Spider-Man continuity, which didn’t mean that there weren’t many memorable stories by talented creators.” On any given month, readers could find Spider-Man paired up with the Hulk, Daredevil, Human Torch, Killraven, Dr. Strange, even the Guardians of the Galaxy and television stars. This conceptual conceit, clean and colorful, became sort of the cherry on the ice cream sundae that was Amazing, Marvel’s groundbreaking title spawned from the imaginations of artist Steve Ditko and writer Stan Lee. And Marvel knew a winning recipe when it had one. Two years into MTU, Marvel launched Marvel Two-in-One, a kindred title featuring team-ups with that other humorous wiseacre, the Thing from Fantastic Four [see article following—ed.]. Like many fans of the series, Fingeroth relished the freewheeling, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to the more flamboyant Spidey pairings. The mix of Spider-Man’s wise-crackery and novelty guestappearances fueled an under-the-radar book that would corral a batch of Marvel’s biggest writers and artists and keep the series firing on all cylinders from (cover dates) March 1972 through February 1985! Fingeroth’s favorite MTU covers include Ron Frenz and Al Milgrom on #135, Ed Hannigan and Klaus Janson’s cover for #140, and Hannigan and Bob Wiacek’s cover on #142. Among Fingeroth’s favorite issues: #100, which united writer Chris Claremont and artists Frank Miller and Janson, and #120, the J. M. DeMatteis/Kerry Gammill/Mike Esposito story that

“Live from New York…” Really, was there an issue of Marvel Team-Up more offbeat than this one? Chris Claremont and Jo Duffy take us backstage of this crazy crossover in this article. MTU #74 (Oct. 1978) cover art by Marie Severin. Spider-Man and Marvel Team-Up TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. SNL © NBC.

Team-Ups Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 15

For a self-declared idol of millions, the Thing’s solo series haven’t always racked up big numbers. His first solo outing ran for three years and 36 issues—not a bad run by today’s standards, but slightly underwhelming for one quarter of the Fantastic Four in a book that featured the talents of John Byrne, Ron Wilson, and Paul Neary. His second stab at a solo series in 2005 was even more short-lived: Despite critical and fan praise for the work of Dan Slott, Andrea DeVito, and Kieron Dwyer, it was canceled after just eight issues. Solo series stumbles aside, however, Ben Grimm spent much of the 1970s and ’80s proving that he could sustain a series without the accompaniment of Reed, Sue, and Johnny. For 100 issues and seven annuals, the Thing took top billing in Marvel Two-in-One, teaming up with a selection of A-listers, B-listers, new stars, and never-to-be-seen-agains in a series that saw contributions from most of the big name creators of the post–Stan-and-Jack era. Spider-Man’s team-up title, Marvel Team-Up, had proven that there was mileage in the concept of heroes collaborating and facing off against villains they wouldn’t usually encounter. The final two issues of Marvel Feature that saw the Thing battle the Hulk and team up with Iron Man, then set the stage for a team-up title starring comics’ favorite terracotta everyman. Over the course of 100 issues, MTIO saw contributions from 25 writers, 22 artists, and a collection of over 33 inkers and groups of inkers that suggests the occasional rush job. While some fans believe that the Marvel Two-in-One’s revolving door led to inconsistency and low moments, some of the creators claim that the freewheeling nature of the title was what gave them the creative freedom to craft the series’ high points. During its rare fallow periods, Marvel Two-in-One could be repetitive, aimless, or simply a handy place to tie up plot threads abandoned elsewhere. At its best, however, it allowed writers to evolve concepts and characterizations that would make their way into the wider Marvel Universe and shape it for years to come.

THE EVER-LOVIN’ EARLY ISSUES Issue #1 (Jan. 1974) launched Marvel Two-in-One in dynamic fashion: a standout and surprisingly visceral cover has the Thing punching straight through the Man-Thing’s midriff. The internal art is provided by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott and instantly showcases Kane’s knack for looking like the quintessential artist for whatever he was working on. The transition from Marvel Feature gives the series a rolling start, with Ben already in transit as the story begins.

It’s Slobberin’ Time! Eventually, you’ll have to stop drooling over this astounding 2005 commission by Jim Starlin, Alan Weiss, and Tom Smith to actually read this article! It’s a recreation of the Thing/Warlock vs. Thanos slugfest from Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2, from the collection of Brian Sagar. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

26 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

Jamie Ewbank

Our Favorite Things Marvel Two-in-One’s first three Thing team-ups: (left) with Man-Thing, in #1 (Jan. 1974, cover by Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr.; (background) with Sub-Mariner, in #2 (cover by Romita); and (right) with Daredevil, in #3 (cover by Kane and Frank Giacoia). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Having previously had a stint writing Man-Thing backup strips, Steve Gerber pens a tale that sees Ben pursuing the shambling muckmonster for stealing his name, only to find himself confronting the vengeance seeking son of longtime Fantastic Four villain the Molecule Man, who has been unwillingly rerouted by the nexus of realities in the Man-Thing’s swamp. In a move that trumps the visceral cover, Ben defeats the villain by hurling a chunk of the Man-Thing at him, knocking his power source from his hand. It’s a lively issue that sets the tone for much of what was to come in MTIO; it maneuvers several characters into place, finds time for a guest-shot and some comic relief, then wraps up the story in a surprisingly abrupt manner. Gerber stuck with familiar characters and plot threads for his second issue, which sees the Thing and the Sub-Mariner battling to save Gerber’s Superman parody, Wundarr, from alien kidnappers. Readers familiar with the relationship between Ben and Franklin Richards would have no problem seeing the Thing in an avuncular role, but Gerber, who once brought us supervillains seeking self-help gurus, puts an amusing twist on the Ben-as-gruff-caregiver role when Wundarr becomes a recurring character, a six-foot-tall, glossy-haired man-child for Ben to babysit. Gerber’s tendency to pick up abandoned plot lines and characters and finish them off in a sidelong fashion would continue throughout his run, in which he would loosely cross over with his Daredevil storylines, reintroduce the Guardians of the Galaxy, and play off the curmudgeonly realist Ben by teaming him with Dr. Strange, Valkyrie, and Ghost Rider for some mystically tinged adventures that would, again, continue into Gerber’s other titles like The Defenders. Gerber’s run set the template for MTIO: overlapping guest-stars, numerous guest-shots, and a tendency to play housekeeper for the Marvel Universe story cupboard. By this stage, however, he was wrestling with what the letters page referred to as the “Dreaded Deadline Doom,” and for issue #9’s battle between Ben, Thor, and the Puppet Master, his plot is scripted over by Chris Claremont, who says: “I was working as associate editor in those days, backstopping first Len Wein and then Marv Wolfman, who were editors-in-chief of the color comics line back then. It wasn’t great pay, which is why I supplemented that base income with freelance writing. Part of that was doing whatever fill-ins came available, mainly because I was there and the issues were

usually on killer deadline. Remember, there was no fax or email back then, which meant that actual physical proximity was a significant asset. I could take home the pages on Friday and turn in the finished script Monday morning. For whatever reason, Steve wasn’t available to write the script, so I filled in for him. The fun was having a chance to work off Herb’s pencils and play with not only the FF but also Thor.” Having wrapped up the last of Steve Gerber’s plots, Claremont would get the full author credit for issue #10 (July 1975), which would see some reckless driving by the Black Widow disrupting Ben and Alicia’s stroll in the park, and draw the Thing into a plot to douse the world in radioactive tsunami. It’s a story with car chases, secret lairs, and international espionage, all elements with which the Widow is quite at home but which leave rough-edged Ben floundering. The contrast between the two characters’ powers and skills makes it one of the more engaging issues of the series. “I loved writing the Widow in James Bond mode with her as Bond and Ben as the gorgeous romantic interest,” says Claremont. “It was part Bond, part Mrs. Peel and Steed, hence the clink of champagne in the last panel; you can fill in the Avengers [British TV show] theme yourself. The Widow’s always been one of my favorite heroes and Ben, like Colossus in X-Men Forever, makes a superb foil. She’s the experienced professional; he’s the plucky, talented amateur—and away the story goes. I actually thought the characters had great chemistry together; it would have been fun to string out the team-up for a space of issues, just to see where it might lead. If I was going to be handling the series for a while and in the process teaming up Ben and Natasha as well, all sorts of cool possibilities present themselves—mind you, that would have also necessitated having a degree of influence over the FF arc line so the Two-in-One arcs didn’t contradict what was being done in the core title.” Therein lies one of the two great challenges of writing a team-up title, one that Claremont is familiar with from having written both Two-in-One and Marvel Team-Up: “The advantage of a team concept, such as Two-in-One or Team-Up, is that the team itself provides two different avenues of temptation for the readers. How does Ben interact with his partner this issue?— in some ways that’s more integral to the success of the story than the actual melodramatic adversary, conflict, and resolution. In a solo, Team-Ups Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 27

TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Doomsday 3014 A.D. This 2009 eyeballpopper, reimagining the Kane/Sinnott cover to MTIO #4 (inset), is by Pat Broderick and Joe Rubinstein, courtesy of its owner, Brian Sagar. Wow! TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

28 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

standalone series, you’re focused completely on Ben— but you’re also subordinate to whatever’s happening to him in the FF. This is the conundrum that bedevils every spin-off series where the character is still an integral part of the original team title. Whatever happens to Ben on his own has to integrate with his life in the FF, otherwise readers and creators end up with problems. That limits what a writer can do, and worse, makes the readers wonder why they should bother with the spin-off when the big action happens in the core title.” The other great challenge frequently mentioned by writers of team-up titles is the need to maneuver two characters, a villain, and maybe a guest-star into a position where all of them can have an effect on the plot that justifies their presence in the story, something that early issues of MTIO would struggle with. Often Ben would tumble through a story in bewilderment, only to punch a victory into place at a late stage. Some writers find the necessary contrivances disheartening, while others relish the challenge, with Claremont clearly being the latter type: “The technical challenge was introducing characters every issue and conveying them as quickly and efficiently as possible to readers who might not be familiar with them, both in terms of personality and abilities. The creative challenge is then to craft a story that’s a lot of fun to read, that presents both leads, not to mention the villain, who might actually sometimes be the team-up co-star, in an attractive and memorable light and as always hopefully leave the reader hungry for more.”

side Ben Grimm presented Mantlo with a challenge, one he solved by splitting each page in half and telling Doc’s 1946 story parallel with Ben’s 1976 tale, until the central MacGuffin allowed him to bring both stories together. The villain of the piece, Blacksun, would be prominent in later MTIO issues, and would feature in the Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe graphic novel. Issue #25 (Mar. 1977) would see Marv Wolfman take control of the title. Already the editor, he took on the writing as well, despite not being a fan of the format. “I don’t like regular team-ups because they force you to alter your characters,” Wolfman states. “Nothing is stupider than having to have Batman work alongside someone every month; he’s a loner with a small group. Ben isn’t that, but I find those kinds of books ring false to me.” Despite his misgivings about the title, Wolfman’s 14-issue run would see him establish Nick Fury as a

Black Belt in Bombastic Another Sagar contribution: Nick Cardy and Bob McLeod’s redo of the Kirby/Sinnott/ Romita cover to MTIO #25 (Mar. 1977), combining Bashful Benji with Iron Fist. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

ENTER: RON WILSON If readers were hungry for more, it wasn’t going to come from Chris Claremont’s pen, as of issue #11 (Sept. 1975) would see the arrival of Bill Mantlo, scripting over a Roy Thomas plot before beginning a run that would show the very beginnings of an MTIO trend: short runs of two to four issues by a given writer, broken up with single issues by another. Issue #11 also saw MTIO functioning as Marvel’s housekeeper again, tidying up guest-star the Golem’s plot from Strange Tales. Not for the last time, issue #12 would use Ben’s test-pilot status to crash him head-on into the plot, a battle between Ben, Iron Man, and Prester John most notable for the first MTIO work of Ron Wilson, who would go on to draw 48 issues of the series, more than any other artist. Issue #12 was a fairly staid introduction for Wilson, but his adaptability and prowess were showcased in issue #13, where he merged traditional superhero art with a more cartoonish style for Roger Slifer and Len Wein’s “Braggadoom, the Mountain that Walked Like a Man,” an affectionate parody of classic Marvel monster mags. Over the next few issues, certain notes would repeat themselves: Ben would be uncomfortable with magical villains (#14, 18), crash more test aircraft (#16), and wrap up more plot threads from elsewhere (#18, 20). Issue #21 (Nov. 1976) broke the slowly forming pattern, featuring an unexpected narrative structure, introducing characters that would recur later in the series, and featuring a surprising guest-star in the form of Doc Savage. Marvel and its magazine imprint, Curtis, had been producing licensed tie-ins to the Man of Bronze since 1972, but featuring the muscular polymath along-

Team-Ups Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 29

In Marvel Comics’ publishing years of 1975–1976, an explosion of new titles had begun. Some were instant successes, such as the All-New, All-Different X-Men, and others, such as Omega the Unknown, still remain relatively unknown today. A number of super-teams got their own titles during this time, such as The Inhumans, The Invaders, and the short-lived Champions. For equal billing, perhaps, the bad guys got their own title: Super-Villain Team-Up. Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner and the nefarious Dr. Doom were chosen as the initial title characters. This combo has historic significance for Marvel Comics as they were the first villains to team together in the Marvel Universe, conspiring against that fab foursome in Fantastic Four #6 (Sept. 1962), “The Diabolical Duo Join Forces.” Marvel counted on the characters’ long-standing villainy to be a catalyst for this new series. Editor-in-chief at the time, Roy Thomas recalls, “The series was Stan Lee’s idea. At least that’s the way I remember it. Stan picked [Namor and Doom] because they were both stars in their own right who might carry a title. So why not team them up?” Bill Everett’s aquatic character, the Sub-Mariner, had been a Golden Age headliner in the Marvel/Timely Universe. By the mid-1970s, Prince Namor had a series of monthly adventures for almost a decade in Tales to Astonish, which transitioned in 1968 into his own self-titled Sub-Mariner, which ran for 72 issues until its cancellation in 1974. As a co-star of the new Super-Villain Team-Up, the Prince of Atlantis would return to a regular title in the summer of 1975. Sub-Mariner was a proven marketable character and one too good for writer and editor Thomas not to publish. “What I liked about the Sub-Mariner is that he is not truly a villain,” recalls Thomas. Roy had earlier penned most of the Sea Prince’s adventures in Sub-Mariner. Prince Namor had been consistently portrayed as a ruler of his aquatic city of Atlantis who nobly tried to protect his citizens and their interests from an often seemingly hostile surface world. Namor’s regal persona is in stark contrast with that of his co-star, Victor von Doom. Doom is a ruler of the European country of Latveria. However, his motives and motivations are not at all altruistic. Doom’s elitist and savage personality had threatened the Marvel Universe for over a decade, with almost endless plots against the planet. Despite his disreputable character, von Doom was, and remains, one of the more marketable Marvel characters. Von Doom had also previously headlined a feature in Amazing Adventures earlier in the decade. The series’ artist, Bob Hall, notes, “Dr. Doom was popular and matching him with other villains seemed like a good idea.”

A ROCKY START As grounded as the concept was for SVTU, the timing and production of the series was not ideal. The series debuted as one of two Giant-Size issues that debuted in the spring and summer of 1975. Marvel produced 68-page, 50-cent editions of its major titles that summer, in addition to launching a few new ones such as Giant-Size X-Men, Giant-Size Invaders, and Giant-Size Creatures. Roy Thomas remembers, “When [Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up] #1 was on the schedule, there was not time to do a new story—it had to be basically a reprint with a few new pages. I don’t think that was a good idea … but it was necessary.” To further complicate its publication, Thomas soon left as the title’s scribe. “I probably intended to write the series longer, but there were

BFF (That’s Brawling Fiends Forever) The “team” of Sub-Mariner “and” Dr. Doom. Cover to Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #1 (Mar. 1975) by Ron Wilson and Frank Giacoia. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

38 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

Lex Carson

other things that I preferred to do. I was happy to turn the series over to Tony Isabella’s capable hands, and the series did all right for some time.” The transition from writer/editor Roy Thomas to established writer Tony Isabella was a smooth one. Isabella recalls, “I don’t know if Roy and I ever talked about a purpose, direction, or motif for the series when he asked me to take over the writing. We had much the same sensibilities when it came to superhero comics. So that wouldn’t be necessary. Roy might have been a bit more plot-oriented in his approach to superhero comics. I might have been a bit more character-oriented, but the two of us were definitely on the same page when it came to the basics of superheroes and, especially, Marvel superheroes.” Perhaps Isabella’s character-driven style led him to kill longtime Sub-Mariner character Betty Dean in Super-Villain Team-Up #2 (Oct. 1975). Dean was Namor’s recurring love interest in his 1940s and ’50s adventures. In the Silver Age, Betty had had no contact with the Sub-Mariner until she appeared in Sub-Mariner #8 (Dec. 1968), written by Roy Thomas. In this classic tale, a visibly aged Betty Dean suddenly appears to chide Namor against his war with the surface-dwellers. The contrast between the older Dean and the non-aging mutant Sub-Mariner is aptly depicted by artist John Buscema. A portrayal of aging World War II-era heroes and characters has been a challenging concept for comics creators over the years. Thomas opines, “I didn’t mind others bringing Betty Dean back, although after SubMariner #8, I’d have been happy to let that be the final

word on her. However, I believe Bill Everett did some of those later Dean stories. Who had a better right?” Indeed, Sub-Mariner and Betty Dean were created in the Golden Age by Bill Everett. When Everett returned to write and pencil Sub-Mariner in 1973, he did bring Betty back as a supporting character. Betty was now a confidant to Namor and a guardian and mentor to the Sub-Mariner’s young cousin Namorita. In the new SVTU series, which took place after the passing of Everett, writer Tony Isabella had other ideas for Betty Dean. Isabella notes, “My reasoning went something like this: I needed to have a reason for Namor to ally with Dr. Doom. I teamed up villains who had killed people dear to Namor and upped the ante by having Betty sacrifice her life for Namor. Though I didn’t write the finale of this storyline, the plan was to have Doom help Namor get the vengeance Namor could not achieve on his own. This would leave Namor feeling indebted to Doom.” In last pages of Super-Villain Team-Up #2, Betty is blasted by the sinister Dr. Dorcas and lay dead in Namor’s arms. This issue would also be the last issue for writer Tony Isabella, who was followed by two fill-in writers: Jim Shooter (#3) and Bill Mantlo (#4). SVTU #4 marked the debut of penciler Herb Trimpe, which gave the book’s new writer, Steve Englehart, who started with issue #5, a different reason for wanting to work on the title: “When I went to work at Marvel, in the Bullpen, I sat next to Herb Trimpe and John Romita. They welcomed me into the family. I liked hanging with them, and when I got the chance to work with Team-Ups Issue

When Monarchs Meet A pair of original art pages courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions: (left) Subby’s “disco suit” is on view on the splash to SVTU #2, autographed by penciler Sal Buscema; script by Tony Isabella and inks by Fred Kida. (right) Doom targets Atlantis on this page by Steve Englehart, Herb Trimpe, and Don Perlin. From issue #5. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

•

BACK ISSUE • 39

Houston, We’ve Got a Problem… Super-Villain Team-Up’s Dr. Doom and Red Skull mix it up on the Moon in this Bob Hall 2006 commission recreating his epic SVTU #12 (June 1977) battle (inset) between the two bad guys. From the collection of Stuart Neft. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

creation which only gets done once. If a Cosmic Cube was made once, why couldn’t it be made again? Of course, the Cosmic Cube premiered with the Skull in the Captain America strip. So it seemed logical.” Gillis continues, “I collaborated with my partner in crime, Mark Gruenwald, and we saw that we could solve two continuity messes. First, the whole Adolf Hitler thing, I managed to fold Jack Kirby’s Arnim Zola character into the story, which, I am pleased to note, made it into the Captain America (2011) movie. Secondly, we could make sense of the Cosmic Cube. It was my idea to make the cube an egg-state of an intelligent being, just as it was my idea to make the alien Shaper of Worlds the Skrull version of the Cosmic Cube. Once again, if Earth can make one, why can’t other alien races—the Skrulls? The Kree? The Shi’ar? Well, the answer is they did, but they don’t stay as a wish-fulfillment weapon.” Gillis eventually finishes this cosmic storyline in Captain America Annual #7 (1983). Gillis’ story in SVTU is noteworthy in that he is the first to reinstate characters exclusively used by Jack Kirby. Kirby created a number of exclusive characters during his second tenure at Marvel in the 1970s. However, they were largely ignored by other writers until Gillis inserts King Kirby’s Arnim Zola into this Super-Villain Team-Up tale. Gillis later reinserts the Kirby-created Mr. Buddha (the Manipulator) in the previously mentioned Captain America Annual. Presently, a large number of ’70s Kirby creations actively dwell in the Marvel Universe. Additionally, the concept of the Cosmic Cube as a sentient weapon, particularly with the imbedded Hitler personality, would be essential to writer Mark Waid in a 1995 Red Skull/Cosmic Cube story in Captain America. Gillis was also pleased to make Yosuf Tov, an Israeli security agent, a primary character and hero of his SuperVillain Team-Up story. The Nazis’ struggle with people of Jewish decent shows a logical extension and Gillis’ portrayal may be a first in comics. On a much lighter note, Gillis considers “the most significant continuity” bridge he facilitated was making George Clinton one of the Advanced Idea Mechanics scientists who created the Cosmic Cube. For those fans of the esoteric, Clinton was a member of the Parliament/Funkadelic band that had its heyday in the 1970s. The writer continues, “I’ve been a Parliament/Funkadelic fan since forever, and this was a chance to add some Supergroovealisticprosfunkstication to the Marvel Universe! I also made Bootsy Collins the bassist and Bernie Worrell, the keyboard man, villains in Captain America Annual #7,” which concludes a further definitive story on the Cosmic Cube. “For a little book published for arcane reasons, I certainly got busy!” Peter Gillis’ tale was the final installment of the series. However, misguided and evil characters in comicdom continue to team up and plot chaos and destruction on epic scale since. Steve Englehart provides perhaps the most fitting eulogy for the title: “It’s a minor series in my body of work. Unfortunately, it did bounce around among creators both before me and after me, and so it never got to be all that it could have been. It was a wacky idea. Maybe it would never have worked out, but it’s too bad it didn’t get a real chance.” Perhaps in the future, another series will be devoted to the conniving collaborations, contrasts, and similar swagger of Marvel’s supervillains. Lex Carson is a Marvel Comics Silver and Bronze Age collector and historian as well as a contributor to Back Issue. He is also an active editor on the Wikia Marvel Database Project.

42 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

On July 5, 1976, the following Daily Planet solicitation was published in Metal Men #48, Starfire #2, StarSpangled War Stories #202, and possibly other DC Comics titles:

J a m e s T. A r n o l d

A promotional blurb at the end of Swamp Thing issue #24 (Aug.–Sept. 1976) of the classic first run announced that the next issue would feature a meeting between Alec Holland (who’d been restored to human form) and Hawkman. That story never surfaced, however, since the title was canceled, and left many plot threads from #24 dangling. For the past four decades, “The Sky Above” has remained among the Holy Grails of Swamp Thing lore, with fans trying in vain to find any pages from this story, which was fully written and illustrated, but never published. That is, until February 22, 2012, when eight pages of original art from this story appeared up for auction at Heritage Auctions. Join me now, as we take a one-year journey on “The Search for Swamp Thing #25!”

THE REASON WE COLLECT #1: “Comic books, even rare ones, exist in multiple copies. But there’s only one of each page of original artwork. If comic books are like cocaine, artwork is like crack.” – Tom Field in a cautionary tale as told to David Allen Gold in Playboy (Dec. 2004) Woe be the comic-book collector who first takes this leap to the dark side! I first started collecting original comic art soon after graduating college and getting my first real job way back in 1988. By the time I turned 25,

A Lost Cover—Found! Recently discovered by Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com)—Ernie Chan’s (Chua) original cover art to the unpublished Swamp Thing #25! TM & © DC Comics.

Team-Ups Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 43

“HAWKMAN BATTLES SWAMP THING IN PORTLAND— Reports come in that Swamp Thing has been sighted in Portland, Oregon, and Carter (Hawkman) Hall is off to investigate. And before the creature of the murk can explain himself, he’s in the middle of a battle royal with the Winged Wonder! What will be the outcome? Ask David Kraft, Ernie Chua, and Fred Carrillo! They’ll tell you to check out the answers in ‘The Sky Above’ in Swamp Thing #25, on sale the week of July 5th.”

Swamp Thing #25, a la New 52 From the collection of Jim Arnold, current Swamp Thing artist Yanick Paquette’s rendition of ST #25’s Swampy vs. Hawky fistfight. The artist reveals that he produces DC’s current ST book digitally and that he hasn’t “fought with paper in years! Yet there it is, the only Swamp Thing art I’ve produced in the real, tangible world.” Jim Arnold adds, rather emphatically: “For those who don’t grasp the significance of this, it means there is NO [current] Swamp Thing original comic art in existence from his run, except possibly this example. Welcome to the future of original comic-art collecting, or more precisely, its end…” TM & © DC Comics.

trying to find pieces of a 40-year-old comic book, I also happened to have been the winner of an eBay auction late last year to be named the villain in the series The Secret Service, written by Mark Millar and drawn by Gibbons. I asked one of the staff at the booth if I could leave a few copies of The Secret Service along with a return envelope for someone to give to Mr. Gibbons to sign. His response was, “Why don’t you walk around the corner yourself and have him sign them?” So I got to meet Dave Gibbons (a very nice and congenial man), introduced myself as the villain of the series (he did the Dr. Evil move), and asked him to sign a few copies of The Secret Service for me. I also asked him about buying some of the original art featuring the villain with my name. He said, “Which ones?” I showed him this page from issue #4 with the big villain reveal. His response was, “Oh, I’ll send you that.” And that’s where I’ll end my tale of “The Saga of Swamp Thing #25,” because apparently, I was just searching for myself all along (let’s see someone else end a comic-art story with an ending like that!).

GO EAST AGAIN, YOUNG MAN … OR LIFE IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES—YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO GET So I went to New York City for the second time in two weeks for New York Comic-Con! If Comic Art Con is like extracting all the original comic-art vendors from San Diego Comic-Con and putting them in one place, New York Comic-Con is like extracting all the comic-book stuff from San Diego and putting it all in one place. In other words, it’s an actual comic-book convention. I did take a pass through the various comic-art dealers at NYCC. Once again, it was mostly the same ones from San Diego and Comic Art Con, with one notable exception. NYCC is the only show I know of that is attended by the Artist’s Choice, which is the premiere site for original comic art these days. Unfortunately, I did not find any more pages or hard information from any of the comic-art vendors. I had only planned on one day at NYCC, and it was getting near the end of the day. Then, I happened to stumble upon the booth with Mr. Carmine Infantino. Got in line to talk to him, showed him the Swamp Thing #25 pages, and asked him, “I heard a rumor that you had planned on Swamp Thing going to Thanagar for the series.” For those that have seen the movie A Christmas Story, I might as well have asked Santa Claus for a Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle. Instead of “YOU’LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT KID!,” though, the answer I got back was, “No way, no way!” I just said, “Thank You,” and was not really sure why he seemed to be so upset. I remembered later that was David Kraft’s plan, not Carmine Infantino’s plan …. D’OHHHH! As I was leaving Mr. Infantino’s booth on my way out of NYCC, I happened to walk by another booth promoting Dave Gibbons of Watchmen being in attendance. It turns out besides flying around the country 50 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

Adrian Veidt: I did the right thing, didn’t I? It all worked out in the end. Dr. Manhattan: “In the end”? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends. – Watchmen Okay, it’s not going to end like that. But I think you can see why I collect comic art. Besides actually finding almost all the pieces to a 40-year-old unpublished comic, this little quest tested my ingenuity, took me to two coasts, introduced me to several comic creators, and even helped me locate three other pages of comic art on my want list, including a page featuring myself. I also eventually spoke to “Hambone” Hamilton, an interesting individual who apparently does not have a cell phone or computer (helps to explain why I couldn’t find him myself). We conversed a few times over a few topics on the phone. Unfortunately, he did not have any more material on Swamp Thing #25 either. And it was at this point I decided my quest for Swamp Thing #25 had finally come to its end. Then, before we hung up for the last time, he said those immortal words, “Of course, unless you want to try and contact the letterer, he probably has copies of all of this stuff.” <click> OHHHH, IT NEVER ENDS! While not planning total world domination, JAMES T. (JIM) ARNOLD spends his time programming computers in the Tennessee Valley and obsessing at being the Indiana Jones of the Comic Artchaeology World. He would like to thank the kind folks at Heritage Comics Auctions, Rich Handley, David Anthony Kraft, John Morrow, David Allen Gold, David G. C. Hamilton, and others who may have not been mentioned for all their help both directly and indirectly in this endeavor, with a special dedication and thanks to Ernie Chan. And, for anyone else who may have any more information on Swamp Thing #25, please feel free to contact Jim at jtarnold@grailpage.com.

Super Editorial Run by

Jim Kingman

“Be Original” DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz, and the first issues of his two Superman team-up series: World’s Finest Comics #198 (Nov. 1970, cover art by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson) and DC Comics Presents #1 (July–Aug. 1978, cover by José Luis García-López and Dan Adkins). Photograph from Schwartz’s Man of Two Worlds bio, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

Amongst so many accomplishments during his renowned career, editor Julius (“Julie”) Schwartz had an extraordinary way with DC superhero team-ups. He and his own crack team of writers and artists grouped superheroes from the Golden Age of Comics (the Justice Society of America) and superheroes of the Silver Age (the Justice League of America), and then teamed them all together on an annual basis well into the Bronze Age. He teamed many of these superheroes from EarthOne (the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Atom) with their namesakes from the parallel world of Earth-Two, and did so on numerous occasions. Also during the Bronze Age, Schwartz had Superman, the World’s Greatest Superhero, team up with as many DC superheroes as the powers-that-be allowed. Not to mention Santa Claus. Not just in one team-up book, but two, and we are about to partake in them all.

YOUR TWO FAVORITE HEROES—TOGETHER! When Mort Weisinger retired in 1970 as editor of the Superman family of titles at National Periodical Publications (now DC Entertainment), his books were distributed among a wide range of editors. Action Comics went to Murray Boltinoff; E. Nelson Bridwell was promoted from assistant editor to editor of Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane; Jack Kirby had Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen awaiting him after the

King’s departure from Marvel Comics; and Schwartz would now direct the course of both Superman and World’s Finest Comics (WFC). Julie wasted no time making a big change to World’s Finest: No longer would Batman be co-starring with Superman in every issue; instead, other DC super-stars would appear with the Man of Steel, with Batman scheduled to appear twice a year. Gone from Schwartz’s creative stable were veteran writers Gardner Fox and John Broome, replaced by the relatively newly established Denny O’Neil and Steve Skeates, and up-and-comers Mike Friedrich, Len Wein, and Elliot S! Maggin. The stories had a hipper flare, reeling in more adult themes while, hopefully, not alienating the targeted market of eight- to 12-year-old boys. “I enjoyed seeing Superman teamed up with other characters,” recalls writer Bob Rozakis, “especially since Batman had been doing so in The Brave and the Bold for awhile. But it was also nice to see a Schwartz-team spin on Superman/Batman, after so many years of editor Jack Schiff and Weisinger versions.” O’Neil, Julie’s go-to guy at that time, kicked off Schwartz’s 16-issue run with the timeline-saving third race between Superman and the Flash in WFC #198–199 (Nov.–Dec. 1970). This tale established once and for all that the Flash was a little bit faster than Superman. Dick Dillin and Team-Ups Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 51

Bye-bye, Batman! (above) World’s Finest #199 featured this fullpage house ad drawn by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson touting issue #200’s team of Superman and Robin. Scan courtesy of Andy Mangels. (inset) The Neal Adams cover for that bicentennial issue. (right) From World’s Finest #201. TM & © DC Comics.

52 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

Joe Giella provided the artwork, and would illustrate all the WFC Superman team-ups under Schwartz’s watch. In late 1970, Superman also teamed with Robin (WFC #200), written by Friedrich. Comics’ short-lived relevancy period was well underway when Schwartz took over WFC, most notably in another Schwartz book, Green Lantern/Green Arrow. In #200, America’s involvement in the Vietnam War had sparked student protests at Hudson University where Dick (Robin) Grayson attended classes, although it wouldn’t be long before more traditional science-fiction trappings propelled the tale. “At the time,” remembers Friedrich, “I was very concerned about social issues and wanted to bring them into the stories I wrote. It was a culturally and politically turbulent time, and in my small way I was part of it. I’d been brought up reading superhero stories where ‘good wins out over evil.’ What I wanted to address as a young writer was the question of what was evil: It wasn’t about robbing banks and jewelry stores, it was environmental degradation, war, and prejudice. “Julie actually seemed to encourage the social commentary, but always pushed me to incorporate it into the traditional good guy vs. bad guy conflict format—that is, there had to be a physical battle of some sort every couple of pages. If I could make that battle about a current social issue, that was a bonus. I was inspired by O’Neil’s work for Julie, though I was a lot more raw (and perhaps more radical) than Denny.” In 1971 Superman teamed with Green Lantern (WFC #201), written by O’Neil; Batman (#202) by O’Neil; Aquaman (#203) by Skeates; Wonder Woman (#204) by O’Neil; the Teen Titans (#205) by Skeates; Batman (#207) by Len Wein; Dr. Fate (#208) by Wein; and Hawkman (#209) by Friedrich. Relevancy was not at the forefront, yet there were some wild and interesting highlights. “Punish me, Daddy! I deserve it!” wailed an ashamed Superman in WFC #201, draped over the giant knee of his father, Jor-El, as the angry, apparently alive (in enlarged form) Kryptonian scientist viciously spanked his son. It remains a disturbing image, although once the Man of Steel realized it was an illusion, the situation improved as “Daddy” faded away and Superman and Green Lantern thwarted a dastardly plan by evil magician Felix Faust. O’Neil utilized relevancy in a creative way in #202, positing that mankind’s pollution problem adversely affected the Man of Steel’s fleet of Superman robots, so much so that Superman was forced to scrap them all. One remained at large, however, causing havoc in the Middle East for Lois Lane and Batman. The highly acclaimed Aquaman series by Skeates and artist Jim Aparo may have been canceled at the beginning of 1971, but Skeates still had a Sea King tale to tell in WFC #203. Next up, on a ravaged Earth in a possible future came the plea of a desperate robot to Superman and Diana Prince, Wonder Woman in WFC #204: prevent the death of an unspecified individual at a campus riot in 1971 or watch helplessly as the robot’s world comes to be! When one man’s racism, male chauvinism, extreme desire for law and order, and egomaniacal tendencies were absorbed by an alien computer and disseminated amongst the townspeople of Handley Park, including the visiting Teen Titans, Superman came to the rescue to defeat the menace and set everyone back on the straight and narrow. This tale in WFC #205 is an interesting take on the complex nature of man, complete with a fire-breathing dragon.

Torn from Today’s Headlines The Superman teamup phase of World’s Finest Comics was produced during DC’s “relevance” period and featured timely themes including pollution, campus unrest, racism … and Diana Prince’s hot pants! An added bonus: Neal Adams covers! WFC #204 (Aug. 1971) and 205 (Sept. 1971). TM & © DC Comics.

Magic then mixed with science fiction. In WFC #207, Dr. Light was teamed Superman with other DC superheroes from time to time in able to siphon off some of Zatanna’s magical aura and use it to cripple Superman and Action Comics, but there would be no continuing Superman, but not for long with the aid of Batman; while in WFC #208, Superman team-up book for well over five years. members of an alien race used mystic science to smash the continents of Earth-Two together so that they could absorb the energy outburst “SUPERMAN PLUS” and revel in the ultimate power of mind-control. Fortunately, Superman During the course of 1978, Schwartz relinquished the titles he had been most associated with from the beginning of the Silver Age: journeyed to Earth-Two just time to aid Dr. Fate in defeating The Flash, Green Lantern, and Justice League of America, and the aliens and pulling the continents back in place. two of the most important books he picked up in the 1960s, The spirited Tempter acted as conscience for all the Batman and Detective Comics. Meanwhile, the thenprotagonists in WFC #209, nudging them to the “dark proudly hyped DC Explosion and subsequently notorious side.” Superman and Hawkman overcame the worst DC Implosion came and went during the summer of of the villain’s temptations, although they were never ’78, and while the fallout drastically altered—and aware that the Tempter was influencing them. decreased—the company’s production, the senior In 1972 Superman teamed with Green Arrow editor held on to the Superman family of titles: Action (WFC #210), written by Maggin; Batman (#211) by Comics, Superman, Superman Family, and a new book, O’Neil; Martian Manhunter (#212) by O’Neil; the DC Comics Presents (DCCP), wherein Superman would Atom (#213) by Maggin; and the Vigilante (#214) team up with various DC super-stars, a return to the by O’Neil and Skeates. format of his earlier run on World’s Finest, although Revisions and softening of the Comics Code this time around Batman would not drop in every Authority began to kick in late in Schwartz’s run, mike w. barr fourth issue. DCCP debuted in April of 1978 (#1 was just as social relevancy was wearing off. Superman’s cover-dated July–Aug. 1978), and as with World’s blood spurts from his face right on the cover of WFC Finest eight years before, it kicked off with a two-part #212, and in that story Bel’s betrayal of boyfriend J’onn J’onzz apparently goes unpunished. Werewolves and vampires were a big no-no in super- tale starring Superman and the Flash, this time by writer Martin Pasko hero comics for years under CCA rule, but became allowed as long as and artists José Luis García-López (penciler) and Dan Adkins (inker). “Regarding the origin of DC Comics Presents,” writer Mike W. Barr they adhered to “classic monster” depictions, such as in the Universal recalls, “the book was already on the schedule and in production by horror films of the 1930s and ’40s. This allowed for a werewolf to be cast as the tragic antagonist in WFC #214. The Vigilante even lifted a the time I came on staff in October 1977 as staff proofreader, though line from the Wolf Man movie, commenting that the young man who it was originally referred to as ‘Superman Plus.’ I don’t know who came up with the DCCP title. My only creative contribution was to suggest, suffered from lycanthropy did so “through no fault of his own.” After #214 came the big series switch, with Schwartz trading World’s in a staff meeting, that the ‘DC bullet’ be lowered from its traditional Finest Comics for Murray Boltinoff’s Action Comics. Beginning in World’s position in the upper left corner of the cover to a little lower to Finest Comics #215 (Dec. 1972–Jan. 1973), there was a drastic change incorporate it in the comic’s logo. This was approved. I imagine the along with the return of the ongoing Superman/Batman team: the book was created to take advantage of the—hopefully—heightened debut of the sons of Superman and Batman, a plot stretch Boltinoff interest in the character when the Superman movie came out in 1978.” In 1978 Superman also teamed with Adam Strange (#3) by David and writer Bob Haney would seemingly relish with unrestrained Michelinie (writer) and Garcia-López; Metal Men (#4) by Wein and Garcíaearnestness, but I couldn’t see Schwartz nodding in approval. Schwartz Team-Ups Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 53

Fine Feathered Friends Superman/Hawkman pairings: (left) Neal Adams’ cover to World’s Finest Comics #209 (Feb. 1972), and (right) Alex Saviuk and Romeo Tanghal’s cover to DC Comics Presents #74 (Oct. 1984), also featuring Hawkwoman. TM & © DC Comics.

It was announced in DC Comics Presents #93 that the book would be canceled with #97. Readers were encouraged to write in and take a look back at the series. The last letters column provided some nice retrospectives, including “best and worst” lists and critical assessments of the series. Moore’s “The Jungle Line” in DCCP #85 is certainly the most critically acclaimed contribution. While not Moore’s best, it half-convinced me that Superman was going to die, which is really something. Gerber’s grim take on Jor-El’s discovery of the Phantom Zone, its worst convicts, and the end of Krypton closed DCCP on a disturbing, non-reassuring note (effectively ushering in a Modern Age tone for Superman comics, something Gerber had also touched on in his earlier Phantom Zone miniseries). Personally, Bates and Janson’s collaboration on DCCP #82’s Superman/Adam Strange team-up remains the stand-out as the years have gone by. The story’s conclusion, where Superman is lovingly touched by the essence of the lost souls of Krypton, is pure over-the-top sentimentality, yet genuinely moving. You believe it when the Man of Steel cries. Three months later after the cancellation of DCCP, writer/artist John Byrne began his Superman team-ups a la DC Comics Presents in Action Comics, stories firmly rooted in his revamped post–Crisis Superman universe. Julius Schwartz retired, but remained a beloved ambassador of comics. He passed away in 2004. An eight-issue tribute series dedicated to Schwartz published

64 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

that year was entitled DC Comics Presents. On a warm spring day in 1972 on the outskirts of Monument Valley, I started collecting DC comic books, and probably the first one I bought was World’s Finest Comics #211, starring Superman and Batman, with the Caped Crusader taking flight as a stumbling Superman realized he couldn’t, splendidly illustrated by Neal Adams. On the first page there’s Superman, soaring above Earth’s surface, intent on intercepting an attacking alien spacecraft. Below the Man of Steel is a truncated quote by Bob Dylan. Below the quote are the creator credits, with O’Neil, Dillin, Giella, and Julius Schwartz listed last as editor. From cover to the end of page one, I passed through a lot of great names to get to Schwartz’s moniker, great names in comics history, great names in pop culture, and after many re-readings of this comic, right up to the researching of it for this article, Schwartz’s name remains a head above the rest. “Be original,” he told his writers. To me, he’s always been the original of comic-book editors. The work still shines on Schwartz’s runs on World’s Finest Comics and DC Comics Presents, as does the ongoing appreciation for one of the greatest editors in comic-book history.

Have you ever walked across an empty high-school football field and put your fist in the air? If you have, it is likely you have seen the film The Breakfast Club, one of several of director John Hughes’ movies that came out of the ’80s and dealt with the teenage experience. The Breakfast Club focuses on five teens from different cliques brought together for a Saturday detention. As the day goes on, and they learn how to cope with boredom, we find them ripping away the masks that society has placed on them. The film takes the characters, and viewers, on an emotional rollercoaster. In the end, the characters found that, while they appear different, their souls share many things in common. While the film accomplished this in 1985, comics fans know of a superhero crossover work that accomplished a similar feat in 1982. In the early ’80s, DC Comics and Marvel Comics agreed to a series of crossovers, in the spirit of the vastly popular Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man treasury edition published in early 1976. [Editor’s note: For the full story, see BACK ISSUE #61.] After two tabloid team-ups,

Jonathan Brown

a Superman/Spider-Man sequel and Batman vs. the Incredible Hulk, the publishers let logic prevail and decided to cross over their two highest-selling titles. Marvel’s major moneymaker was Uncanny X-Men, piloted by writer Chris Claremont. Across town, DC’s top title was The New Teen Titans, spearheaded by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. Each book focused on a team of young superheroes trying to make a name for themselves. In the summer of 2012, I had the pleasure to speak with Chris Claremont about his work on this project. Claremont reminds BACK ISSUE that the ongoing crossover agreement established that the companies would alternate creative teams for these endeavors. Marvel had produced Superman/Spider-Man and DC, Batman/Hulk, so “the pendulum had swung back.” This was a Marvel production from the get-go. X-Men/Titans fell under the editorial direction of Marvel’s Louise Jones [now Simonson]. “Louise and I sat down in our editorial meeting to figure out what to do,” Claremont recalls, “and I was pitching her my initial Team-Ups Issue

X-Titans Together! From the superart team of Walter Simonson and Terry Austin, the wraparound cover to 1982’s Marvel and DC Present the Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans. X-Men TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. Teen Titans TM & © DC Comics.

•

BACK ISSUE • 65

Love Conquers All The bond between Scott Summers and Jean Grey provides a turning point in the X-Men’s and Teen Titans’ struggle against Darkseid. From the team of Chris Claremont, Walter Simonson, and Terry Austin. X-Men TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. Teen Titans TM & © DC Comics.

footed with her cape rippling in the wind. While she is rendered small on the page, the confidence she exudes radiates off the page. As we move to the side of the image, we find four other characters riding the dragon’s tail. Kid Flash and Raven are closer to the beast’s back and appear to be patiently waiting for the action to begin. Further down the tail we find Cyclops and Wonder Girl in a similar position; however, we can see they are looking down to the ground, Wonder Girl pointing toward something. It appears these two are assessing matters and planning out the upcoming battle. This once again demonstrates Simonson’s ability to render our characters on a tiny scale. While we have already seen that in this single image a great story is unfolding, it is when we move our attention to the creature’s head that we find ourselves in the heart of our teenage drama. As our attention moves to the head of Changeling-dragon, we note that there are five characters interacting with one another in this position. First we see Kitty perched upon Changeling’s head. It is here that they continue to flirt. However, it appears as if Ms. Pryde is looking away. What could be drawing her attention away from her flirtations with the green monster she rides? Directly behind her we find Colossus. Now, this might not seem like much until we notice that sitting behind with her arms around his waist is Starfire. Once again we find Kitty pining for her X-Men beau as another tries to woo him. While we see that Kitty enjoys the attention from Changeling, Simonson has the ability to display how she yearns for Colossus—even when the figures are miniscule. Once again we see how this work demonstrates the heightened emotions that accompany the young-adult experience, even in a world of superheroes. Before we move on, we need to talk about the fifth character that places himself at the top of the dragon. This is Wolverine. In my early observations of this splash page, I almost missed him. Yet once again the character is being true to form even as a small object on the page. 68 • BACK ISSUE • Team-Ups Issue

Wolverine is positioned right behind Starfire. There is very little of him that can be seen, but we can make out his face and left shoulder. Wolverine appears to be keeping an eye on these youngsters but intentionally separating himself. X-Men fans know that Wolverine is very protective of Kitty and acts like her the quintessential big brother. If we take that into account then we see why Wolverine would want to keep an eye on Kitty, who is interacting with a new person, and want to place himself where he could keep Colossus from hurting her. We have now seen how in one splash Claremont and Simonson weave a tapestry that conveys a gripping story. As story races to its conclusion, we see the power of young love fully demonstrated. Claremont notes that this is a X-Men story—yes, the Teen Titans guest star, but at its heart this is a work about the X-Men. By this time in X-Men continuity, Dark Phoenix had claimed the life of Cyclops’ great love Jean Grey. The entity had possessed Jean and almost destroyed the universe. In X-Men/Titans, the threat of the Dark Phoenix is resurrected and seeks out its host’s former love. Claremont notes that when he wrote Phoenix it was as a force that could possess anyone, as other writers had come to view it. The force had not just possessed Jean, but was entangled with her. At the end of the day, the Phoenix force was Jean Grey fully realized. From there we can deduce that only one person could deal with Dark Phoenix: the man Jean Grey loved, Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops. As our villains fight what the Dark Phoenix labels the “X-Titans,” she turns her sights to Cyclops. Then the force enters him in an attempt to destroy them. However, this is a fatal mistake. The creature touches the love that Cyclops had for Jean and is touched by that love in return. It releases Scott and then rushes to take out Darkseid. Our two enemies connect and, in a cataclysmic explosion, disappear. Love wins the day and this story reminds of the intensity of young romance. While in our teen years, love can blind us and make us stupid. It can also be freeing, and breathtaking. The great love Scott Summers and Jean Grey shared saves the Titans, X-Men, and the universe as a whole. In the last shot of our heroes, we see them congratulating one another and celebrating. The emotional conflict between Colossus and Kitty Pryde has been resolved as they look lovingly into each other’s eyes. The world is returning to normal, and two groups of young people now know that they are not so different. Before we conclude, we need to note what never was. This work was meant for a later sequel. The next would have been a DC production in late 1983 and have been written by Marv Wolfman and penciled by George Pérez. Both had worked as consultants on the original book. This second team-up would have placed more weight on the Titans and seen villains Brother Blood and the Hellfire Club join forces. Sadly, the crossover deal between Marvel and DC fell through before this tale [and Justice League/Avengers, as revealed in BI #1—ed.] could be told, leaving us in a world with only one meeting between these two teams. In the beginning, I mentioned how The Breakfast Club was a movie that came after this comic. In the film we find a group of youngsters who learn that people are more than their surface personas, and by the end of it, love has overcome the remaining adversities. This comic does the same and sets it in a world where the fantastic is possible. It shows its reader that the power of young emotion can do great things, and that in the end, the human experience is founded on similar core values no matter what we see on the surface. JONATHAN BROWN attended Young Harris College and Brevard College for his undergrad. He completed his B.A. in 2007. He finished his Master of Arts in Religion with an emphasis on New Testament and a minor in Religion in Literature at the University of Georgia. He has published work in The Jack Kirby Collector and International Journal of Comic Art.

“The heroes whom we deem worthy are beautiful because they inspire us to be better and invoke those magical thoughts that keep us in lofty places soaring among the stars…”

THE REAL RIVALRY ®

by J o hn “THE MEGO STRETCH HULK” Cimino

The most important event (or explosion) in the history of comics was the debut of Superman, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). This character took the industry into a bold, new direction and gave rise to a whole new landscape of superheroicstars, all of which were trying to make a name for themselves and cash in on the enormous success of the Man of Steel. The most flagrant copycats were taken to court by DC Comics, beginning with a character called Wonder Man, who was doomed after appearing in just a single issue. Soon, from out of the offices of Fawcett Publications and the minds of Bill Parker and C. C. Beck, came a new champion of good by the name of Captain Marvel. Debuting in Whiz Comics #2 (Feb. 1940)— really #1, as the earlier #1 was simply an “ashcan” edition of the same stories printed up for copyright purposes, the numbering was later changed. The “World’s Mightiest Mortal” soon developed into something much more extraordinary, something much more … well, charming than a mere copy of Superman. Through much of the Golden Age, Captain Marvel proved to be the most popular superhero with his comics outselling all others, including those featuring Superman. Captain Marvel Adventures sold 14 million copies in 1944, at one point being published biweekly with a circulation of 1.3 million copies an issue (proclaimed on the cover of issue #19 as being the “Largest Circulation of Any Comic Magazine”). Part of the reason for this popularity included the inherent wish-fulfillment appeal of the character to children, as well as the humorous and surreal quality of the stories. Billy Batson typically narrated each Captain Marvel story, speaking directly to his reading audience from his WHIZ radio microphone, relating each story from the perspective of a young boy (now, that was cool). Detective Comics (later known as National Comics Publications, National Periodical Publications, and today known as DC Comics) sued Fawcett for copyright infringement in 1941, alleging that Captain Marvel was based on their character Superman. After seven years of litigation, the National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications case went to trials court in 1948. Although the judge presiding over the case decided that Captain Marvel was an infringement, DC was found to be negligent in copyrighting several of its Superman daily newspaper strips, and it was

Big Brawl Duking do-gooders, in 1978’s All-New Collectors’ Edition #C-58. Cover art by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano, with colors by Adrienne Roy. TM & © DC Comics.

Team-Ups Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 69

Back Issue #66