back issue #23

A u g u s t 2 0 0 7

No.23$6.95

HAPPY 20th,SPIDEY & MJ!

TOP SPIDER-MAN

CREATORS SOUND OFF

ON PETER PARKER’S LOVE LIFE!

HAPPY 20th,SPIDEY & MJ!

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THIS ISSUE:COMICS GOHOLLYWOOD!

THIS ISSUE:COMICS GOHOLLYWOOD!

IsisIsis

TVFLASH

TVFLASH

DISNEYDISNEY

a writers’ roundtable...& WRITE NOW!crossover!

a writers’ roundtable...& WRITE NOW!crossover!

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BONUS ADAM HUGHES COLOR ART GALLERY!BONUS ADAM HUGHES COLOR ART GALLERY!

Volume 1,Number 23August 2007

Celebrating theBestComics of the '70s,'80s, and Today!

EDITORMichael Eury

PUBLISHERJohn Morrow

DESIGNERRich J. Fowlks

COVER ARTISTAdam Hughes

COVER DESIGNERRobert Clark

CIRCULATION DIRECTORBob Brodsky, CookiesoupPeriodical Distribution, LLC

PROOFREADERSJohn Morrow and Christopher Irving

SPECIAL THANKSJim AlexanderJim AmashMark ArnoldRoger AshJoanna Pang AtkinsMichael AushenkerMike W. BarrCary BatesRussell BatesBCI EclipsePatrick BennettDanny BilsonGeoffrey BlumFletch BowlingJerry BoydBob BurnsSal BuscemaJohn ClarkGerry ConwayRaymond A. CuthbertBrian CutlerSusan Daigle-LeachPeter DavidDarren G. DavisFred L. deBoomTom DeFalcoPaul DeMeoShelton DrumDavid DworskiJuan Epstein’s MotherByron EricksonMark EvanierLisa EverettsDanny FingerothMichael Jan FriedmanGrand Comic-Book

DatabaseGlenn GreenbergBob GreenbergerDavid M. GutierrezP.C. HamerlinckDustin HarbinJack C. HarrisRay HarryhausenHeritage Auction GalleriesGail HickmanJim HoffBenjamin HolcombJim HollifieldAdam HughesTony IsabellaDaan Jippes

Dan JohnsonBob KlineJon B. KnutsonArnold KunertHenry Lange, Jr.Erik LarsenGary LeachStan LeeDavid LevineRonalda Douglas

LompardoJohn LustigAndy MangelsScott MartinMarvel ComicsYoram MatzkinAndy McKinneyBob McLeodDarrell McNeilDavid MichelinieJohn Francis MooreRichard MorganDean MundayParamount PicturesMartin PaskoJohn Romita, Sr.Don RosaBob RozakisRose Rummel-EuryPaul RyanJim SalicrupTodd SawvelleLou ScheimerJohn Wesley ShippJim ShooterSteve SkeatesAnthony SnyderAllison SohnSteve StanleyTom StewartLaurie SuttonWilliam Van HornJ. C. VaughnMike VosburgWalt Disney ProductionsWarner Bros.John WatsonDean WebbLen WeinHoward WeinsteinTodd WethingtonDavid WhittakerMarv WolfmanEddy Zeno

BACK ISSUE™ is published bimonthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive,Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE,c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 5060A Foothills Dr., Lake Oswego, OR 97034. Email: [email protected] subscriptions: $40 Standard US, $54 First Class US, $66 Canada, $90 Surface International,$108 Airmail International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the edi-torial office. Cover art by Adam Hughes. Mary Jane Watson TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. TheSecrets of Isis © 1976 Entertainment Rights plc. The Flash TM & © DC Comics; Flash TV images ©Warner Bros. Star Trek TM & © Paramount Pictures. Mickey Mouse TM & © Disney. All Rights Reserved.All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted.All editorial matter © 2007 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM ofTwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

The Ultimate Comics Experience!

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BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

PRO2PRO ROUNDTABLE: Twenty Years of Webbed Bliss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3An all-star assemblage of Spider-Man creators—including Stan Lee, Sal Buscema, John Romita, Sr.,and Jim Shooter—discuss Peter Parker’s marriage and love life

WHEN TITANS … WED?! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17The super-heroes who tied the knot before Spidey and Mary Jane

BACKSTAGE PASS: Lift Me Now So I Can Fly: The Secrets of Isis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Hollywood historian Andy Mangels goes behind the scenes of the ’70s Saturday morning television series

FLASHBACK: The Mighty Isis in Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Comics historian/Captain Marvel authority P.C. Hamerlinck looks back at the short-lived DC comicbook based on the TV show

BEYOND CAPES: A Gander at Gladstone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Disney comics in the 1980s, with art and quotes from Daan Jippes, Don Rosa, William Van Horn,and other creators

BACKSTAGE PASS: The Flash: Racing for Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Star John Wesley Shipp and other contributors recall the one-season Flash TV series

ART GALLERY: Adam Hughes Goes Hollywood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49Eight jaw-dropping pinups of media stars by one of comics’ most popular artists

PRO2PRO ROUNDTABLE: Star Trek Writers’ Roundtable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57A crossover with Write Now! #16! Bob Greenberger beams up Barr, David, Friedman, Greenberg,Mangels, Pasko, Sutton, Wein, and Weinstein for Part One of a discussion

FLASHBACK: The Christopher Reeve Superman Movie Adaptations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72Cary Bates and Bob Rozakis remember DC’s Super-movie comics

BACKSTAGE PASS: Superman vs. Cyclops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77Another find from Bob Burns’ Basement: photos of the 1964 NY World’s Fair exhibit

BACK IN PRINT: Ray Harryhausen Presents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78An exclusive interview with the movie stop-motion master on the new line of comics based upon hisscreen properties

WHAT THE--?!: Welcome Back, Kotter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82“Comics Savant” Tom Stewart hits the books with his report on this utterly odd “DC TV Comic”

OFF MY CHEST: A Boy and His “Unca” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85Animator Darrell McNeil’s recollection of his relationship with the late Alex Toth

BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89Reader feedback on issue #21

FREE PREVIEW of WRITE NOW #16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92When you pick-up the second part of our Star Trek Writers’ Roundtable, you’ll also find thecomplete version of this Todd McFarlane interview!

© 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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DAN JOHNSON: Stan, as the creatorof both Peter Parker and Mary JaneWatson, I was wondering what itwas in 1987 that made you realizeit was time for these two kids tofinally tie the knot.STAN LEE (Spider-Man co-creator): I had always wantedthe Spider-Man series to be asrealistic as possible. After afew years of Peter and MJhaving a romance, their

marriage just seemed like the mostnatural event. It had to happen.

JOHNSON: Jim Shooter, what were your first thoughtswhen you found out that Stan wanted to have Peter andMary Jane get married?JIM SHOOTER (Marvel editor-in-chief at the timeof the wedding storyline): First of all, that’s notthe way it happened. It was my decision. The waythat came about is this: Both Stan and I were guests atthe Chicago Con the summer before the wedding,1986 (I think). Stan was supposed to do a one-manpanel Q&A, but at the last minute, he asked me ifI’d come up onstage with him because he knewthat most, if not all, of the questions would be aboutthings going on in the comics, with which he wasvery out of touch. I was happy to help. We workedpretty well as a team in such situations, with mehandling the comics questions and Stan addingcolor commentary, anecdotes, reminiscences;essentially doing snappy patter and being entertaining,as only he can.

Starting in 1979 or 1980, Stan was based at theanimation studio in L.A. I don’t remember what histitle was, but his job was more or less just being Stan.He served as a creative advisor to the animation peopleand our face to Hollywood, trying to get film peopleinterested in Marvel properties. Who wouldn’t takeStan’s call? He also wrote the Spider-Man strip, ofcourse. Other than that, he wasn’t in charge ofanything. I don’t think anyone reported to himexcept his secretary.

I was EIC [editor-in-chief] and VP of Marvel then,head of creative for everything but the animationstudio. I reported to the president, Jim Galton, and onsome business affairs and other matters to publisherMike Hobson, who was mainly in charge of MarvelBooks, the children’s book line. As Stan used to say, Iwas Marvel’s “entire editor.” I used to say I had Stan’sold job. I did, actually, and I was the only one besidesStan ever to hold that lofty position. No one else,before or since, has had exactly the same job withthe same authority and clout.

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by D an J oh n s on

Marriage isn’t an institution for the timid, especially in today’s world. Most husbands and wives are under terrificstress as they strive to have it all while balancing their careers and their home life. But can you imagine what itmust be like to also have to deal with the likes of the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, and the Kingpin on top of every-thing else? No doubt about it, it’s not easy being Mr. and Mrs. Parker, but Peter and Mary Jane have been mak-ing a go of it for an incredible 20 years since tying the knot in 1987 in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21.

In honor of their anniversary, BACK ISSUE gathered together some of Spider-Man’s most famous creators—Stan Lee, Sal Buscema, Gerry Conway, Tom DeFalco, Danny Fingeroth, Erik Larsen, David Michelinie, JohnRomita, Sr., Paul Ryan, Jim Salicrup, Jim Shooter, and Marv Wolfman—to examine:

4 • B A C K I S S U E • C o m i c s G o H o l l y w o o d I s s u e

Technically, even the Spider-Man strip fell under myauthority because the “Special Projects” departmentreported to me. That said, I didn’t mess with the stripat all, ever.

Sometimes, when he had a little spare time, Stanwould call me up and ask for work! Talk about surreal.I recall an Erik Larsen job that he scripted on one ofthose occasions.

This is not meant to diminish Stan in any way. It’s justthat, at that point in his career, he was just not involvedin the governance of the properties and uninvolvedwith publishing except as a writer of the strip, andoccasionally a comic book. Technically, the wedding wasmy call, and Stan respected that, because that’s the kindof guy he is. That said, all technicalities aside, he was stillStan Lee, my mentor, the resident legend/genius, and Iwould have deferred to him about almost anything.

So there we were on this panel and someone askedwhether Spider-Man and Mary Jane were ever goingto get married. Stan said that it was up to me but thathe thought they should. He turned to face me andasked me, extra politely, if they could get married. Theaudience was screaming. Trapped!

Nah. Actually, if Stan thought it was a good idea, Isure didn’t have a problem with it.TOM DeFALCO (former Amazing Spider-Man writer): Iguess you could blame the whole marriage thing onRon Frenz and me. When we were on The AmazingSpider-Man, we proposed a storyline where Peter asksMary Jane to marry him, she accepts but eventually—in true Spider-Man fashion—leaves him at the altar.Jim Owsley was our editor and took the idea to JimShooter, who mentioned it to Stan … who thoughtthe couple really should get married. Shooter agreedand went ahead with the idea after Ron and I weretaken off Amazing.

At the time, I thought it was a veryyyyyy bad idea.History has proven me wrong. I now think Mary Jane andPeter really work well as a couple and their relationshipis one of the cornerstones of my Spider-Girl series.SHOOTER: Tom is mistaken. I never asked Stan abouthis proposed story. It happened exactly as I said. Therewere no preliminaries.JOHNSON: It’s still pretty interesting though to hear aboutwhat might have been with the Peter and Mary Jane rela-tionship. What else can you tell us about this idea?RON FRENZ (former Amazing Spider-Man penciler):One way to look at it is the best way to write aSpider-Man story is to make a list of all the sh*ttiestthings that can happen to a human being, then youeliminate all the things that other writers havealready done, and what is left are some story ideas.Certainly being left at the altar is the hugely sh*ttiestthing that can happen to a human being.

First LovesNo one is as dear to Peter Parker’s heart thanhis Aunt May; here she’s terrorized by the GreenGoblin in a Ron Wilson/Mike Esposito illo fora 1975 British reprint. And Peter’s first crush,Betty Brant, tied the knot in Amazing Spider-Man#156 (May 1976); cover art by John Romita,Sr. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions.© 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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By the 1970s, in the fever of women’s liberation, super-heroines had still not made a splash on television. Batgirlwas a memory in the live-action Batman reruns, anda 1974 Wonder Woman telefilm with the very blondeCathy Lee Crosby in the title role had been critical-ly lambasted. Although some animated heroinesshowed up on Saturday morning—say hello toSuper Friends’ Wonder Woman—it wasn’t untilSeptember 1975 that kids and adults alike couldembrace a live-action Saturday morning super-heroine of their own in The Secrets of Isis. Dressedin a white sleeveless top and short tennis skirt withEgyptian-themed accoutrements, Isis flew along-side Captain Marvel into both television and super-powered history.

THE ORIGINS OF ISISFilmation Studios had begun doing live-actiontelevision—a complement to their thriving animatedside—in 1974 with Shazam!, a spin-off from the1940s Captain Marvel character from Fawcett that

“Oh my Queen,” said the royal sorcerer to Hapsethsut,“with this amulet you and your descendants are endowed bythe goddess Isis with the powers of animals and the elements.You will soar as the falcon soars, run with the speed ofgazelles, and command the elements of the sky and the earth.”Three thousand years later, a young science teacher dug upthis lost treasure and found she was heir to the secrets of Isis.And so, unknown to even her closest friends, Rick Masonand Cindy Lee, she became a dual person: Andrea Thomas,teacher, and Isis, dedicated foe of evil, defender of the weak,champion of truth and justice.

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was then published by National Periodical Publications(DC Comics). The series was extremely popular, andexecutive producers and Filmation co-founders LouScheimer and Norm Prescott wanted to build acompanion piece for it in season two.

“It was easy for me to come up with wanting todo a show that involved a heroine,” says LouScheimer today. “I was surrounded by females at myhouse with my daughter, Erika, and my wife, Jay. I hadthought about this for a long time. You’ve got tothink about doing shows that relate to girls, too. Iwent to Fred Silverman at CBS and said, ‘I’d like todo a live companion show to Shazam!,’ and they putit together as The Shazam!/Isis Hour.”

What Filmation needed now was a concept,which is where writer Marc Richards came in.Richards had been writing animated series forFilmation for some time, and in 1975, he createdthe concepts for both The Secrets of Isis and a live-action spook-chasing series called The Ghost Busters.“I can’t talk about Isis without talking about MarkRichards,” Scheimer says. “The man was phenomenallygifted. He was the fastest writer we ever had. Hewas incredible. He could do a half-hour show in a day,and they would be good half-hour shows. He wasdoing comedy stuff all the time, and I was wonderinghow he could work on developing a live-actionadventure show. And he came up with the conceptof doing it as an archaeologist, a teacher who wason an archaeological trip, digging up an ancientEgyptian piece of jewelry that gave her all sorts ofpowers. I went back to CBS, showed them what wehad done, as well as a bunch of drawings—almostlike the stuff we used in the main title—and theybought it.”

Richards, who passed away in late 2006, wasapparently a fan of Egyptology, but although heworked in Andrea Thomas as a schoolteacher into thepresentation for CBS, Isis was originally going to be avery different kind of super-hero series. Richards wrotethe original bible for the series, but when he movedover to write the complete series of The Ghost Busters,other Filmation writers took over, including RussellBates, who had been a co-writer of the Emmy-winningStar Trek episode for Filmation that year.

“I was apprised by D. C. Fontana, who had spokenwith Marc Richards and Arthur Nadel at Filmation,that I should be given my shot at the new series,Isis,” Bates says. “I was sent the bible and descriptivematerials and, over the next three days, conceivedthree stories: ‘The Lights of Mystery Mountain,’‘Two Eyes, Two Serpents’ (which was rich enough tobecome a two-part episode complete with midwaycliffhanger), and ‘Wilderness Trek.’ These went toFilmation and within two weeks, they bought allthree. With those amounts in hand, I moved myselfto LA and was able to go directly to the studio forany assignments.”

We dig Andrea Thomas!JoAnna Cameron as teacher Andrea Thomascaptivated girls, boys, and their dads!All photos in this article are courtesyof Andy Mangels.The Secrets of Isis © 1976 Entertainment Rights plc.

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Even with a jump-start from Captain Marvel, zephyrwinds still couldn’t whisk Isis away from cancellationdoom. Like the TV series it was based on, the comicbook soon became a relic of ’70s pop culture.

TV TO COMICSHoping to repeat the success of the live-actionShazam! TV show, Filmation developed a similarprogram that could tie in with Shazam!—butinstead feature a female lead character to captivateyoung girls (and adolescent boys as well, just asteen idol Michael Gray had attracted adolescentgirls to Shazam!). Filmation created Isis (perhapsinadvertently) as a hybrid between Captain Marveland another magical Fawcett hero from the GoldenAge of comics: Ibis the Invincible. But other thanplaying back-to-back with Cap on The Shazam!/IsisHour and appearing in a few crossover episodes, herconnection to the World’s Mightiest Mortal was fairlysparse. High school teacher Andrea Thomas gainedher Isis powers from an amulet necklace that oncebelonged to the lone female Pharaoh, QueenHatshepsut, and which was made by an ancientEgyptian wizard (it was only hinted that the wizardwas Shazam). Isis, portrayed on TV by JoAnnaCameron, who donned a costume in what theactress herself once described to me as a “very non-Egyptian, white miniskirted tennis outfit,” had sooncaptured even a greater audience than Shazam!(While Cameron expressed absolutely no admirationfor Filmation executives, she still “loved playing therole of a super-hero.”)

Meanwhile, back at DC, the struggling Shazam!comic book had already succumbed to an all-reprintstatus and quarterly frequency. When Carmine


Woman of SteelOriginal cover art to Isis’ first DC appearance,Shazam! #25 (Sept.–Oct. 1976), signed by aterrific trio: its artist, Kurt Schaffenberger;“Isis” herself, JoAnna Cameron; andTV Captain Marvel Jackson Bostwick.From the collection of Fred L. deBoom.The Secrets of Isis © 1976 Entertainment Rights plc. All Rights Reserved.Shazam! © 2007 DC Comics.

by P. C . H am e r l i n c k

TM

Infantino had been replaced by the more media-savvy Jenette Kahn as DC’s publisher, she tookimmediate steps to capitalize on the popularity of TV’sShazam!/Isis Hour. Under a licensing agreementwith Filmation, Kahn set forth to establish Isis as aDC hero. Denny O’Neil wrote an 11-page introductorytale, “Isis … As in Crisis!,” appearing in Shazam!#25 (Sept.–Oct. 1976), launched with a dramaticIsis/Captain Marvel front cover by the incomparableKurt Schaffenberger and accompanied by fine storyart by Dick Giordano (the latter of which onlysuffered from stiff C. C. Beck swipes for the Big RedCheese’s cameo in the story). The Isis solo comicwould begin the following month, and both titles(along with Super Friends and Welcome Back, Kottercomic books) fell under the new “DC TV Comic”banner. Shazam! had tucked away the reprints (forthe time being) and took off in an Open Roadmotor home as writer E. Nelson Bridwell masterfullymerged elements of the TV show into the comic-bookscripts. But the marriage of media would provetumultuous for the Egyptian goddess super-hero.

ISIS #1 (Oct.–Nov. 1976)The debut issue of Isis showed a great deal ofpromise, but the artwork was to be the issue’s onlysaving grace with another stunning Schaffenbergercover and interior art by Ric Estrada—gorgeouslyinked by the one and only Wally Wood. But O’Neil,known for having injected “realism” into comics,was seemingly ill-suited to write specifically for theyounger crowd (as had been the case with him pre-viously on Shazam!). Attempting to mesh componentsof the TV series with fantastic, super-villain storylinesproved awkward, not only to faithful DC readers,but also to the (apparently) few and quickly alienatedindividuals who had simply picked up the comicbecause they happened to enjoy Isis on TV.“Scarab—The Man Who Would Destroy” merely set


(right) DickGiordano’s dead-onIsis meets a Beck-ish

Captain Marvel inShazam! #25.

The Secrets of Isis © 1976Entertainment Rights plc.

Shazam! © 2007 DC Comics.

Cover art to Isis #1 (Oct.–Nov. 1976),autographed by Schaffenberger andCameron. Courtesy of Fred L. deBoom.The Secrets of Isis © 1976 Entertainment Rights plc.DC bullet © 2007 DC Comics.

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By 1985, Disney comics had been missing from Americancomic racks for six years. Their publisher,Western/Whitman, gave up the Disney license. Nolonger was there an inexpensive way for fans of Disneycomics to read adventures of their favorite characters,such as Donald Duck stories by the legendary DuckMan, Carl Barks. Barks created Uncle Scrooge, GyroGearloose, Flintheart Glomgold, and many others, andestablished the basis for the Disney Duck universe thatis still in place to this day. Enter Gladstone Comics.

Gladstone was the brainchild of Bruce Hamilton.“Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran’s first Disneylicense was for The Fine Art of Walt Disney’s DonaldDuck, a lavish coffee-table book that featured all ofCarl Barks’ Disney-themed oil paintings that hadbeen produced up to that time (1980),” says JohnClark, associate editor at Gladstone and current editor-in-chief of Gemstone’s Disney comics. “Disney wasso impressed with that book that Hamilton andCochran were able to get a license to produce aseries of lithographs based upon oil paintings newlycommissioned from Barks.”

Their company, called Another Rainbow, alsopublished The Carl Barks Library, a set of 30 oversizedhardcovers in ten slipcases that featured the completeDisney stories by Carl Barks, along with essays onBarks and the comics themselves. It was from thepeople at Another Rainbow that Hamilton broughttogether the team for Gladstone, including editor-in-chief Byron Erickson and associate editors JohnClark and Geoffrey Blum.

“On a visit to Disney in Burbank, BruceHamilton found out that Western Publishing (whohad licensed the rights to publish Disney comics foralmost 50 years) was giving up their license—theircomics weren’t profitable anymore,” relatesErickson. “Bruce figured that a small company witha low overhead could succeed where Western hadfailed, so he immediately started putting together


Hold on to your hats, fellas!Original cover art to Gladstone’s Donald Duck

Adventures #17 (Nov. 1989), by William Van Horn.

Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com).

TM & © 2007 Walt Disney.

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a proposal to apply for the license,although the Disney executive incharge of Another Rainbow’saccount—a nice man named WayneMorris—didn’t think we had achance. To make a long story short, Bruce’seventual proposal was accepted (although thatmight be because none of the other comics publisherswere sufficiently interested) and Another Rainbowwas given a three-year license.”

The name “Gladstone” was chosen as the publisher’sname because of the character Gladstone Gander’slegendary good luck. The Gladstone books reprintedclassic Duck stories by Carl Barks; Donald Ducknewspaper strips by Al Taliaferro; Floyd Gottfredsonand Paul Murray Mickey Mouse stories; and, for thefirst time in America, many stories produced for theEuropean market by artists including Daan Jippes,Freddy Milton, and Romano Scarpa. Gladstone’stitles included Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck,DuckTales, Mickey and Donald, Walt Disney’s Comicsand Stories, and others.

The job of selecting which European stories to run fellto Erickson. “I chose, at first, what was recommendedby knowledgeable fans (the Dutch Jippes stories,for example),” Erickson says, “but mostly it was amatter of going through the various foreign magazineswe started receiving and ordering proofs of storiesthat looked good (I couldn’t read them, mind you, somy orders were based just on looking at the pictures).It was always interesting to read the rudimentary

English dialogue that eventually came with theproofs. Man! Some stories were not at all what Iexpected. Many stories could be used with justminor adjustments to the dialogue. Others neededto be extensively rewritten to add character orhumor. And in some cases, we wrote a completelynew story to go with the artwork because the originalstory was stupid beyond belief!”

Erickson also scripted some of the European stories,as did Geoffrey Blum. According to Blum, the Englishdialogue they were sent wasn’t translations: “Theimpression I had was that the stories were written inEnglish, that serving as a lingua franca among thevarious European publishers who then hired theirown translators to cast the comics they selected intotheir particular language and idiom. At the time ofGladstone One, I was told that many of the scriptswere cranked out by moonlighting BBC hacks tryingto scratch up an extra shilling. Since the writers knewthe stories were not going to see print in English,they took no special care to polish their dialogue.”

In addition to standard comics, Gladstone alsolaunched a popular line of albums that featuredoversized reprints of classic stories. They also had aline of digests that didn’t fare so well. “When we

began production of the digests, welearned from our distributor thatArchie [Comics] had sewn up all ofthe digest pockets for comics atsupermarkets and drug stores, andthat we would fail with digests if wecouldn’t get into those locations,”says John Clark. “Bruce struck a dealwith Archie to co-distribute the first ofour digests, Uncle Scrooge Goes toDisneyland and Disneyland BirthdayParty (both 1985), and those weresuccessful, but subsequent titles thatArchie was not involved with did poorly.And that seems to be the case to thisday. Exactly why that is, I don’t know.Perhaps because the books get ‘lost’ toconsumers if they’re not right there inyour face, and the direct market has

never been big for digests.”If there was a “look” to the early Gladstone

comics, one could argue that Daan Jippes provided it,as he did most of covers for the first two years ofGladstone’s existence.

“At the time of Gladstone’s start with the Disneycomics, I was employed at the Walt Disney ConsumerProducts Division in Burbank, at Publications, underGreg Crosby,” recalls Jippes. “I had met with BruceHamilton earlier on. On the occasion of one of Bruce’svisits to the Studios, he proposed I should give it ashot, doing Gladstone’s covers.”

Erickson says that Jippes was a perfect choice forGladstone’s cover artist because “he’s the world’s bestDisney standard character artist.”

Jippes received the cover orders from Ericksonfor either a gag cover or a story-specific cover, butthe details were left up to him. “The gags were99% mine. The same goes for the ideas behind thestory-related covers.”

Besides having a style of his own, Jippes was alsoadept at aping the styles of Barks, Gottfredson, and WaltKelly: “If a given cover acquired a Barks- or Gottfredson-flavor, that was always dictated by the style of theartist of the story inside the comic,” says Jippes.

From HeritageAuctions hails this

Daan Jippes-sketchedprelim for the cover

to Uncle Scrooge#223 (Nov. 1987).

Note Jippes’ changesto Scrooge’s facialexpressions in thepublished version.

TM & © 2007 Walt Disney.

behindthe

scenes


On September 20, 1990, the “Fastest Man Alive” hit theairwaves, introducing millions of viewers to DCComics’ Scarlet Speedster, the Flash. Brought to life byproducers Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo, CBS-TV’s TheFlash broke new ground in special effects and becameone the earliest in a wave of series based on comic-bookheroes that took its four-color roots seriously.

BURTON PAVES THE WAYIn 1989, the planet shook when Batman made silver-screen history. Finally leaving behind its kitschy reputationfrom the Adam West Batman TV series of the ’60s,director Tim Burton’s Batman was a comic movie doneright. Hollywood realized that comics were ready-made franchises and greenlit a handful of shows basedon comic properties. Among those was The Flash.

Having adapted The Rocketeer for Disney, DannyBilson and Paul DeMeo wrote an original pilot for CBScalled Unlimited Powers (detailed in BACK ISSUE #19),which featured an aged Flash forced into retirement.Considered by Bilson to be the best thing he andDeMeo have ever written, it never came to be—but itdid give CBS an inkling of what could be.

The production pair took great care to keep The Flashclose to its comic-book roots. Firstly, they wanted to keepthe Flash’s alter ego and origin identical to the Silver Ageversion of the super-hero. At the time of production, thespeedster mantle in comics was assumed by one-time KidFlash Wally West, the third man to wear the lightning andfirst sidekick to take the role of his mentor. Bilson andDeMeo wanted to keep things classic and decided to useas the Flash police scientist Barry Allen, the Silver Ageversion of the character that premiered in Showcase #4(Sept.–Oct. 1956). “We thought that [Golden Age Flash]Jay Garrick and his costume wouldn’t work too well ontelevision in 1990,” explains Bilson. “The [character’s]helmet, the shirt, and exposed face would have beendifficult. And we would have had to have set it in the’40s.” According to DeMeo, “We had to use a Flashthat, at least visually, was the most familiar to our currentaudience, whether it was Barry or Wally.”

Another key characteristic of Allen’s was his policebackground. The series’ creators decided it was anelement they could capitalize upon to open up storypossibilities. Allen’s scientific know-how would play akey role in the pilot and in later episodes. The policedepartment, Allen’s lab assistant, his parents, and hisbrother were all created and fleshed out by Bilson,DeMeo, and the writing staff. Iris West, Allen’s longtimegirlfriend—and later, wife—made it to the pilot, albeitin a very different form. Iris’ reporting background wasjettisoned in favor of an artistic one. Bilson attributes theshift to wanting to make her different from anotherfamous reporter: “I think we wanted to get away fromanother Lois Lane. We didn’t need another franchise todrive crime stories.” West’s character would never move

Meet the Fastest Man AliveBarry Allen, the Silver Age Flash, debuted in Showcase #4 (Sept.–Oct.1956). Although dead in DC Comics’ continuity by the time TheFlash was developed for television in 1990, Allen was “resurrected”and wonderfully portrayed by John Wesley Shipp on CBS.The Flash and Showcase TM & © 2007 DC Comics.

by D av id G u t i e r re z

TM

beyond the pilot in order to keep Barry available forother possible love interests, namely another scientist.

Not to be left out, some of Wally West’s Flash comic-book elements would make it into the television series—most noticeably, the main female role of Tina McGee ofS.T.A.R. Labs. Linda Park, Wally West’s own reportergirlfriend and future wife, made a cameo appearance.Luckily, what set West’s early comic-book adventures apartfrom his forebears made it to the series: “We took hiseating [large amounts of food] to regenerate his energy,”notes DeMeo. “We thought it would fun to play withthat.” They also chose to include the powered-downabilities from writer Mike Baron’s Flash issues, keepingthe speedster maxing out at breaking the sound barrier.

DC Comics, which owns the Flash, had a very goodrelationship with the show. “[DC] certainly had a say inhow [the Flash] looked and was protective of its property,”says DeMeo. “They wanted the same things Dannyand I did, to make a reasonably faithful version of thecharacter that wasn’t treated condescendingly likeother super-hero shows had done. We came from aplace of love and affection. We wanted to do thisright, not some slapdash, cheap-o version.” Bilsonadds, “They were very supportive all the time, veryhelpful, and never had any problems with anything.”

The comic company never mandated any storylines.“We did our own stories. It was better that way,”remembers DeMeo. “We did our own versions ofthings. Certainly, [DC] had done the Rogues’ Galleryvillains before, but we never took any stories [directlyfrom the comics].”

DC Comics set itself apart from other comic-bookcompanies early on by making the cities protected by itsheroes characters in their own right. The Flash showwould take the same stance. Barry Allen’s home ofCentral City evolved into a patchwork of eras. Menin suits and hats from pre-World War II were seenalongside the colorful (and now odd) fashions of the1990s. A reporter using an old radio microphone would

compete alongside a reporter with a video camera. Oldgangsters would convene in neon bars with sci-fi-armedhitmen. Central City was one of a kind. Partly influencedby Anton Furst’s design work in Batman, the city of theFlash included avenues familiarly named Garrick, Fox,and Broome, and even a hotel named after Silver AgeFlash artist Carmine Infantino.

BRINGING THE FLASH TO LIFECameras rolled in the summer of 1990. The Flash wasmade flesh by up-and-coming actor John WesleyShipp. “I didn’t know anything about comic booksand very little about super-heroes when I tookthe role of the Flash,” reminisces Shipp. “I justlooked at it as a character. You have BarryAllen with a difficult relationship with hisfather—the unblessed child syndrome—who suddenly has super-human powersthat he can’t tell anybody about.”

Like other actors who have assumediconic roles, Shipp described feeling “fearand trepidation” over accepting thepart. He explains, “Because of [super-heroadaptations] done before—the send-ups,spoofs, the cheap productions—I wasafraid of the baggage that mightcome along with it.” Still, Shipp waswon over with the script. “I lovedthe whole thing about the super-powers, when it started happening,how it freaked [the Flash] out.Of course, I loved the comicelements. The fact that under-neath that it’s not ‘HughHollywood Hero’ who discovershe has this wonderful thingand he’s going to go aboutsaving the world. He says, ‘Iwant to get rid of these


(above) Part of the Central City exterior sets, on the Warner Bros.lot in Hollywood. (right) John Wesley Shipp, star of The Flash.

All photos in this article are courtesy of Andy Mangels.© 2007 Warner Bros. Television.

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Gold Key boldly went nowhere any comics publisherhad gone before when they debuted their comic-bookadaptation of Star Trek in the summer of 1967, rightafter the science-fiction series completed its first seasonon NBC. Ever since, with varying degrees of fidelity andcommercial success, Star Trek has usually been foundon the racks. Star Trek has remained a viable license forGold Key, Marvel, Malibu, DC, WildStorm, and nowIDW because it has a devoted following among fanswho also read comic books.

When Marvel Comics acquired the license timed to thefirst feature film’s release in 1979, they were hamperedby restrictions limiting them to only what was seen in themovie and little else. Additionally, they never had a stablecreative team, making the title feel inconsistent.

DC, at Marv Wolfman’s urging, took the plunge in1983, based on the box-office success of Star Trek II: TheWrath of Khan. They published the title for many years,and that run saw the first hardcover graphic novel, Debtof Honor, and the beginning of trade collections of thebest storylines. After DC lost the license, Trek moved toWildStorm, then back to Marvel for a much more successfuland satisfying second round, and then it faded away.

Even though there is no current television series calledStar Trek on the air, interest remains high. Checker Bookshas been reprinting the Gold Key run while Titan Bookshas been repackaging the early DC Comics material.IDW, in January 2007, began new adventures and onChristmas Day 2008, a new feature film, rebooting thefranchise, is expected from Paramount Pictures.

To acknowledge the past and present, BACK ISSUE andWRITE NOW! decided to query a handful of the comic-bookscribes who have handled the property. The roundtablediscussion was conducted entirely by email between Octoberand December 2006 and proved lively and engaging.

—Robert Greenberger


Feed me, Seymour!You’ll find nary a phaser, uniform insignia, orcelebrity likeness to I.D. painter George Wilson’sotherwise fabulously rendered image as a StarTrek cover, but it is indeed just that, from GoldKey’s Star Trek #29 (Mar. 1975). The actiondepicts the Enterprise crew’s struggles on “ThePlanet of No Return” (interior story title), ina reprinting of the very first ST comic-booktale from issue #1 (July 1967). Original coverpainting courtesy of Heritage Auctions(www.ha.com); unless otherwise noted, all artin this article comes from Heritage.Star Trek TM & © 2007 Paramount Pictures.

by Rob e r t G re e n b e rge r

TM


BOB GREENBERGER: What do you find the largest chal-lenge in adapting Star Trek from television to comicbooks?LAURIE SUTTON: My first reaction is to say movement.That may sound obvious, but there’s a delicate balancingact involved. After all, what is TV but a series of still images,moving? That’s where TV and comics meet, and diverge.But that being said, I have never found the transition allthat difficult. I think visually. I see pictures in my head.(I grew up reading comics; the process must be hard-wired by now.) And after watching the ST programs fromthe very beginning of their run, they’re hard-wired in mybrain, too. I can see the pacing. And I can hear the voices.But printed words on a page simply cannot convey theinflection of an actor’s voice. That’s my greatest frustration.GLENN GREENBERG: For me, there were several largechallenges when I was writing Star Trek: UntoldVoyages for Marvel. First was coming up with Star Trek

stories that haven’t been done before. After five TVseries and ten movies, that’s a major challenge! I thinkI was only partially successful in that area.

Another challenge was getting the charactersright through dialogue. When you’re reading a StarTrek comic, you want to “hear” the voices of Shatner,Nimoy, Kelley, etc. in your head as you read the dialogue.If the dialogue doesn’t ring true, it pulls the readerright out of the story. Looking back, I think I did apretty good job. I tried as best as I could to follow theexamples set by Mike Barr and Peter David. Theseguys were a big influence on me, because I grew upreading their Star Trek comics, and I loved their workon those comics.HOWARD WEINSTEIN: I think the biggest challengein comics is creating the illusion of movement usingsequential still images, and avoiding pages of static,talking heads.

mike w. barrMike was a long-time DC Comicswriter and short-time DC Comicseditor with twin passions for StarTrek and mystery fiction. He wasthe debut writer for DC Comics’run of Star Trek and has also writtenthe Trek novel Gemini.

peter davidThe self-proclaimed writer ofstuff’s credits include a well-regarded run on DC’s version ofStar Trek in addition to numerousnovels for Pocket Books. He alsoco-created the fiction-only seriesStar Trek: New Frontier.

michael jan friedmanA novelist who is also a Star Trekfan, Mike sold one story to PocketBooks, which brought him toDC’s attention, and he became asuccessful writer for them in the1980s and 1990s. Mike has writtencountless novels for Pocket Booksand more recently has tackled theWolfman, Aliens, and Predator forDH Books.

glenn greenberg“I am a former editor and writerfor Marvel Comics, which is whereI wrote the Star Trek: UntoldVoyages limited series. Currently,I’m an editor and writer forScholastic Inc. and a recurringwriter for Simon and Schuster’sStar Trek: Corps of Engineers line ofe-books. My first e-book hasalready been published, and I’mcurrently writing my second one.”

andy mangelsA long-time fan, Andy turned hispassion into a career as a comic-bookwriter, critic, historian, and novelist.He and writing partner Michael A.Martin have written for several ofthe Trek franchises at Pocket Books.

martin pasko“I have more experience than I’dcare to admit with brandedentertainment properties in a varietyof media. While still in my teens,I began a comics career workingfor many publishers, including along association with DC, bothfreelance and on staff. I’ve alsowritten and story-edited for TV,both live-action (Twilight Zone,Max Headroom, Roseanne) andanimated (the original Batman[The Animated Series] and manyother series). After a long stint atDC as an editor and CreativeServices manager, I now freelanceand run my own consulting business,creatively developing clients’ toyand game properties into story-driven entertainment. I’m told I’mthe only one on this panel to havewritten both the Trek comic booksand the comic strip, as well ashaving supervised the comics’production as an editor.”

laurie sutton“I’ve written DS9 for Malibu andVoyager for Marvel, and haveenjoyed being an editor for both DCand Marvel. I first encountered theonce-in-a-lifetime, original-run StarTrek in 1966 when I was 13 years old

and visiting Brownsville, Texas, whileon a family road trip vacation(our own ‘trek’ if you will!). It wasdinner time and we were all goingto go down to the Holiday Innrestaurant, but this program cameon the TV and that was it for me!I was fascinated, entranced, hooked!I sat like a five-year-old with my faceas close to the screen as possible.Thank goodness my parentsobserved the obvious and let memiss dinner and watch the show.Their simple, single ‘indulgence’ setthe course of my life, to a largeextent. If they’d made me come todinner, I might not have followedthe Trek path with the sort of joyand freedom I have to this day.”

len weinLen can count among his earliestcomics writing assignments severalissues of Gold Key’s Star Trek title.Years later, after co-creating SwampThing and serving as editor-in-chief atMarvel and Batman editor at DC, Lenreturned to the 23rd century with amulti-issue stint on the title, in time tocelebrate the series’ 20th anniversary.

howard weinsteinAt 19, while attending theUniversity of Connecticut, Howardsold the script to “The Pirates ofOrion,” which was aired duringthe second season of the animatedStar Trek series (now available onDVD). Additionally, he providedstory help to Star Trek IV: TheVoyage Home. He subsequentlywrote several novels and shortstories for Pocket Books and StarTrek comics for DC, WildStorm,and Marvel.

a quick introduction to the dramatis personae:

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TV and comics are both visual media, of course, butTV images really do move and comic images obviouslydon’t. Well-made TV shows get visual interest from thevariety of camera angles used, and how the actors play ascene—voice, mannerisms, movement. In comics, wedon’t hear the characters speaking, and they don’t move,so it’s not easy to make those pages feel like they’re inmotion. It took me a while to learn how to do that.

For example, Star Trek has lots of fairly static bridgeand briefing room scenes. How do we keep those frombeing visually boring? Writers need to carefully choose thewords going into those speech balloons—when it comesto dialogue, less is definitely more! I also made sure myscripts prompted the artists to vary the pictures we choseto tell the story and present information. I always tried tomake sure those scenes mixed wide angles, two-shots,closeups, viewscreen images, etc. It takes some extrathought and effort, but there’s really no excuse for aStar Trek comic page to be one face-shot after another.SUTTON: I totally agree with Howard. The writer mustbecome the “director.” You’re responsible for the pacing,how quickly or how slowly the story moves, as well asthe visual liveliness. Writing the stories full-script givesyou that power, but also demands accountability. It’syour own fault if the story lags anywhere in any way.MARTIN PASKO: Absolutely. And I think the best waythe writer can serve the reader as de facto director is ininventing stage business for the characters (like Spockand another crew member playing three-level chess),to keep the dialogue scenes from being closeup-closeup-closeup, or having the scenes play in interesting,infrequently seen locations such as private quarters.But that’s how I’ve always written comics (not TV orfilm; “directing on paper” is considered gauche and asure sign of inexperience)—there’s only one writer Iknow of who writes more specific and detailed shotdirections than I do, and that’s Alan Moore.

As for the difficulty question, I was working fromthe original TV series and first feature only, as opposedto the later, differently structured material, so I didn’tfind the assignment that challenging. That’s becauseof what episodic television has in common withcomics: Both have to be carefully structured toaccommodate finite lengths, page counts, and runningtimes respectively; they can’t be “open-ended” like afeature film. It also seemed easy to me because I thinkabout comics as film in jump-cuts.

Just before I started work on the first Marvel Comicsrun of Trek, I’d begun a parallel career in writing forfilmed entertainment, and almost unconsciouslymoved away from treating comics as a hybrid of proseand a visual dramatic form. I stopped leaning heavilyon text to tell the story, either with narrative captionsor worse, soliloquizing thought balloons, and developeda more cinematic style.

So telling a Star Trek story in comics was easy aslong as I paid careful attention to the finer points ofscene structure, such as taking the latest possible pointof attack; getting out of a scene as early as possible;and buttoning it with a hook or eliding dialogue, anda clever visual transition such as a match-cut, to pullthe reader eagerly into the next scene. Truth be told, Ifound Trek even easier to write than most othercomics, because the established format of the TV serieshad all sorts of built-in devices that helped with gracefulexposition, such as the Captain’s Log and the briefings.So the “adapting” was really more a matter of“importing” Trek into comics format than having toinvent ways to make Trek work in the comics medium.

MIKE W. BARR: Keeping the sense of movement andpacing consonant with filmed Trek. Of course, that’s thechallenge with adapting virtually any filmed property.But Trek is especially difficult because it’s developed itsown style over the years, and because filmed Trek is sodependent on musical cues, stings, camera intercutting,and other audio and motion-reliant techniques thatyou can’t do in comics.SUTTON: You know, Mike, the musical aspect neverentered my comic-oriented head. Sound effects, nowthat’s altogether different. Sound effects translate intographic elements in comics and can have the potentialto become an integral part of the page design.PETER DAVID: There was the practical challenge andthe creative challenge. The creative challenge is that,for much of the time, Star Trek is mostly talking heads.Yes, there are action sequences, but there are only somany ways you can have the characters display a senseof urgency on the bridge, or fire the phasers. On TV, inthe movies, it’s not that much of a problem; with thesilent medium of comic books, where you don’t haveactors, sound effects, and music, you have to come upwith ways to make the story visually compelling whilenot wandering too far away from the basic feel of StarTrek. In my case, the practical challenge was that therewas someone who shall go nameless—RichardArnold—set up at Paramount, shooting down stories


Star Trek:UnpublishedWriter John Warner’sscript page 1 for whatwas intended to beGold Key’s Star Trek#62. According to thegood folks at HeritageAuctions, this storywas slated to havebeen drawn by FrankBolle, but Gold Keyaxed the title withissue #61 (Mar. 1979)and “Trial by Fire”went unfinishedand unpublished.© 2007 Paramount.

comics history


DC Comics’ adaptations of the Christopher ReeveSuperman movies began not with the first film,1978’s Superman: The Movie, but with the thirdand fourth films. Superman and Superman II insteadappeared as large-format, tabloid-sized “Collectors’Editions,” All-New Collectors’ Edition #C-62 and DCSpecial Series #25. Both stated on their covers thatarticles would focus on the “stars, costumes, setdesigns, and special effects.” They appeared in1979 and in 1981, priced at $2.50 and $2.95,respectively. Actual movie photos, along with pre-production and production sketches and paintings,were used. In both specials, comic-book artist RicEstrada provided pen-and-ink drawings of thedirector and camera crew filming on-location. Andto further denote the comics connection, pastcomic-book panels were juxtaposed next to similarmovie scenes throughout.

Bob Rozakis was listed as a contributor to thefirst movie special and by the time of the second,he’d become the production manager at DC.Rozakis doesn’t remember what his specific roleswere in the movie editions, but does recall that “Ihad a lot to do with the second movie contest,which had readers answering a variety of questions.I got to meet Christopher Reeve when he came tothe DC office to pick the winning postcards. I alsowas the one who ‘smuggled’ him out of the buildingvia the freight elevator, when crowds started formingin our lobby and in the main lobby of the building.”When asked why the actual screenplays of the firsttwo movies weren’t made into comics, Bobresponds, “As far as the policy on doing the adaptationsof the movies, I believe there was something in thecontract with [Superman screenwriter] Mario Puzothat would have required DC making a substantialpayment to him for adapting his script and theyweren’t willing to do that. The deals for SupermanIII and IV were different.”

Superman: The Movie ComicOur fantasy cover for a DC adaptation that didn’t happen.

Special thanks to artist Steve Stanley (you must check out his site at

www.stanleyart.com!!) for his dead-on interpretation of Christopher Reeve

as Superman, and to designer Rich Fowlks for cobbling this together.

Superman TM & © 2007 DC Comics. Superman: The Movie © 1978 Warner Bros.

by Eddy Z e n o

SUPERMAN III A friend in London called the Superman III and IVmovies “rubbish.” My brother asked why I’d writeabout two films that so many people hate. With lessrespect for scientific principles than the comic bookswould have dared, the suspension of disbelief in bothwas certainly pushed beyond its limits. Superman III(1983) was remembered for its camp and attempts tobe funny; Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), forits reduced budget and bad special effects. By choice, Ihad not seen the films since they were first releasedand, though determined to find the good in them,I knew there would be some drudgery upon theirre-viewing. I also knew that discussing the adaptationswould be more pleasant in that, at least, both containedartwork by Curt Swan. In terms of the writing, thoughdifficult to add anything to the adaptations that wasn’tin the films, I trusted that, upon rereading, the capablewriters of both had the skill to do so.

Longtime Superman and The Flash comic-bookscribe Cary Bates scripted the third movie/comic tie-inand Bob Rozakis penned the fourth. One way Carywas able to improve III was by showing whatClark/Superman was thinking. Bates’ well-placedthought balloons allowed some of the scenes tomake more sense.

There was another way Bates made the comic bookmore logical and consistent. In the film, whenSuperman and Clark split into separate beings andwere doing battle, Kent kept alternating betweenseeming mortal in some scenes, yet as powerful as hisalter ego in others. One minute he was easily kayoed,rolling toward a metal shredder on a conveyor belt.Then, after crying out while supposedly being crushed inthe junkyard where the fight took place, he suddenlyappeared unscathed and fought back with super-powers.In the adaptation, Cary showed the same scene butthere was no groaning with faux pain, no histrionicsto milk the audience for sympathy; we knew Clark

wouldn’t die. Instead, the dramatic effect came fromseeing the shredder implode into dust due to Clark’sinvulnerability. Bates simply had two evenly matchedbeings super-duke it out.

Cary Bates discusses how it felt to capture theessence of something from another medium comparedto creating his own tales from scratch: “On balance it’sactually kind of a drag, since by definition you’re sofirmly locked in to the screenplay. The main problem isusually figuring out where to cut, since a two-hourmovie must be considerably compressed to fit in a22–30 page comic book.” [Bates actually had 48 pagesfor the retelling of Superman III.] Cary added that hiseditor, the late Julius (Julie) Schwartz, “...probably felt abit constricted creatively, too, for the reasons I’vealready mentioned.”

In the Superman III comic, at times artist Curt Swanworked to capture Christopher Reeve’s and RobertVaughn’s looks, but he didn’t appear to try for RichardPryor’s likeness in the Gus Gorman character. Whenasked whether there might have been a legal reason forthis, Bates doesn’t remember. He notes, however, that“considering what a gifted artist Curt was, I’m sure hewould’ve drawn a more accurate likeness had he beenlegally permitted to do so.”

Director Richard Donner was fired during themaking of the second film, and many viewers felt thatRichard Lester’s directorial vision in III did not live upto the quality of the first two.

Thanks to two actors, there were a couple of thingsto like in the third film that could not translate to thecomic: Annette O’Toole is a self-professed lifetime fanof the Man of Steel, which showed in the honesty ofher performance as III’s Lana Lang, and it is still evidentthrough her portrayal as young Clark’s mother in theSmallville television series. And though Chris Reeve gotto play Clark as the comic buffoon a fair amount andshine in some warm scenes with Lana and her son, hisSuperman was under-utilized in Superman III. Anexception was when Superman became malevolentdue to artificial kryptonite. In the few lines he utteredduring those scenes, Superman’s underlying desperation was briefly evocative of actor JimmyStewart’s performance in the film It’s a Wonderful Life.


And DaWinna Is…Christopher Reevepulls the winningpostcard for the1978 “GreatSuperman MovieContest,” observedby Bob Rozakis(left) and then-DC presidentSol Harrison.Photo courtesy of Bob Rozakis.

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Those of you old enough to have been reading comics during the time of the 1964 NewYork World’s Fair (or who have collected comics from that era) might have beenintrigued by a DC Comics house ad (at right) promoting a wax museum exhibitfeaturing a battle between the Man of Steel and the one-eyed myth-monster Cyclops.BACK ISSUE reader Jim Alexander had for years wondered if photos of that exhibitexisted … and his curiosity led him to sci-fi historian, uber-collector, and actor BobBurns (whose collection of memorabilia from sci-fi, horror, and fantasy films isunrivaled—and chronicled in the book It Came from Bob’s Basement, by Burns and JohnMichlig). Burns tells Alexander and BI, “A friend of mine saw this exhibit at the fair, andknowing that I’m a big Superman fan took three pictures for me. I wonder what everhappened to these wax figures, as Superman really looks like Kirk Alyn and is great.”

Although these photos predate BACK ISSUE’s ’70s/’80s realm, they are toogood a discovery not to share, and we thank both Bob Burns and Jim Alexanderfor providing them to us….


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Ray Harryhausen Presents:Wrath of the TitansFour issues, May through Aug. 2007Writers: Darren G. Davis andScott DavisPenciler: Nadir BalanColorist: Joey Campos

new series preview


If you were to poll comics professionals on their influ-ences outside of comic books, you’d find RayHarryhausen’s name topping many lists. If you spokewith these pros personally, you’d see their eyes twin-kle as they recalled Harryhausen’s stop-motion anima-tion in the fantasy films to which they devoted count-less childhood Saturday afternoons. That twinklemight fade to awe for the artists among the lot, sinceHarryhausen’s meticulously crafted models (especiallythe monsters!) torch-lit their own attention to detailwhich today guides their pencil, brush, or mouse.

Like those artists who drew inspiration from thisstop-motion master, Harryhausen himself found amuse in Willis O’Brien, the trailblazer effects wizardbehind the animated title star (among other creatures)of King Kong (1933). Harryhausen’s fingerprints—as avisual effects director, producer, and even writer—canbe found on a range of inventive movies releasedthroughout the second half of the 20th century,including Mighty Joe Young (1949), The Beast from20,000 Fathoms (1953), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers(1956), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), Jason andthe Argonauts (1963), The Valley of Gwangi (1969),

by M i c h a e l E u r y

Ray Harryhausen Presents:20 Million Miles MoreFour issues, June through Sept. 2007Writer: Scott DavisPenciler: Alex GarciaColorist: Joey Campos

Ray Harryhausen Presents: Sinbad:Rogue of MarsFive issues, Sept. 2007 throughJan. 2008Writer: Greg ThompsonArtist: Jeff Cruz

Ray Harryhausen and some of his creations.Photo courtesy of Arnold Kunert.

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977), and Clash ofthe Titans (1981).

It might not be entirely accurate, however, to regardRay Harryhausen as someone from “outside of comicbooks.” Upon occasion, films featuring Harryhausen’sscaly behemoths and mythological misfits have beenadapted into comic-book form. Thanks to BlueWaterProductions, three of Harryhausen’s landmark filmproperties—20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), Sinbad (thestar of a franchise of movies), and Clash of the Titans—are the basis for a trio of all-new miniseries, part of aline of Ray Harryhausen Presents titles which launchedin May 2007. BlueWater president Darren G. Davis(with whom we spoke in this issue’s Isis in comics article)joins the mastermind himself—Ray Harryhausen—forthis exclusive BACK ISSUE interview about these newmovie-inspired comic books.

Interviews conducted by email between May 3rd and 8th, 2007.

MICHAEL EURY: Mr. Harryhausen, it’s wonderful tohave your characters back in comics again! But whycomic books as a medium to continue your film fran-chises? Why not animation, or computer games, ormobile or online downloads?RAY HARRYHAUSEN: Darren Davis approached meand my producer Arnold Kunert when we were in

Bellingham, Washington, aspart of my 2006 book tourto promote The Art of RayHarryhausen. We liked whatDarren had to say aboutdoing comic books aboutthe continuing adventuresof some of my characters, sowe agreed to collaborate.It’s possible that videogames and other items mayeventually be developed,but not at this time.EURY: Beyond the storyconception and develop-ment, how involved are you

with the actual production of the comic books’ writingand art?HARRYHAUSEN: Darren and his artists are developingthe storylines for the comic books. I have finalapproval on the subject matter. Darren, Arnold,and I have a contract which stipulates that Arnoldand I have final artistic control over the comicbooks’ content.EURY: Ray, tell me about your artwork that’s beingreprinted in the comics.HARRYHAUSEN: Darren is reprinting some of myartwork which is already being sold in signed andlimited-edition versions by the Every Picture Tells aStory gallery in Santa Monica, California.DARREN DAVIS: We will also be doing a couple ofcolorized covers by Ray based on some of his originalartwork. The one for 20 Million Miles More will befor issue #3.EURY: Is it true that the Ray Harryhausen Presentsconcepts are also being developed for film and TV?HARRYHAUSEN: We are in the process of discussingpossible Ray Harryhausen Presents projects for theatricaland television presentation, but nothing has beenfinalized at this time.EURY: The 1957 film 20 Million Miles to Earthinvolved the lizard-like Ymir, who grew to colossal size


Harryhausen’s SFXprocess was eventuallycalled “Dynarama.”The poster to this1974 Sinbad entryis courtesy ofHeritage Auctions.© 1974 Ameran Films Ltd./Columbia Pictures/Morningside Movies.

© 2006 Ray Harryhausen.

Alex Garcia’s cover pencils to BlueWater’s20 Million Miles More #1. Original art scans inthis article courtesy of Darren Davis. © 2007 Ray Harryhausen Presents.

comics oddities


The BlackboardJungle

Those wackySweathogs gave a

new meaning to“higher learning.”

From page 25 ofWelcome Back, Kotter

#5 (July 1977). Art byRic Estrada and BobOksner. Courtesy of

Yoram Matzkin.© 1976 Komack Company.

UP YER NOSE…In the ’70s, DC Comics was in trouble, as was most of theindustry. Carmine Infantino, a man who’d risen throughthe ranks from artist to editorial director to, finally, pub-lisher of the whole line, had just been handed a card-board box and the door and the same time.

DC was in upheaval at the worst of times. Marvelhad passed DC in sales, and the home of Supermanand Batman was reduced to spitting out Marvel’s dustand trying to play catch-up. Mr. Infantino had beenthe one who’d been driving when Stan Lee, Jack Kirby,and the boys roared by, and now Jenette Kahn (whohad no real comic-book experience) was in the driver’sseat, trying to adjust it at the same time she was trying

to stay on the road (that was my car metaphor quotafor the year). During such times, a certain amount of

desperation is bound to set in as a bunch of middle-ageguys (and one young woman!) sit in a cramped editor’soffice, look at each other, and try to figure out “whattoday’s kids want.” What DC came up with was, well,trying everything, and more of it. In the beginningdays of Ms. Kahn’s reign as publisher of DC, and underthe scrutiny of Warner Communications, DC tried newsuper-heroes, old super-heroes, new genres, and lotsof old genres, with something of a twist. Anything thatsomeone could make a case for working was tried.Gothic romance? Reprints? Dollar Comics?

How about TV comics?Which brings us to Mr. Kotter and his lovable

Sweathogs. Almost.DC had been in the character-licensing biz in the

’40s–’60s with titles like Bob Hope, Alan Ladd, Jerry

by Tom “The Comics Savant” Stewart

© 1976 Komack Company.

Lewis, Fox and Crow, and Dobie Gillis, but they hadpetered out in the ’70s, with an attempt at a Laurel andHardy title and brief talk of a M*A*S*H adaptation (feelfree to write to BACK ISSUE editor Michael Eury sug-gesting titles I missed). One-time TV comics champGold Key was slowly dying the death of poor distribution,as was runner-up Charlton (well, a pervading cheapnesshad something to do with the gasping of Charlton,but that’s for the “Big All-Charlton Issue”), so why nottry TV comics again? Why not. So DC Comics (withthe possible help/shove of new corporate parentWarner Communications) went back into the TVcomics business. But only so far and for so long.

…WITH A RUBBER HOSEIn the 1975–1976 TV season, the classroom-set comedyWelcome Back, Kotter was the big hit for ABC and theshow’s producer, the Komack Company. Based on thecomedy of Gabe Kaplan (who based it on his own life),Welcome Back, Kotter launched the career of JohnTravolta, whose face (and those of the rest of the cast) wasto be plastered over lunchboxes, notebooks, puzzles, dolls(okay, sorry, Mego’s were action figures, not dolls), andrecords (remember Travolta’s hit “Let Her In”? Yeah, meneither, just testing). Comics seemed a suitable vehicle foryet more Kotter spin-offs. The very busy Joe Orlando gotthe editorship, and he assigned the first issue to writerElliot S! Maggin, with Jack Sparling and Bob Oksner on art.Welcome Back, Kotter #1 carried a Nov. 1976 cover-date.

The sales were slow. Orlando thought maybe thesecond issue could use a lift. He called on BlackLightning creator, Tony Isabella. Tony?

“While on staff, Joe Orlando asked me to punch upthe second issue of the series,” Isabella says. “He likedwhat I did and asked me to write the next issue. Heloved what I did on my solo issue [issue #3, Mar. 1977,

which also featured Ric Estrada replacing Sparling aspenciler] and wanted me to write the book regularly.The problem was … for me to write Kotter and write itwell, I had to labor over each and every page. ThoughI was given a small raise, it wasn’t nearly enough tocompensate for how much time it took me to writeKotter. I began work on what would have been mysecond Kotter script but abandoned it after four pages.I couldn’t pay my bills writing that book.

How was the mood at DC at the time?“Jenette Kahn was the new publisher, but she seemed

to be getting a lot of guidance from old hands like SolHarrison and Joe Orlando,” Isabella recalls. “Paul Levitzwas starting his amazing climb to the top. There wereother young staffers being given opportunities and therewere a few new people like myself coming in. I’d describethe mood as ranging from ‘cautious optimism’ (fromthose who had been promoted and the newer people)to ‘moderate concern’ (from the older hands). I fellsomewhere in the middle of that range.”


(below left) DC’s1976 house ad for itsnew “DC TV Comic”line. (below) FromWelcome Back, Kotter#3 (Mar. 1977),writer Tony Isabella’ssolo issue and thefirst issue laid outby Ric Estrada(with Bob Oksnerfinishes). Courtesyof Yoram Matzkin.© 1976 DC Comics© 1976 Komack Company.

Edited by DANNY FINGEROTH (former MarvelComics editor and Spider-Man writer), WRITE NOW!,the magazine for writers of comics, animation, and sci-fi, puts you in the minds of today’s top writers andeditors. Each issue features WRITING TIPS from pros onboth sides of the desk, INTERVIEWS, SAMPLE SCRIPTS,REVIEWS, exclusive NUTS & BOLTS TUTORIALS, andmore! Issue #16 features reflections on writing theSilver Surfer by the character’s greatest scripters of alltime, including STAN LEE, STEVE ENGLEHART, JIMSTARLIN, and J.M. DeMATTEIS! Plus, an in-depthinterview with TODD McFARLANE, giving his uniquepoint of view on topics ranging from SPAWN, thestatus of Image Comics in 2007, what makes greatcomics writing, and more! Also: Incredible Nuts andBolts script and pencil art previews of BRIANBENDIS and FRANK CHO’s MIGHTY AVENGERS,and of DAN SLOTT’s new Marvel project! And theconclusion to the amazing STAR TREK comicswriters’ roundtable (begun in BACK ISSUE #23),with insights from PETER DAVID, MIKE W. BARRand MICHAEL JAN FRIEDMAN, a FREE PREVIEWof DRAW #14, and more!

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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics.

WRITE NOW #16 PREVIEW | 93

T odd McFarlane’s comic book career spans morethan twenty years and dozens of popularcharacters. As artist, his work has graced the

pages of The Amazing Spider-Man (where he co-created Venom), The Incredible Hulk, and DetectiveComics. His professional writing career kicked off withthe launch of one of the bestselling series of all time,Spider-Man. After years as one of the industry’s topcreators, Todd joined several other popular comic bookartists to form Image Comics. There, he launched hisown creator-owned series, Spawn, which soon caughtthe attention of Hollywood and was the inspiration for alive action movie and an animated series. In addition tohis comic book work, Todd also heads up his own toyand collectible company, McFarlane Toys. A busy man ofmany interests (including part-ownership of theEdmonton Oilers NHL hockey team), Todd was able togive us some time to speak about the subject of WriteNow: writing for comics and related media.

—DF

DANNY FINGEROTH: Did you write as a kid at all, or inschool, Todd? Was that anything you were interested inthen?TODD McFARLANE: I was pretty good at sort of shortstory stuff, but I think that was just a byproduct of mywild imagination as a whole.

DF: What kind of short stories? What would they beabout?TM: The teacher would assign us to do a factual compo-sition about, say World War II, I couldn’t do somethinglike that. But if they said, “Go home and come up witha made-up story and bring it in,” and you could addfantasy stuff and big, dramatic melodrama to it—theequivalent of the Jack-in-the-Beanstalk stories—then Icould put in a flying elephant, and purple dinosaurs athousand feet tall, and I could do it easily.

DF: This was in elementary school?TM: Oh, yeah. You know, the “creative writing” classes.

DF: What about in high school or college? Did you doany writing then?

TM: Not nearly as much. The writing there was moreserious so a lot of it was more historical reports anddissertations in some of the classes. And you had less ofa chance, or at least in the classes that I was taking, tojust have fun with writing like I did when I was in highschool or younger.

DF: I’ve read that you didn’t really read comics untilhigh school. How’d you avoid them?TM: Umm…I played a lot of sports. You know, when wewent on road trips, Mom and Dad would stop at the 7-Eleven and buy a couple of Slurpees and a couple ofcomics and throw them in the back to me and my twobrothers, so it’s not that I was devoid of comics. I’d reada handful, so I was aware of what comic books were. Inever bothered collecting them, though. But at the ageof about nine I started collecting baseball cards andfootball cards, so I was collecting, it just was in a differ-ent place. Later, all of a sudden I went, “Hey, you knowwhat? Let me check out these comic books that I keepsort of walking by.”

Interview conducted by Danny Fingeroth via telephone 5-30-07Transcribed by Steven TiceCopy-edited by Eric Fein, Danny Fingeroth and Todd McFarlane

THE TODD McFARLANE INTERVIEW

back issue #23

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