Back Issue #6 by TwoMorrows Publishing

HALLOWEEN ISSUE! Marvel,s GODZILLA! Charlton,s HORROR LINE! And Thomas and Giordano,s DRACULA adaptation! GRE W P RO

T H E U LT I M AT E C O M I C S E X P E R I E N C E !

4 r 20 0 O c t ob e

N$o5..965

2 PRO O O R

LEN WE IN & BE R WRIGHT NIE SON pl us STEVE BISSET TE & RICK VEITCH

R TOLD VE

TSTORIES NE S E AT

ating Celebr st The Be of the s c i m o C 80s, ’70s, ’ y! & Toda

MAN-TH ING or SWAMP THING: WHO CA ME FIRST?

TUFF S H UG

THE—!? HAT

HORRO R & HE RO ES PENCIL ART

att ing look itin A bit &

olan & C e n e G lfma n’s o W v a r M COMICS TE RS CHARAC FOR ENT PRESID

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TwoMorrows.Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. (& LEGO! ) TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

The Ultimate Comics Experience!

Volume 1, Number 6 October 2004 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, and Today! EDITOR Michael Eury

Wa nna see some thin g r e a l y l sc ary? r u o It’s

n e e w o l l Ha issue! EDITORIAL .............................................................................................................................................................2 Hear ye, young patriots! An appeal from your Uncle Euryman!

PUBLISHER John “J-Mo” Morrow DESIGNER Robert Clark

PRO2PRO INTERVIEW: LEN WEIN AND BERNIE WRIGHTSON ............................3 The creators of Swamp Thing discuss the monster’s roots and the sequel that never was

PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington

THE GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: MAN-THING OR SWAMP THING: WHO THE MUCK CAME FIRST? ................................................15 Burying the debate once and for all

SCANNING AND IMAGE MANIPULATION Rich Fowlks

BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: THE TOMB OF DRACULA ............................................19 An in-depth look at one of comics’ most celebrated series, with rare Gene Colan art

COVER ARTISTS Gene Colan (pencils) Dave Gutierrez (inks)

BEYOND CAPES: MARVEL COMICS’ GODZILLA.............................................................33 Remember when the terror from Tokyo stomped into the Marvel Universe?

COVER COLORIST Tom Zuiko SPECIAL THANKS Michael Ambrose Val Mayerick Pat Bastienne

Adam McGovern

Stephen Bissette

Doug Moench

Brian Bolland

Brian K. Morris

Frank Brunner

Bill Pearson

John Byrne

Adam Philips

Len Callo

Mike Ploog

Gene Colan

Carl Potts

Gerry Conway

Dave Ross

Nick Cuti

Joe Simon

Steve Ditko

Paul Smith

Steve Donnelly

Anthony Snyder

Dick Durock

Joe Staton

Tom Field

Roger Stern

Steve Gerber

Roy Thomas

Joe Gill

Herb Trimpe

Dick Giordano

Rick Veitch

Dave Gutierrez

Jim Warden

Grand Comic-

Len Wein

Book Database

Marv Wolfman

David Hamilton

Bernie Wrightson

Heritage Comics

Mike Zeck

Wayne Howard Dan Johnson Michael Kaluta Ted Latner Jonathan Mankuta

ROUGH STUFF: HORRORS AND HEROES..............................................................................38 Art by Ploog, Kaluta, Brunner, Potts, Paul Smith, Dave Ross, and Alcala, plus Wrightson and Colan PRO2PRO INTERVIEW: STEVE BISSETTE AND RICK VEITCH ..............................48 Recalling Swamp Thing’s 1980s renaissance, with rare Bissette art PRO2PRO EXTRA: AN EVENING WITH ALAN MOORE .............................................67 Ever hear of DC Comics’ Swamp Thing promotional video? OFF MY CHEST: GUEST EDITORIAL BY ROY THOMAS ............................................68 The story behind the writer’s unfinished Dracula adaptation, with art by Dick Giordano BEYOND CAPES: CHARLTON COMICS’ HORROR LINE ...........................................71 Comics’ sleeping giant was more influential than you might realize WHAT THE--?!: SUPERMAN OF THE PEOPLE .....................................................................77 The unlikely stories of some very odd Presidential candidates BACK IN PRINT: ALAN MOORE: ACROSS THE DC UNIVERSE ...........................83 Moore’s mainstream DC work is collected; plus looks at Hellboy: Weird Tales, Morbid, and Aurora model kit “fantasy” boxes BACK TALK.........................................................................................................................................................86 Reader feedback on issue #4

BACK ISSUE™ is published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. BACK ISSUE Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 5060A Foothills Dr., Lake Oswego, OR 97034. Email: euryman@msn.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $30 Standard US, $48 First Class US, $60 Canada, $66 Surface International, $90 Airmail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Tomb of Dracula, Man-Thing, Doctor Strange, and Howard the Duck TM & © 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc. Swamp Thing TM & © 2004 DC Comics. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2004 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

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BACK ISSUE #8 (Feb. 2005) “Black History Month” ■ STORM ■ 1970s/1980s X-MEN pencil art ■ LUKE CAGE, JOHN STEWART GREEN LANTERN, VIXEN, BLACK LIGHTNING, BLACK PANTHER, CYBORG, and other 1970s/1980s African-American super-heroes

BACK ISSUE #9 (Apr. 2005) “Cosmic Issue” ■ NEXUS (Steve Rude) ■ GRIMJACK (Tim Truman) ■ THANOS, CAPTAIN MARVEL, and WARLOCK (Jim Starlin) ■ Marvel Comics’ STAR WARS ■ DC’s TIME WARP

BACK ISSUE #10 (June 2005) “Pulp Fiction” ■ BATMAN/RA’S AL GHUL (Neal Adams and others)

omery Flagg. With apologies to James Montg

■ JON SABLE and BATMAN/JON SABLE (Mike Grell) ■ THE SHADOW, DOC SAVAGE, and THE ROCKETEER

Now is the time for all good comics fans to come to

■ 1970s/1980s BATMAN pencil art

the aid of their Uncle Euryman. BACK ISSUE is about to begin its second year of publication, celebrating even more 1970s/1980s

BACK ISSUE #11 (Aug. 2005) “Gods and Warriors”

comic-book classics. If you have any artwork—

■ Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN

unpublished covers, commissioned or convention

■ John Byrne’s never-published SHAZAM!

sketches, character designs, penciled pages, original

■ Marvel’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN

pages, etc.—or other related materials (photos,

■ 1970s/1980s JOHN BUSCEMA pencil art

scripts, etc.) pertaining to any of the following subjects, please email editor Michael Eury at euryman@msn.com as soon as possible (send

And:

email query first; no unsolicited attachments, please!).

Any rare artwork relating to the Silver

Contributors will receive acknowledgment in print

and Bronze Age (1960–1986) JUSTICE LEAGUE

and complimentary copies of BI.

OF AMERICA (unpublished covers, group and

Thanks, young patriots! And don’t forget to vote!

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character sketches, etc.).

Wein Wein and and Wrightson: Wrightson:

interview

by Dan Johnson

conducted on April 27, 2004, and transcribed by Brian K. Morris.

Roots of the

Murky Beginnings

SWAMP THING When Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson created Swamp Thing for what was intended to be a one-shot story in House of Secrets #92, both men suspected they had given birth to something special, but neither knew how much their creation would capture the imaginations of comic-book fans, or the attention of their bosses at DC Comics. In the early 1970s, readers were rediscovering horror comics, thanks to the revision of the Comics Code. Fans hungry for things that went “bump in the night” got more than they bargained for with Swamp Thing: There were monsters galore,

Bernie Wrightson’s

enough to make any diehard horror fiend foam at the mouth. Also, since Swamp Thing had to share the

memorable cover art

newsstands with titles like Superman and The Amazing Spider-Man, there was plenty of action to please

to Swamp Thing #1 (1972), in ghoulishly glorious blackand-white.

super-hero fans. But anyone who has read the ten classic issues by Wein and Wrightson can tell you that it was the heart and soul of Swamp Thing that made the book a worthwhile read, and that also allowed it to stand out from the creepy crowd rising up to haunt spinner racks in drugstores and convenience stores. Wein and Wrightson made Swamp Thing a memorable character by laying the terror on thick, but never at the expense of the humanity of the monster’s alter ego, Alec Holland. —Dan Johnson

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The Story That Almost Didn’t Happen

WRIGHTSON: Yeah, yeah.

comic book, this is the one.” It was made to order

So then they saw just how

because Len and I talked about it in very broad strokes,

much it had sold, and like Len

about the story arc and everything. And I thought, “This

said, it even outsold Superman

is great. This is going to be, like, wall-to-wall monsters.

that month.

What could be better?”

WEIN: Yeah, it was amazing.

JOHNSON: I know you’re a big aficionado of horror,

And [then-editorial director]

Bernie, and this was DC’s really first big effort to do a

Carmine [Infantino] came to us

horror-themed comic book with recurring characters.

and said, “I want to do a regular

Was there any trepidation on DC’s part, if they thought

book about it,” and Bernie and

the horror theme might play itself out after a while, or

I refused.

were they convinced they had a winner on their hands?

JOHNSON: Really?

WRIGHTSON: They were very excited about it. I don’t

WEIN: The story had meant

remember any negativity or trepidation.

so much to us, and had such

WEIN: Nobody ever comes to the book and says, “This

an emotional resonance for

may fail.” Otherwise, you’d never start doing it. You

the two of us, that we decided

always stay with a project with the assumption that it’s

we didn’t want to weaken

going to be a hit. It may fail, but you just come at it,

the story. We didn’t want to

hoping that it’s going to be successful. And this had

water it down by making it an

already proven successful for them and they had no

ongoing series.

trepidation whatsoever.

WRIGHTSON: Absolutely, Len. And besides, it was just

WRIGHTSON: But I remember very early on, before even

so much fun.

starting on the first issue, having a conversation with

WEIN: We refused for the better part of a year and then

Len and Joe Orlando and talking about what we could

Len Wein

I had this wonderful epiphany one morning where I

do with this series to really make it successful, and trying

originally resisted

went, “Schmuck!” and I slapped myself in the forehead.

to nail down all the elements and the factors of the

DC’s desire to produce

I suddenly realized we could do a new series, without

short story that made that such a hit. And [we said],

a Swamp Thing series.

doing the same story with the same characters. You

“Okay, let’s bring that to the series and just put all that

know, basically start over again.

at the heart of it.”

Art from issue #1 (1972).

And I called Joe Orlando and said, “Joe, I figured out

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WEIN: And at the heart of this is really where the horror

how to do this without undercutting the original story.”

book is, it’s a love story. I think it’s always been more of

And Joe said, “Oh, great! I’ll pitch it to Carmine.” And

a love story than anything else.

Joe called me back a few minutes later and said, “Yep,

WRIGHTSON: Absolutely. Which is where, for my money,

[Carmine] still wants to do the book. Who do you think

the best stories—horror, science fiction, mainstream,

should draw it?” I said, “Bernie.” [Joe] said, “I don’t

whatever—that’s where it comes from. It comes from

think Bernie wants to do a regular book.” I said, “I’ll call

the human element and it’s the emotions of the characters,

you back in an hour.” (laughs) And then I called Bernie.

and I think that’s the heart of the tale. Then you can do

WRIGHTSON: Yeah, my reaction was exactly the same.

anything you want. You can put any kind of crazy thing

I was a little scared of taking on a whole book on a reg-

in there.

ular basis because I was then, and I’m still now, pretty

WEIN: I think the biggest success in Swamp Thing isn’t

slow. And I was just afraid that I wasn’t going to be able

the fact that he’s a monster, it’s his humanity that makes

to meet the deadlines and I’m going to fall down on

the character so pitiful.

this. But when Swamp Thing came along as a series, I

WRIGHTSON: That’s right. He was always a human in a

thought, “My God, if I’m ever going to do a complete

monster’s body.

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the old Universal horror films successful.

Homage to Frankenstein

WEIN: We loved those.

The cover art to

WRIGHTSON: Yeah, we grew up with those. Len and I

Swamp Thing #3

are the same age, and I’m sure we were there in our Dr.

(1973) offered a peek

Dentons in 1954, whenever Universal released all these

at the Patchwork Man,

JOHNSON: It sounds like you tapped into what made

things to TV, just waiting with bated breath for the first

Wein and Wrightson’s

look at Frankenstein’s Monster or the Mummy.

tribute to the

JOHNSON: Was there anything that DC said you

Frankenstein Monster.

absolutely couldn’t do, horror-wise?

WRIGHTSON: The Comics Code forbade the use of the words “horror” and “terror” in the title of a comic book. And Len and I, we really didn’t want to push the envelope in any way that would violate the Code. WEIN: We didn’t need to. Ever y one of the old Universal monster movies would have been approved by the Comics Code. WRIGHTSON: Exactly. Those were G-rated movies, really, and they were as scary as they wanted to be, but they

WRIGHTSON: And they said, “You can’t do this because

didn’t send audiences screaming from the theaters. You

this character is undraped.” (Dan laughs) I remember that

know, they were entertainment. I think we were all pretty

was their word: “undraped.” And Joe said, “Well, yeah.

much on track with that. One thing none of us really

He’s a monster. He’s like an azalea, he’s a big tree. What

thought of was that Swamp Thing wore no clothing, you

do you want me to do, put little purple pants on him

know? Basically, he was a big tree. But with the fifth or

like the Thing or the Hulk or something?” And Joe had

sixth issue, Joe Orlando got a call from the Comics Code.

to go to the Comics Code office, or have a meeting with

WEIN: Yes. (laughs)

the Comics Code people, whoever worked there. WEIN: Leonard Darvin was running the Code back then. WRIGHTSON: And Joe had to take all the five issues, or whatever it was that we had already done, go through it panel by panel, and show them that you never saw anything. We weren’t trying to pull something on the kids, you know. Whenever you see this guy full figure, he’s always in shadow. We used a lot of black. I think it was the

Oh, the Humanity!

blackest comic book that was coming out at the time,

Wrightson may be

lots of heavy shadows. And [Joe] managed to convince

known as the master of

them that it’s okay because the guy is a monster, and a tree

the macabre, but as the

doesn’t have genitals.

cover art to Swamp

WEIN: You know, if you wanted something that had

Thing #2 (1972) shows,

sexual connotations, Man-Thing’s carrot-like nose was a

he has also mastered

lot more—

dazzling perspective and

WRIGHTSON: Yeah! Nobody ever complained about that.

intricate line work.

Comics Code was starting to loosen up a little bit. Up

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Fearsome Farewell Because you can never get too much Bernie Wrightson art, we close this interview with the cover illustration (far right) for a 1971 rarity, DC 100-Page Super Spectacular #4, themed “Weird Mystery Tales.” © 2004 DC Comics.

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JOHNSON: Rick mentioned that Neil Gaiman was going

tremendous responsibility to something that you aspire

to be doing a six-issue arc after he was going to leave

to. And it seems to me that many of the people who

the book, but backed away after Rick was dismissed from

have come to Swamp Thing have come to it in the same

DC over the [rejected] Jesus Christ storyline.

way. “Oh, my God, this is Swamp Thing. I’ve got to treat

WEIN: Right.

it with respect and do the right thing.” And it’s very flat-

JOHNSON: I know DC has just released another Swamp

tering.

Thing relaunch.

WRIGHTSON: Yeah, it’s great, it’s great. It’s like they’re

WEIN: Andy Diggle, who’s this week’s hot writer, is

coming in to continue work on the Lincoln Memorial.

doing it. I’ve read the first two issues and enjoyed it so

WEIN: Yep, there you go

far. I want to see where it goes. But so far, it’s been

WRIGHTSON: And it’s like, “Okay, I can’t come in and

entertaining.

f*ck this up because it’s so big and important and iconic.

JOHNSON: What are your hopes for Swamp Thing in

I’ve got to live up to this.”

the future?

JOHNSON: What’s the best word of advice you can give

WEIN: Listen, since Bernie and I now actually see a piece

to the next Swamp Thing writer and artist?

of the action on the character, I hope it’s an over-

WEIN: Don’t screw up.

whelming success. (laughs)

WRIGHTSON: I talk to young people at conventions

WRIGHTSON: I wish them all the best on it. I think that

that want to get into comics, and I wish them the best

for Len and me both—here I go again, speaking for

of luck. I know it’s not as easy to get into the field as it

Len—this was a moment in time and it was a very gold-

was 30 years ago. So first off, I tell them that. Okay, I

en moment. And I think Len and I were at the right

don’t know how to go about getting into comics now,

point in our careers and in our ways of thinking and

if I was just starting out. But I tell them the important

what we wanted to do with the medium to come

thing about comics is you come into this because you

together at that particular moment and do this. And I’ve

love it, and that’s the first thing. Don’t come into it

always had a great love for the character and I still do to

thinking that you’re going to make a bundle of money

this day. I look back on it as some of the happiest and

because there is not, with very few exceptions, a bundle

most exciting times of my life as an artist. And I’m

of money to be made in comic books. You’ve got to

extremely happy that the character has been done so

come from a place where you love the medium and you

well by so many others, with peaks and valleys, over

love doing it and you love having no life and staying up

the years. And I think everyone who’s come to the book

all night, drawing these panels on a page. But the most

and the character since Len and I created it, they’ve

important

come to it with a lot of respect and seriousness. And

thing is, it’s not

they seem very excited and very willing to demonstrate

lines on paper,

this affection.

it’s reality. You

WEIN: Well, they come to the project with respect,

fall into that

which is very gratifying. When I took over Spider-Man,

story and from

many years ago at Marvel, I was at that point, techni-

a perspective

cally, I think the third real, regular writer on the book.

of this is really

Stan Lee had done a hundred-something issues, Gerry

happening and

Conway had done a run of 30 or 40 issues. Roy Thomas

you’re not go-

had done two or three issues, Archie Goodwin had done

ing to sell it

one, but they were only fill-in writers. I was, I suppose,

to an audience

the third writer on that book and it was incredibly intim-

unless you really

idating to me and very sobering to realize that I had a

believe it.

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Dan Joh

nson

One of the greatest debates in the history of comics centers around Marvel’s Man-Thing and DC’s Swamp Thing. Is it possible that one is an original creation, and the other merely a copy? Close similarities surrounding both characters have kept the flames of speculation going for decades. Consider these facts: Both first appeared within a month of each other, Man-Thing in the black-andwhite magazine Savage Tales #1 (May 1971), and Swamp Thing in House of Secrets #92 (June–July 1971). © 1971 Marvel Comics Group.

In their origin stories, both were scientists who became hulking plant monsters because of the treachery of others. Eventually, both characters were spun off into their own books, but not until a delay of over

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So how was it that each character ended up in his own book so many months after his initial appearance, and at the same time? Whereas Wein had no interest in doing a series with his swamp monster at first, Marvel had planned to make Man-Thing a series star right from the beginning. “Stan [Lee] came up with the ManThing book,” Thomas tells BACK ISSUE. “Once we had it, we had a nice character. I was never wild about the character being called ManThing since we already had the character called the Thing. But if Stan wanted [it], that was up to him.” Then why the delay? “We didn’t do Savage Tales #2 for many, many moons. Martin Goodman never really did want to do a blackand-white magazine,” Thomas explains. “We encountered some distributor resistance to it, and different things of that sort, I never was quite clear on what, but [Goodman] used it as an excuse not to do it. It was always Stan who had wanted to do the black-and-white magazines. When [Savage Tales] got killed, we just took the various material and we put it in other places. The [second] Man-Thing story eventually went into [Astonishing Tales #12, starring] Ka-Zar. When Savage Tales #2 did come out, a year or two later, at that stage it was given over to me and I turned it almost entirely, as quickly as a I could, into a magazine devoted to Conan and sword and sorcery [titled The Savage Sword of Conan]” Like Conway, Thomas is not a fan of horror characters either. “When Savage Tales came out, it was still right before the Comics Code changed to allow something closer to horror comics, the right birth for [for Man-Thing],” remarks Thomas. “A year or two later, things changed and it was easier to put him into [the mainstream color comic Adventures into] Fear.” For the final word on this subject, Gerry Conway remarks of his former room-

Marvel’s Muck Monster

mate Len Wein, “We were both fans of each other’s work, so we did talk about it.

A 1975 Man-Thing illustration

We didn’t hide [our work] from each other. My work was pretty visible at any given

by John Byrne. Art courtesy

time. My desk was in the middle of our living room. Len may not have been

of Heritage Comics.

consciously aware of what I was doing, but he could have had the opportunity to

be aware.” Len Wein contends, “Which one came first implies that the other one copied the first. They came out virtually simultaneously. Man-Thing came out first as a series character. The Swamp Thing series started up the following year. They were pretty much created independently, simultaneously. [Gerry and I] shared an apartment, but we never really talked about the particulars of our work. It’s just a coincidence [that both came out as close as they did], and it’s made more bizarre by that fact that Gerry and I shared an apartment.” We here at BACK ISSUE are delighted that we had the chance to shed some light on the creation of both Man-Thing and Swamp Thing. While these comicbook monsters may never really know peace, we hope that we have at least put the debate surrounding our favorite muck monsters to rest once and for all.

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Dracula Lives! Twenty-Five Years After its Death, Marvel’s TOMB OF DRACULA is Still Remembered as One of— Maybe THE—Best Horror Comics Series. Ever. by

Nobody knew.

To m F i e l d

Not Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee, who decided in 1971 that Dracula should be the first monster in comics history to star in his own ongoing series, nor writers Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, who crafted the vampire lord’s heralded debut.

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A Vampire No More

his pursuers, although not always in that order—and

End page from

how they grew. The key to advancing the series,

to Colan’s strengths by involving him in the story-

Wolfman learned, was to figure out how the charac-

telling. “He’d give me a written plot, but he’d also

TOD #67, featuring Dracula as a human —even the bums

ters would interact and change—then simply execute

discuss it with me over the phone,” Colan says. “I

those changes. “Within a short time, I had the book

tended to ask questions, rather than to have him

plotted two years ahead,” Wolfman says. “I didn’t

assume I got the idea.”

feel bad for him!

know the details of the stories, necessarily, but I knew

Also note the next-

how the characters would grow issue to issue.”

issue cliffhanger

inker

Tom

Palmer,

and

the

start

Wolfman was honored to work with Colan. “There was a magic in Gene’s work on Dracula that I don’t

Incidentally, TOD #12 also marked the return of

with Drac’s son Janus.

he quickly jelled with the young scribe, who worked

the

think even he understood,” Wolfman says. “He could do super-hero stuff—he certainly proved that on DD

Wolfman/Colan/Palmer creative team’s Cal Ripken-

and Iron Man and all the others—but he came alive in

like string of 59 consecutive issues together—a

ways he couldn’t imagine on the Dracula book.”

remarkable streak even now.

The readers clearly embraced Wolfman and

Colan, for one, was delighted

Colan’s efforts, and TOD quickly was promoted to

to have a permanent inker in

monthly status. And to close observers such as

place—especially Palmer, who

Adrienne Colan, the Wolfman/Colan synergy was

was one of Gene’s all-time

evident from day one. “It was very apparent that

favorites. “I liked Tom’s work

Marv cared as much about the writing of it as Gene

very much,” Colan says. “It

cared about the art,” Adrienne recalls, “and in a way,

was weighty, and he put in all

that was their most powerful bond.”

the stuff I liked—kind of like a [cartoonist

Milton]

Caniff

A bond that would indeed generate a remarkable run of comic books.

[approach]. My work is not easy to follow, and he must

OFF AND RUNNING

have had a hell of a time with

For roughly 20 issues, from #15 through #35, the

it. But Tom is an illustrator

Wolfman/Colan/Palmer team took the opportunity

himself; he’s done a lot of

to explore the essence of TOD. Within that span, they

advertising art. So, he was very

showed us:

well-suited to it.”

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TOD is about Dracula: More than just a sleeps-by-

And although Colan had

day/stalks-by-night monster, Dracula is revealed as a

worked with Wolfman only

character of startling nuances. He can be stranded in

once prior to TOD on a short

a mountain blizzard with one of his arch foes, Rachel

story for one of Marvel’s early-

Van Helsing, and spare her life one moment, then

’70s horror anthology comics,

turn on her the next (issue #19). He can encounter a

new, diabolical villain, Dr. Sun, and emerge as the

Wolfman/Colan/Palmer collaboration, which settled

story’s hero (#21). He can even fall in love with a

into a remarkable creative groove. Early on, Wolfman

human woman, Shiela Whittier, until his darker

stopped approaching the book as a series of episodic

instincts get the best of him (#29). The vampire lord

comics, treating it instead like an ongoing novel.

also can become vulnerable, feeling his powers slip

Character development dictated the plots, which

away in a memorable storyline beginning with #31.

Wolfman meticulously detailed for Colan’s interpre-

driven to kill one

TOD is about characters: More than a standard

tation. “I may have been the first writer at Marvel to

another, but in #19

heroes-chase-villain series, this color comic came

break down an issue plot page by page,” Wolfman

are forced to keep

with characters who showed multiple shades of gray.

says. “I needed the feel of pacing.”

one another alive

Drac vs. Yak Dracula and his arch-foe, Rachel Van Helsing, are usually

There is Frank Drake, the cowardly dilettante, who

Similarly, Colan needed the freedom to bring his

when lost in the Alps.

by the end of issue #24 is so fed up with his flaws that

own inspirations to the book—and with Wolfman,

he’s off on a quest to find his hidden courage. There

Check out the fight

he had that license. Says Colan, “I did some things in

is Rachel Van Helsing, the cold, scarred slayer, whose

TOD on my own that weren’t in the plot, and then I

beauty and warmth emerge as she falls in love with

would call up Marv and say, ‘What do you think of

Drake and rediscovers her own humanity. There is

this?’” “For instance, Dracula would be floating

Quincy Harker, whose own tragic backstory (Dracula

along the floor, and you’d see his

killed his wife and smashed his legs) emerges over

face, but the rest of him would be

the early course of the series; then, as Quincy’s health

like smoke, floating, and I thought

fails, he—and we—wonder whether he’ll get the

it was a good idea. I kind of needed

opportunity to plunge a final stake through Dracula’s

permission to go ahead and go off

heart before his own surrenders. There is Blade, the

field a little bit.”

jive-talkin’, vengeance-driven slayer who’s been

The end result of the creative

nipped so many times that he’s developed immunity

synergy was a book that rose above

to vampire bites. And then there is Taj Nital, who

the monster-comic trend to be a

never says a word, but whose story speaks volumes:

bonafide critical and sales success.

Taj leaves the vampire slayers in issue #22, returning

TOD even spawned a pair of com-

to his India homeland, where we learn that he’d

panion titles—the black-and-white

lost his voice in a Dracula-led vampire attack that

Dracula Lives! magazine and the

crippled his wife and infected his son. In issue #32,

color Giant-Size Dracula comic—

Taj fails to stop a mob that succeeds at what he can’t

which mainly existed outside of TOD

bring himself to do—staking his vampiric son—and

continuity, save for the intro of

in issue #34 he walks away from the series entirely.

Lilith, Dracula’s vampire daughter,

To this day, Taj remains one of the few main

in G-S #1.

characters to walk off, rather than be killed off, a comics series.

“Sales were jumping,” Wolfman recalls, and because of the com-

TOD is about the stories: As Wolfman developed

mercial success, he was given the

his writing skills, he experimented with different

freedom both to learn to write and

approaches. There are the popular “Dracula’s Diary”

to serve as the book’s de facto editor.

stories (issues #15 and #30), which started out as

“Everyone knew [TOD] was working, so no one was

catchalls for Wolfman’s loose plot threads, but which

going to get in my way unless I committed a major

ended up as memorable character vignettes about

foul-up.”

Dracula. There are the unique issues, such as #22,

In essence, what Wolfman describes was the

which was inspired by a Russian vampire myth, and

“Marvel method” of the early 1970s, when there

#25, which presents Hannibal King, vampire detec-

were simply too many comics for one editor (Roy

tive (and co-star of Blade III). And there are the

Thomas) to oversee. “It was definitely a seat-of-the-

morality plays, i.e., #35, in which Dracula falls under

pants operation,” recalls Conway. “While Roy had

the sway of an evil fashion designer, killing off her

the direct authority, he didn’t have the time to real-

rivals—and then setting her up for just desserts.

ly supervise 40 or 50 titles a month. Each writer in

Of course, as much as anything, TOD is about the

scene between Drac

effect became his own editor.”

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Cover Progression Gene Colan’s original cover rough to TOD #65 (left), which was rejected, and his pencils for the cover that actually saw print. Courtesy of Heritage Comics. © 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Wolfman and Colan’s Night Force Splash to Night Force #3, Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s post-TOD

have the same spirit. “It’s an example of me and

and Marvel’s reprints of 30-year-old TOD classics—

Gene not clicking,” Wolfman says. “I just despise

there’s been no active discussion of any new Dracula

those four issues.”

revival.

The early ‘90s, with the release of director Francis

For his part, Colan says he’s done drawing main-

horror reunion at DC

Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula film (1992), saw

stream comics. Semi-retired at age 78, he doesn’t

Comics. Note that TOD

the release of a handful of Marvel Comics “Best of

want the demands of an ongoing series. Wolfman,

alumni John Costanza and

TOD” reprints, turning a new generation of fans onto

on the other hand—even after losing his legal battle

the comics they’d missed 20 years earlier. Then in

with Marvel over the rights to Blade—won’t rule out

1998 came two competing Dracula projects: From

the prospect. “If they wanted me, had the right team

Michele Wolfman are also along for the ride. Alas,

Marvel, there was Dracula, Lord of the Undead, a three-

and would guarantee me control, I’d do it,” he says.

Tom Palmer was still

issue miniseries by Glenn Greenberg, Pat Oliffe, and

Reflecting on their TOD work as they flip through

under contract at Marvel.

Tom Palmer (the sole TOD representative), pitting

the two new Essential TOD volumes, both creators

Dracula against his daughter Lilith, medical science,

are struck first by the flaws—the pages they now

and unscrupulous auctioneers. And from Dark

wish they’d drawn or scripted better. “I find TOD

Horse Comics, Wolfman and Colan reunited

hard to read today,” Wolfman says. “My own style

once again to produce The Curse of Dracula, a

has developed away from that purple prose. I think

three-issue miniseries that presented an all-new

TOD is probably over-written for today’s audience.”

interpretation of Dracula as a young, politically

That said, Wolfman does appreciate TOD’s signifi-

connected power broker in San Francisco. This

cance—as a comic book, as a collaboration, and as an

series, reproduced directly from Colan’s pencils,

achievement. “Dracula was Gene and me—nobody

is gorgeous to look at, and reads well, too, as a

does better what Gene can do, drawing real people

stand-alone, modern horror story. “That was

with real emotion.”

perfect,” Wolfman says of this last version of

And, hands down, Wolfman says, TOD is the best

Dracula. “Gene drew Dracula better than he’d

comics series he’s ever written. “[New Teen] Titans

ever been drawn before.” Still, Wolfman and Colan never created a second Dracula series for Dark Horse, and despite the commercial success of the Blade movies—

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eventually fell apart; Dracula never did,” Wolfman says. “TOD was never less than what it should have been. And sometimes it was really, really good.”

l l e H e h T d e v o L s Kid Out of Godzilla:

Godzilla vs. ! s c i m o C l e v r a M

cs Savant” Stewart

b y Tom “The Comi

By the mid-1970s, the Big Two—Marvel and DC, of course (used’ta be the Big Three, with Dell at #1, but that’s another article)—had been changing the two basic truisms of the last 40 years of the business: that is, that comics are for kids, kids, say, about eight to 13 years old, and that the audience for them turns over about every four to five years. Oh, and it’s mostly boys! Comics fans were skewing older, high school, college age, and beyond (still mostly boys, tho’). Oldtime publishers must have scratched their heads at the letters they were getting from university students, goggled in wonder, and then said, “There’s money there!” And there was. All this, of course, is the start of another article (but it hooks up). The start of this one is Doug Moench and Herb Trimpe, both getting the call about Godzilla. Yep, the Tokyo-stompin’, Smog Monster-fightin’, friend of small, whiny Japanese schoolboys, Godzilla. Doug Moench, writer of such rightly acclaimed series as Master of Kung Fu and Moon Knight—yeah, that Doug Moench— writing Godzilla, with Herb Trimpe of the Hulk penciling. Marvel had acquired the rights to the big, green rubber monster from ToHo Studios and was looking for an approach to the property. Godzilla was a well-known brand name, one that

Stomping into the Marvel Universe Cover art to Godzilla #1 (1977). Courtesy of Jonathan Mankuta (Jon is looking for the cover art to Godzilla #3;

could attract a lot of new readers, if done right. Doug saw an opportunity: “I had mentioned I wanted to do something lighter. I got the call, ‘Hey! What about Godzilla?’” Godzilla? Doug:

if you have it for sale, contact him

“Godzilla? Well, maaaaybe. If I [can] do it the way I want . . . lighter. A comic

at jonmankuta@aol.com).

book actually aimed at kids. What we were doing at Marvel was geared to older and older readers; there were no comics for kids anymore!” This was the problem

as Doug saw it (see how I connect this up?); kids were being shouldered out of a medium that had been theirs for 40 years. Marvel really wasn’t publishing a kid’s comic anymore. Godzilla could be that comic. Doug:

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MIKE PLOOG

Horrooaanrnrdd es Herooes

Mike Ploog—possibly the most underrated artist in comics! Here’s a magnificent piece of Hollywood history (courtesy of Heritage Comics): the character/monster design for director John Carpenter’s The Thing (1981), the sequel/remake (is it both?) of The Thing from Another World (1951), based on John W. Campbell’s 1938 short story, “Who Goes There?” Mike Ploog was a big part of the “look” of this $15 million fright-wonder—$1.5 mil was spent on the effects (all in-camera) alone. Mr. Ploog provided the visual schematics (and storyboards) for the 40-man technical crew, headed by Rob Bottin (who wound up in the hospital due to the pace of the production). To quote Ploog: “You should’ve seen some of the ideas we came up with for the Thing. They’re the most absurd-looking monsters you’ve ever seen!”

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JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING

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ilton e” Ham n o b m vid “Ha by Da

MICHAEL KALUTA

Mike Kaluta’s unused (in this form) cover for DC’s gothic horror anthology, Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #7 (1972). Compare it against the printed cover, in the inset, and you’ll see the “sand people” underwent some changes. Enjoy, folks!

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Bissette and and Veitch: Veitch: Bissette

New Tricks

interview

by Dan Johnson

conducted on April 17, 2004, and transcribed by Brian K. Morris.

Old Monster,

Swamp Thing creators Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson are a hard act to follow. After the first Swamp Thing series was cancelled 1976, many readers felt the character’s best days were behind him. But DC Comics’ muck monster got a new lease on life when Saga of the Swamp Thing was launched in 1982 as a tie-in to the Wes Craven-directed Swamp Thing film. At first, the book didn’t really set anyone’s field on fire. Just under two years into the revival, writer Alan Moore took over the series and deconstructed everything fans thought they knew about Swamp Thing. By the end of Moore’s second issue, he had managed to turn the medium of comics on its ear. Alan Moore wasn’t alone in this renaissance. Working with him was a group of artists who gave shape to his imagination. Two of these illustrators, Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch, share with BACK ISSUE their insights into their roles in transforming the legend of the Swamp Thing. —Dan Johnson

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Comics Journal Cover Steve Bissette’s pencils for a

Beginnings:

product encouraged DC Comics

“Grave Concern,” First alternative sale: & Stories #2 (1977) x mi Dr. Wirtham’s Co n Sally,” le: “A Song for Saigo First mainstream sa Sgt. Rock #311 (1977)

to allow the team to produce its

Milestones:

fanzine cover, which was painted by John Totleben. The final

first painted comics cover, on Saga of the Swamp Thing #34. (Unless otherwise noted, all art accompanying this interview is from the SpiderBaby archives, compliments of S.R. Bissette.)

tory / 1: The Illustrated His Abyss / Sojourn / 194 Tyrant / / 3 196 / oo Tab / Thing Saga of the Swamp Spider Baby Comix

Works in Progress: n Mountain Cinema

Gree Writer/illustrator for es (short That Lovecraft Loath All / e) zin ga (film ma ver and Co / ) tes th Roderick Ba story collection, wi by l ve no a ul, So ng Drifti illustrations for The Matt Spencer

Cyberspace:

/ www.comicon.com bissette discussion board: www.fanboy.info/ yabbse/index.php? board=13

DAN JOHNSON: Steve, I take it that you and Rick have known each other for quite a while. STEVE BISSETTE: Well, we first met at the Kubert School. Rick and I were members of the first class ever at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in Dover, New Jersey. We were both from Vermont, Rick from Bellows Falls, and I was from Northern Vermont, the Duxbury and Waterbury area. I was aware of Rick’s existence. In fact, I was a big fan of his brother Tom Veitch’s underground comix. I read somewhere, while I was still going to college, that Tom and Rick were from Bellows Falls. It may have been in reference to Two-Fisted Zombies, which was the one piece of work of Rick’s that I’d read before we actually met. My thinking at that time was, “If these guys from Bellows Falls can get into comics, I can get into comics.” Rick was a motivating factor for my career even before we met.

Beginnings:

First sale: Two-Fist ed Zombies (1972), script by Tom Veitc h, art by Rick Veitc h

Milestones:

1941: The Illustrate d Story / The One / Saga of the Swamp Thing / The Maxim ortal / Supreme / Tomorrow Stories / Greyshirt: Indigo Sunset

Works in Progress:

Can’t Get No Vertig o graphic novel / Qu estion miniseries (DC) / Sw amp Thing: Regene sis Vertigo collected edition / Crypto Zoo (King He ll Press)

Cyberspace:

RICK VEITCH: (joining the conversation) If only you’d

www.comicon.com / bissette

known what mad machinations it took to get me from Bellows Falls into comics! (chuckles) BISSETTE: If only I’d known. (laughs) VEITCH: Anyway, I’m here. Sorry I’m late. I was inking and completely spaced out the interview. BISSETTE: That’s good. I can get it in print that I was on time with a deadline and you were late. (laughs) JOHNSON: So, Rick, Steve was just telling me about H a l l o w e e n

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their best customers and say, “You take this home and read it. If you don’t want to keep it, bring it back tomorrow, I’ll take it back. But I know you’re going to want to buy it.” The retailers skyrocketed the sales figures. We never got accurate numbers, but the closest we got was by the time that John and I were working on Swamp Thing #19, the circulation on the book had gone below 19,000 copies sold and it was near cancellation. I remember having a couple of panic phone calls with

Bissette and Totleben

issue came out, and I’ll be honest with you, it took me

A before-and-after

books. But it’s one of those great series that every

comparison of the

time I go back, I always find something new in what

cover for Saga of

he had written.

the Swamp Thing

VEITCH: When “The Anatomy Lesson” came out, the

#32 (1985), penciled

back-issue price immediately went way up, and every-

a few years before I really appreciated the Alan Moore

one who read it recognized that this was something.

by Steve Bissette and inked by

BISSETTE: Yeah. Part of that, too, was because the

John Totleben.

retailers really got behind it. The shockwaves that went through the industry were not something that DC

generated with their marketing machines, because they didn’t really market Swamp Thing. But Rick’s right. When “Anatomy Lesson” hit, John and I really felt the

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Len Wein. By the time Rick and Alan were working on the run, I think the sales figures were up around 65. Right, Rick? VEITCH: Wasn’t it in the 70s? BISSETTE: Yeah, and that was the result of the pure momentum of the response to what the book became. You know, Alan’s scripts, and the synthesis between myself and John Totleben and Rick on the artwork. There wasn’t really a marketing push from DC. They promoted the books in their house ads, but the real push was made by grassroots retailers and what passed for the comic press at the time. We got very positive reviews from Don Thompson in The [Comics] Buyer’s Guide and so on and so forth.

shockwave when it hit the stands, because we started

VEITCH: Don went out and bought a couple boxes of

getting invitations from retailers to come and do sign-

the book, and they gave them away as premiums with

ings in their stores. No exaggeration—by the end of

a subscription to Buyer’s Guide.

that year, John and I were either doing a convention

BISSETTE: That was big time. That was Don Thompson

appearance or a retail shop appearance literally every

and the CBG that did that. That wasn’t something that

other weekend. The retailers really got behind it.

the marketing department at Time-Warner had orches-

Every shop we’d go to, we would be told all these

trated. To follow up on the aesthetic aspect of what

stories about the grassroots embracing of Alan Moore’s

Alan brought to the book—there had been very well-

work, and that was one of the first books I heard about

written comics prior to that. But the problem was, the

where people, retailers, would literally give copies to

best writers working in the industry were usually at

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VEITCH: He brought a whole new dimension of character

never get a book that really synthesized good writing

to comic-book characters. Pretty much everybody coming

with strong artwork. Off the top of my head, I’ll name

up, pre-Alan Moore, was working with two-dimensional

Don McGregor and Doug Moench, who were doing

characters. And when you read Marvelman, as it was

some great work at Marvel on books like Black Panther

called originally, and now Miracleman, what Alan did with

and Master of Kung Fu. There’d be a real struggle with

the Mike Moran character was revolutionary. You’ve still

maintaining an art team, or in the case of McGregor, the

got the trappings of magic words and super-guys flying,

text would fight the art, but there was so much of it.

and stuff like that. But Mike Moran and Liz are extremely

Alan was a real breakthrough because he really understood how to synthesize his work with the artist

odds with either the artists or the editors. So you would

effective as real people confronted with this super-hero craziness in their lives.

he was collaborating with, and he was amazing in that

One of my favorite all-time bits in a lifetime of reading

regard. Right from the first exchange of letters with

comics is that scene toward the end of Alan and John’s

Alan, the chemistry began. If you look at how the book

run on Miracleman, where Moran realizes he has to switch

changed from when John and I worked with Marty

bodies once last time so Miracleman can defeat Johnny

Pasko on it, prior to Alan’s run, to John’s and my own

Bates. Moran knows he’ll be trapped in infraspace forever

entire run with Alan, to when Rick worked on it as a solo

and no one will ever know the sacrifice he has made to

artist, you could see Alan adapting what he was doing

save the world. So he piles a few rocks on a hillside as a

to fit the artist’s interests. I was the real gung-ho horror

pathetic little memorial as his final living act

guy so that early run of Swamp Thing that John and I

before saying “Kimota” and disappearing forever.

were doing with Alan, and Rick was working on as well,

BISSETTE: And it wasn’t just super-heroes. Bear

the orientation was towards horror.

in mind John, Rick, and I were all reading Alan

By the time Rick came in as solo artist on the series,

before we ever got to work with him. We were

Rick doesn’t have much interest in the genre and Alan

picking up those early issues of Warrior as they

and Rick forged their own path with that later run of

were drifting over stateside on a slow boat from

Swamp Thing. And, of course, with anything else Alan

England (chuckles), and we were blown away

has done, you just look at how he worked with David

with Marvelman and V for Vendetta. With V for

Lloyd or Dave Gibbons, how he worked with Kevin

Vendetta, there’s Alan transforming the whole

O’Neill, in every case, the project is perfectly suited to

vigilante genre into a genuinely dystopian political

the collaborative artist’s strengths.

arena that books like Punisher just weren’t

VEITCH: I think that Alan was bringing in his new vision

going near.

of super-heroes during your run. A lot of people point

So we got a peek at what Alan could do

to that issue of Swamp Thing where the Overpeople are

with super-heroes, what he would do with the

up in their satellite, as, like, the beginning of the post-

vigilante genre, what he was doing with science

modern DC Universe.

fiction, and it was all mind-blowing. On the level of

JOHNSON: You do bring up a very good point about

writing, he was accomplishing what we thought the

Circa 1985, a Bissette

the Justice League issue. I always felt that DC went a little

French had done with Metal Hurlant when we couldn’t

rendering of Swamp

overboard in the late ’80s, trying to make their books

read French.

Thing editor Karen

dark and gritty. Yet it seemed like Alan was able to find

VEITCH: Exactly.

Berger with DC’s

the darker tinges of characters without really trying. It

BISSETTE: When we first [saw] Metal Hurlant, we were

was just stuff on the surface that most writers would

so impressed with the images that we were imagining

have gleaned over, and once you read it, it’s very natural

what the stories, the text, must be about. When we

to pick up on things that he saw in those characters.

later read the English translations, the scripts seemed

Somehow, Alan saw in old, familiar characters things

puerile compared to all the art had evoked. Alan’s writing

that made them seem really human for the first time.

was on a par with, and often better than, the artists he

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The only thing I’ll say, without calling on any specific book, is I think what made our run on that book, on that title, mean anything to anybody is that we really tried to bring completely fresh orientations to the material. You know, I’ve seen some very creative people working on it, but they’re as fettered by the work that Alan and John and Rick and I did as we initially were coming into the series with the ties to Len and Bernie’s work. And it wasn’t really until that dramatic moment when Len Wein agreed to let Alan Moore do something that he had told John Totleben a year before he would never let happen, that everything took wing for us. And I think the people working on the character now are in our shadows and I think it’s going to take somebody just saying, “F*ck that. I don’t need to pay attention to that,” to really do something as invigorating with it. VEITCH: When Swamp Thing broke through, there weren’t that many decent comics. There was mainly like a lot of dreck. And the baseline quality of the comics has risen since Swamp Thing. There’s been a lot of beautiful projects which makes it more difficult to rise above the pack in the way that Swamp Thing rose in the 1980s. BISSETTE: Well, we were also part of a wave. We weren’t alone, don’t forget. Alan Moore and his artistic collaborators were forging new paths in the pages of Warrior. I remember being really fired up by what Frank Miller was doing in Daredevil. That was all happening before and in tandem with what we were doing because [Miller’s] Ronin and Dark Knight came out as we were working on our run. We really felt like we were part of a wave, a real change. I think a lot of what’s happening in comics these days that’s exciting has nothing to do with the corporate comics any longer. You know, what I see that excites me and then prompts me to lay

Bissette’s Swan Song

down 30, 40 dollars a pop is Dave McKean’s work, Mike Mignola’s work, and it’s creators doing their own stuff.

Neil Gaiman wrote “Jack in the Green” as a sample script

James Sturm had done some marvelous work, and I love

for editor Karen Berger long before he created Sandman in 1989.

what writer Brian Wood is doing, among others . . . and

For a variety of reasons it was not illustrated until the spring and

they’re doing it on their terms. It’s a really exciting time

summer of 1999, as part of the Gaiman anthology Midnight Days.

in comics, though I wish I was more in tune with the

Its production coincided with penciler Steve Bissette’s departure

current scene.

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Alan Moore

Without fanfare, not unlike the arrival of the new

with a gentle smile, “and there you go.”

creative team on Saga of the Swamp Thing

He spoke with

(SotST), DC created A Chat with Alan Moore,

humor, to say nothing

a 22-minute videotape produced in 1984 and dis-

of astounding pre-

tributed to its direct-sales accounts.

science, about a variety

Assembled by Lynn Vannucci Productions, the

of subjects, including

tape began with the title crawling silently up the

his focus on basing

screen. Narrated by Ms. Vannucci (we must assume),

horror in the audience’s

the program interspersed numerous images by Steve

fears; the potential

Bissette and John Totleben throughout the inter-

dwindling of the

views, including an art sample that won them the

comics-buying audi-

assignment on SotST.

ence; the lack of respect

Swamp Thing co-creator Len Wein began the

for comics from outside

interviews with his approval of the title’s new direc-

the industry and with-

tion. “People don’t realize I picked [Moore] to do

in; the growing support

that. I have no problem with that.” In fact, he

for Swamp Thing from

insisted (as mentioned in this issue’s interview) on

outside comics-based

getting copies of Moore’s scripts upon their arrival.

fandom; his method-

Next, Karen Berger briefly spoke of the creative team’s

acting approach to

shared vision. The two returned toward the end of

writing and the result-

the video, briefly adding more insights, but then the

ing stress for his family;

guest of honor arrived.

the support from his

Alan Moore, wearing a black T-shirt, sat against

art team (“an pair of

a dark blue background. His famous mane of dark hair

absolute maniacs”) and

and full beard framed his eyes when articulating his

his editors; and his new

passion for the subject at hand, as well as demon-

project called Watchmen.

strating his dry humor.

video review

by Brian K. Morris

A chat with

Unlike those who used comics as a stepping

On SotST’s losing the Comics Code, he stated that

stone to work in other media, Alan Moore declared

he felt “very smug about that. I sort of hug meself

his hope to write comics ten years from then,

in the middle of the night when I think about that.”

holding his head up proudly as the public might

With a twinkle in his eye and nary a glimmer of

put comics on the same cultural level as film or

contrition, he claimed the controversy was based

literature. He stated with authority that “if comics

on the cultural difference between Britain and America.

aren’t the art form they should be, it’s the fault of

“Like I didn’t realize that incest and necrophilia

me and the other people in the field. We should be

were still frowned upon socially over here . . . of

doing something about it.”

course, in England, they’re all part of the whole

And given the fine work and inspiration he’s

social culture there. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t

given his readers before and since, Alan Moore has

have done the story. But it happened,” he concluded

done plenty.

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“Into the Spider’s Web”

project”—one that has been on the back burners of

Page 4 (right) from

our minds since 1975. An old Greek proverb says,

the aforementioned

“Count no man happy until he’s dead”—and per-

chapter. Courtesy

haps, as an ancillary to that, a creator in the media

of Dick Giordano

should count no project a “happy” one until it’s

and Pat Bastienne.

completed and published, or maybe even until

So now Dick and I are launched on a real “dream

But, just for now, we’re having a ball picking up the trail of Count Dracula’s cape, which we were forced to let fall in 1975—and getting on with the vampiric parade. And we owe it all to Mark Beazley, and his feeling that not only should the adaptation be completed— it should be completed by the guys who started it, even if it was 30 years ago! A radical thought—as one who’s witnessed a number of characters he co-created or at least “developed for comics” looted and plundered and reworked in new material without being asked to take part in said revival, I can only say that I’m happy that, for once, someone in the new generation of comics editors “did the right thing.” Who knows? Maybe it’ll become a trend. Maybe—

Wicked Washtones

Naaaah! That’d make too much sense. That would

Giordano’s washtone

amount to editors as a group treating writers and

effects add gothic

artists as human beings and as professional worthy

moodiness to his art-

of consideration over and above the trendy and

work. This is page 9

above the profit-and-loss statement. Never gonna

(bottom right) from

happen, not on a big scale.

“Into the Spider’s

But it did happen this once, anyway—and I for

Web.” Courtesy of

one applaud Mark Beazley, and anyone else at

Dick Giordano and

Marvel who had a hand in the decision.

Pat Bastienne.

Have a happy Halloween. Dick and I intend to.

Editor’s Note: If you haven’t yet experienced Roy Thomas’ wonderful monthly fanzine, Alter Ego, the current issue’s a good place to start—look for its creepy Bernie Wrightson Frankenstein cover! —M.E.

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The Sleeping giant:

Charlt on Horror Comics of the 1970s b y Michael Ambrose

Ah, Charlton comics. In the ’70s, they were the stuff you pushed aside to get to the Marvels and DCs. When you could find them, they were often badly printed on cheap paper, with ragged trimming and weird coloring. In their profusion of genre titles they seemed to blend together. Most comics fans dismissed them. After all, with the notable exception of Dick Giordano’s short-lived “action-hero” line of the mid-1960s, and a brief, bright run of E-Man from 1973 to 1975, Charlton just didn’t do super-heroes. Then, as today, the super-hero was king. But if you looked a little closer, you could find rare gold in Charlton’s horror comics. Charlton in the 1970s was a sleeping giant, slowly ending a long slumber, grasping toward wakefulness. Haphazardly self-distributed, second-tier Charlton faced stiff competition from Marvel and DC. The Big Two were heavy into super-heroes but virtually ignored everything else. In contrast, Charlton sought the mass audience for westerns, war, adventure, romance, hot rods, cartoons. . . and horror, a genre it had long exploited. Early-’50s Charlton series The Thing and This Magazine Is Haunted were as

Lost in a Crowd

graphically gruesome as anything on the stands;

This detail-rich splash page by Joe Staton is just one of the gems you might’ve

post-Comics Code, Charlton watered itself down

missed if you overlooked Charlton’s horror line. From The Many Ghosts of Doctor

and continued a series of mostly lackluster weird

Graves #43 (1973). All artwork in this article courtesy of Michael Ambrose.

and science-fiction comics throughout the 1960s’

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“He just announced ‘STOP COMICS,’

good, the printing was being done at a newspaper

and that’s what happened,” Pearson

plant in New Haven,” Bill says. The rest of the story

reveals. “We were producing many titles

is mercifully short. Charlton sold its action-hero

in 1976, many of them franchised. But

characters to DC in 1983. The company canceled

no matter at what stage anything was

comics for good in 1986 and sold what few properties

at, everything came to a dead stop.

remained.

Plates were removed from the presses, tons of printed comics were thrown

The giant, dreaming fitfully of better days, never reawakened.

into the shredder, ever ything just stopped. The whole staff was laid off,

Thanks and a tip of the derby to Nick Cuti, Bill

except for George Wildman, and I wasn’t

Pearson, Joe Gill, Joe Staton, the Connecticut Historical

called back for about six months.”

Society Museum, Walter Wentz, and Michael Seher.

From a robust 48 titles the year before, a sporadic allreprint line of a

The Missing Link

mere 18 returned in summer

Look closely, and

1977. “I had no idea that the

you’ll see glimpses of

comics would crash,” says

future greatness in this

Cuti. “I was as shocked as

early Zeck splash. From

anyone to read about it,

The Many Ghosts of

although I was aware how

Dr. Graves #56 (1976).

little Charlton cared about their comics line.”

Pearson cites ever-diminishing sales as the primary reason for the comics’ end. The marketplace was increasingly unstable in the latter ’70s: Newsstand distribution was failing, cover prices were rising out of control, publishers were running scared. Charlton gave up before the direct-sales market could open new opportunities. Token reprints ran for another ten years, with occa-

“The Hideout!”

sional bright spots like

A Wayne Howard

Pearson’s Charlton Bullseye

one-pager from

tryout book in 1982–83, but

Ghost Manor

comics were never again

#8 (1972).

time they went under for

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cGover

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7 7

Adam M

The unlikely stories of a teen, a duck, a masked soldier, and three very odd presidential campaigns A high-school friend of mine used to tell anyone who would listen that organized crime should be running the country. “But they’d use your money for immoral purposes,” dismayed fellow students would say. “They’d use my money for immoral purposes and provide a service,” he’d reply; “The government we’ve got now uses my money for immoral purposes and doesn’t provide a service.” This pragmatic view of government efficiency is certainly reflected in the sinister yet savvy management of Lex

Get Down, America!

Luthor, longtime arch foe of Superman

Howard the Duck’s

United States. Of course, there’s a short

but recent President of the DC Universe’s

1976 presidential

distance between the benevolent scheming

portrait, by Bernie

of the public President Luthor in the

(then Berni)

mainline DC comics and the unambiguous

Wrightson.

tyranny of the behind-the-scenes version

in Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Strikes Again, and either one can be seen as an allegory of people’s distrust of politics in a country where less than half of those eligible ever cast a vote.

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