Drink Tank 344 - Marvel Comics issue

7/28/2019 Drink Tank 344 - Marvel Comics issue

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The Drink Tank 344Thats a Kurt Erichsen civer! Its been a while since weve had him in these pages! Also, youll be seeing

that there Gallifreyan symbol (a hapenny to the rst person who can tell me what it means!) from the wonderfu

Jesi Pershing a bunch! Its awesome, no?

Plus, Teddy Harvia, and words from good folks, including Hugo-nominee (and Future Supremem Court

Justice!) Steve Stiles.

But mostly, this issue is about Chuck Serfaces piece leading in to our MASSIVELY AWESOME Marve

Comics edition of Nerdvana Podcast (JC Arkham and JoshBot do a GREAT job with it! You can listen to it at

http://nerdvanapodcast.com/ and its all over the place and a lot of fun (start with the Batman episode at http://

www.nerdvanapodcast.com/Episodes/Nerdvana-S01E03a.mp3) and keep on going!

Ive got a lot of thoughts about Marvel, its a comic line Ive only been into at times, but largely Im not afan. I love The Flash, Batman, Plastic Man, Elongated Man, Johnny Thunder, Wildcat, and especially The Justice Soci-

ety. Always my favorite. Marvel had The Hulk, who was awesome at times, and Daredevil. When I was growing up

there was the X-Men, at the time the biggest thing in comics. I liked the X-Men to a degree, but always into the

DC stuff far more. On the plus side, there were stories back in the day that were awesome. There was a X-Men

issue where it was Kitty telling a bedtime story about Pirates!

But mostly, it passed over me while I was reading about Barry Allen and Crisis On Innite Earths.

Of course, there is stuff where the creators were so good, the material so awesome, that you have to love

it. Frank Miller on Daredevil is one of my all-time favorites. I read it on the same ight that I read Alan Moores

run on Swamp Thing, which it held up very well against. The Hulk was written by Greg Pak for a while, and it was

Awesome! There was Secret Wars, which was so prevalent when I was at the exact right age!And then, there are the movies. You cant argue that they havent been so powerful, so well-done. There

have been some dogs, Elektra, Daredevil (though not completely), the Fantastic Four (again, there were moments)

and even the third Spider-man movie wasnt that great. I HATE the Blade movies, which some argue is not a

Marvel lm, but it is. I liked the Ang Lee Hulk movie, though The Incredible Hulk was much more watchable, and

Captain America was slightly better than decent. I loved all the Iron Man movies, and The Avengers, and especially

Thor.. I may be the only person who thinks Thor was better than The Avengers, but thats what Ive thought from

as soon as Id seen them both.

Marvel TV has been hit-or-miss. In the before times, there was Spider-Man at the time there was also

Wonder Woman (from DC), and there have been some great, and terrible cartoon. In fact, the X-Men cartoons

were bad, and at the same time you had the brilliant Batman cartoons to contrast. There was also a 70s Spider-

man-Man was was pretty good, and a really good Secret Wars cartoon series. So its hit or miss, though I reallywant to see what Joss Whedon does with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. next season.

So, Im not much of a Marvel guy, though Ive certain read a fair bit of Marvel along the road, but Ill prob-

ably always be a DC guy. Marvels never really had anything to compare with the Vertigo line, which makes methink that Marvel knows what audience pays its rent!

So, this issue is Marvel Comics and I hope you enjoy it!

Art from Steve Stiles on pages 11 and 12.Cover from Kurt Erichsen.

Gallifreyan Drink Tank Logo by Jesi Pershing.


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Five Episodes from theHistory of Marvel Comics You

Might Not Rememberby

Chuck Serface On Saturday, June 8, 2013, the insane crew of the Nerdvana Podcast will undertake the daunting task ofoutlining the entire history of the Marvel Universe, from the very beginnings of Timely Comics, to the horror

stories of the Atlas Era, to the rise of heroes during the Silver Age, to the current multimedia subsidiary of

Disney known as Marvel Entertainment. We could go in any number of directions, and I suspect that upon

meeting that symbolic fork in the road well take both directions. Nonetheless, I decided to review back issues

and critical commentary to discern those episodes that shine most brightly in the rmament of Marvel.

Marvel has given us an impressive number of memorable occurrences. Roy Thomas, for example,

penned the Kree-Skrull War arc that ran in Avengers (Volume 1) #89 -97, a groundbreaking epic that forever

altered the course of all superhero comics. An adaptation of another industry changer, Chris Claremont and

John Byrnes Days of Future Past that rst appeared in Uncanny X-Men #141 and 142 will soon grace the

silver screen. Many are the blockbusters, the moneymakers that inspire creative projects in various media,

commentary, spin-offs, and which never will be forgotten, especially now that reprinted trade compilations havebecome so widely available.

As a longtime reader, I remember passages from Marvel that might not but should survive the ages,

passages that entertained, caused me to reect, or both. Ive chosen ve such cases in point for discussion.

Each presents an element that reveals some aspect of character or circumstance that, whether one realizes it

or not, potentially changes the path of continuity, and I say only potentially, because, damn it, were in danger

of overlooking their importance.

Captain America Lifts Mjolnir

Odins enchantment inscribed on to the face Mjolnir, the

hammer of Thor, resonates throughout the history of MarvelComics and reads like Excalibur dening Arthur as the One

True King: Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy,

shall possess the power of Thor. Over the decades, a handful

of characters have taken turns at swinging the hammer while

the rest of us couldnt dream of even nudging it along the

ground. These honored few include Beta Ray Bill, Jane Foster,

Eric Masterson, Rogue, Storm, Conan the Barbarian, Superman,

Wonder Woman, and Odin himself. And so I wonder: just what

does it mean to be worthy? What does it take to lift that

mystic mallet, something the Hulk couldnt do even after a goodnights sleep and a heaping bowl of Wheaties?

In 1988, the answer came from Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz,

the writer and the artist of The Mighty Thor #390, at a moment

when Thor gets dog-piled beneath a horde of demon soldiers

and separated from Mjolnir. Suddenly Captain America, at that

time operating as The Captain, scoops up the weapon in

question and swats away the invading forces before returning it

to Thor. The story ends with Thor noting the importance of the

occasion and how the two heroes now are linked as those with


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Why shouldnt Captain America be worthy? Since his reappearance in Avengers (Volume 1) #4, writers

such as Stan Lee and Steve Englehart successfully had evolved him from the Golden-Age soldier sticking it to Adol

into the solid moral core of the Marvel Universe, the man who twice walked away from his heroic identity when

retaining it would have meant betraying his ideals. Were in the presence of no government tool or callow patriot

here, my friends. Beyond doubt, Steve Rogers is the real deal, who even during a period when he foreswore his

red, white, and blue costume and shield still had what it took to raise Mjolnir from the ground. Years later, he

temporarily would rebel against the injustices depicted in the Civil War, leading to his temporary death. Most

likely, fans dont much discuss this event, because it occupies a few pages in a so-so story with nothing-special

art. Regardless, let us not forget that these few pages delivered an important instance in the history of Thor andCaptain America, teaching me at least what it means to be worthy.


5/17

The Death of the Ancient One

Were familiar with Stephen Strange

the venal surgeon whose hands were damaged

irreparably in an auto accident. Destitute, he

travels to the Himalayan retreat of the Ancient

One, rumored to possess the power to cure hiscondition. But what condition does the master

cure? After determining his worthiness, the Ancient

One puts Strange through a course of training that

leads him toward becoming a master of the mystic

arts and eventually the Sorcerer Supreme, he

who protects the Earth dimension from magica

danger. Doctor Strange rst

appeared in Strange Tales #110, dated July 1963

Ten years later, after endlessly battling supernatura

threats of innite variety, nally he obtains the title

Sorcerer Supreme. Readers learn that Strangeachieved in decades what had taken the Ancient

One centuries to obtain, beginning back when he

was just Yao from the village of Kamar-Taj. Even

with an enviable aptitude it still took decades

Surely Batman would nod in appreciation of such

discipline and patience.

What nally happened to bring the good

doctor to the point of graduation? Co-written

by Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner with art

by Frank Brunner, Marvel Premiere #10 fromSeptember 1973 stands as one of my favorite

comics ever and tells how nothing less than the

death of the Ancient One, brought about by Strange

himself, will stop the demon Shuma-Gorath frominvading Earth through the Ancient Ones mind. In a sequence that presages the sacrice of Obi Wan Kenobi or

the passing of Yoda in the Star Wars lms, the Ancient One transcends his physical existence to become one with

Eternity, the essential nature of the universe itself. As he departs, the Ancient One passes on his exalted mantle

to Strange. Readers must remember this development not only for the stirring writing and art, but because o

the sense of something earned. Strange put in his time -- no

bolts of lightning or lab accidents for him, but power gained

through worthiness and discipline. How sad that recentlyDoctor Strange has been removed as Sorcerer Supreme,

the job now handed over to Brother . . . er, I mean Doctor

Voodoo.

Marvel Entertainment has announced possible plans

for a lm adaptation of Doctor Strange. Taking into account

that lm as a medium doesnt allow for certain comic-book

tropes, lets hope that at least some aspect of Stranges

commitment remains. The death of the Ancient One is but

one chapter in our mystical heros journey, albeit one that

remains a classic milestone.


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Dr. Doom Frees His Mother From HellDr. Doom, arguably the greatest super-villain of

all time: the super genius, the scarred despot of Latveria,

the armored terrorist bent on world domination, the . . .

mamas boy? Victor Von Doom was born into a traveling

tribe of Zero Roma, derogatively known as gypsies.

His mother, Cynthia, practiced magic, and sold her soulto Marvels devil gure, Mephisto, for power, so when a

Latverian soldier later killed her, she went straight to Hell.

Young Victor vowed hed learn magic and science to free

her from this fate.

Indeed, the machine Von Doom was developing at

Empire State, the one involved in that historic moment

when Reed Richards tried to point out the computational

errors Doom had made, would have been a trans-

dimensional teleportation device for opening a door into

Hell had it not exploded and set Victor on the road to

becoming Doctor Doom. Years later, Doom gained hisopportunity to free his mother, as recounted in Triumph

and Torment, a one-shot graphic novel issued in November

1990, starring Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange.

Roger Stern and Mike Mignola remind readers

that ascending to Sorcerer Supreme is not only difcult

to achieve, but difcult to retain. Periodically, the Vishanti,

a trio of magical deities, summons Earths magic users to

combat for the title. Strange comes in rst, while Doom

nishes second. However, the second-place nisher

always earns the right to ask the winner for a favor. Ratherthan world conquest, Doom asks Strange to help him free

his mother from Hell, which in many ways constitutes a

task more daunting than global domination.

Each Midsummers Eve Doom had retreated to

his castle in Doomstadt, opened a portal to Hell, and

battled demons in vain efforts to free his mother. Now

with Strange at his side, we see the depth of Dooms

torment as upon meeting his mothers soul the proud

monarch drops to her feet weeping like a wounded child.

Stern, by this point famous for his excellent writing in

the Avengers, and Mignola, who later would gain famefor Dark Horses Hellboy, reveal aspects of Doom that

distinguishes him from other villains. One cannot imagine

the Red Skull caring for his mothers soul, and probably

he would have sold her to Mephisto before shed found

the opportunity to do it herself. Why this graphic novel,

this crucial exploration of Dooms psyche, has gone out of

print dees explanation. I demand a reissue -- now!


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Dr. Octopus Could Have SavedInvisible Womans Baby

Fans have expressed mixed feelings aboutevents unfolding in the world of Spider-man. The

spirit of Doctor Octopus now occupies Peter

Parkers body? How can an established villain hope

to act as a hero? John Byrne provides a possible

answer with A Small Loss, the story in Fantastic

Four #267, rst released in 1984.

Consistently Ive erred when paraphrasing

this story to friends. Always I give the benet of the

doubt to Doctor Octopus, wrongly crediting him

for saving Susan Richards. I forgive myself, however

given that Byrne successfully brings readers toempathize with the pitiful condition of this villains

life. After rereading the story, Im now straight

on the facts and, as I was with Sterns depiction

of Doctor Doom, impressed with the complexity

Byrne adds to Octopus.

The story begins with Reed Richards

consulting the most prominent scientists in the

Marvel Universe hoping to save Susan Richards

in labor with their second child, a mutant whose

powers are placing both her and her mother in

mortal danger. Walter Langkowski, one of the

scientists present, urges Richards to seek out the

only man with the specic expertise for the job at

hand, Doctor Octopus -- uh-oh.

Richards approaches Octopus in his prison

cell and addresses him as Dr. Octavius, the true

identity buried beneath the damaged psyche born

in the accident that deformed both his body and his mind. The ploy works, and Octavius agrees to help. On their

way to Susan, however, Octavius sees an image of Spider-man on a billboard and relapses into Octopus. Richard

must ght him, and the baby dies during the delay.

I want to remember Octavius as having saved Susan Richards but not the baby. It turns out neithersituation is true, but both could have been true if Octavius had remained stable and not reverted to Doctor

Octopus. For less than an hour, we see the personality buried beneath the damaged criminal, and perhaps a bit o

this personality is driving him now as he undertakes his current role as Spider-man. I do not know, and truthfully

I hope that Peter Parker regains control of his body. But I argue that this now almost forgotten story from the

archives of the Fantastic Four provides for the possibility of more than some might expect from Doctor Octopus


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10/17

The Arrival of Howard the Duck

Marvel Comics in the late 1960s and 1970s developed into a

breeding ground for creative excellence. Jim Steranko forever elevated

comic-book art to the avant-garde with his efforts on Nick Fury. Frank

Brunner intensied the surreal imagery that Steve Ditko had established

in Doctor Strange to psychedelic levels, and Doug Moench and PaulGulacy brought a martial-arts/espionage ambience to Master of Kung-Fu

after the exit of co-creators Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin. Englehart

produced a wonderful line of story arcs for Captain America and the

Avengers, my favorite of which, The Celestial Madonna Saga, provided

my introduction to Marvel Comics. Starlin then redened outer space

in Captain Marvel and Warlock, both vehicles for the Thanos Cycle

which I hope will inuence upcoming lms, Guardians of the Galaxy and

Avengers II. A host of horror comics for example, Tomb of Dracula,

Ghost Rider, and Marvel Spotlight on Son of Satan sprang up after the

Comics Code Authority loosened its rules in 1971. Finally, among all thisinnovation arrived Howard the Duck.

n 1973, writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerick brought the

cigar-chomping waterfowl to Earth in Adventure into Fear #19, when that

title featured the bizarre adventures of the swamp monster called Man-

Thing. Thanks to Thog the Nether-Spawn and his shifting of the Cosmic

Axis, Howard fell from Duckworld to our reality dominated by what

he terms, hairless apes. Marvel released the rst issue of Howard the

Duck in 1976 and the tone throughout read more as underground than

mainstream.

Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, Howard reigned as a

satirical outlet for politics and humanity in general as he ventured forth,trapped in a world he never made. Gerber often used Howard to poke

fun at the comic-book medium and at Marvel Comics itself, especially

when Howard adopted the personae of Iron Duck and the Master of

Quack-Fu. Students on college campuses nationwide transformed Howard

into a cult hero. In his Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, Sean Howe relates

how students at one university besieged the visiting Stan Lee with questions

about the duck of the moment. Lee, who hadnt been in Marvels ofces for

a while, answered, Howard who?

Who? The Howard who ran for President of the United States as the

candidate for the All-Night Party, who faced villains such as the Space Turnip

Doctor Bong, and my favorite, Hell Cow. Once upon a time, I nearly named

a family pet Howard the Duck, a decidedly strange name for a cat. I went

with Adam Warlock, which did less to ease my familys anxieties. Comic

fans during this era loved Howard madly, and felt bitterly disappointed in the

lm that weakened his bite.

Today younger fans can experience black-and-white reprints of

Howards stories in Marvels Essential volumes, or in color with the expensive

Howard the Duck Omnibus. I urge them to do so, as the lm fails to capture

the true feel of the Howard phenomenon, beloved now and forever for

challenging boundaries and kicking asses.


11/17

Without Julius Schwartz, Marvel Comics would not exist.OK, thats a bit of an inamatory statement, but there is enough truth to it that I think I can say it and not

have Stan Lees ghost come and visit me while I sleep tonight.

Lets start with the Golden Age. These were the days when comics like Detective Comics, All-American

Comics, Adventure Comics, and Marvel Comics were published, introducing many of the most famous comics

character in history. Superman, Batman, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman all appeared in these titles

which were 64 pages and typically featured more than one story focusing on various different characters. These

evolved into single character titles, and then team titles, and on and on. DC wasnt the only company that was

around at that point. One of the others went by the name Timely Comics. They did a bunch of great titles, they

sold pretty well, and introduced characters like The Human Torch (who was an Android at rst), Namor the

Submariner, and eventually, Captain America. They changed their name to Atlas Comics during the 1950s, and in

the very early 1960s were going by Marvel comics, which was the title of one of their earliest books (which oftenhad Frank R. Paul covers!)

So, the guy who was always there was Mr. Stan Lee. He started with Marvel when it was Timely, in 1941

He was eventually made the Editor of Marvel. He was editing a number of books, came up with a few great issues

under his belt. After World War II, the Superhero sunk a bit in the standing. Actually, a fair bit. Romance comics

Horror comics, Science Fiction comics, they became more popular through the late 1940s and early 1950s

but mostly, the Superhero was not the big name in comics. Yeah, they were still around, and many were very

successful, but not the big ones.

Julius Schwartz was working at DC. Hed been working on All-American Comics from 1944 until 1948

when it folded. He was given more and more editorial power at DC, and in 1956, he got Robert Kanigher and

Carmine Infantino to do an issue of Showcase Comics where they introduced a new, more modern, Flash.This was a BIG MOMENT.

This was the start of the Silver Age.

What The Silver Age Hath WroughtJulie Schwartz & The Flash,

Stan Lee & Spider-Manby Christopher J GarciaPencils by Steve Stiles


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Julie Schwartz got rid of a lot of the chaff that had accumulated around the Golden Age heroes that were

still around. Batman had added a lot of silliness, but Schwartzy, he got rid of it and put heroes back on track! He

was a bit of a control freak, hed help develop the stories, then the writers would do their stuff, and often hed do

big re-writes. He was very much involved in the direction of the titles he edited, and it changed comics forever

One thing that he was very much responsible for was greater levels of science ction in Superheroes. Think abou

The Flash. In the Golden Age version, Jay Garrick inhales Hard Water vapors and that gives him super-speed

Hes just a regular student at the time. In the Silver Age version, Barry Allen is a forensic scientist, hes known fo

taking his time, but while hes working on night, theres a lightning strike that hits his chemical cabinet, giving him

superspeed. Its an accident, but its because of his scientic bent that hes given the power.Now, Stan Lee has been at Timely/Atlas for nearly 20 years, and DC is riding the whole Silver Age hero

thing all the way. They were just transitioning to being Marvel Comics, and he had seen the success of what

Schwartz had done at DC, so it was time for Marvel to take that path. If youve read any of the Atlas Comics

theyre not great until Lee introduces the Fantastic Four. That was a HUGE deal as it was a new kind of team, one

that was more family than Superhero gathering, like the old Justice Society. In fact, they had a monster in thei

midst, and brought back a variation on the Human Torch. This was exceptionally Science Fictional, right down to

getting their powers from being in space! They also lived without Alter Egos, for the most, which was kinda new

They also squabbled, but they played the entire heroing thing like a family.

The next big step was Spider-Man.

And it was basically The Flash again.

How? Well, a lab accident leads to a regular young guy getting spectacular powers, they both had girlfriendwho became a major part of the story, and most of all, they were both very different when they were under

their masks. Spidey basically became the biggest thing that Marvel would ever do, though at times theyve had The

X-Men as bigger deals.

The difference between Schwartz and Lee is that Lee was something of a glory hog, only begrudgingly

giving credit to his co-creators, which Schwartz was a control freak. Both had a rather singular vision for what

their company should be, but while Schwartz was more apt to guide his vision, Lee was often busy making himsel

the symbol for his company. Lee was also a bit better at bringing a more human element to comics than many o

Julies writers.

Without Julie Schwartz bringing comic book heroes back to the front, its doubtful Marvel would have

been able to come out into the light like they did. While I wouldnt say Lee and Marvel were aping DC, they were

certainly followers of their style, and while they would eventually become the most innovative comics company

in the marketplace, they started out following a path beaten by Schwartz & Co..


13/17

Letter Graded Mailsent to

[email protected] Our Gentle Readers

Dear Chris,

Due to seemingly always being up to my ears in all sorts of stuff not having to do with fandom like, to cite

merely just one example, maintaining a house that, like me, seems to be on the verge of falling apartI usually

am compelled to limit my fanac to fan art at the expense of writing letters of comment. I had thought that my

retirement would open up more free time but instead what has happened is that tasks have multiplied to ll up

the vacuum. People warned me that this would happen; I laughed, but the joke was not on them.

I am looking forward to my retirement, hopefully after winning the Lottery to the tune of

40 Billion dollars so I can simply retire. Otherwise, I plan on working until I die, probably

putting together a zine behind my computer at the Museum.

Anyway, what incited me to write you was Tarals brief ruminations on Pat and Dick Lupoffs fanzineXero

published a long time ago. Just now I checked on my nearly complete collection (nearly because I am dismayedto discover Im missing the rst issue) and #2 is dated November 1960. The nal issue, not including the index

was #10, in the fall of 1963 (it is incredible to me that a fanzine with such a large page count sometimes reaching

80 pages for a single issue--should reach the tenth issue in such a short period of time). I had been in fandom in

a little under three years before the rstXero

but had begun attending Fanoclast meetings

(held at the Lupoffs Manhattan penthouse

apartment) by then and was there during the

fanzines birth.

I only have a couple of issues, but

theyre great! I really should get

another copy of the Best of Xero, as

the one I had walked away from the

Fanzine Lounge at some point!

The Lupoffs, the Fanoclasts, andXero

were all developmental for me in those

days, and each time an issue was printed

helped collate it as did Roger Ebert (who

had material in four issues) at least once, if

Im not mistaken. I even ran off an issue, the

multicolored #9 on Larry and Noreen Shaws

Rex Rotary out on Long Island, and themoney that Dick paid me for that, not a huge

sum, enabled me to go to my rst worldcon

in Chicago, accompanying Ted White in a truly

epic car journey.

Ive seen that cover! Its one of

the ones I think of when I think of

early 60s fanzines! I would pay good

money to hear the story of that car

trip to Chi-town!


14/17

In the early sixties I was not an accomplished cartoonist I was a crappy one; the few published cartoons o

mine, like my rst one in Cry Of The Nameless #116, were pretty crude and lacked any kind of stylistic direction

But, on one evening when I was visiting the Lupoffs, Dick sat me down in front of a light box, handed me some

stencils and styli and said something like You want to be a cartoonist? So, draw! Under the pressure of this

command performance I actually produced a vertical multi-paneled cartoon, possibly about Lin Carters cranky

pet rabbit: it was still crude but it did have a sense of style I could build on, eventually leading to a mimeoed comic

strip in Dicks FAPA zine Horib, a collaboration between us entitled The Adventures Of Professor Thintwhistle

And His Incredible Aether Flyer. Dick eventually turned the strip into a novel, and later Ted White commissioned

us to redo it for Heavy Metalmagazine, a professional cartooning effort of mine that Im still very proud of, quitepossibly the rst steampunk graphic novel when it was reprinted by Fantagraphics Books.

Its one of my favorite graphic novels! I read Dicks novel, too!

On top of all that,Xero helped launch what we know today as modern comics fandom. So its all Dick

Lupoffs fault!

Taral also mentions Dan Adkins, a friend of mine who died on May 4th.Although Ive been out of contact

with Dan for many years, I was saddened by his death and feel as if a chapter in my life has closed. Besides liking

him as a friend, the fanzine he coedited with Bill Pearson, SATA Illustrated, was largely instrumental, along with Cry

Of The Nameless, in getting me involved with fandom.

SATAs written material was mostly uff, but to my 14-year-old eyes the illustrations and layout by Dan

were spectacular, the former being obviously inuenced by those who also inuenced me, Ed Emshwiller andWallace Wood. When I rst attempted doing serious illustrations people thought I was an Adkins clone.

When Dan was working on Dr. Strange, the Submariner, Woods magazines, the Warren titles, I spent

many an evening watching him work. When he was doing art for Amazing and Fantastic, I inked a few of his

illustrations and pencilled a few that he inked. We would listen to Elvis records all night long, and the rst record

I ever owned was an Oscar Brown Jr. lp that Dan gave me.

I certainly identify Adkins with Doc Strange. In fact, his version is THE one that certainly

visually comes to mind when I think of Doc Strange. No doubt. I stopped reading DS for

years and years. and when I started to again, new issues and not the 1960s issues I could

get for a buck or two out of

the cheap bin at Brians Books,

it was a bit of jar getting usedto other artists. That doesnt

happen with a lot of other

characters.

I picked up a lot of art tips from

Adkins, and through him got to meet

one of my E.C. heroes, Wally Wood

quite a few times. Unfortunately

it was my proximity to Wood that

discouraged me from attempting to

get into comics for many years: Wood

was a workaholic and from what

could see, and what Dan told me, he

seldom got away from the drawing

board, putting in nonstop work weeks

That wasnt for me: I had spent too

much time as it was in the advertising

grind (which did, however, pay much

better); I wanted to have a life, to

smell the roses (read: weed, women

and rock n roll).


15/17

Have you read Seduction of the Innocent, the novel from Max Allen Collins? Wally Wood

is a minor character in it!

Dan and Bill were also among the rst s.f. fans I ever met. I can still remember the rst time I met them

in their tiny apartment in lower Manhattan. Dan was recovering from the u, dressed in a bathrobe, sitting on

a narrow bed, chain smoking when he wasnt drinking his usual coke, working on some art taped to a board

propped in his lap. His rst paying work, to my knowledge, were little stfnal spot illos, for some digest sized men

s magazines.

Mention Dans work and it is inevitable that people will bring up his swipeswhich were legendary because

they were practically tracings --one illustration based on the movie poster for Judgement At Nuremberg comesto mind. Most artists use reference material and most artists --including Michaeangelo and Raphael--swipe. I did

if I was unsure of how a muscle would look in a certain pose, Id look at Buscemas stuff, or whoever.

But I also tried to teach myself to draw from the ground up by hitting the anatomy books. I dont think

Dan ever did. What he did do, however, was to ink and in his heyday he was one of the best inkers in the business

Aside from all that, I really liked Dan Adkins. Its hard to realize hes gone, like a chunk of my own life.


16/17

I am a big fan of Non-Fiction comics. Thats been true for a long time, since I was a kid, in fact. I liked theold stuff, the Cartoon Guides to various things by Larry Gonnick, and the ones that dealt with history or physics

or on and on. One thing that I love is comics about comics. Of course, I love things like Understanding Comics, but

the rst ones I was devoted to came out at almost the same time: Whos Who in the DC Universe and The Ofcia

Handbook to the Marvel Universe.

Oddly, it was the Marvel one that I loved more

Now, these were two comic book series that did the same thing: they told the stats and basic stories of

(almost) every major character in the respective comics universes. Thered be their stats, both in-universe (like

Height, Weight, combat knowledge, alliances, etc) and out of Universe (like First Appearance) and the combination

was hyper-important to a kid like me who really loved the old stuff and was always looking for rsts and such

The entries were so simple, just the kind of thing that a kid of 8 and 9 wanted to know about ALL the heroes.

Now, I knew DC heroes (not all, and it was Whos Who that got me all interested in The Newsboy Legionand Ma Hunkles turn as Red Tornado), so theMarvel Handbook was exactly what I needed. I could get myself into

training shape with it, be able to talk with my friends who read Marvel by reading the entires for all the characters

that the other kids were reading.

And every kid at Westwood Elementary, all grades, all genders, all social classes, were reading Marve

comics, mostly X-Men.

The layout of both was pretty much the same, though looking now Ill say that the design for Whos WHo

was much nicer, especially the way they had single color background imaging on every entry. That was a very very

cool technique, and I think they had better artists working on the project.

The real art treat, in both case, but especially the Marvel version, were the covers. They were wrap-around

and they had all the heroes included in the issue together, usually rushing forward towards some unknowable

goal. They were great! I still remember being hyper-excited about seeing them on the racks at Brians old location

There are tons of websites now that do a far better job than any of these could do. Both Marvel and DC

did updates, and multiple volumes, but today, it would be incredibly easy to have this information out there and

easily updatable, never having to worry too much about retcons and other changes to characters and places. Still

theyll never get the feeling of those wrap-around covers!

Wikis That Were Not WikisThe Ofcial Handbook of The

Marvel Universe & Whos Who

in The DC Universeby Christopher J Garcia


17/17

A Review of Marvel Comics:The Untold Story

by Sean HoweReview by Michael Lee

Ive been reading Marvel Comics for my entire reading life, more or less. Its my comfort reading, both the

latest issues as well as all of the classic issues that are now available in collected editions and online.

So I read Marvel Comics: The Untold Storywith great interest, and what greatly appealed to me is that

this book extends beyond what Stan Lee and Jack Kirby built, but extends to how Marvel handled creative

and business challenges for decades. This is the fall and rise and fall and rise of Marvel Comics, and can be as

fascinating as the comics themselves.

The boom focuses less on the last ten years and mostly on the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. But these were

fascinating times, and you see the creative and business tensions evolve over the decades.

One thing that is also pleasing is that this

book is well balanced - a lot of works about Marvel

Comics either attempt to make Stan Lee either a

hero or a villain, and focus on the collaborations and

tensions between Stan and Jack Kirby or Stan and

Steve Ditko.

But the heart of this book for me was on

the years when I was rst discovering comics -

so when you hear the tales of Roy Thomas, MarvWolfman, Len Wein, Chris Claremont, John Byrne,

Jim Shooter, and quite signicantly and tragically

Mark Gruenwald. These are stories less frequently

told, and are even more complicated than the origins

of Marvel Comics.

If youre a fan of Marvel Comics, and want

to understand the behind-the-scenes stories, this is

absolutely required reading. I learned more about

Marvel Comics through this one book than in stacks

of Essentials, Omnibuses, and Ofcial Handbooks.

CG - You can fnd out more about Marvel

Comics: The Untold Story at http://

seanhowe.com/Marvel.html. Its well-worth

reading1

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