back issue #82

A ugust 2 0 1 5

No.82$8.95

182

65827

762

8

07

Avengersvs.

Defenders

JLA/JSA

Secret Wars

Crisis’ 30thanniversary

Legends

Millennium

Invasion!

InfinityGauntlet& more!

THIS ISSUE:BRONZE AGE

EVENTS!

Avengers, Defenders, and all related characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive,Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE,c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email:[email protected]. Six-issue subscriptions: $60 Standard US, $85 Canada, $107 SurfaceInternational. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office.Cover art by John Byrne. Avengers, Defenders, and related characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unlessotherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2015 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE isa TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

If you’re viewing a DigitalEdition of this publication,PLEASE READ THIS:

This is copyrighted material, NOT intendedfor downloading anywhere except our

website or Apps. If you downloaded it fromanother website or torrent, go ahead andread it, and if you decide to keep it, DO

THE RIGHT THING and buy a legal down-load, or a printed copy. Otherwise, DELETE

IT FROM YOUR DEVICE and DO NOTSHARE IT WITH FRIENDS OR POST ITANYWHERE. If you enjoy our publicationsenough to download them, please pay forthem so we can keep producing ones likethis. Our digital editions should ONLY be

downloaded within our Apps and at

www.twomorrows.com

In the

bac

kgro

und:

Cov

er to Cr

isis on

Infin

ite Earths

#5 (

Aug.

198

5). A

rt b

y G

eorg

e Pé

rez.

TM

& ©

DC

Com

ics.

Volume 1,Number 82August 2015

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFMichael Eury

PUBLISHERJohn Morrow

DESIGNERRich Fowlks

COVER ARTISTJohn Byrne (from thecollection of Scott Green)

COVER COLORISTGlenn Whitmore

COVER DESIGNERMichael Kronenberg

PROOFREADERRob Smentek

SPECIAL THANKSAndrew ArnellIan AscherPaul BalzèSteven BayerThe BeyonderAl BigleyMichael BreakfieldChris BrennamanEliot R. BrownRich BucklerBob BudianskySal BuscemaKurt BusiekJarrod ButteryByrneRobotics.comGerry ConwayTom DeFalcoSteve EnglehartJackie EstradaDanny FingerothMike FriedrichKeith GiffenPeter B. GillisGrand Comics

Database Scott GreenRobert GreenbergerHeritage Comics

AuctionsPaul Howley

JimShooter.comDan JurgensBarbara KeselJim KingmanJohn K. KirkStan “The Man” LeeAlan LightPat LoikaMarvel ComicsDavid MichelinieAllen MilgromLuigi NoviDennis O’NeilMartin PaskoTom PeyerBill SienkiewiczAnthony SnyderJim StarlinJoe StatonRoger SternMax TalleyRoy ThomasJohn TrumbullKaren WalkerJohn WellsMarv WolfmanMike Zeck

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

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

OFF MY CHEST: The Twilight of Stan Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3The slow fadeout of Stan the Man as a comic writer

FLASHBACK: Summertime Special: The Avengers–Defenders War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8The summer Steve Englehart pitted team against non-team

FLASHBACK: Crisis? What Crisis? JLA/JSA Crossovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15JLA writers chime in on the endless summers of Bronze Age Justice League/Justice Society gatherings

THE TOY BOX: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30A maxiseries hit for Marvel produced a dud toy line for Mattel. What went wrong?

FLASHBACK: Secret Wars II: The Crossover Takes Over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38A star-studded remembrance of the Beyonder’s return

FLASHBACK: Crisis at 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48A look back at the most influential crossover in comics history

FLASHBACK: Crisis on Infinite Crossovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55The post-Crisis crossovers of DC Comics

FLASHBACK: The Infinity Saga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68Jim Starlin discusses his trio of Thanos-starring Marvel epics

BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74Reader reactions

B r o n z e A g e E v e n t s I s s u e • B A C K I S S U E • 1

This article covers the final two and a half years Stan Lee wrote monthlycomics. Of course, he continued to write/edit Marvel anthologies andcreated the Spider-Man newspaper strip. But my focus is on a transitional,unsettled time when the Silver Age morphed into the Bronze Age,when the two writers (Stan Lee and Roy Thomas) who controlled thecontinuity and changes within the Marvel Universe ceded their strictcontrol to new writers like Gerry Conway and Steve Englehart.

This period is rarely discussed in detail. Something went wrong atMarvel in early 1970, but there were several factors involved in thismisdirection—beyond the usual tired memes that Stan was over the hill,or couldn’t create anything without Jack Kirby’s avalanche of charactersand Steve Ditko’s plotting abilities.

To understand the slump of 1970, one must first look at 1968 andthe first half of 1969. Pick any Marvel title during those monthsand you’ll find a stunning cover, usually symbolic, with fewif any blurbs. Inside the covers, there is art by Kirby,John Buscema, John Romita, Gene Colan, John Severin,Marie Severin, Jim Steranko—all at their peak. Evennewcomers like Barry Smith and DC stalwarts NealAdams and Gil Kane joined in the fun. The fewstories not written by Stan Lee and Roy Thomas areby Archie Goodwin or Gary Friedrich.

By the January 1970 cover-dated Marvel issues,Steranko has gone, Barry Smith isn’t drawing super-heroes, and Dr. Strange and Nick Fury have been canceled,while the once giant-sized The Silver Surfer is strugglingas a 15-cent book, causing Stan to throw in guest-starslike the Human Torch and Spider-Man. Lee has handedThe Incredible Hulk over to Roy Thomas. A few monthslater, Neal Adams stops penciling The X-Men and the titleslides into reprint limbo for five years, Gil Kane and Thomas stop workingon the peripatetic Captain Marvel, and Archie Goodwin leaves Iron Man.

However, Marvel still retained a wealth of talent. What could slow downtheir creative ascendancy of the preceding six years? These are solely myown opinions as an outsider, and I respect that many insiders may disagree.

Stan’s editorial decision to switch from multi-part stories to single-issue stories had a profound effect, though it was publisher MartinGoodman’s idea, according to Roy Thomas (who did not read ornecessarily agree with my editorial, but was kind enough to provide afew email answers). Whether it had been Marvel readers complainingthat they couldn’t follow the story if they missed an issue, or Marvel’sattempt to copy a weaker aspect of most DC comics—that every

Batman or Superman story would stand alone, leaving less room forcharacter development, or sense of continuity—is uncertain.

Stan’s Soapbox of January 1970 stated, “If our earth-shattering newpolicy hasn’t really grabbed you by the time you read these words—don’tworry! We’ll switch back to our old, cataclysmically confusing, continued-story policy before you can say, ‘No wonder they dumped old Stan!’ ”

Fan backlash over the decision was immediate. “I was sorry to hearof your decision to cut down to single issue stories, as I don’t feel you canget the proper characterization and motivation into so few pages and stillhave action,” wrote Christine Cassello in The Amazing Spider-Man #82.

Sadly, with a couple of exceptions, the policy remained for a year,and classic extended storylines like those involving Dr. Doom (FantasticFour #84–87), or Namor’s Serpent Crown saga (Sub-Mariner #9–13),

or Spider-Man’s Tablet adventure (Amazing Spider-Man #68–75),would not return until the Kree–Skrull War. In those multi-part

stories, the writers could provide the character developmentoften lacking in their distinguished competition’s comics,and the artists could really let loose. When forced backinto the early Marvel style of short stories that concludedquickly, it was an uncomfortable switch for Lee and RoyThomas—who had both excelled for years on subplotsand large casts of characters. It was also harder on theartists, who as part of the “Marvel Method” eitherplotted or co-plotted the stories. Suddenly, they had

to wrap up their stories fast and then come up with abrand-new plot and villain every month.

Take a look at Amazing Spider-Man #80 from 1970.Large panels, often only four to five a page, and muchless writing than a year before. Captions and editorialasides are rare. There are dialogue balloons and thought

balloons. (The reduction of paper size from 12.5" x 18.5" to 10" x 15" alsocontributed to this.) The return of the Chameleon after 78 issues wouldseem to be a momentous event, but he is easily dispatched in a single issue.

Then in issue #81 we are treated to the Kangaroo. Feeling nostalgic?Neither am I. With the new easy-come, easy-go policy, Stan and Roy wereforced to come up with new villains fast. The Kangaroo might have fit intothe first year of Spider-Man, or among early Daredevil foes like the Leap-Frog.But this bland blonde who described the acquisition of his skills thusly: “I livedin kangaroo country—eating what they ate—going where they were—working—training,” seemed absurd in the maturing Marvel of 1970.

Perhaps worse evidence of the single-issue constraints can befound in The Mighty Thor. After never-to-be-forgotten cosmic storylines

Stan’s Last StandStan Lee, as seenin a Crazy! Magazinesubscription adfrom the mid-1970s,and some of thelast comics he wroteat Marvel.TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.


roy thomas© Marvel.

by Max Ta l l e y

4 • B A C K I S S U E • B r o n z e A g e E v e n t s I s s u e

involving Galactus and Mangog, our man with the mallet found himself battlingthe Thermal Man from Communist China in Thor #170; Kronin Krask, a man ofextreme wealth and immense girth, in #172; and Crypto-Man in #174. Any ofthese bogus characters could have come from the dawn of the ’60s, beforeMarvel became synonymous with quality.

Jackson Chadda wrote in Thor #182’s (Nov. 1970) letters page, “I have beenquite disappointed with the ‘hero meets villain—hero fights villain—hero defeatsvillain routine.’ This development seems to coincide with recent change fromthe related, continued issues of the past to the simplified format of the present.This very lack of quality is the reason I abandoned your competitors. Thor, with allhis significance and possibilities, is reduced to violent combat with gimmick-laden villains in a repetitious format.”

To be fair, the cardboard villains came at the end of Jack Kirby’s long run onThor. As has been stated in The Jack Kirby Collector, he’d lost interest in creatingnew concepts or characters for Marvel and saved new ideas for his Fourth Worldcomics at DC. Still, after so many cosmic storylines, to be consigned toEarthbound single-issue stories must have seemed like punishment from Odinhimself. Kirby’s heroic figures, large panels, and full-page drawings cried outfor sagas. Thor #175 was an exception, with Kirby and Bill Everett delivering aclassic first part of a “Loki attempts to steal Odin’s throne” saga.

Once the Skrull kidnapping of the Thing storyline ended (influenced by Lostin Space episode “The Deadly Games of Gamma 6,” as well as Star Trek episode“A Piece of the Action”), The Fantastic Four slid into mediocrity. Some of thoseissues were inked by Frank Giacoia, a once-great Kirby inker who by early 1970had become the anti-Sinnott, all sharp angles and jagged lines, compared toSinnott’s thick outlines and flattering embellishments on the King.

Even Roy Thomas, at the peak of his superhero writing on Dr. Strange,Sub-Mariner, and The Avengers, suddenly began throwing characters like CrimeWave, Torpedo, and Brother Brimstone at the wall in Daredevil to see if anywould stick. They didn’t. This after an incredible arc starting in Daredevil #50with Starr Saxon discovering DD’s secret identity, which culminated in #57where DD revealed his identity to Karen Page. No, Thomas hadn’t hit a slumpor writer’s block. The reality was that writing six monthly titles under Goodman’ssingle-issue edict must have been grueling.

Perhaps Conan and arguably The Incredible Hulk could thrive in that format, butDr. Strange, Daredevil, and Sub-Mariner had improved as serials, where even if a foewas defeated in an issue or two, they made up a part of much longer story arcs. GeneColan could stretch out stories with ease, but in a single issue often ran out of room,forcing the story to an uneasy conclusion in the last page—or even the final panel.

Michael Lang put it succinctly in the lettercol of Daredevil #67: “As for DD#61, BOO—BOO! Here you take three great villains, the Jester, the Cobra andMr. Hyde, and concluded the story in one issue. We Marvelites don’t want youto stop your continued stories or confused sub-plots. How could you combinethe FF’s fight with Dr. Doom [#84–87] into one story? Or DD’s fight with Saxon?Or the Sub-Mariner’s story about the Serpentine Helmet?”

In the June 1970 Marvel books, Stan included a survey, asking people to respondto, “Hey, man, these are my favorite type of plots”; “These are the kind of yarns thatturn me off”; “If I were you Stan (ugh!), these are the changes I’d make at Marvel.”

Clearly, to paraphrase Bob Dylan: “You know something’s wrong here, but youdon’t know what it is, Mr. Lee…”

With Kirby’s departure looming, the new-story policy backfiring among fans,and printing costs forcing a temporary lowering of the page count from 20 to19, Stan’s survey showed, for the first time, confusion at the top—after nineyears of “facing forward” with unquestioning confidence.

It’s not that 1970 was universally bad, just wildly inconsistent. After months ofAmazing Spider-Man watered down with too little story and art by John Buscemaand Jim Mooney creating vague Romita impersonations, Stan and John Romitare-teamed for a three-part story beginning in Spider-Man #83. The Schemer musclesin on Kingpin’s territory, while the Kingpin’s wife seems to split her allegiancebetween both crooks. (Of course, in Romita’s glamorous art, even a fat, bald,

The Thunder Silenced(top) Lee and Kirby at their zenith with Galactus, in Thor #160(Jan. 1969). (bottom) By issue #174 (Mar. 1970), Stan and Jackwere phoning it in with Crypto-Man. Kirby was also beginninghis exodus to DC Comics around this time.TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

8 • B A C K I S S U E • B r o n z e A g e E v e n t s I s s u e

It was July of 1973. The Watergate hearings were infull swing, “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” was a number-onehit for Jim Croce, and Live and Let Die, the eighthJames Bond film, was out in theaters. Comics werestill a bargain at 20 cents and were a great summer-time diversion.

Sadly, though, that summer there would be noKing-Sized Annuals from Marvel Comics to providesome extra zing. But writer Steve Englehart wouldcome to the rescue. He devised a plan to give readersa special summer treat: a multi-issue, multi-monthmatchup between two titanic super-teams thatwould move back and forth between two differenttitles! This was a new idea, and a daring one, too.It was a matchup of establishment heroes againstoutsiders, friends against friends, and had moresuperheroes than you could shake an uru mallet at!This was…

THE AVENGERS–DEFENDERS WAR!

THE WARM-UPThe idea of super-teams battling was not a new one,of course. It had happened repeatedly throughoutcomics history. Typically, teams would meet, perhapsbriefly fight due to an initial misunderstanding, andthen join forces against a common foe. This wouldall take place within one title, usually even one issue.In the Marvel Universe, the first such team vs.team confrontation took place in FantasticFour #26 (cover-dated May 1964), whenthe Avengers and Fantastic Four cameinto conflict while going after theHulk. And so it would go, teamsoccasionally running into oneanother and scuffling before theyworked things out.

By 1973, the Avengers had beenaround for a full decade and had seennumerous roster changes. They werearguably the number-one team atMarvel, and had established them-selves as major leaguers with theKree–Skrull War, an epic story arc,just a couple of years before.

The Defenders, on the other hand, while composedof some of Marvel’s heaviest hitters like the Hulk,Sub-Mariner, and Dr. Strange, was a team ofoutcasts and iconoclasts. The Defenders, as a team,had only been around for two years, appearing firstin Marvel Feature #1 (Dec. 1971) and continuing fortwo more issues of that title before getting their ownbook in 1972.

Roy Thomas would write the team’s first threeappearances in Marvel Feature; Steve Englehart wouldtake over with the first issue of The Defenders. The SilverSurfer was added to the mix and the cast was further

“You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry”The man-mountains mix it up in the conclusion

of the Avengers–Defenders War! From TheDefenders #10 (Nov. 1973) and the team of

Steve Englehart/Sal Buscema/Frank Bolle.TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

steve englehartPhoto credit: Alan Light.

by Ka r e n Wa l k e r

expanded with the addition of the Valkyrie. Holdingsuch disparate personalities together was no easy taskfor Dr. Strange, and the Defenders gained the nicknameof “the non-team”—they never really wanted to admitthey were a team!

Englehart had also been writing The Avengers sinceissue #105, again taking the reins from Thomas. It wasbecause Englehart was writing both of these teamtitles that he came up with the idea for what wouldbecome the Avengers–Defenders War (or Clash, as heprefers to call it). “I had gotten used to reading theAnnuals in the summer, and when they said, ‘This yearwe’re not gonna do it,’ I just thought, ‘Well, then,what can I do that would be sort of a special thing forthe readers, that wouldn’t require a whole separatebook like an Annual?’ And I was writing both The Avengersand The Defenders at that point and I thought, I coulddo a story in which they fought each other, and itwould last all summer long. And that would be a funthing for people for the summer.”

The story mostly arrived through serendipity. But therewas some inspiration from comics Englehart hadenjoyed as a reader: “The whole idea of Avengers vs.Defenders was certainly coming from what DC used todo, with the JLA and the JSA fighting it out. I mean,Roy had done things like that with the SquadronSupreme vs. the Avengers. I had basically all the coolMarvel characters—well, not all, but most of the coolMarvel characters at that time at my disposal—I mean,how could you not have fun doing that?”

While crossovers are practically the norm today,they were unheard of in 1973. Then-editor-in-chiefRoy Thomas was enthused about the idea, but hadconcerns about giving the go-ahead. “If one [book]was late, we probably would have had to delay anotherone,” Thomas says. “It would have been really bad.But it worked out all right. I don’t remember anyparticular close calls. So it worked out okay, and it’sbeen reprinted a couple of times, so certainly it’s a sortof a landmark, for the first real back-and-forth crossoverbetween books on that kind of scale. It showed itcould be done.”

Handling the art chores on the two titles weretwo veterans: Bob Brown on The Avengers and SalBuscema on The Defenders. Of his collaborators,Englehart remarks, “I knew Sal; I’d worked with Salpretty much from the start of my career. I mean, thefirst thing I did was the Beast [in Amazing Adventures],but the second thing I did was Defenders and thenCaptain America, and I was working with Sal. And I’veoften said thank God for that, because Sal was the guywho could draw anything easily. I mean, I never hadto worry about, ‘Is this too complicated?’ or ‘Is thistoo weird?’ I just would think up whatever idea wasa cool idea to me and I had learned that I could handthat off to Sal and would get back that story toldclearly and competently and all that kind of stuff. So Iattribute some part of whatever I did in comics to thefact that my first real long-term artist was someonewho could facilitate anything I thought up. BobBrown I knew less well personally but I’d been a bigfan of his for years when he was at DC doingChallengers of the Unknown. So when he came over toMarvel, I was very familiar with his work, and didn’thave any worries.”

Although the head-to-head battles are obviouslythe focus of this saga, a word or two should be saidabout the setup. Two big-time villains were behind itall: Dormammu, extra-dimensional foe of Dr. Strange,and Loki, thorn in the side of both the Avengers andhis stepbrother, Thor. Englehart explains why he chose


THE AVENGERS–DEFENDERS WAR: A FIGHT-BY-FIGHT BREAKDOWN

[Editor’s note: This exhaustive survey of JLA/JSA crossovers contains someSPOILERS—but hopefully they won’t diminish your enjoyment of these classictales, some of which have been reprinted multiple times.]

I was born in July of 1961, the same month and year that the concept of Earth-Two,created by writer John Broome, artists Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella,and editor Julius Schwartz, was introduced in “Flash of Two Worlds!”, published inThe Flash #123 (Sept. 1961). The Flash learned that there was another Earth—another entire universe, actually—existing in a parallel dimension, separated bya transition zone, where the superheroes and mystery men he knew only fromcomic books actually lived. The Flash met his counterpart, who came out ofretirement to aid the Scarlet Speedster on a case. This original and older Flashhad a heralded superhero career years earlier, and had also been a member ofthe Justice Society of America, a counterpart to the Flash’s own Justice Leagueof America. To simplify matters (although a lengthier explanation would alwaysbe required), the then-current Flash, Barry Allen, who in time would be knownas the Silver Age Flash, lived on Earth-One, and the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick,resided on Earth-Two.

In 1963, in “Crisis on Earth-One!” and “Crisis on Earth-Two!”, published inJustice League of America #21 and 22 (Aug. and Sept. 1963), and written byFox, illustrated by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs, and edited by Schwartz,the Justice League and the Justice Society teamed up for the first time, and thistruly classic crossover blossomed into an annual event that lasted 23 endlesssummers. I did not read those early adventures, although I became familiarwith the Justice League and various members by watching their animatedadventures in The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure cartoons broadcast onSaturday mornings during the late 1960s.

In 1970, my parents purchased for me my first superhero comic book,Justice League of America #82 (Aug. 1970), so that at the age of eight I wasintroduced to the concept of Earth-Two, the Justice Society of America, andJLA members I was not familiar with (Green Arrow and Black Canary) in oneexciting and entertaining swoop. So what I had missed before, and had no realconnection to, now became an integral part of my life, integral to this very day,although the continuation of Earth-Two, the Justice Society of America, and theJLA/JSA team-ups as I knew them were vanquished from my life 30 years ago,leaving only its history, its memories, and its nostalgia. And for all the researchI’ve put into this article, all the focus I’ve maintained to make this a thoroughhistory of JLA/JSA team-ups published during the Bronze Age, it is also anexcursion in my own personal nostalgia.

SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE JLA/JSA’S BRONZE AGEFox’s JLA tales were plot- and puzzle-driven, two of Schwartz’s editorialtrademarks, and not character-driven, a “trademark” of DC during the Silver Ageof comics. Writer Denny O’Neil changed all that when he took over the book in1968 with JLA #66 (Nov. 1966), although it took a few issues for the changes tokick into gear. During the transition period from Silver to Bronze Age, 1968–1969,O’Neil had Diana Prince–Wonder Woman take a leave of absence (#69), J’onn J’onzz,the Martian Manhunter leave to seek out his fellow Martian refugees (#71),and Green Arrow become the social conscience of the League. Although theBronze Age formally began in 1970, O’Neil’s first JLA/JSA team-up in the summerof 1969 set a new standard for the annual crossover by adding emotional punchand a surprising new addition to the JLA.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #73 (Aug. 1969)“Star Light, Star Bright—Death Star ISee Tonight!”JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #74 (Sept. 1969)“Where Death Fears to Dread!Writer: Denny O’Neil. Artists: Dick Dillin andSid Greene. Editor: Julius Schwartz.Justice League of America: Superman,Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, GreenArrow, the Atom, Hawkman. Justice Society ofAmerica: Black Canary, Dr. Fate, WonderWoman, Green Lantern, Dr. Mid-Nite,Superman, Red Tornado, Starman. Villain:Aquarius. Guest-star: Larry Lance.

B r o n z e A g e E v e n t s I s s u e • B A C K I S S U E • 1 5

TM &

© D

C C

omic

s.

by J i m K i n gman

1 6 • B A C K I S S U E • B r o n z e A g e E v e n t s I s s u e

The Council of Living Stars banishes oneof its own, the manic-depressive Aquarius,reducing it to nearly powerless energy todrift through the universe, where it growseven more psychopathic. Thus the dawningof the rage of Aquarius eventually finds itsway to Earth-Two. Absorbing the energyof Starman’s cosmic rod and the power ofone of Dr. Fate’s spells, Aquarius regainshis strength and toys with the citizens ofa major city. The Justice Society, along withDinah (Black Canary) Lance’s husband,detective Larry Lance, battle Aquarius. Butthe star’s powers have reached a cosmiclevel, and Aquarius sends all of Earth-Two tooblivion, its entire existence hanging by athread in the memories of the remaining members of the JSA, who aresheltered in a life-sustaining bubble conjured by Dr. Fate. Unknown toAquarius, Fate is able to send the android Red Tornado across the dimen-sional barriers between Earth-One and Earth-Two, in hope that the onlyremaining JSAer can bring the Justice League of America to the JSA’s aid.

This was a nice setup for the climatic battle in JLA #74, a battle unlikeany other depicted in JLA before. The JLA travel to Earth-Two and areforced into a skirmish with their friends in the JSA, who Aquarius hasbrainwashed to attack them. Since Earth-Two Green Lantern’s power ringhas been depleted after a two-week long stay in the bubble, Hal (GreenLantern) Jordan easily subdues him and uses his power ring to bringAquarius to them. Aquarius responds by sending a deadly spheroid todestroy our heroes, and Black Canary becomes trapped as it threatens tofatally roll over her. Seeing his wife’s life threatened, Larry breaks freeof Aquarius’ mind control and rushes to Dinah’s aid, leaping infront of the spheroid to take the blow himself, sacrificing hislife. Meanwhile, the JLA and JSA are successful in bringingEarth-Two back to reality. Aquarius escapes.

It doesn’t get any more heartbreaking thanthese words: “—a large world is saved … and asmall world, a private world of love and devotion,ends forever!” Coupled with the sequential visualof Black Canary’s growing agony that her husbandis dead, it is one of the most dramatic scenes insuperhero comics up to that time. Even thoughLarry Lance was not a familiar character, youcouldn’t help but feel Dinah’s devastating loss.The combined JLA and JSA eventually defeatAquarius, of course (the GLs lead Aquarius intothe anti-matter universe where he is promptlydestroyed), and a mourning Black Canary chooses to leave Earth-Twofor Earth-One to start a new life.

“A few years ago,” recalls writer Martin Pasko, “I reread severalJLA/JSA stories when I was asked to write an introduction for one ofthe volumes of DC trade paperbacks that collected the team-upschronologically. I was surprised by how much more I appreciated JLA#73–74 than when it first came out, when I’d had my usual, hypercriticalcomments about them published in the letter columns. Whatimpressed me most was the refreshing contrast between Fox’s scriptsas heavily rewritten by Julie—all plot-plot-plot, gimmick-gimmick-gimmick, starring superheroes with interchangeable (or non-existent)personalities—and Denny’s attempt at giving the characters emotionallives and extracting drama from their feelings.

“That probably sounds like a strange remark to the younger readers,because what I seem to be heralding as an achievement is simplyWriting 101, and we take it for granted in comics today. But backthen, at least in the DC books edited by the ‘old guard’ like Julie,Mort Weisinger, and Murray Boltinoff, it was a novelty. The idea ofBlack Canary leaving Earth-Two to move to Earth-One to get overher grief at the loss of her husband was a development motivatedby a personal human drama, rather than a science-fiction gimmick.That was almost revolutionary in JLA and, on rereading it, I thoughtit was nicely executed for its time. So was Denny’s treatment of RedTornado—specifically, the whole why-am-I-not-supposed-to-have-feelings-just-because-I’m-an-android shtick.”

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #82(Aug. 1970)“Peril of the Paired Planets”

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #83(Sept. 1970)“Where Valor Fails … Will MagicTriumph?”Writer: Denny O’Neil. Artists: Dick Dillinand Joe Giella. Editor: Julius Schwartz.Justice League of America: Superman,Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern,Green Arrow, Black Canary, the Atom,Hawkman. Justice Society of America:Superman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Red Tornado,the Flash, Green Lantern, Dr. Fate, JohnnyThunder and his Thunderbolt, Hawkman,the Spectre. Villain: Creator2.

The story opens with the Supermanof Earth-One flying uncontrollably overMetropolis. He eventually crashes throughthe pavement, where he lands unconsciouson a subway rail. The JLA is notified and he istransported to the JLA satellite for treatment,where it is determined that magic is involvedin his fall. Suddenly, Batman collapses. Thescene shifts to a one-page explanation ofEarth-One and Earth-Two (my first suchexplanation; I had no problem followingit). Now on Earth-Two we shift a few hours

into the past, where the Red Tornadoinvestigates the arrival of a

mysterious spaceship. He iscaptured and brought to Creator2, a cosmic contractor

who intends to destroy Earths-One and -Two and then usethe empty space to construct a new planet. A powerfulmagnetic device is installed in Reddy’s head, and theandroid is positioned in the transition zone betweendimensions where he acts as a conduit bringing thetwo worlds together.

Creator2 then unleashes web-snares to subdue theJSA, a potential threat to his plans, and “matrix corrections”

to accomplish both Earths’ destruction. The web-snarefells the Superman of Earth-Two (at which point theSuperman of Earth-One begins his rampage, as thereis a link between the two); Dr. Mid-Nite is downed(at which point Batman collapses); and the Flash of

Earth-Two is ensnared (and down goes the Flash of Earth-One). Earths-Oneand -Two brush together, and opposites shimmer into view, ignitingfear in the populace. The JSA hold an emergency meeting to discuss acourse of action (the Spectre attends this meeting; keep that in mind).Champing at the bit, Starman soars off to find their missing friends.

On Earth-One, Green Lantern and Green Arrow answer Hawkman’ssummons; the Atom learns via computer that Earth-Two is being pulledinto Earth-One’s dimension; GL confirms that the transition zone is closing;Atom considers any possible link between the two; and Black Canary,formerly of Earth-Two, considers herself that link and contemplatessuicide to save both worlds. Thus ends JLA #82, and it would be fiveyears before I read the concluding installment.

I began purchasing comic-book back issues in 1975, and my first orderthrough Richard Alf’s outfit in San Diego included Justice League of America#83 (not to mention JLA #92). Alf ran an advertisement in DC comics atthat time and I probably selected him because San Diego was closer toPasadena, California; I most likely would receive the comics I ordered soonerthan those unfamiliar cities advertising from the East Coast. I was finallyable to read how two Earths survived (it was obvious they had, of course,but I didn’t know how). Creator2 has had it with the JSA thwarting his plan ofbuilding a new world by destroying Earths-One and -Two so he unleashesadditional snare nets on the entire JSA in their secret sanctuary. One by onethe Society members fall, and when Hawkman is ensnared his counterpartcollapses. But it is Green Lantern who suffers the greatest setback. He ison the verge of rescuing the Red Tornado (who he calls the JSA’s “pet

dennis o’neil

TM &

© D

C C

omic

s.

This is the only JLA/JSA crossover that featuresmembers of the JLA and their exact counterparts:

Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, and Hawkman.An alien boy, A-Rym, and his pet, Teppy, are separatedin the dimensional space between Earths-One and-Two, with the boy catapulted to Earth-Two and thepet to Earth-One. This disconnection of their symbioticrelationship will result in the deaths of both if they

are not reunited in 37 1/2 Earth hours. The separation also affects theirpsyche and drives them to violent behavior. The Flash encountersTeppy and is nearly killed by the creature. Green Lantern of Earth-Twoconfronts A-Rym, and the boy steals his power ring. With that, it is amission for the Justice League and Justice Society of America.

The JLA and JSA form two teams to deal with each Earth’s threat.The Earth-One group—Flash of Earth-Two, the two Supermen, and thetwo Atoms—are successful in capturing Teppy. However, the Earth-Twoteam—Green Lantern, the two Hawkmen, and the Robins of Earths-One and -Two (soon joined by the Earth-Two Flash and Earth-OneSuperman)—do not fare as well. A-Rym injures an overzealous Robin ofEarth-One. The alien boy goes on to encounter and find a friend inSolomon Grundy, the marshland monster of Slaughter Swamp.

When I started collecting comics in the spring of 1972, I came in justbefore the release of JLA #100. In fact, my first issue of JLA as a collector was#98. But my second was #91, the first part of 1971’s JLA/JSA team-up.Sometime during the early weeks of my collecting, I stumbled upon arack of comics sold in two-in-one-plastic-bags at a local Pantry market inPasadena. Inside one of them were JLA #91 and Batman #234. Both comicshad an August cover date. I was confused. Comic books couldn’t possiblypublish their runs backwards! I bought the pack, and was surprised to findthat I had purchased two comics released in June of 1971. They had beenon that comics rack in a major super market for 11 months. As with JLA #82,I had an exciting, not to mention unexpected, JLA/JSA story to add to mybudding collection. But as with JLA #83, the second part of 1970’s JLA/JSAteam-up, I had no way of acquiring #92. That, of course, changed in 1975.

In JLA #92, Grundy defeats the JLA and JSA heroes, and Robin has hisdamaged uniform temporarily replaced with a different costume (designedby artist Neal Adams) provided by the Earth-Two Robin. His ring returned,Earth-Two’s Green Lantern teams with Hal Jordan to defeat Grundy andimprison him in Slaughter Swamp. A-Rym is finally captured but on theverge of death. The two Robins realize that the boy may be saved by beingbrought together with the creature on Earth-One. Happily reunited (andregaining their health, too), A-Rym and Teppy are then retrieved by their

android”; apparently, hard-traveling time on the road with Green Arrow inGL/GA had made the Emerald Crusader a little testy), but when his Earth-Two counterpart becomes imprisoned in a wooden cage, GL is stoppedin his tracks and can no longer move. Under circumstances he cannotexplain, Hal doesn’t trust using his ring, and doom for all draws closer.

Dr. Fate has a desperate plan, and it’s a move that really throws the storyfor a loop. He, Johnny Thunder, and Johnny’s Thunderbolt travel to a cemeterywhere the Spectre is imprisoned in a tomb. Apparently, the Spectre hasbeen trapped there for some time. (But how is that possible? The Spectreattended the JSA meeting in the previous issue!) The Spectre has his own plan,and he, Dr. Fate, and Thunderbolt head off to outer space to confrontCreator2 directly. The Spectre enlarges himself and wedges his essencebetween the two worlds, while Fate and Thunderbolt make a direct assaulton Creator2’s spaceship. Fate is injured, and Thunderbolt cannot tacklethe deed alone. Fate is able to exert a devastating spell that destroys theship, Creator2, and his minions. With the threat vanquished, the devicein Reddy’s head is disabled and the worlds pull safely apart. However, theforce of the retraction tears the Spectre apart, and with a tear in his eyehe is destroyed. Fate sends a message of explanation to Red Tornado,who fills in Green Lantern. Meanwhile, on Earth-One, with the threataverted, the Black Canary no longer needs to contemplate suicide.

I asked Denny O’Neil if he had a problem juggling so manycharacters, and if there were there ones he was particularfond of. He seemed to like Dr. Mid-Nite, making himan equivalent to Batman in JLA #82. “I responded to theDoc because I remember reading his stories as a kid,”O’Neil explains. “And generally, I’m not a big fanof large casts. I guess I want a tight plot focus—recognizable hero and antagonist, clear conflicts,complete resolutions. Hard to do that stuff with a mob.”

I also mentioned to O’Neil his giving the Spectre amajor role in JLA #83 and then killing him off. Did hehave an issue with the character, or was he just tryingto top JLA #74? “I was never fond of the Spectre,”replies O’Neil. “I seem to resist the supernatural and,let’s face it, it’s hard to get a dead hero into trouble.”

It is posited in The Official Justice League of AmericaIndex #3 (May 1986) that the Spectre journeyed to Earth-One wherehe reformed and continued as a spirit of vengeance in Adventure Comics#431–440 (this would also explain hisEarth-One team-ups with Batman in TheBrave and the Bold). The Ghostly Guardianwould return to Earth-Two to help resurrectmembers of the Justice Society, thus clearingthe JLA for their murders in JLA #123–124.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #91(Aug. 1971)“Earth—The Monster Maker!”

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #92(Sept. 1971)“Solomon Grundy—The One and Only!”

Writer: Mike Friedrich. Artists: Dick Dillinand Joe Giella. Editor: Julius Schwartz.Justice League of America: Superman,the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, theAtom. Guest-star: Robin. Justice Societyof America: Superman, Robin, the Flash,Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Atom.Villain: Solomon Grundy. Supportingcharacters: A-Rym and Teppy.

Writer Mike Friedrich brought a younger,hipper sensibility to his JLA stories, and forhis only JLA/JSA team-up he focused on thephysical, mental, and emotional links thatbind us, and how easily those connectionscan be broken and the harm it could cause.He also provided a nod to the countercultureat that time by highlighting the generationalgap of attitudes in some of the youngerand older superheroes.

Fly, Robin, FlyRobins of TwoWorlds meet—and the Earth-OneTeen Wonder sportsthese Neal Adams-designed threadsthat the Earth-Twoversion would soonclaim as his ownin the pages ofAll-Star Comics.From JLA #92.TM & © DC Comics.

mike friedrich



Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars was a comic-book/toy crossover event of massive proportions that influencedcomics publishing forever. Written by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, penciled by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton(various issues), and inked by John Beatty, this epic-scale,12-issue maxiseries ran between 1984 and 1985. Thisseries came about as the result of a toy line that MattelToys wanted to create to offset a DC-character-basedseries of action figures created by rival company Kenner.While Marvel Comics, under Shooter’s leadership, profitedhugely from it, their business partner, Mattel, missed outon significant product development and was unable tocapitalize on this relationship for a number of reasons:communication issues, differences in creative vision,and economic factors. Mattel was unable to do with thetoys what Marvel did with the series: create a memorableproduct that would resonate in the hearts and minds ofits customers for years to come.

There were some astounding and significant after-effectsof Jim Shooter’s monumental series on the rest of theMarvel Universe: the new direction of the Fantastic Four,the heart-rending breakup of Kitty Pryde and PeterRasputin, Spider-Man’s black costume … and others.

To briefly summarize the plot of Marvel Super HeroesSecret Wars, an assortment of superheroes, including theteams of the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Fouras well as Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man(James Rhodes, rather than Tony Stark) are abducted bya seemingly omnipotent cosmic being known as theBeyonder. Transported to a composite planet made upof sections taken from other planets (including Earth),they are set against a collection of abductedvillains, including the Wrecking Crew, Dr.Doom, Dr. Octopus, the Lizard, Kang theConqueror, Ultron, the Absorbing Man,the Enchantress, and the Molecule Man.Towering above this cadre of villainsis the all-powerful Galactus. As Dr.Doom puts it, it is a gathering offorces, as if for war. The story sees aseries of colossal battles between thesetwo forces, which culminates in astruggle against Doom, who claims theBeyonder’s power for his own. After heis defeated, the Beyonder retrieves hislost power, and the heroes and villainsmake their way back to Earth.

Jim Shooter’s tenure as Marvel’s editor-in-chief may havebeen controversial, but the fact remains that one of hislegacies was the creation of this epic series that fundamen-tally shaped the direction of the publishing company heworked for and arguably influenced the nature of comicpublishing for the future. The richly creative days of the ’80s

To Infinity and Beyond(er)The iconic Mike Zeck/John Beatty cover

to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1(May 1984). ’Nuff said!

TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

jim shooter

by J o h n K . K i r k

TM

were ripe for new developments and agreements, and thatequally applied to the novel concept of licensing deals.

Shooter was quick to pounce on theseopportunities, particularly with licensing.Marvel had outstanding deals with othertoy companies with properties like ROM(Parker Brothers), the Micronauts (MegoToys), and G.I. Joe (Hasbro). In his blogpost on www.jimshooter.com, “Rightingthe Ship,” Shooter states that he tookthe job as Marvel’s EIC with the goalof “improving things for the company.”Looking for franchise opportunities andpartnerships formed a part of thisimprovement matrix. Secret Wars wasa part of this mindset, and while itis conceivable that Shooter couldhave tracked down the opportunityon his own, it was Mattel Toys that approached Shooterwith the idea of licensing characters to market a newtoy line of action figures and playsets. Shooter’s bio onwww.illustratedmedia.com, however, gives him full creditfor this and states that, “In the mid-1980s, with Mattel,Shooter developed a highly successful toy line based onMarvel characters called Marvel Super Heroes SecretWars for Mattel Toys. The accompanying comic seriesproved to be one of the best-selling of all time.” It was,but the same can’t be said for the toy line. However,it is widely acknowledged that Shooter dominated thedirection of Secret Wars … when said, it was prettymuch “all him.”

What about the effect of the toys? How much of aninfluence did they have on the direction or even thesales of this maxiseries? If the purpose of the comic was topromote the toy line and provide an obvious directionfor these toys, then wouldn’t there have been somesort of reciprocal communication between the creativeteams at Mattel and Marvel? Mike Zeck, the lead artiston Secret Wars, tells BACK ISSUE, “I still saw no indicationthat Mattel was in any way involved with the directionof the comics. If they were, it’s news to me.”

If we take a closer look at the toys and the significantdevelopments in the Secret Wars storyline, we candetermine what sort of a creative effect they had on eachother. The creation of the toys was an operation that seemedto evince no sense of coordination between the twoparties; as a result, the sales of the toys languished andthe editorial direction the comics eventually foundthemselves heading in contained very little trace ofMattel’s influence, based on what form the toys took.Marvel Comics held the dominant share of creativeeffort for this cooperative venture and it was MarvelComics that reaped the reward.

CREATIVE DIRECTIONThough the purpose of the series was to support the toyline, by January of 1985 the series had significant tractionand was approaching the point where it wasn’t fulfillingits original purpose as a showcase for the toys, butperforming as a majorly successful comic title in its own

right. The toy line’s sales were dwindling, yet sales ofthe comic-book series were reaching critical mass. Whatstarted as a marketing gimmick was becoming one ofthe most prolific comic series ever made, with publicationnumbers, according to Bradford Wright’s Comic BookNation, reaching the 800,000 monthly issue mark.

Tom DeFalco, the maxiseries’ editor, had a somewhatdifferent perspective on the combined editorial andmarketing conversation between Marvel and Mattel. In aninterview on Marvel.com, he recounted that Mattel haddone some research and decided that the words “Secret”and “Wars” had to be used in a comic book to supportone of their toy lines. A focus group poll of boys in theright target age had determined that these were keywords in a title that would seize their interest. DeFalcocountered Mattel’s initial insistence on writing anotherbook by stating that Marvel already had a number ofsuccessful titles that could be used instead of coming upwith a totally new one. Also, he pushed for the title to besimply “Marvel Super Heroes.” The two sides compromisedand came up with the title we know today and that therewould be a new comic. Later on in the interview, DeFalcosaid,. “[Marvel] finally agreed to do a tie-in called MARVELSUPER HEROES SECRET WARS. Once Marvel agreed todo a tie-in title and told Mattel who was going to be init, they backed off and let us do our thing.”

From this can we conclude that Mattel limited itsinvolvement in the creation and direction of the comicthat was supposed to be the instructional guide fortheir toys? This is a hard question to answer, but EliotR. Brown, who was on staff at Marvel at the time,recalls that Jim Shooter lamented the idea of Marvel


Home of He-ManMattel’s El Segundo,California, head-quarters, in 2012.

Versus the Dreaded Deadline DoomThis photograph taken by and courtesy of

Eliot Brown shows (left to right) Art Nichols,Keith Williams, and Mike Zeck at the

Roosevelt Hotel’s Penthouse Suite, slavingaway on a Secret Wars deadline.

mike zeck



“Ever since I began here at Marvel, I’ve been gettingsuggestions—hundreds and hundreds in the mail,from readers—that a lot of our major characters,or all of our major characters, should be togetherin one story,” Jim Shooter (then-editor-in-chiefof Marvel Comics) told Jim Salicrup in ComicsInterview #14 (Aug. 1984). “We have another seriesin the works that’s related. I guess you could call it a‘sequel.’ For the moment we’re calling it Secret Wars II,but that’s more of a joke than anything else, because Iswore I’d never do anything like this again.”

THE WAR CONTINUESMarvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 (May 1984) usheredin the “Event Age.” The Beyonder, a mysterious entity fromanother universe—where he was that entire universe—became aware of us when an unknown event opened apinhole from our universe into his. Intrigued, he setMarvel’s premier characters upon a patchwork planet,“Battleworld,” and urged them to fight. Enjoyable as itwas seeing the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spidey,and the Hulk team up against some of Marvel’s biggestvillains, and watching Dr. Doom—as usual—play outsidethe box and turn the tables on everyone, many questionswere left unanswered. Who is the Beyonder? What eventgave him access to our universe? To where did he(and Dr. Doom) disappear at the end of the 12-issuemaxiseries? “From the very beginning I planned a sequel,”Shooter explained in Marvel Age #27 (June 1985). “In thepresentation I gave two-and-a-half years ago, the lastparagraph described the ideas I had for a sequel.Naturally, if Secret Wars had been a disaster, we probablywould have forgotten about ever doing Secret Wars II.But the twelve-issue series was one of the best-sellingcomics in several decades. So naturally we are going togo on and do SWII.” Once again, Jim Shooter was thewriter and Sal Buscema was scheduled for art duties.

Secret Wars II #1 (July 1985) was published threemonths after the conclusion of the first series but, on hisblog, Shooter emphatically denied that the sequel wasrushed: “We knew from direct sales orders more than amonth before #1 of the first SW series that the numberswere huge. Therefore, we planned a sequel immediately,more than a year before SWII #1. We were absolutelynot ‘rushing out a sequel.’ Rushing had nothing to dowith the quality of my work. Yes, I had plenty to do asEIC and writing SWII tested my limits of endurance,but I guarantee you, it was the best I can do. If I’d hadmore time I would have slept more, but I doubt that thewriting would have been better. The artists, Al Milgromand Steve Leialoha, probably wished they had moretime, but artists always do. The main problem there wasthat Sal Buscema lost us a month.”

In the Marvel Age interview, Shooter stated, “SalBuscema was originally slated to draw it, but the onlytrouble with Sal is that he’s in Virginia. And this bookrequires such tight continuity that it is difficult to workwith someone so far from New York City. So there wasnothing wrong with Sal, only where he was living.”

The Beyonder’s BackMutants and Avengers gather on the John Byrne/Terry Austin cover to Secret Wars II #1 (July 1985).


by J a r r o d B u t t e r y

TM

caricature of writer SteveGerber, who had an acri-monious split from Marvelsome years prior and who,in an interview in ComicsJournal #41 (Aug. 1978), haddecried the superficialityand hypocrisy of the media.“I remember vaguely thatsequence but I don’tremember drawing Steve—but that doesn’t mean Ididn’t!” admits Milgrom.

Cadwall entreats theBeyonder for the powerto change things. TheBeyonder transforms himinto the armored andarmed Thundersword (cf.Gerber’s sword-wieldingcartoon character, Thundarr)who, astride his flyinghorse Boromir (tip of thehat to Valkyrie’s flyinghorse, Aragorn), proceedsto gratuitously raze down-town L.A.—opposed bythe X-Men, New Mutants,Iron Man, and CaptainAmerica. The villaindefeated, Captain Americastrides away, unaware thathe’s being followed….

And so, the crossoversbegin. Editor Bob Budianskywas responsible for theircoordination and tells BACKISSUE, “As for connectingSWII to other Marvel books,yes, that was always theplan. SWII was seen as apotentially huge seller anda great way to bring otherMarvel books to readers’attention by tying them intothe SWII storyline. I don’tremember specifics. I’m sure

Jim and I met with the rest of the editorial staff at thebeginning of planning SWII and we broadly mappedout how different characters would be involved andhow their books’ storylines would be affected. And thenthose editors would have to run the plots to those

crossover books by me so I could make sure everythingwas consistent with what was happening in SWII.”

Budiansky was asked if he contributed to the over-all storyline: “Probably more than most books I editedduring my years at Marvel, I felt like more of a caretakerthan an editor on SWII. Jim Shooter had very definite

ideas of what he wanted to do with the series. The Beyonder was Jim’s baby,so I left it to him to figure out what he wanted to do with the character.Perhaps I suggested a few character details as the series proceeded, but I

Sal Buscema remembers the book and explains to BACK ISSUE, “Yes, Iwas asked to pencil SWII. When I received the first plot I was givendetailed instructions on how to lay out the book. [I] penciled the firstbook and realized these restrictions prevented me from doing my best work.I declined the rest of the project for this reason, explaining that I thoughtsomeone else would do a better job under these circumstances. Thebook I penciled was redone.” When asked if he still had any of thepages, Buscema replies, “I’m afraid they’re long gone.”

Gone but not lost.As of this writing, Marvelhas advance-solicited theMarvel Super Heroes SecretWars: Battleworld Box SetSlipcase, reprinting bothseries, most of the cross-overs, and many extras—including “the originalversion of SWII #1 by SalBuscema.” For those witha spare $500 US.

Al Milgrom recalls, “I gotalong very well with JimShooter. At a MarvelChristmas party I wastalking to him and I said,‘One of these days you andI have to work together.’[Author’s note: At this time,Buscema had penciled SWII#1.] I don’t know the exactdetails but Jim wantedsome changes in the firstissue and Sal didn’t want tohave to go back and revisitstuff and do it over. So Jimasked if I’d like to take overon SWII. And I said, ‘Sure,I’d love to,’ and he said itwouldn’t be fair, if you’regoing to do the whole restof the series, for you not toget the royalties on thefirst issue—which would bethe bestselling issue. And Ireplied, ‘But Sal’s goodand it seems a shame towaste an entire issue byhim,’ and Jim said, ‘That’sokay, it’s gonna make a lotof money, we can afford towrite off one set of pencils.’So a friendly conversationabout working togethersome time in the futureturned into workingtogether right away—andsince the first issue had to be redrawn, we lost aconsiderable amount of lead time as well. So it wasright under the gun the whole time.”

EARTHFALL!In Secret Wars II #1, the Beyonder falls to Earth near thehome of Owen Reece (the Molecule Man) and MarshaRosenberg (Volcana). He tells Owen, “I desireexperience!” Marsha suggests he should go to L.A.:“You can experience everything there!” The Beyondertravels to Hollywood and is drawn to the rantings ofdisgruntled scriptwriter, Stewart Cadwall. Cadwall is in themiddle of a telephone tirade about the pablum served up by the networks:the phony drama, car chases, and violence without consequences.According to the Comic Book Resources webpage, Cadwall is a thinly veiled


Behold … the BeyonderJohn Byrne original art, courtesy of Heritage ComicsAuctions (www.ha.com), to a Secret Wars II promoposter. (Yes, those are Jheri Curls!)TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

AL MILGROM


by R o b e r t G r e e n b e r g e r

TM

In January 1986, comic-book readers were treated to the largest companyreboot ever before attempted, one clearly with as much impact as the New52 relaunch had on modern-day readers in September 2011. It’s hard tobelieve that three decades have passed since this seminal event, which lefta legacy of financial imperatives and creative challenges that have becomeroutine. As a result, fans arriving after Crisis on Infinite Earths have no senseof the mammoth displacement this had on all that had come before.

A refresher course, therefore, is required at the outset. Comic booksdidn’t have much of any sort of shared universe until the 1960s.Prior to that, characters gathered in the same story as seen in thecolossal battle between the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner. Even afterAll-American Comics and National Comics gathered their premiereheroes in All-Star Comics #3 as the Justice Society, their adventures werenever reflected in their host series.

That all changed with Stan Lee and the Marvel Universe whenSpider-Man showed up at the Baxter Building, hoping to get hiredby the Fantastic Four. Suddenly, characters, both friend and foe,were bleeding across titles, a feat slowly imitated by DC Comics. DC thendid Marvel one better by borrowing the concept of paralleluniverses from science-fiction stories and had the GoldenAge Flash meet his Silver Age counterpart in Flash #123in 1961, a story that slowly kicked off a trend we’re stillseeing used (or overused, if you ask some) today.

As the parallel-worlds concept proved popular withreaders, some of whom were reading the comics in theiradulthood and remembering the earlier generation ofheroes, editor Julie Schwartz rolled the dice and had

Worlds Will Live, Worlds Will DieThe utterly astounding Crisis on Infinite Earths limited editionprint from 2000, illustrated by George Pérez and Alex Ross.TM & © DC Comics.


the legendary JSA meet their modern-day counterparts in “Crisis onEarth-One!” and “Crisis on Earth-Two!”, seen in 1963’s Justice Leagueof America #21–22. The two-part story sold very well and became anannual event until the 1980s, each story using “Crisis” in its title.

“A CONFUSING BARRIER”By 1981, DC had a growing number of parallel worlds, and even Marvelbegan having various universes, without the strict sense of numberingthem (that came later). But, by then, the young, energetic Jenette Kahn wasrunning DC and felt the concept was a confusing barrier to new readers.When writer Marv Wolfman suggested in 1981 that something be done tostreamline the continuity, she was all ears. Their discussions, later involvingeditor Len Wein and executive editor Dick Giordano, evolved into amega-story slated for the company’s looming 50th anniversary in 1985.

It had been made clear that the story had to clean the slate in a waynever before attempted. The story had a cosmic sweep to it and wasinitially considered to be The History of the DC Universe, but as thecreative imperatives grew, the title no longer fit. Instead, the idea of

collapsing the multiverse into a single DC Universe sounded likemuch more of a, ahem, crisis.

Plans were slow to form, but to signal this was noordinary event, a character dubbed “the Monitor” began

mysteriously appearing throughout the line, beginningin the summer of 1982. He could be found not only in thecore superhero line but in Jonah Hex and G.I. Combat,implying he was traversing time and space, so what-ever he wanted, it had to be something important.

Marvel Comics, meantime, heard what washappening at DC and set out to steal some of their

commercial thunder. A moribund toy-line tie-in comicwas released as Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars,noteworthy for being a company-wide crossoverwith “permanent” changes to the characters,although the only really long-lasting change was thearrival of a black Spider-Man costume, which later

turned out to be a sentient being better known now as Venom.DC’s announced plans included not one book, but two: Crisis on InfiniteEarths and Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe.Again, Marvel launched its own directory known as The Official Handbookof the Marvel Universe, released in 1983, scooping DC by two years.

Clearly, readers were in for something special. It was discussed thatnot only would the multiverse be forever altered but substantial changeswould happen throughout the lineup of heroes and villains. Nothing onthis sort of scale had been attempted by a comics publisher before.

It was also something that had never been attempted on a creativelevel. DC Comics executives in the mid-1950s thought it had been longenough since the heyday of the superhero and that it might be worthtrying again. And when Showcase #4, starring the Flash, sold wellenough, management took a slow approach. Flash appeared in fourscattered issues before being returned to his own title, but when DCtried to replicate that success with Green Lantern, they wisely gave himthree consecutive issues of Showcase. As a result, it was a few yearsbefore there were enough revived characters to populate the JLA.

Crisis on Infinite Earths’ format of a self-contained maxiseries wasstill a relatively new concept at the time, and previously, DC’s onlyother maxi-series were titles like Camelot 3000, which were set out-side any continuity. A 12-part story featuring nearly every characterthe publisher possessed was a herculean task.

Today, the notion of editorial and writer retreats where years of eventsare sketched out grew out of the Superman Summits which didn’t beginuntil 1990 or so. In 1984, when Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and I sat forweekly lunches to hammer out how the Crisis could take shape and whowould be affected, we were treading in unknown waters. Three guys in a

marv wolfmanPhoto credit: Alan Light.

The 1985 maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths left a new DC Universe in itswake. Crisis didn’t just reboot the DCU—it proved that crossover eventscould be very popular with readers. From 1986 on, DC instituted annualcrossover series. Where once the JLA and the JSA were enough to solve anyyearly crisis that occurred, now these stories spanned the entire breadthof the DCU. And as the years rolled on, they grew bigger and bigger.

THE MAKING OF LEGENDSIn 1986, DC’s multiple Earths had been merged down to one, but it wasan Earth still in need of expansion and definition. Reboots of Superman,Batman, and Wonder Woman were all underway, yet there was nothing todefine the new DCU at large. Robert Greenberger, who was at DC at thetime, says, “After Crisis proved such a success, Paul Levitz and Dick Giordanoheld a series of editorial meetings with an eye towards the post-Crisis universe.There was money to be made so at one time, every editor was taskedwith coming up with their own vision of a new company-wide crossover.The winner was the one without a name which, as readers now know,was Paul’s own pitch which became the ill-fated Crisis of the Soul. [Author’snote: For more of the story behind Crisis of the Soul, see BACK ISSUE #9.]

“Once it was clear editorial and many creators were not crazy aboutCrisis of the Soul, Dick realized he had a gap on the schedule that neededfilling. Since he was in the process of recruiting Mike Gold away fromFirst Comics, he asked Mike for ideas. Gold, in turn, brought JohnOstrander to the table and they brainstormed what became Legends.Dick had Len Wein come in to dialogue to ensure everyone soundedright and I was on board to coordinate, especially in the weeks beforeMike moved from Chicago and got settled into his new office.”

A limited cast made sense to editor Mike Gold, both as a way to keepthe series manageable and to differentiate it from Crisis. Gold wrote inLegends #1, “As a starting point, I thought the story should focus in oncharacters with legendary status. The word ‘legendary’ stayed in John’smind, triggering the word ‘Kirby,’ as in Jack Kirby, the legend who fusedan epic quality in the way we see superheroes. From there, we developeda springboard: Darkseid looks at Earth and is offended its residents createlegends out of heroes when the only legend they needed was Darkseid.”

As coordinating editor Greenberger explains, the goals of Legendswere fairly clear: “Much as it was understood the Big Three (Superman,Batman, and Wonder Woman) needed to be revamped as a result ofthe Crisis, the woefully underpowered JLA needed an infusion of majortalent. And we needed a Flash. Once obvious needs were identified,then we looked to see what might grow out of the story being told thatyear. As Legends grew and the JLA and Flash were slotted for spinning off,new-to-DC John Ostrander was promised a book spinning out as well,so he and I got to work and we came up with Suicide Squad. Roy Thomashad been champing at the bit for Captain Marvel, so it made sense toadd him to the mix” [for the Shazam!: The New Beginning miniseries].

As Crisis of the Soul morphed into Legends, original Soul pencilerJerry Ordway bowed out due to miscommunications as well asscheduling difficulties with the upcoming Adventures of Supermanseries. Incoming Superman writer/artist John Byrne was tapped to beOrdway’s replacement, but could only fit six issues into his schedule.John Ostrander condensed his Legends plot down from eight issues tosix, with the ever-creative Byrne suggesting revisions along the way.

Despite the change of creative personnel, the storyline of Legendsremained fairly stable. As Robert Greenberger recalls, “The series premisebarely changed although issue-to-issue elements evolved, especially asJohn Byrne began making more and more suggestions, like his dig at[the Marvel New Universe’s] Star Brand and Jim Shooter in the openingpages of issue #5, which was never in the plot.”

Byrne, Baby, Byrne!Signed John Byrne cover art to the 4th issue of Legends,DC’s follow-up to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Courtesy ofHeritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.


by J o h n Tr umbu l l

LEGENDSAs Legends opens, Darkseid, newly restored to the throne ofApokolips, decides that the best way to defeat Earth’s heroesis to destroy the legends around them. Once humanity’s faithin their heroes is shaken, they will be easily conquered byDarkseid’s forces. The Phantom Stranger disagrees with theLord of Apokolips, arguing that mankind’s love for its heroes istoo ingrained to ever be fully stamped out. Darkseid’s minionGlorious Godfrey is sent to Earth as pundit “G. GordonGodfrey,” where his powers of persuasion kickstart an anti-superhero movement.

Darkseid’s plan yields several early victories. Firestorm,Cosmic Boy, and Justice League Detroit are defeated by theflaming giant Brimstone; Billy Batson is duped into believing thathis alter ego Captain Marvel killed a villain with his magic lightning;and Robin (Jason Todd) is injured in an anti-superhero riot. In themidst of mounting violence, US President Ronald Reagan issuesan executive order outlawing superheroes until order is restored.Several heroes choose to defy the presidential edict, trying todo their jobs in spite of increasing public protests.

A total of 22 Legends tie-ins appeared over the course ofthe series, a modest number compared to the multiple Crisiscrossovers of 1985. The venerable Justice League of Americaended with issue #261 (Apr. 1987), as the Detroit Leaguedisbanded following the murders of Vibe and Steel. The March1987 Superman titles presented a three-part tale where anamnesiac Man of Steel is manipulated into serving Darkseid onApokolips. And Secret Origins explored the backgrounds ofsome of Legends’ characters, with four possible origins for thePhantom Stranger in #10 (Jan. 1987) and the full history of theSuicide Squad in #14 (May 1987).

Legends #3 (Jan. 1987) debuts the new Suicide Squad,as Amanda Waller and Col. Rick Flag recruit convicted super-villains such as Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Bronze Tiger,the Enchantress, and Blockbuster to go on life-threateningmissions in exchange for their freedom. Together, the groupmanages to destroy the rampaging Brimstone, with Blockbusteras the Squad’s first casualty (but far from the last).

The series climaxes at G. Gordon Godfrey’s rally on thesteps of the Lincoln Memorial, as the gathered heroes fight offDarkseid’s minions. An injured Robin leads a group of childrento convince the angry mob of the value of heroism. GloriousGodfrey’s lust for power ultimately defeats him when donningDr. Fate’s helmet overwhelms his mind. The public’s faith isrestored, and the presidential ban is rescinded.

After the battle, Dr. Fate proposes a new Justice Leagueto replace the disbanded group. Batman, Martian Manhunter,Guy Gardner, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, and Blue Beetleall agree to join, with Superman, the Flash, and Changelingagreeing to assist when needed. Wonder Woman slips awayunnoticed. With the rebirth of the Justice League, it becomesclear that Darkseid has lost his debate with the PhantomStranger. The Stranger tells Darkseid, “Instead of destroying theconcept of legends, you have merely reaffirmed it!”

Also reaffirmed was the DC Universe, with classic charactersrevamped for a new age. The miniseries Shazam!: The NewBeginning provided a post-Crisis origin for the World’s MightiestMortal, and the ongoing spin-offs all enjoyed healthy runs,with Suicide Squad lasting for 66 issues, the retitled JusticeLeague International lasting for 113, and Flash running for 233.The new DCU was off to a great start.

While Crisis had started DC’s company-wide crossovers,Legends crystallized the formula. Coming a year after Crisis,“Legends pretty much cemented that these were annualevents,” Robert Greenberger says. “They sold well, were easy tomarket, and allowed the company to freshen the lineup ina fairly orderly manner. It became expected that every yearthere would be a crossover and it was like a hot potato—some editors were eager to try their hand while others wantednothing to do with the coordination headache and dealingwith varying-sized egos.”


Hated Heroes(top) From the ashesof the aborted Crisisof the Soul arose the

DC crossover Legends.(bottom) President

Reagan puts thekibosh on caped

crusaders and the BoyWonder has lost hisfan club on the lastpage of Legends #2.

TM & © DC Comics.


It’s probably impossible to find a list ranking the greatest events in MarvelComics and not see The Infinity Gauntlet included. A simple Googlesearch proves that. If a website or publication has made that list, then oddsare pretty good that The Infinity Gauntlet isn’t just on it, but at the top.

It’s not hard to understand why. For starters, the story is beyondgrandiose. It’s not just superheroes confronting a supervillain. There areheroes, sure, and there are definitely villains. But there are also gods,celestials, living archetypes, physical embodiments of forces of nature,and scores of alien races all locked in cosmic combat, with some fightsbeing too much for mere mortals to even comprehend, let alone witness.

On top of being grandiose, the story is oddly straightforward. The stakesare clearly defined, the villain easy to root against, and the heroes properlychallenged. Sure, it makes for a richer reading experience if you trackdown and read a few story arcs from the 1970s, but you don’t actuallyhave to do that to enjoy or even understand anything that’s going on.Steeped in continuity, it’s actually perfectly crafted as a standalone.

Oh, and that villain we mentioned? He’s actually frighteninglycompetent and effectual. In the first issue of The Infinity Gauntlet, with asnap of his finger, he accomplishes his macabre goal of killing half ofall sentient life in the universe. Just like that, he achieves his objective.Before the story even really starts, Thanos the Mad Titan has already won.

And, despite its cosmic scale, The Infinity Gauntlet is a story that’sgrounded and simple. Thanos has become God and Earth’s heroes aim tochange that. That’s it. There are twists, turns, and swerves, but the story neverreally strays from being about two groups vying for one crazy, powerfulobject. It also manages to work in a few pretty amazing and quietcharacter moments, like when Captain America, surrounded by his deadfriends, delivers to an all-powerful Thanos one of the most memorableCaptain America quotes to date: “As long as one man stands against you,Thanos, you’ll never be able to claim victory.” Cap is backhanded to deaththree pages later, but that doesn’t negate that awesome moment.

However, despite being epic, despite being balls-to-the-wall action,despite just being a good story, the appeal of The Infinity Gauntlet andthe three major stories that followed has always been firmly rooted inthe affectations and voice of its architect, Jim Starlin. These were majortent-pole events, to be sure, but they were also direct continuations ofstories started (and ended in some cases) by Starlin all the way back inthe 1970s. The Infinity Saga, while easy to enjoy as a standalone story,is actually just another chapter in a larger tale told by the same visionary.In a landscape where creators stick with a book for maybe an arc ortwo and one that is historically inhospitable to older talent, there’ssomething special about that.

The Infinity Gauntlet and its sequels, The Infinity War and The InfinityCrusade, were also equal parts product of their time and perfectconfluence of many disparate events. While it’s fairly certain thatcharacters as rich as Thanos and Adam Warlock would have eventuallybeen resurrected under the pen and guidance of some other creator(and almost were), what’s uncertain is what would have happened if ithad not been handled by Jim Starlin under the volatile business andpublishing conditions of early-1990s Marvel.

THE SAGA OF THE INFINITY GAUNTLETThere had certainly been cosmic stories before The Infinity Gauntlet,The Infinity War, and The Infinity Crusade debuted. Jim Starlin evenpenned more than a few of them. His career was practically built onall things cosmic thanks to 1970s runs on Marvel books like CaptainMarvel and Warlock, and he continued the trend in his creator-ownedseries, Dreadstar. However, you’d be hard-pressed to find any as massivein scale as the books bearing the Infinity banner.

Cosmic CrisisWriter Jim Starlin illustrated this 1991 promo poster to

the Marvel crossover The Infinity Gauntlet.TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

by Ch r i s B r e n n aman

TM

Ron (Feb. Surpages to Infinity (left) Starlin

Joeand Lim Ron bycover 1990) (Feb.

#34Issue . ferSurSilverThe of pages

thein unfold to beganSaga Infinity

sStarlin’Jim (left) ReturnsStarlin

Gauntletissue Starlin George and multiple The Rubinstein. Ron

1991).(July GauntletInfinityThe of issue

firstthis in Starlin joinedPérez, George

scenes,crowd and charactersmultiple

ofmaster The (right)Rubinstein.

Joeand Lim Ron

niffinIehT,yy,lpmistuPhterasecnahc,dehsilbupnaevilasawretcarahcafIubirTTrgniviLehtotytinretE

have readers concludes, ahccimsocstillafotub

Waylnotoner’yehT

na,rr,aWaytiniffinIehT,tt,eltnuaGytinehwemosoemacatsaeltaedamyehoobesehtemitehtgnirudgnikcikdnnoyrryeveyllaretildna,yy,tinifnIdnalanu

from yone everof likes the seen have nIehTemitehtyB.llewsasretcarapuss09’-ylraes’levraMfoohWs’ohW

ehtotnidellupebtecniS.doohdoghwnaeM.esrevinuraWWaaniecnetsixeylbaifitsuj,sugaM

renewed gives ylihT.cigolerupfo

ytiniffinIehTdn.agasehtniere

gnieberewsko.neewtebnien

andGalactus edasurCytyiniffin,rr,etsororehrep

sonahTnahtrehtoenonhtiw,yy,arfes’htraE,tnevelevraMrojamasisihotlairtnotupsikcolraWWamadA,elihosetissihstes,s07’ehtmorfcrakcolrrlrofkcolraWWadnasonahTtayrygnay

persona, evil s arlock’WWarlock’Adam to form sehtnodoogdnallewllasdnuoss

TM

Cover

s’tisuhT.edisriehttatubpleht’nacseorehfoyhtrows’ehfieesoeritneehtgniudbusno

morfdevomergniebTheMagus. the persona,

-lautcatitub,ecarfus

Inc.Characters, vel Mar© & TM

Pérez.by Cover

of possessors various the TdaMehterehT.tseuQ

the into over carries then sehT.tahtegnahcottes

someone needs and alive oottahtnoisserpmiehtbeF(43#rerffeuSrevlilSehTThvolume third the of pages the

onfonoitcerruserehtotwhen off kick Things

,tuobaemackoobelacstuB.rr.ovaednegibasawand stories big are Crusade

,yy,p

EachGems. Infinity six the of stramstuotsujroselttabnatiT

Thanosminiseries two-issue the dnaseussiwefarofsnurryots

skillparticular Thanos’ with someone yltnerruceraelpoepynamorednusihtaeDsmeeS.)0991.b

series,ongoing his of volume niflesmihsonahTnahtrehtoen

witnessbears fer SurSilver the when :pacerryotskciuqaekattsrifs’telalahcuswohtuobaklatewerofeb

them putting stories, big all like and ,y,y

huPropsehT

into more once p

-egratogetherthem

y

quo.status new his ving preserninota,orehasasthgifsonahTrepuss’levraMfosuoigilereromarbotseganamnevednaagemO

peritnenasetaercsseddoGehtgnadsatsuJ.sseddoGehtfomrofolraWWafotnemidobmegnivilehtsiiht,mrofnevigssenkrads’kcolraWWa

nuecapsdnahtraEhtobfoseorehuoiverpehterehw,3991nidehsilbuhttsacevissameromnevenastrehTThhtiwsedulcnocygolirTTrytinifnIe

and that, All breach. cosmic the into ,yy,

dnatsapsnisrofg,niagaecnO.seorehehtfoynamhsawniaesidaraPdellactenalp,sugaMehtsasuoregehtnissendoogs’kcotaerhtehttuoemits

madAtrawhtotdetiehtwastnemllatsnisu.raWaytiniffinIehTna

dnaedasurruCyttyiniffinIedoppelgangers.and

tuo-llasiswolloftahWeffunssiesrevinuehtni

succeeds. he And Death. to half kill to plan: romantic nigebryotsehT.sonahT)1991yluJ(1#teltnuaG

onahTeestxeneWfirst the victorious, Thanos .ecnetopinmofotrohs

egotthguorbnehwdnaarevoyawwassdloh—r—ewoP

Mind, Gem—Space, Infinity of possessors various the

ff

abllamsaseestahtrawcimsocs’htraEfotsomgnidulcni,tuode

fingers, his of snap the ith Wsucceeds. gesture a as universe the in life all of half hetucexeotseraperpsonahTsasnehtswollofteltnuaGytiniffinIehT.)

1991nismeGytinifnIehtdnasogems.six all unite ever to person first

htiwsedulcnocseiresehT.gnihtonredleiwehtevigrehte,esrevinuehtfotecaftnereffida

andime, T, Realityy, Soul, Mind, EachGems. Infinity six the of

s’htraEfodna.seorehrepus

lifeall of half loveof gesture

ylddo,kradsihtsniagaraweytiniffinIehTs’

gems.

edamtilevraMconfines the beyond far olrrlaWWadnalervveaM

then till up then otsitradnaretirw.tnemetatsrednuimsoclevraMotsarerffeuSrevvelilSehTTh

nLoika.Pat by Photo

starlim ji

epic this did exactly how So, quo.status new his ving preser

TOGETHERPROJECT THE PUTTING

bdluowehtahtesnesfotrosaeSo Earth. planet little , tinyy, of confines rowrehtohtobderolpxenilratS,kcothe In now). till up even maybe (and otscimsoccinocitsomehtspahrepfofemanaedamnilratS,s07’ehtnIraednas0891etalehtnineve,c

Stahtyasotdna,rr,etirws’koobehtsscimoCCDtatnitsaretfaflevraMiJ,dnuoradellor0991emitehtyB

together?come epic

TOGETHER

koobehtnotupebtoreturn his upon So smlaerrehtodnasdlr

Captainof pages the neesdahscimocseiroehthtobsaflesmihrodnoyebsi,s0991ylrregnartsonsawnilratotdengissasaweH.stakcabsawnilratSm

epsihfostcepsalivednaolraWWamadA,tnetopinmoehTThs’2991siputxeN

the arlock WAdam and neteltnuaGytiniffinIehTraWWamadAdetcerruserauoiravdna(seorehrepus

ff aemocebottroffenaniytilanosretsacotteltnuaGytinifnIehtsesukcopustcatsrifsihfoenonI.rr.aWWayttyitninffinIe

Infinity ful all-powerthe of possessor iterdnadetaefedsonahThtiwsdttrawhtottsednmadriehtodkcolehtrednudetinu)seitiedcimsocsu

)?ytied(gniebdoogehttuotgnimocebnop

Gauntlet.Infinity mrafaotder

.natiTdaMehfopihsredaele

aMnihtnomtxennisdaedneebdahnosawerehT

characters cosmic reaches. cosmic

ahcehtgnirratsedamti,levraM

orB

likhtob,)2#launnAenO-nin-owTTwlevveraunnAsrrsegnngevveAnikcolraWWa(7791ecn

madA—hguoht,melborpthgilsenWAdam him: to associated most characters

that sense sort a made also it But ehthtiwdetaicossatsomretcarbdluowehtahtesnesfotrosae

B•eussIstnevEegAezno

.flesmihnilratSybdellehtsonahTdna,7#lasonahTdnakcolraWWa

Thanos.and arlock Wtworevisit would he

tsehtrafs’ynapmockoobehtnotupeb

96•EUSSIKCAB

BACK ISSUE #82“Bronze Age Events!” With extensive coverage of theAvengers/Defenders War, JLA/JSA crossovers, Secret Wars, Crisis’30th anniversary, Legends, Millennium, Invasion, Infinity Gauntlet,and more! Featuring the work of SAL BUSCEMA, DICK DILLIN,TODD McFARLANE, GEORGE PÉREZ, JOE STATON, LEN WEIN,MARV WOLFMAN, MIKE ZECK, and more. Plus an Avengers vs.Defenders cover by JOHN BYRNE.

(84 FULL-COLOR pages) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95

http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1193

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW,CLICK THE LINK TO ORDER THIS

ISSUE IN PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT!



back issue #82

Documents