COMIC DEEP DIVE

In 1976, DC Comics decided it was time they introduced a superhero of colour. Marvel had given Luke Cage his own title in 1972, and they also had the Black Panther and the Falcon, so DC had some catching up to do. A script was commissioned by Gerry Conway from long-time DC scribe, Robert Kanigher, and what he came up with was "The Black Bomber." In a similar vein to the 1970 movie "The Watermelon Man", directed by Melvin Van Peebles, the main character was a racist white guy, who took part in an experiment that caused him to turn into a black superhero in times of stress. Kanigher gives his side of the story below, but DC deemed it unusable. So they called on Tony Isabella and asked him if he could salvage The Black Bomber. Isabella considered Kanigher a friend and a big influence on his writing, but felt that he and Conway were too close to their concept to realise it had gone horribly awry. Instead, Isabella came up with Jefferson Pierce, whom he christened "...

Avengers #83 was the first of many comics to feature the Rutland Halloween Parade. It features cameos from Roy Thomas and his then wife Jean, dressed as Spider-man and Sue Richards, along with parade organiser, Tom Fagan. Tom Fagan helped start the Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont in 1960. A big comic fan, he always ensured there was a superhero theme, usually dressing as Batman, or Marvel's Batman analogue, Nighthawk. The first comic it was mentioned in was Detective Comics #327, from 1964. Fagan stayed at the Proctor-Clement house and would host big Halloween parties there. They were frequented by such comics luminaries as Roy & Jean Thomas, Gerry Conway, Len & Glynis Wein, Denny O'Neil, Marv Wolfman, Alan Weiss, Steve Englehart and more. Nowadays, the house is a B&B, and even mentions its place in comic history on their website: https://www.antiquemansionbb.com/mansions-vermont-history/ One of the best known stories featuring the Rutland Parade is Batman #237...

Above is Jack Kirby's depiction of Ragnarok from Thor #128 (1966) and the first page of New Gods #1 (1970). Kirby had a vague plan to end Thor and introduce the New Gods at Marvel, but due to continuing disagreements with Stan Lee, he kept the New Gods to himself until he could leave. There was just one problem; the only other game in town was DC Comics, and Jack believed he had been blacklisted there. In 1958, when Kirby was first working for DC Comics, he'd drawn a syndicated newspaper strip called Sky Masters of the Space Force, which had been brought to him by Jack Schiff, an editor at DC. Kirby agreed to pay Schiff a percentage of his earnings from the strip, as a kind of finder's fee. However, Kirby quickly realised he wasn't making any money from the strip because he had to pay the inkers out of his own pocket - initially that was Wally Wood, and later, Dick Ayers. Kirby refused to continue paying Schiff a cut of his earnings, offering him instead, a one-off ...

There was another instance where Kirby's original concept was changed, and that was with "Him", the character who would later become Adam Warlock. Him first appeared in Fantastic Four #66 & 67, the product of an experiment by a group of renegade scientists who wanted to create a race of perfect beings with whom they could take over the world. His visual appearance was inspired by the alien race, the Metrons, from the Star Trek episode, "Arena." Kirby clearly liked the name "Metron," as he'd later use the name for one of his New Gods. Kirby's concept for Him was quite different to what saw print, though. He was intended to be a commentary on Objectivism, Ayn Rand's "philosophy" that inspired much of Steve Ditko's later work, such as The Question and Mr. A. Kirby's original plot was for the scientists to create a being who embodied Objectivism completely, and would lead humanity towards enlightenment. Ultimately, though,...

By the time of the Silver Surfer's first appearance in Fantastic Four #48 (1965), Stan Lee had handed over much of the plotting of the book to Jack Kirby. The same had happened with Steve Ditko on Spider-man, except as of #25, Ditko actually received credit for it, unlike Jack. According to some accounts, Stan's plot for what would become Fantastic Four #48, 49 & 50 consisted of four words; "have them fight God." When Kirby delivered his pencilled pages for #48, Stan was surprised to see some guy on a flying surfboard. So the Surfer was entirely Kirby's creation. The question is, then, who was the Surfer? It seems apparent from his first appearance that the Surfer is not familiar with humanity. Our actions and our emotions are entirely alien to him. Even eating food seems completely irrational to him. Kirby had intended for the Surfer to be a being of pure energy, and thus he just converts matter directly into energy in order to consume it - like Galactus does...

Amazing Adventures #16, from 1972, is the start of the first ever Marvel/DC crossover... unofficially! Writer Steve Englehart was friends with Gerry Conway, who wrote Thor #207, and Len Wein, who wrote Justice League of America #103. Together, they cooked up a story in which they all co-starred. The three of them and Len's wife, Glynis, are driving to the Rutland Halloween parade. Steve's car loses its muffler, then they pick up a hitchhiker who happens to be Hank McCoy (the Beast). After dropping him off, they arrive at their host's house. (Tom Fagan, organiser of the parade.) During a trip to a diner, Glynis (dressed as Supergirl) goes missing. It's revealed in JLA that she is possessed by Felix Faust, and forced to battle the Justice League, along with other party goers dressed as superheroes. Finally, the JLA having defeated Felix Faust, in Thor #207, Glynis is reunited with her companions, only for Steve's car to be stolen by a mysterious stranger. In JLA, it w...