ALL-CAPTAINS ISSUE! be Decem
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Shazam!/Captain Marvel TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.
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Shazam! in the Bronze Age • Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew Captain Mar-Vell • Captain Storm and the Losers • Captain Universe • Captain Victory featuring Beck, Broderick, Kirby, Shaw!, Starlin, Thomas, & more
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“DC Bronze Age Giants and Reprints!” An indepth exploration of DC’s 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULARS, plus: a history of comics giants, DC indexes galore, and a salute to “human encyclopedia” E. NELSON BRIDWELL. Featuring the work of PAT BRODERICK, RICH BUCKLER, FRANK FRAZETTA, JOE KUBERT, BOB ROZAKIS, BERNIE WRIGHTSON, and more. Super Spec tribute cover featuring classic art by NICK CARDY.
“Bronze Age Events!” With extensive coverage of the Avengers/Defenders War, JLA/JSA crossovers, Secret Wars, Crisis’ 30th anniversary, Legends, Millennium, Invasion, Infinity Gauntlet, and more! Featuring the work of SAL BUSCEMA, DICK DILLIN, TODD McFARLANE, GEORGE PÉREZ, JOE STATON, LEN WEIN, MARV WOLFMAN, MIKE ZECK, and more. Plus an Avengers vs. Defenders cover by JOHN BYRNE.
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“Supergirl in the Bronze Age!” Her 1970s and 1980s adventures, including her death in Crisis on Infinite Earths and her many rebirths. Plus: an ALAN BRENNERT interview, behind the scenes of the Supergirl movie starring HELEN SLATER, Who is Superwoman?, and a look at the DC Superheroes Water Ski Show. With PAUL KUPPERBERG, ELLIOT MAGGIN, MARV WOLFMAN, plus a jam cover recreation of ADVENTURE COMICS #397!
“Christmas in the Bronze Age!” Go behind the scenes of comics’ best holiday tales of the 1970s through the early 1990s! And we revisit Superhero Merchandise Catalogs of the late ‘70s! Featuring work by SIMON BISLEY, CHRIS CLAREMONT, JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍALÓPEZ, KEITH GIFFEN, the KUBERT STUDIO, DENNY O’NEIL, STEVE PURCELL, JOHN ROMITA, JR., and more. Cover by MARIE SEVERIN and MIKE ESPOSITO!
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“Batman AND Superman!” Bronze Age World’s Finest, Super Sons, Batman/Superman Villain/Partner Swap, Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane go solo, Superman/Radio Shack giveaways, and JLA #200’s “A League Divided” (as a nod to Batman v. Superman)! Featuring work by BRIAN BOLLAND, RICH BUCKLER, GERRY CONWAY, JACK KIRBY, GEORGE PÉREZ, JIM STARLIN, and more. Cover by DICK GIORDANO!
“Comics Magazines of the ’70s and ’80s!” From Savage Tales to Epic Illustrated, KIRBY’s “Speak-Out Series,” EISNER’s Spirit magazine, Unpublished PAUL GULACY, MICHAEL USLAN on the Shadow magazine you didn’t see, plus B&Ws from Atlas/Seaboard, Charlton, Skywald, and Warren. Featuring work by NEAL ADAMS, JOHN BOLTON, ARCHIE GOODWIN, DOUG MOENCH, EARL NOREM, ROY THOMAS, and more. Cover by GRAY MORROW!
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“Bronze Age Adaptations!” The Shadow, Korak: Son of Tarzan, Battlestar Galactica, The Black Hole, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Worlds Unknown, and Marvel’s 1980s movie adaptations. Plus: PAUL KUPPERBERG surveys prose adaptations of comics! With work by JACK KIRBY, DENNY O’NEIL, FRANK ROBBINS, MICHAEL W. KALUTA, FRANK THORNE, MICHAEL USLAN, and sporting an alternate Kaluta cover produced for DC’s Shadow series!
“Eighties Ladies!” MILLER & SIENKIEWICZ’s Elektra: Assassin, Dazzler, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Lady Quark, DAN MISHKIN’s Wonder Woman, WILLIAM MESSNER-LOEBS and ADAM KUBERT’s Jezebel Jade, Somerset Holmes, and a look back at Marvel’s Dakota North! Featuring the work of BRUCE JONES, JOHN ROMITA JR., ROGER STERN, and many more, plus a previously unpublished cover by SIENKIEWICZ.
“All-Jerks Issue!” Guy Gardner, Namor in the Bronze Age, J. Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson, DC’s Biggest Blowhards, the Heckler, Obnoxio the Clown, and Archie’s “pal” Reggie Mantle! Featuring the work of (non-jerks) RICH BUCKLER, KURT BUSIEK, JOHN BYRNE, STEVE ENGLEHART, KEITH GIFFEN, ALAN KUPPERBERG, and many more. Cover-featuring KEVIN MAGUIRE’s iconic Batman/Guy Gardner “One Punch”!
“Bronze Age Halloween!” The Swamp Thing revival of 1982, Swamp Thing in Hollywood, Phantom Stranger team-ups, KUPPERBERG & MIGNOLA’s Phantom Stranger miniseries, DC’s The Witching Hour, the Living Mummy, and an index of Marvel’s 1970s’ horror anthologies! Featuring the work of RICH BUCKLER, ANDY MANGELS, VAL MAYERIK, MARTIN PASKO, MICHAEL USLAN, TOM YEATES, and many more. Cover by YEATES.
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Volume 1, Number 93 December 2016 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow
Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!
DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Dave Cockrum (1970 fan art from the archives of Heritage Comics Auctions.) COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek
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FLASHBACK: Shazam! in the Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The original Captain Marvel’s ’70s and ’80s comebacks PRINCE STREET NEWS: What’s So Stinky About the Big Red Cheese? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Karl Heitmueller, Jr. looks at the attempts to modernize the World’s Mightiest Mortal FLASHBACK: Who Was Captain Marvel? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Soldier, traitor, cosmic protector—copyright holder? Marvel all-stars discuss Mar-Vell BEYOND CAPES: Captain Storm and the Losers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 The adventures of DC’s rag-tag combat team—with added Kirby crackle! WHAT THE--?!: Captain D’s Exciting Adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Ahoy! A mouthwatering taste of restaurant giveaway comics FLASHBACK: Captain Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 The story behind the hero who could be YOU BACKSTAGE PASS: Captain Avenger, Hero At Large . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 A look back at the John Ritter-starring 1980 nice-guy hero movie FLASHBACK: The Thrill of (Captain) Victory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Jack Kirby’s creator-owned series and its comebacks FLASHBACK: The Zoo Crew Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 The hare-raising history of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, with Scott Shaw! and friends PRO2PRO: Captain EO Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Dean Mullaney, Catherine Yronwode, and Thomas Yeates reminisce about Eclipse Comics’ Michael Jackson project BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Reader reactions
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. Eight-issue subscriptions: $73 Economy US, $88 Expedited US, $116 International. Send subscription orders & funds to TwoMorrows, NOT the editorial office. Cover art by Dave Cockrum. Shazam! (The Original Captain Marvel) TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2016 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing except Prince Street News © 2016 Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Views expressed here are those of the contributors, not Back Issue or TwoMorrows Inc. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.
All-Captains Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1
Captain Carrot sketch by Scott Shaw! Captain Carrot TM & © DC Comics.
SPECIAL THANKS Jack Abramowitz Carol Lay Todd Latowski Mark Arnold Alan Light Nick Barrucci Andy Mangels Billy Batson Greg McKee Bob Budiansky David Michelinie Kurt Busiek Al Milgrom Captain D’s Doug Moench Dewey Cassell Bill Morrison Gerry Conway Dean Mullaney DC Comics Daniel DeAngelo Michael Netzer Luigi Novi Scott Edelman John G. Pierce Steve Englehart Mike Royer Jay Faerber Alex Saviuk Mike Friedrich Michael Gallagher Bill Schanes Scott Shaw! Keith Giffen Jim Starlin Grand Comics Joe Staton Database Michael Thibodeaux P.C. Hamerlinck Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Roy Thomas Heritage Comics Karen Walker Thomas Yeates Auctions Craig Yoe Rick Hoberg Christopher Catherine Yronwode Larochelle
TM
“BA-ROOMPF!” … with one symbolic, thunderous strike, Captain Marbles’ lethal, self-inflicted punch to the head (MAD #4) foreshadowed the doomsday destiny awaiting Fawcett Publications’ top-selling “World’s Mightiest Mortal,” Captain Marvel. The prolonged copyright infringement case initiated by Superman’s publisher against Fawcett had finally approached its disheartening denouement. Fawcett relinquished its comics line in early 1954 and agreed with DC not to publish—nor allow anyone else to publish— Captain Marvel and Family. Aside from being battered one last time by the Man of Steel (note Kurt Schaffenberger’s inside-joke splash panel art for “The Monkey’s Paw!” in Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #42/104), the soul of the fallen red-clad hero lay quiescently on Comic-Book-Banishment-Earth, with no likelihood to rise again. Only the seminal works within the unfeigned pages of such labor of loves as Xero and Alter Ego kept lit the flickering candle of Captain Marvel’s prosperous past—as well as cameo-coverage in Jules Feiffer’s renowned book, The Great Comic Book Heroes (although Jules never really “got” what CM was all about, did he?). By 1967, Marvel Comics had secured trademark ownership on the Captain Marvel name and created their own CM. Five years later, Jim Steranko gave us his illuminating History of Comics—its second volume applauding the original Captain Marvel with its nostalgic narrative detailing CM’s popularity and prominence in the industry during the 1940s and early ’50s. By then, thousands of enlivened comicbook fans were primed for Captain Marvel’s triumphant return. The silencing of Shazam was coming to an end. Enter DC publisher/editorial director Carmine Infantino: “I was a fan of Captain Marvel,” the DC artist-to-boss said in a 2003 interview with Mark Voger. “That’s why I went after it so vigorously. I went to Fawcett; I wanted that character so badly.” In 1972, DC resuscitated the original Captain Marvel by leasing him from Fawcett, and an exciting new comic book was scheduled to appear on stands and spin-racks. However, since the Captain Marvel name now belonged to Marvel Comics, DC opted to call their new magazine Shazam! Why the confusion over the name of a comic book? Even as an 11-year-old boy at the time I remember, in essence, thinking to myself, “What a perfectly powerful, stylishly simple, yet well-reasoned title for the book.” Alas, even to this day, when it comes to Captain Marvel, some ignorantly insist that “everybody thinks he’s called Shazam anyway!” (If CM’s British doppelgänger Marvelman/ Miracleman had appeared in a magazine © DC Comics. called Kimota! I’m quite certain I wouldn’t have been baffled into calling the character by that name.) We welcomed the Captain back with open arms. But something was off. I still remember as a youngster feeling embarrassed for DC because of the very noticeable contrasting caliber between the new stories and the old Fawcett reprints that were used to pad out the book. Captain Marvel-maestro John G. Pierce will lead you down an abandoned subway station on a Bronze Age journey of highs but largely lows; even Shazam! associate editor/writer E. Nelson Bridwell later admitted to our esteemed author, about Captain Marvel’s Bronze Age launch, that DC “started off on the wrong foot. We didn’t make him heroic enough.” 2 • BACK ISSUE • All-Captains Issue
by J o h n
G. Pierce
w i t h P. C . H a m e r l i n c k
A Super Introduction The now-iconic cover of DC Comics’ Shazam! #1 (Feb. 1973). Main figures by C. C. Beck; Superman figure by Nick Cardy (with a Superman head and face by Murphy Anderson). TM & © DC Comics.
World’s Mightiest Artist (top right) C. C. Beck, as photographed by Alan Light at the 1982 San Diego Comic-Con. Courtesy of Alan Light. (bottom) Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), Beck’s contemporary take on Captain Marvel in a 1972 illo.
World’s Messiest Match-up Dave Manak’s cartoony take on the Captain Marvel–Superman legal battle, reproduced from the prozine Amazing World of DC Comics #17 (Apr. 1978). TM & © DC Comics.
From the very beginning there were numerous factors in play working against Shazam! which ultimately set the course for Captain Marvel’s collapsed comeback, even before the first issue had been delivered to the printer. For instance, editor Julie Schwartz made artist C. C. Beck re-pencil the Shazam! #1 cover because the original had oddly vanished from the DC offices. Beck had the second one half-finished before the original cover art was suddenly “found.” Julie boasted years later that the cover art was never missing at all: He deliberately made Beck re-draw it only because he already despised him so much. And so it went. But we, the children of the Bronze, had no comprehension nor care over the dissension and dubious decisions of the adult world. It was 1973 and we were 11-year-olds discovering a world of dreams where we met a benevolent old wizard, a tiger who could talk, a cackling scientist, a lovable uncle, and three kids around our age with handy magic words. We loved Captain Marvel, in comics and on television. The Bronze Age was our Golden Age. It was our time and our day. It wasn’t perfect, but it was all we had, and we wouldn’t have given it up for anything. – P.C. Hamerlinck Back in the early ’60s, the age of the nascent comics (especially superhero comics) fandom, the excitement over the revival of characters such as Flash, Green Lantern, and others brought the almost-inevitable question as to whether the original Captain Marvel would return. An early poll, asking which character ought to be revived, showed the Spectre nosing out Doctor Fate by one vote, with CM just a few votes behind. When rumors started to circulate (which took a lot longer in those pre-Internet days, of course) that Captain Marvel and Plastic Man would be returning, I decided to seek an answer from the Font of All Knowledge of Matters Superheroic, viz., the Father of Comics Fandom, Dr. Jerry Bails, whose terse answer was that no, Cap and Plastic Man were not going to be revived. “Just wishful thinking,” he concluded. But sometimes wishes come true, and within a few years Plas would return, once someone at DC realized that they owned the rights to him. It took a little longer for Captain Marvel, thus causing him to miss the Silver Age, but to return in time for the Bronze Age.
TM & © DC Comics.
A revival of sorts might have happened years earlier, however, as Carmine Infantino (then still an artist), at some point in the ’50s, had had an idea for a Captain Marvel takeoff to be called Captain Whiz. When those plans didn’t materialize, Carmine utilized his basic costume design for the Silver Age Flash instead. So, for those who have wondered (as I did, for years) why the Flash’s costume called to mind Captain Marvel’s, there is the explanation. And, before we totally depart from the world of what-mighthave-been for what-actually-was, there is one other scenario which could have come about. Newly arrived at DC, the legendary Jack Kirby had wanted to revive Captain Marvel, with himself as editor, Mark Evanier as writer, and C. C. Beck as artist. DC management at the time, however, wanted to keep Captain Marvel in-house (viz., based in the New York offices, rather than in Kirby’s California outpost), so that version never came about. Years later, when I asked Evanier if he had come up with any story ideas, he said that the whole process had never reached that stage. Given that fandom at that time was still somewhat composed of holdover Golden Age fans, as well as younger fans (such as myself) who had eagerly imbibed the Golden Age brew from fanzine articles, this news was electric. “Could it really be?”, followed by the inevitable questions of, “Will it be any good? Will the characters be recognizable?”
WITH ONE MAGIC WORD…
DC’s early announcement that the writing would be done by Denny O’Neil and the art by Bob Oksner put a bit of a damper on the enthusiasm, especially since O’Neil was more associated with the heavy sociopolitical drama of the “relevant” Green Lantern/Green Arrow All-Captains Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3
DC’s Christmas Gift to You (top) C. C. Beck’s preliminary art (courtesy of Heritage) for DC Comics’ house ad for Shazam! #1, and the ad itself (bottom). TM & © DC Comics.
tales. But surely the level of excitement must have risen again when an announcement was made that the art instead would be in the hands of Captain Marvel’s original artist, co-creator, and guiding light, C. C. Beck. But Denny O’Neil as writer? He seemed an odd choice. As it turned out, however, Denny had actually been a CM fan in his youth. When I, several years later, asked him how he would rank the good Captain amongst other comic-book heroes, he responded, “Very high… right below the Spirit.” Also, DC had supplied both O’Neil and the unannounced backup writer, Elliot S! Maggin, with a large stack of old Fawcett comics to peruse—for Denny to reacquaint himself with the original, and for Elliot to become better acquainted. Given that the revival of the Marvel Family took place not too long after Jim Steranko’s two volumes of History of Comics, volume 2 of which, in particular, had featured three articles on Fawcett, it seems that what Steranko had conveyed therein may have influenced DC’s thinking in trying to recapture the old style rather than attempt anything new, as they had done with their own characters. Beck initially expressed enthusiasm over the stories. In a letter dated November 27, 1973, he stated the six stories he had drawn so far were “excellent and quite in the old humorous, light-hearted approach. Elliot S. Maggin is writing them also and he has a great approach. He wrote one about a little boy who is so cute that people keep giving him presents and some bank robbers give him a satchel full of loot. Then it’s up to Billy and the good Captain to foil their attempts to get it back. Everything takes place within just a few blocks with no earth-shaking ‘super’ events at all.” (Beck here was alluding to “The Nicest Guy in the World” – Shazam! #2, Apr. 1973.) “Both writers keep putting in ‘super’ events—the sort of ridiculous things that Superman does—but between Julius Schwartz (the editor) and myself we manage to throw out most of them and put in something better,” Beck continued. “For example, in a story which will appear in Shazam! #2, Mr. Mind (the worm) was supposed to be shown riding in a giant helicopter and firing a giant gun. With the editor’s consent, I changed this to Mr. Mind’s riding in a Dixie cup suspended beneath a toy balloon and firing a tiny gun made from an old 30-caliber shell casing. It’s very funny. “DC has given me authority to change scripts as I see fit to keep the stories in the old style. We take sly digs at hippies, rock music, mod clothes by making Billy and Marvel, with their 1940s attitude, just slightly confused and bewildered in the ’70s. In a story by O’Neil… Billy buys a 4 • BACK ISSUE • All-Captains Issue
mod outfit of turtleneck sweater, double-knit bells, and a snappy jacket and goes to a teen dance hoping to meet kids of his own age. But the kids are all in jeans, T-shirts, and hip-hugger outfits, the music is ‘Thump! TWANG! Boing!’ and the dancing is completely beyond Billy’s Arthur Murray style. So he goes to Shazam, who makes him his real age, 34. Billy is delighted, as what kid wouldn’t be? But then, when he changes to CM later, Captain Marvel is only 14! Even Otto Binder never came up with a story like this!” (“A Switch in Time” – Shazam! #3, June 1973.) As time went on, however, Beck became disenchanted with the stories. In particular, two tales, both by Maggin, were considered by Beck to be totally unsuitable: “Invasion of the Salad People” and “The Incredible Cape-Man.” With the first one, Beck tried to re-imagine it as a fictional story Billy would tell, but eventually he gave up and did what artists simply did not and do not do: he returned the scripts as “unusable,” handing them back in-person to DC vice-president and manager Sol Harrison when he [Beck] was Guest of Honor at Phil Seuling’s Fourth of July comic convention in New York City, 1974. Later on, Beck would claim that the stories were bad from the beginning. But at one point he had told me that he had “high hopes for DC, which now lets writers and artists have more say about policy.” So what he actually thought depends upon when he was expressing any given opinion.
C. C. YOU LATER
In any event, Beck was no longer sent scripts to draw. Original first artist choice Bob Oksner was assigned to draw the first story rejected by Beck, while Beck’s former Fawcett colleague Kurt Schaffenberger was given the other one to illustrate. Shazam! #10 (Feb. 1974) contained the last new Beck story along with the first Oksner effort, sandwiching the first new Mary Marvel solo story by Bridwell and Oksner. The first new Captain Marvel, Jr. tale, drawn by famed Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes (and future X-Men) artist Dave Cockrum, in a style somewhat based on that of Junior’s original artist, Mac Raboy, had appeared in the previous issue, while #8 had been an all-Fawcett reprint issue in DC’s 100-Page Super Spectacular format. Cockrum had been enchanted by Captain Marvel, and would like to have drawn the feature, but felt that only Mr. Beck should do that. [Editor’s note: Dave Cockrum was breaking in to the comics biz in 1970 when he produced the Captain Marvel illustration which we’ve used as this issue’s cover.] He was glad, however, for the Captain Marvel, Jr. assignment, which he said better suited his “emerging style.” He would have continued had he not later signed on to do The X-Men at Marvel. Although Marvel’s Stan Lee and Roy Thomas had no problem with Cockrum’s desire to work for both companies simultaneously, Infantino vetoed the idea. And thus, reluctantly, Dave never drew another CM, Jr. after that first one. Bob Oksner had been in the business since the 1940s, even having served as an art director at a company where Mac Raboy assistant William “Red” Mohler had worked. Amazingly, however, Bob had never before heard of Captain Marvel, and had been unfamiliar with Beck’s work. “When I was asked to continue his work, I was quite hesitant,” Oksner told P. C. Hamerlinck. “I was told of Beck’s differences with DC. I felt I would be impinging on Beck’s creation. I continued to feel that way during my entire
World’s Mightiest Backups Among the joys of Shazam! were its short stories starring the junior members of the Marvel Family. Shown here: (top) Dave Cockrum channels Mac Raboy in the Captain Marvel, Jr. tale from Shazam! #9 (Jan. 1974), and (bottom) Bob Oksner’s adorable take on Mary Marvel, from issue #10 (Feb. 1974). TM & © DC Comics.
All-Captains Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5
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by K
aren Walker
Of all of Marvel Comics’ heroes, Captain Marvel is perhaps the most perplexing. Of course, even that statement needs clarification: Which Captain Marvel are we talking about? There have been many. The name has stayed in place as a series of characters have rotated through it. But for the purposes of this article, we will discuss the first Marvel character to bear the name, the Kree soldier turned cosmic protector, Captain Mar-Vell. One of the few superheroes to die and remain dead, what is the true significance of the character? Was he nothing more than the embodiment of a middle finger to DC Comics, a way to keep that company and others from using the “Captain Marvel” name, which was up for grabs? While it might have started out that way, an examination of the character, title, and its creators in the Bronze Age shows that it went far beyond that initial intent to make contributions that would have lasting impacts on the Marvel Universe.
THE COMING OF CAPTAIN MARVEL
The Most Cosmic Superhero of All! For those of us plopping down our quarters for comics back during the Bronze Age, Jim Starlin’s Captain Marvel was one of the most exciting books on the stands. Cover to Captain Marvel #33 (July 1974). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.
As chronicled in this issue’s cover-featured article, the first superhero to bear the name of Captain Marvel was the familiar red, gold, and white-clad figure who shouted “Shazam!” He appeared in comics published by Fawcett from late 1939 to 1953. That fellow was so popular he gave Superman a run for his money, literally. DC sued Fawcett, claiming Captain Marvel infringed on Superman’s copyrights, and this legal battle went on for years, with Fawcett finally settling, paying DC $400,000 and ceasing publication of Captain Marvel and related characters in 1953. For 13 years the name went unused by any comicbook company. In 1966, Myron Fass’ obscure M.F. Enterprises published a Captain Marvel comic book, complete with a bizarre hero who was an android with the power to send his body parts flying by yelling “Split!” This was not a blockbuster by any means, lasting only six issues. But it triggered a reaction in Marvel Comics publisher Martin Goodman. Goodman decided that if anybody was going to scoop up the vacated Captain Marvel name, it was going to be a company named Marvel! In 1967 he told editor/writer Stan Lee to devise a Captain Marvel they could call their own. Lee was not happy about it. “First of all, as he told me at the time, this was something Goodman wanted him to do, rather than what he wanted to do himself,” explains Roy Thomas, former Marvel writer and editor-in-chief. “But anyway, Stan came up with it, and as soon as he did the one story, he turned it over to me right away, which was not the way he usually did it—he didn’t usually write one story of something, and then quit—especially when he was working with a good artist like Gene Colan.” But that was just what happened. Lee and Colan produced that first appearance, in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (Dec. 1967), presenting this Captain Marvel as an alien Kree soldier, actually named Captain Mar-Vell. The Kree race had been introduced a few months before in Fantastic Four #64 (July 1967), giving the new character a connection to the existing Marvel Universe. Mar-Vell is sent to Earth as part of a spy mission, to observe Earth and its people, and provide information that will determine our world’s fate. But during his time on our planet, he has a change of heart and rebels, becoming a traitor to the Kree. The Captain’s costume was designed by Colan, although Thomas had his input, some of which he regrets: “I suggested several color schemes; the worst one I suggested, which was the white and green one, was the one that Stan chose, which was a very bad idea of All-Captains Issue • BACK ISSUE • 25
The Kree-el Deal (top) Captain Marvel’s debut, in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (Dec. 1967). (bottom) In the next issue, writer Roy Thomas introduced supporting character Carol Danvers, who would eventually rise to the top of the Marvel ranks. Original Gene Colan/Paul Reinman art from MSH #13. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.
mine.” The colors were rarely used in tandem on super-folk at the time, so one could argue, perhaps, that it made the Captain stand out. Thomas also came up with the “Saturn” chest symbol. After another issue of Marvel Super-Heroes, Mar-Vell got his own title. Thomas wrote the book through issue #4 and then moved on. In his brief run he gave the Captain an enemy in the alien Super-Skrull, creating the enmity between the Kree and Skrulls and setting the stage for the Kree–Skrull War a few years down the road. He also introduced a character whose significance only became apparent more than a decade later: Carol Danvers, head of security at the missile base where Mar-Vell’s alter ego worked. Thomas says, “I think one of the things I did well with Captain Marvel was— but I didn’t know at the time—was to make up the Carol Danvers character, who now has become the new Captain Marvel.” Succeeding Thomas and Gene Colan were writer Arnold Drake and artist Don Heck. They continued the Captain’s exploits, as he fought against robots, aliens, and other threats. Drake was comfortable with science fiction, having written Space Ranger in Tales of the Unexpected and The Doom Patrol for years at DC. Drake closed out his run with his strongest two issues, #11 and 12 (Mar. and Apr. 1969), in which Mar-Vell lost the woman he loved, Medic Una, at the hands of his superior, Colonel Yon-Rogg; was labeled a traitor to the Kree; and then gained new superpowers from the mysterious entity Zo. This would be the first transformation of Mar-Vell but far from the last, as the Kree Captain had his uni-beam blaster replaced with powers of teleportation, flight, strength, and the ability to cast illusions. The strange Zo grants Mar-Vell these powers so he may pursue vengeance upon Yon-Rogg, and in exchange, Mar-Vell agrees to serve Zo. But that day of reckoning wouldn’t come for many issues. It is worth noting that in these early issues, Mar-Vell is depicted as the consummate soldier. He thinks and acts as a military man, and even in his rebellion against the Kree, he finds a surrogate authority figure in Zo to provide him with guidance—in fact, he swears to follow Zo unquestioningly in order to get the powers that will allow him revenge on Yon-Rogg! But his own moral compass ultimately always causes him inner turmoil. With issue #13, Gary Friedrich became the writer for the next three issues; Frank Springer illustrated issue #13 while Tom Sutton drew issues #14 and 15. Oozing with psychedelic art, issue #15 picks up the Zo storyline, as the entity orders the Captain to teleport to the Kree homeworld to complete a mission—to destroy the planet with a bomb! Mar-Vell resists and Zo sends him on a cosmic odyssey of sorts, to persuade him that Kree-Lar must be destroyed to prevent it from causing the destruction of the rest of the Kree solar system. The creative baton would be handed off one more time, in mid-story, as writer Archie Goodwin and Don Heck would conclude the tale in issue #16. Goodwin managed to bring together a number of plot threads—and also had to deal with a surprise from Thomas. This issue revealed that Mar-Vell had been manipulated by the Kree Minister Zarek and Ronan the Accuser, posing as the entity Zo (Zo: Oz? Pay no attention to the Kree behind the curtain). It was all part of a power play by the two to wrest the Empire away from the Supreme Intelligence, the conglomeration of minds that ruled over them. Goodwin also introduced the concept of racism among the Kree, as Zarek and Ronan were blue-skinned Kree who considered themselves “the original Kree” and wanted to restore their kind to dominance.
WITH ONE MAGIC FLICK OF THE WRISTS
While Goodwin and Heck were working on this issue, Roy Thomas woke up one morning with a new, yet familiar idea: Why not take the original Fawcett Captain Marvel concept and give it a sciencefiction twist? So instead of Billy Batson, there would be Rick Jones, and instead of “Shazam!” there would be Nega-Bands. He took the scheme to Lee and got approval to go for it. Sales for the book had never been very good, despite everyone’s efforts. “It was just that we needed to do something, so maybe it was a Hail Mary pass but I thought it would be fun to do it, and it couldn’t be any worse than the way the thing was going,” says 26 • BACK ISSUE • All-Captains Issue
Trading Places (left) The NegaBands allowed Rick Jones to “become” Mar-Vell, a nod to Billy Batson’s transformation into the original Captain Marvel. Cover to Captain Marvel #17 (Oct. 1969). (right) Mar-Vell’s new togs were inspired by this little-known Golden Age hero. Captain Marvel TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. Atoman © the respective copyright holder.
Thomas. Things were worked out with Goodwin, and Thomas sent his costume redesign (based on an obscure 1940s hero called Atoman) to Don Heck to finish out the final pages of issue #16. Once again, in the span of five issues, no less, Mar-Vell would undergo a transformation at the hands of an omnipotent being, this time the Kree Supreme Intelligence (actually Roy Thomas). In the story, Mar-Vell receives a new red-and-blue outfit and is proclaimed the greatest Kree warrior— right before he is whisked away into the Negative Zone. Thomas thought he and Heck, who had worked for years together on The Avengers, would now team up on Captain Marvel. But another change was in store, as Thomas relates. “So there it was, and the plot [to issue #17] was sent off to Don Heck, who was just about to work on it when Gil Kane waltzed into the office with this idea that he’d love to do something with Captain Marvel because he too had this sense that it was just an awful, failing character and it’d be fun to try to do something with it. And he and I didn’t know each other—we’d met, but that was about it—and we ended up working together, and we liked working together, and we worked together quite a bit for the rest of his life whenever we got a chance.” Kane slightly redesigned the costume when he began drawing the book. But more importantly he brought his enthusiasm, and this translated into dynamic storytelling. Kane’s scenes practically leapt off the page. In Thomas and Kane’s first effort together (Captain Marvel #17, Oct. 1969), teenager Rick Jones, hanger-on with the Hulk, the Avengers, and most recently Captain America, is telepathically guided to a mysterious cave filled with alien machinery. Inside he discovers two golden wristbands, which he puts on and slams together. In a brilliant flash, Captain Marvel is freed from the Negative Zone, having traded places with Rick. The Nega-Bands, as they are called, are ancient Kree artifacts that also bestow powers upon the wearer. Mar-Vell has no time to appreciate his escape, as he is confronted by Colonel Yon-Rogg. In the next issue, during a battle, Yon-Rogg dies as the cave collapses around him in an explosion, but Mar-Vell gets no satisfaction from his death. Thomas and Kane would produce one more issue, dipping into social relevance. And then the first of several publication stumbling blocks would occur. Despite the new direction, the book was still in jeopardy. In those days, sales figures were usually received many months after the publication of an issue, so at the time of the Thomas/Kane run, there were no updated figures on how well the title was selling. Without accurate
sales, publisher Goodwin decided to cancel the book just three issues into the new team’s run. But, months later, new figures came in which indicated that this new direction had struck a chord with readership, so Goodman ordered the title back into production. Luckily, Thomas and Kane were both still available, and Captain Marvel #20 hit the stands with a cover date of June 1970, six months after the previous issue had appeared. The duo would work together on issue #21 as well— the two issues featured Bruce Banner and his alter ego, the Hulk, as guest-stars. However, according to Thomas’ recollection, Goodman again decided to cancel the title. So after that brief, two-issue return, the Captain was back in limbo, or at least, the Negative Zone. Almost a year later, Thomas would bring Mar-Vell back again, this time in the pages of The Avengers during the classic Kree–Skrull War (Avengers #89–97, June 1971–Mar. 1972). The former Kree soldier finds himself captured by the Skrulls and pressured to create a powerful weapon (the Omni-Wave Projector) for them. Rick Jones also plays a pivotal role in the saga. Thomas says the presence of the two in the story served multiple purposes. “I wanted to keep those characters around. I knew I liked what Gil and I had done with them, I liked that whole storyline, and I thought it would be a shame to waste it, especially since the readers had liked it. [There was] the idea that Captain Marvel might very well come back, so I stuck him in there. Also, if you’re going to talk about a Kree–Skrull War, he was a Kree, he was the most prominent Kree in the comics, so it was inevitable that he would be utilized.” At the end of that storyline, Mar-Vell’s fate seemed uncertain; he had given up his life force so that Rick could live. Of course, in comics, life and death are malleable concepts. They are also very susceptible to the whims of publishers. Once again, the good Captain was awarded his own title. Captain Marvel #22 was cover-dated September 1972, but Thomas and Kane were not in the driver’s seat. Instead, young Gerry Conway, who at that point was already scripting Amazing Spider-Man, and Wayne Boring, legendary Superman artist, were assigned to the title. Marv Wolfman would take over the writing chores on the next two issues. Was Thomas disappointed that he and Gil Kane hadn’t been able to continue their work on the title? “Yeah, a little bit… It kept being brought back, because they’d see a new sales figure, especially when they saw the sales figures on our stuff. It was evidently good enough that a few months later it was brought back, but by that time Gil and I were both busy with other things. But maybe if Gil had been on All-Captains Issue • BACK ISSUE • 27
“We all know without havin’ to say it… even when we win, we lose!” –Sarge, Our Fighting Forces #125 Captain Storm was the skipper of a PT boat near Tiberius when he suddenly lost everything that his career had built up to. Torpedoes sank his ship and his boat sank. Storm lost his entire crew, and he was the only one left—the only loser to move on from this crushing defeat. Soon he found other soldiers who had been kicked and dragged around by the Second World War. These men were a few other losers just like himself. Together, Captain Storm (a character who had held his own ongoing series in the ’60s), Johnny Cloud, Sarge, and Gunner banded together and embraced the title of “the Losers.” Being Losers meant that they could take on the toughest assignments without worrying about the consequences. Knowing that they were already living on borrowed time and following mistakes, the Losers plunged themselves into dangerous mission after dangerous mission, doing whatever it would take to further the Allied cause.
A WINNING COMBINATION OF CHARACTERS
The Losers debuted in the pages of G.I. Combat #138 (Oct. 1969), in an offbeat story establishing the new characters alongside DC’s existing war comic “character,” the Haunted Tank. Russ Heath served as the artist for the Losers’ debut, but did not stay with the characters to work on any other stories. G.I. Combat was not to be the permanent home for the new characters, and the Losers wound up becoming a regular feature in the pages of Our Fighting Forces instead, starring in issues #123 (Jan.–Feb. 1970) through 181 (Oct. 1978). Like the majority of the Losers’ adventures, this initial tale was written by DC’s go-to author of war comics, Robert Kanigher. Kanigher had already written plenty of Sgt. Rock stories and had been deeply involved with nearly all of DC’s war comics output. Star Spangled War Stories, Our Army At War, the previously mentioned G.I. Combat, and Our Fighting Forces—all of these titles had benefited from the consistent quality of Robert “Bob” Kanigher’s writing and editing expertise. When it was time to introduce some new characters, Kanigher’s involvement was a given. Somewhat strange is the fact that there are some issues in which Kanigher had very little involvement with the Losers stories. Issues #151–162 interrupt Kanigher’s serious and often longgestating storylines and clear a path for a very special run by one of the top names in the history of comics: It was none other than Jack Kirby who © DC Comics. took over on these issues as writer, penciler, and editor. Readers of the Losers’ appearances in Our Fighting Forces
Bad Luck Battle Stars The Losers kicked off their ongoing series in Our Fighting Forces #123 (Jan.–Feb. 1970). Cover by Joe Kubert. TM & © DC Comics.
38 • BACK ISSUE • All-Captains Issue
by C
hristopher Larochelle
The Brave and the Bold Before they joined forces, (top) Captain Storm starred in 16 issues of his own title and Johnny Cloud headlined All-American Men of War, while (bottom left) Gunner and Sarge frequented the pages of Our Fighting Forces. (bottom right) The “Born” Losers bowed in the Haunted Tank feature in G.I. Combat #138 (Oct.–Nov. 1969). TM & © DC Comics.
are treated to some very different approaches to the characters and their adventures. Our Fighting Forces #123 begins the ongoing adventures of the Losers. It took some time before the Losers found a consistent art approach, and this story was illustrated by Ken Barr. The players are all thrown together to help with a “dirty mission” to infiltrate a castle in Nazi territory. Each man has a story for how he became one worthy of the title “Loser.” For Johnny Cloud, the guilt of losing so many pilots under his charge as a flight leader brought him into the group. For Gunner and Sarge, lives spent in poverty before joining up, coupled with the fact they were the only two soldiers left standing in their entire patrol after an operation went poorly, brought them into their present company. Captain Storm can never forget the effects of his boat sinking and the loss of his men, as he walks every day on a wooden leg that serves as a constant reminder. Our Fighting Forces #127 (Oct. 1970) showcases Kanigher’s storytelling abilities, giving a wonderful example of what can be done with a 14-page tale. By this time, Ross Andru was the established artist for the Losers, having worked on the title since Our Fighting Forces #124. The Losers are in England, enjoying some time away from the battlefield by watching a cricket game. A US Army woman named Linda tags along with the team and soon meets a Royal Air Force volunteer named Bill. It’s love at first sight for Linda and Bill, and soon there is a proposal of marriage. The wedding is to take place within just a few weeks, and Captain Storm remarks, “We’ll be here… it’s a pleasure for us Losers to see a pair of winners!” Bill takes to the skies to fill the spot of a fellow soldier shot down in the line of duty while Linda stays on the ground. Nazi fighters have arrived. As Linda helps civilians, she is brutally shot by a German pilot, and the Losers quickly confirm that she is gone. Bill, high in the sky in his Spitfire, shows great bravery in the battle but comes crashing down to the ground, utterly weakened. “Tell Linda… sorry… I’m late… for… the… wed—,” stammers Bill, cradled in the arms of Sarge. “You’re not late, Bill! L-Linda’s waitin’ for you!” replies Sarge, knowing that Bill is fading fast. The Losers are next seen at a double funeral for the two lovers who never quite made it to their wedding. Rather than thinking of Linda and Bill as losers like themselves, the team finds hope in the fact that they’ve found a better place to be together. While Robert Kanigher established the backstories of the individual members of the Losers early on, he took the time to delve deeper into each character’s past as the series progressed. In Our Fighting Forces #129, readers got a chance to see the story of how Johnny Cloud came to fight in the war following his boyhood
living with his tribe at a Native-American reservation. The sting of losing his men in a sky-high battle hurts Johnny because he can never carry out the words that his father once told him: “You must be ready to lay down your life for your brother! No matter what the color of his skin! Or your shame will be mine… your tribe’s… your nation’s!” Before Johnny even had the chance to sacrifice himself, his pilots were all killed in the line of duty. Our Fighting Forces #132 puts the spotlight on the tag-team duo of Gunner and Sarge in a tale illustrated by the Losers’ longest-tenured artist, John Severin. In this story, they are briefly reunited with Pooch, a dog who once helped them through some tight spots while they were serving in the Pacific. Pooch was the first K-9 the US Army sent out, and while Sarge and Gunner relive the moments that brought them together with this noble animal, they realize that their lives as members of the Losers dictate that the happy reunion has to come to an end. Readers get to learn more about just how unstoppable these two soldiers are, and how dedicated they both are to each other’s survival.
TM & © DC Comics.
All-Captains Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39
There was a time when every little kid wanted to be Superman. “Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!” Inevitably, age begets acceptance that, no matter how hard you might try, or wish it to be so, you will never be a strange visitor from another planet. However, if you work hard enough, and train long enough, you just might be Batman. But wouldn’t it be easier if you were just in the right place at the right time…?
SUB-ATOMIC SPACE OPERA
Micronauts #1 (Jan. 1979) introduced a team of rebels on the planet Homeworld opposing the evil empire of the obsidian-armored Baron Karza. Although captured, the rebels escape with the help of a humanoid energy being: “Some call me the Enigma Force… but you shall know me as Time Traveller!” The twist is that Homeworld exists in the Microverse and as the Micronauts escape aboard the starship Endeavor, they crash through the Spacewall to enter our universe. “I am not responsible for the Micronauts!! My mother is,” confessed Bill Mantlo in the introduction to Micronauts Special Edition #2 (Jan. 1984). An enthusiastic grandma bought some new action figures for Mantlo’s son for Christmas, 1978. Mantlo was enchanted and petitioned Jim Shooter for the opportunity to produce a Marvel comic about the Mego toys. Editor Al Milgrom explains: “At the time, Marvel was doing quite a bit of licensing work. We had considerable success with Shogun Warriors, Godzilla, Battlestar Galactica, ROM: Spaceknight, and, of course, Star Wars, and we developed a reputation for being a good source of not only extra profits for these different properties but also very useful as a cross-promoting tool. “Bill Mantlo proposed doing a series about the Micronauts. The interesting thing about it—at least to me— is that Bill utilized a lot of the existing characters but he also invented a lot of the other characters out of whole cloth. And by sheer stroke of luck we were able to get Michael Golden to pencil it. Michael was a relative newcomer at the time, but he rapidly developed into a huge fan-favorite.” Micronauts #2 (Feb. 1979) saw the team arriving on Earth as five-inch-high visitors, where they befriend teenager Steve Coffin. Unfortunately, with the Spacewall breached, Baron Karza pursues them to Earth in issue #7. In the following issue, the Enigma Force inhabits the body of Steve’s father, Ray Coffin, transforming Ray into the cosmically powered Captain Universe. The Enigma Force bestows upon Ray vast powers of flight, strength, energy projection, and matter rearrangement. Baron Karza retreats to the Microverse and the Enigma Force departs Ray’s body. “The thing that made Captain Universe unique was not so much his powers, per se, but the idea that the force would inhabit different individuals,” reiterates Milgrom. “And lo and behold, it usually took over people who happened to © Marvel. be in some sort of crisis at that particular moment.”
SPOTLIGHT ON CAPTAIN UNIVERSE
Marvel Spotlight vol. 2 #9 (Nov. 1980) featured Captain Universe’s first solo story. The Enigma Force grants the Uni-Power to Steve Coffin, so as to repel an attempted alien invasion by Mister E from the Shadowverse. This 46 • BACK ISSUE • All-Captains Issue
TM
by J a
rrod Buttery
Who’d’a Thought… …that this character introduced in The Micronauts #8 (Aug. 1979) would become a recurring Marvel superhero—the hero who could be YOU?! Micronauts TM & © Takara LTD/A.G.E., Inc. Captain Universe TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.
was the start of a three-issue collaboration between Bill Mantlo and Steve Ditko. As explained in BACK ISSUE #71 (Apr. 2014), Ditko was amenable to working for Marvel but didn’t want to return to Spider-Man or Dr. Strange. He and Mantlo produced three issues about ordinary people given extraordinary powers. Spotlight #10 introduced us to private detective Clare Dodgson and her twin sister, homemaker Ann Stanford. When Ann’s district attorney husband is kidnapped, the Uni-Power inhabits both Clare and Ann simultaneously! “Bill would utilize the different skills each individual had in the way the cosmic powers would be used,” states Milgrom. “The housewife used a mop and a broom to fight off guys. It was cute and it was different, and again, it gave you the opportunity to take the character and play off an infinite number of secret identities. And Ditko was one of the all-time great talents.” Cat burglar Monty Walsh picked the wrong mark in Spotlight #11. Attempting to burgle the high-rise apartment of Maggia boss Guido Carboni, Monty is discovered and shot. As he falls to his death, he is enveloped by the Enigma Force. Seeking revenge against Carboni, Monty uses catlike abilities to take down Carboni’s operations. On the very last page, Monty declares that once Carboni is dead, he’ll use the Uni-Power to set himself up as the new boss in town. In very black-and-white Ditko fashion, the Uni-Power instantly deserts Monty, leaving him in the bullet-ridden state it had found him in. “I’m not sure if Bill planned it that way,” ponders Milgrom. “Bill was certainly aware of Steve’s predilection for having very clearly defined good characters and bad characters so he may have tailored it that way, but it may have been a happy coincidence.”
RARRRARGHH, NOTHING STOPS THE HULK!
The Micronauts explicitly visited our Earth. In Spotlight #11, an off-panel Daily Bugle publisher tells an off-panel Peter Parker that Captain Universe is a real hero… unlike that public menace Spider-Man! But it wasn’t until Hulk Annual #10 (1981)—drawn by Rick Leonardi—that Cap made a distinct impression upon the Marvel Universe. “Rick had come in with samples and we liked what we saw,” remembers Milgrom. “I have to give Jim Shooter a nod of credit here. Jim said, ‘This guy’s got potential; don’t let him leave, let’s give him something.’ I went back to Rick and said, ‘Shooter likes your stuff, he wants to give you a trial and give you a script to work on.’ I contacted Bill Mantlo, who was one of my go-to guys, who could always squeeze in something if you needed it in a hurry. We were planning the summer Annuals and I asked him what he had in mind for the Hulk Annual. Bill said, ‘I want to use Captain Universe again because I really like that concept.’ ” Leonardi got his break with a fascinating tale: The Uni-Power separates Bruce Banner from his emerald alter ego. The cosmically
Spotlight on Cap U (left) The first of Captain Universe’s three-issue stint in vol. 2 of Marvel Spotlight. Cover to issue #9 (Nov. 1980) by Steve Ditko. (right) Mantlo and Ditko’s appeal to readers at the end of Captain U’s last MS issue, #11. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.
All-Captains Issue • BACK ISSUE • 47
Captain Victory is an odd creature. Jack Kirby, as readers of BACK ISSUE are no doubt aware, is one of the most prolific creators (or co-creators) in comic-book history, if not the most prolific. Captain America, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, and the New Gods are just a few among his many major (co-)creations. Atlas, Bombast, Satan’s Six, and the Dingbats of Danger Street are among Kirby’s lesser creations. As such things go, Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers are either the least significant of Kirby’s major creations or the most significant of his lesser creations. For a short-lived series from a short-lived publisher, Captain Victory has shown remarkable staying power, being revived, revised, and revisited numerous times over the decades—though not always particularly successfully.
PACIFIC COMICS
The story of Captain Victory is largely the story of Pacific Comics. Pacific was a comics distributor-cum-publisher whose heyday of 1981–1984 coincides with its publication of this Kirby-created series. Founded by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes, Pacific Comics was an early adapter to the then-new direct market system. (The Schanes brothers also contributed to the formation of the direct market, but such is beyond our scope.) If starting a new publishing venture, why start small? You might as well start with the best! Accordingly, in 1981, the Schanes brothers approached Jack Kirby, with whom they had already had a relationship. Bill Schanes explains how this came about: “Most fans do not know this piece; we originally were going to launch our first mainstream title with Gil Kane, focusing on his Blackmark character. This was going to be a black-and-white series, with newsstand distribution. After much discussion with Gil, we mutually decided that it would be best if we didn’t go the newsstand route, and I don’t recall why we didn’t publish Blackmark as a color book for the direct market (the non-returnable piece of the comic-book publishing business). “We had known Jack Kirby for a number of years, as both Steve (my brother) and myself were both involved in the San Diego ComicCon from the early years (1971+), and we felt at the time (and still do now) that Jack was the single most important creator in the history of the comic-book industry in the US, and if we had an opportunity to work with Jack, we’d jump at that opportunity. “Jack had left the comic-book industry (was working at HannaBarbara), frustrated over creator rights, ownership of characters artists created, as well as compensation rates at the time. “Pacific Comics had worked up a very different type of contract in regard to how we wanted to work with creators. We would ‘license’ the works from the creators, pay them competitive rate per page, plus a royalty on top of the page rate. In addition, and most importantly, we licensed the works, so the creators kept 100% ownership. I believe this was common amongst the underground publishers in the ’60s and ’70s, as well as Mike Friedrich’s Star*Reach Productions’ fantastic line of ‘ground level’ comics/comix, but certainly not at all for the ‘New York’ publishers. Jack had already started work on Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers prior to when we formerly approached him about working with us on our new line of full-color, creator-owned comic books. We came to terms with Jack fairly quickly, and Captain Victory was our first official broad-release title. (We had published a little-known comic book called One, a black-and-white comic book, some photo-imaging, some illustration.)” As Schanes mentioned, Kirby had already been working on Captain Victory prior to bringing the character to Pacific Comics. According to the text piece in the Captain Victory: Graphite Edition published by TwoMorrows in 2003, “Captain Victory” was originally a name conceived by Kirby for the character that would later be known as Captain Glory. Kirby then intended to use the character in a series for a proposed line to be known as “Kirby Comics.” When this plan didn’t come to fruition, Kirby and inker Mike Royer planned to use Captain Victory in a graphic novel—the first part in a trilogy. This plan, likewise, was not to be realized. 54 • BACK ISSUE • All-Captains Issue
by J a
ck Abramowitz
CV for Captain Victory Jack Kirby’s Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #1 (Nov. 1981). Cover by Kirby and Mike Royer. TM & © the Jack Kirby Estate.
Finally, Kirby and Steve Sherman developed Captain Victory as a movie treatment, which appears in its entirety as an appendix to the Graphite Edition. When this didn’t come to pass, the project was shelved until Kirby was approached by Pacific Comics, for whom he reworked the material prepared for the graphic novel into the first two issues. Kirby’s disputes at Marvel and DC, which led to him leaving the comics field in 1978 until his return to Captain Victory in 1981, included a lack of creative control and ownership rights. Pacific only requested publishing rights for the series Kirby would create for them, allowing him to retain full ownership. This had been a sticking point for Kirby at Marvel, where “Work for Hire” policies deprived Kirby of rights to his co-creations. Kirby left Marvel for DC in 1971, but the same policies precluded Kirby retaining control over such creations as Kamandi, Etrigan the Demon, and Mister Miracle. According to an article in the San Diego Reader (“Two Men and Their Comic Books: The Girth of Pacific Comics” by Jay Allen Sanford, August 19, 2004), Pacific was also the first company to pay Kirby royalties based on sales. The January 1988 Comics Interview further related that sales of the first issue of Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers were anticipated to be under 25,000 but ended up exceeding 110,000. (Schanes puts the number even higher, as we shall soon see.)
FIRST ISSUE SUCCESS
Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #1 (Nov. 1981) starts the series with a bang—and one would expect no less from a Kirby venture! The cover blurb assures us that the comic is “New – Exciting – Original!” The banner above the splash page informs us that “This is how it will happen when the star worlds come to Earth!!! (sic) Don’t look for gods or gurus or benevolent gift givers… Prepare to meet Captain Victory and his Galactic Rangers!! (sic)” Under that, the good Captain himself orders his first officer, Major Klavus, to scour the local solar system in search of a “serious breach of galactic law!” (How the Captain outranks a major is unclear.) We are shown that Tallant IV, a planet populated by “peaceful, industrious beings,” has been overrun by the Insectons, who turn planets into husks for their hives. Donning his command-post helmet, Victory heads to the bridge despite warnings from his crew that the enemy will target him there. Sure enough, on page 9 of the story, Captain Victory is killed. The end. Not really. By page 15, the Captain’s memories have been transferred to a new body. Apparently, he is fairly reckless, gets killed rather often, and regularly has to have his consciousness backed up into a cloned body. (We are informed that this is his tenth such body, and supplies are starting to run low.) Unfortunately, while this was going on, Lightning Lady, leader of the Insectons, has set her sights on Earth. (Why the leader of an insect race is called Lightning Lady is unclear.) Happily, the Insectons have been traced by another member of Victory’s command crew, a giant floating head that goes by the name Mister Mind. (Why Kirby recycled the name of a classic Captain Marvel villain— you know what? Let’s stop pointing out everything whose rationale is unclear. Let’s just accept that this is a Kirby comic and in Kirby comics, weird things happen.) By the issue’s end, Captain Victory is on Earth. Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers was created, written, and drawn by Kirby, lettered and inked by Mike Royer, colored by Steve Oliff, and edited by David
Scroggy. Scroggy also penned a brief text piece that informs us that Captain Victory #1 is the first issue in the first series from the new publisher; it also announces the forthcoming series Starslayer, by Mike Grell. According to Schanes, “Captain Victory #1 was received far beyond any of our expectations. We knew Jack was ‘The King,’ but fans, comic-book specialty retailers, distributors, and media all jumped on board in record numbers and coverage. Captain Victory #1 sold well over 125,000 copies, which was a very large number at the time, especially when you considered that both DC and Marvel’s standard cover price was 50¢, while Pacific Comics launched all of its new titles initially at $1.00. Captain Victory was Pacific Comics’ flagship title—we couldn’t have been more excited to get Jack back into the comic-book business, under a new type of relationship—creator-owned books.” Mike Royer, who inked and lettered the first two issues, doesn’t recall much of the experience, but he shares the following:
TM & © the Jack Kirby Estate.
The King Holds Court (top) Jack Kirby at the 1982 San Diego Comic-Con in a photograph by and courtesy of Alan Light. Note the stacks of Captain Victory #6 copies on the table in front of him. (bottom) Original art to one of Kirby’s supplemental features from Captain Victory #1. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © the Jack Kirby Estate.
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From Mighty Mouse to Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, animated cartoons and comic books have crossed the funny animal and superhero genres many times, with varying degrees of success. In 1982, DC Comics took things a step further by introducing an entire team of funny-animal superheroes in the short-lived but surprisingly well-remembered series Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! (including the official exclamation mark). Created by writers Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway with artist Scott Shaw! (also including the official exclamation mark), CCAHAZC! had its origins in a two-part DC Comics Presents team-up between Superman and Captain Marvel (a.k.a. Shazam!), in which Thomas and Conway (along with artist Rich Buckler) reintroduced Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, Fawcett Comics’ own 1940s funny-animal spin-off (in DCCP #33–34, Apr.–May 1981). Just like the rest of the Marvel Family, Hoppy transformed into the superpowered “Captain Marvel Bunny” by saying the word “Shazam!”—except that he lived on a world inhabited by anthropomorphic talking animals (later designated as Earth-C-Plus). Thomas and Conway even considered the idea of putting a funnyanimal version of the Justice League of America into the story, so they created a team based on original JLA members Superman (Super-Squirrel), Batman (Batmouse), Wonder Woman (Wonder Wabbit), Green Lantern (Green Lambkin), Aquaman (Aquaduck), and the Flash (the Crash, a turtle) to be called “Just’a Lotta Animals.” DC publisher Jenette Kahn and editorial director Joe Orlando both liked the idea so much that the one-panel gag became an ongoing series to be titled Super-Squirrel and the Super Animal Squad, with plans to have Superman introduce the team in DCCP. Enter cartoonist Scott Shaw [we’ll forego the “official” exclamation point from here on so as not to drive our proofreader insane—ed.]. Scott had previously done a humorous backup story for Thomas’ What If? #8 (Apr. 1978) at Marvel Comics, titled “What If the Spider Had Been Bitten by a Radioactive Human?” A few years later, “Roy had talked about doing Just’a Lotta Animals,” Shaw says. “I designed the basic team [and] did a sample page. My concept was, ‘What if Jack Kirby had drawn Mighty Mouse?’ It was fun to at least think in terms of, ‘How would I draw in my style, but using the same kind of tropes and angle shots that Jack did?’ ” Although Shaw was Thomas’ choice to draw the book, DC had other ideas at first. “DC really didn’t know who I was,” Shaw explains. “I had worked on the Hanna-Barbera comics and had done some underground comics. [So] they first went to Joe Staton.”
Creature Feature Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #1 (Mar. 1982). Cover art by Scott Shaw!, with Ross Andru (Superman figure) and Bob Smith (inks). TM & © DC Comics.
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by D
aniel DeAngelo
Staton recalls, “Joe Orlando called me in… Roy had Scott attached to the project, and I think Scott had done development sketches already. Somebody at DC had some doubts about Scott. They wanted a DC regular on the art. I thought about it a bit but decided that I’d feel better if Scott stayed with what he’d developed. And, of course, Scott did an excellent job, just as you’d expect.”
ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES
“DC eventually decided that they didn’t really want to do [Just’a Lotta Animals],” Shaw says, “because it would essentially be duplicating [characters] that already existed in their library. One of the main justifications for bringing me onto the book was that I had worked on a lot of Saturday morning cartoon shows, and they felt that if I could design something that would work for animation, that it would help sell it as a show.” Thomas had previously pitched to Marvel a revival of the 1940s Timely Comics character Super-Rabbit with artist Sam Grainger (to be titled “Super-Rabbit the Marvel Bunny”), as well as a Thor-like “Thunder Bunny” (no relation to Martin Greim’s character of the same name) to DC with artist Herb Trimpe. Dusting off one of Grainger’s Super-Rabbit designs, Thomas and Shaw set about creating a new team of funny animals—this time without Conway’s involvement. “By the time DC decided they should have an all-new group so they could sell them without restraint from main-hero licenses, Gerry had no more part in it,” Thomas says. “I’ve never really been sure why I’m credited as a co-creator,” Conway comments. “I’m pretty sure all I did was encourage Roy and toss around a few ideas with him. My contribution, if any, was in the capacity of cheerleader for what I thought was a fun project.” However, Thomas explains, “I kept his name on as co-creator because his funnyanimal suggestion led, whether you count it as directly or indirectly, to the Zoo Crew. I don’t think he ever wanted to be involved in the actual writing.” Shaw recalls, “I designed almost everybody initially. The original designs that I did were even cartoonier than what I wound up drawing. Joe Orlando took all my designs and did his version of them… [making] it look more like superhero stuff. Slowly, in my mind, I realized they didn’t want it to look like Jack Kirby was doing it; they wanted it to look like George Pérez was doing it. They wanted a lot of detail, a lot of line work on every page.” The team was narrowed down to five: Captain Carrot, of course, sorceress Alley-Kat-Abra, stretchable Rubberduck, patriotic Yankee Poodle, and super-fast turtle Fastback (originally called “Blue Streak”). Two more characters that got left out were Whirlibird (a bird with tornado-like powers) and Big Cheese (a size-changing mouse who later became “Little Cheese”). But Shaw felt, “We were missing ‘the big guy.’ I thought that, visually, you needed a variety
Young Turks (left) A puppy, that Scott Shaw! was, back at the 1982 San Diego ComicCon. Photo by and courtesy of Alan Light. (top) Sample panels by Scott for Just’a Lotta Animals, from Amazing Heroes #9. (bottom) The Zoo Crew, as revealed in The Comic Reader #196. Both scans courtesy of Andy Mangels. All characters (except Scott Shaw) TM & © DC Comics.
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Dark Zoo Crew Art by and courtesy of Rick Hoberg from a revamp proposal for Captain Carrot predating the Geoff Johns revamp. Rick says there were “too many cooks in the kitchen,” causing this project to go nowhere. TM & © DC Comics.
“I’m sure [Winslade] was instructed to do this, but Captain Carrot looked like a maniac in every panel!” Shaw complains. “It looked like what my friends and I used to call ‘I’ll Kill You!’ comics. It was when Neal Adams was doing those covers with a guy in a very constipated pose, looking up at the sky or at the reader, saying, ‘Now, I will destroy you!’ ” On the other hand, Fastback was treated with more respect in Speed Force, causing Shaw to remark, “I really like Tom Grummett’s artwork. It’s clear that [he] actually gets the character of Fastback better than some who actually worked on the CCAHAZC! series.” Thomas says, “I’ve no objection to guest/cameo appearances by any of the Zoo Crew, but I feel if there is ever to be another series it should be [done] by me and Scott… since we are the two major creators.”
A DANGLING CARROT
Since Convergence has restored the pre-Crisis DC Multiverse, Earth-C exists again. Whether Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew ever reappear remains to be seen. Why is Captain Carrot used so infrequently? “Because Roy and Scott own a percentage of it,” Hoberg states. “I don’t know if there’s any truth to this or not,” Shaw says, “but some people told me the reason they were doing this stuff, like Captain K’Rot, was if they turn it into a new character, then [Roy and] I would no longer own a piece of it.” Thomas concurs, “What they said.” Shaw also feels that “The average person working in comics does not like funny animals. They find it embarrassing, this ‘Captain Carrot’! Even my friend, [longtime Superman editor] Mike Carlin, was really offended that Captain Carrot met Superman [laughs]. I never held it against him.” Despite the Zoo Crew having appeared in a couple of the Robot Chicken DC Specials (the first one has the Justice League attending Captain Carrot’s funeral
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on Earth-C, where Green Lantern keeps cracking up over the characters’ names), the creators were not compensated. “I haven’t gotten a nickel for their usage of [Captain Carrot] on TV or video games,” Shaw claims. “Apparently our work is good enough for them to use in other places, but it isn’t good enough to pay us for.” Thomas adds, “To say I felt dissed in recent years over Captain Carrot… would be understating. I’m always willing to forgive and forget… but since nobody’s ever made any real approaches that mean anything, I haven’t forgiven or forgotten. Still, I’m really glad I worked with them in the ’80s, despite the way it ended.” Shaw reflects, “I know that Captain Carrot is just a little footnote in the history of comics. It was done as an experiment, and there were a lot of kids that loved it, but your average reader now doesn’t want humor. Marvel and DC don’t do anything humorous now. I would work for DC again, but it would have to be with a vastly different business model.” The Zoo Crew may be gone, but they are not forgotten, as references still pop up here and there (such as a Green Lambkin cameo in a Green Lanternthemed episode of Cartoon Network’s Duck Dodgers, or McSnurtle the Turtle as a stuffed toy belonging to Iris West in the Flash TV series). But is there any place in today’s comic-book marketplace for funny-animal superheroes? “I think it would be felt as something new and different,” Shaw says. “Now that the kids are used to seeing Rocket Raccoon, why not? It’s still essentially the same sort of thing.” Hoberg concurs, “There’s always room for things, if you can find someone who’s interested in doing it. Everyone’s just looking at the bottom line these days, otherwise we wouldn’t have Dark Knight III [laughs]!” Special thanks to Gerry Conway, Keith Giffen, Rick Hoberg, Carol Lay, Todd Latowski, Bill Morrison, Scott Shaw!, Joe Staton, and Roy Thomas for their assistance with this article.
by M a r k
No matter what your opinion is of his personal life, Michael Jackson was one of the greatest singers and entertainers of the 20th Century. From his beginnings with his brothers in the Jackson 5 in the 1960s to his solo career that eclipsed virtually every other musical act, Jackson solidified his legendary status by the 1980s. His album Thriller, which came out in late 1982, was a hit album near the top of the charts well into 1984. It ultimately has sold over 32 million copies in the US alone and over 65 million copies worldwide, and is still considered the highest-selling album of all time as of this writing in 2016. By that point in Jackson’s career, the Thriller days, Michael had the freedom to take his time in making albums. He released another album with the Jacksons (formerly the Jackson 5) in 1984 and wasn’t expected to release his next album until 1987. This was partially due to the ongoing success of Thriller, but also due to touring commitments and with the making of a little film, with the help of George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, called Captain EO.
Arnold
Besides its star-studded pedigree, Captain EO was to be a unique film as it was produced for the Disney theme parks (Disneyland in California, Epcot Center in Florida, and later, for Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris) and also in 3-D. Unofficially, it is considered to be the first in 4-D, as there are special effects in the theater such as smoke, laser lights, and other effects synchronized with the film. The film first opened at the US parks in 1986 and closed at the various parks between 1994 through 1998. After Jackson’s death in 2009, the film was re-released to the parks and ran from 2010 to 2015. The film was aired in 1996 by MTV in a 2-D version and has never been released to home video, but can be streamed on YouTube. The success of the film begat many different film souvenirs including a comic book produced in 3-D and published by Eclipse Comics. I caught up with catherine yronwode [Catherine “Cat” Yronwode has often opted for lower-casing her name—ed.], Dean Mullaney, and Thomas Yeates to discuss the production of this comic book 20 years later. – Mark Arnold
Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ Courtesy of Thomas Yeates, a two-page spread from the black-and-white version of Eclipse’s Captain EO. Wow! TM & © Disney Enterprises, Inc.
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