Wonder Woman in the 80s: the Dan Mishkin run

Wonder Woman is one of those titles I've always wanted to 'dive into' but never had the opportunity -- mainly because my early collection of DC comics contained a hodgepodge of Wonder Woman comics from different eras (i.e.,  a few pre-Crisis issues, a few post-Crisis issues, a few early 90s issues, a few post-Zero Hour issues, etc). Sure, I have a 'functional' knowledge of Wonder Woman -- from what I've picked up from Super Friends episodes and Justice League of America comics -- but it always seemed too daunting to read her books since I knew her history (and powers) had been retconned a few times too many. For this article, I'm going to ignore all that, just dive into it and simply accept it all at face value. This is where I actually sit down and read a whole run of consecutive Wonder Woman issues and give an honest-to-god review. This will be my FIRST time reading this, so I really have no preconceived opinions or biases here.


A bit of background:

Dan Mishkin took over as writer for Wonder Woman in mid-1982. Previously, it was Roy Thomas writing Wonder Woman, but he needed to drop the title due to his hectic schedule. Mishkin started scripting over Thomas's plots for issues #295 and #296, and by issue #297 he was THE writer on the title. Marv Wolfman became the editor of Wonder Woman just as Mishkin was becoming the main writer on the series.

You might recognize Mishkin as the co-creator (along with Gary Cohn) of Amethyst and Blue Devil -- and you'd be correct -- but these came AFTER Mishkin started on Wonder Woman. At this point, Mishkin had worked with Cohn on material for DC's mystery/horror/supernatural anthology titles (i.e., House of Mystery, Unexpected, Ghosts, Weird War Tales) and a few one-off stories for Flash, Green Lantern and Jonah Hex. It's safe to say that Mishkin was still an 'unknown' to comic fandom when he took over Wonder Woman.

When Mishkin took over the title, the Joey Cavalieri/Joe Staton Huntress back-ups were already in full swing -- you were only getting 16 to 18 pages of Wonder Woman per issue (which may been a bonus or a nuisance, depending on who you ask). A few readers had even speculated that Wonder Woman's sales would drop if the Huntress back-up feature had been taken away. Since this is a Wonder Woman review, the Huntress back-up features will be reviewed at another time.

When Mishkin picked up Wonder Woman, he was finishing up a story arc Thomas started about video games that were taking control of players and turning them into zombies for General Electric (a 1970s Sandman villain). Wonder Woman was at a good place by this point. Readers wrote in expressing excitement for the 'sensational new' Wonder Woman -- as of issue #288, the series had received an updated logo, a new writer who seemed to know his Wonder Woman history (Roy Thomas), a new penciller (Gene Colan), and her costume had gotten a slight update. According to fans, the book was definitely on an upswing. Issue #297 would be Mishkin's proving grounds.

Wonder Woman v1 #297 (1982). Dan Mishkin's first issue. Beautiful Mike Kaluta cover.

It's important to note that Gene Colan was the penciller on Mishkin's first eight issues. Colan's contribution to the book should NOT be overlooked -- Colan becoming penciller at issue #288 brought a surge of renewed interest to the book (if nothing else for the new readers who just wanted to check out his art).

Gene Colan art from Wonder Woman v1 #298 (1982)

Unfortunately, Mishkin's first story arc gets interrupted by a 16-page Masters of The Universe comic book preview insert. (I say 'unfortunately', but this may have actually encouraged more comic fans to pick up the issue due to the MOTU insert.) Regardless, we're introduced to a NEW Wonder Woman foe and a plot to destroy the Amazons on Paradise Island in a three-issue story arc. There's a bit of info about Themiscyra and we get a bit of a mythology lesson about Bellerophon and Pegasus. Mishkin also throws in some reminders that America was still in a cold war with Russia, and that Diana is still an accomplished fighter pilot. All in all, I enjoyed this story arc and quickly dove into the next issues. This leads us to the 300th issue of Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman #300 v1 (1983) wrap-around cover by Ed Hannigan and Dick Giordano

The 300th issue is a 72-page landmark issue -- with contributions from about a dozen different pencillers and inkers -- all written by Roy and Danette Thomas. Before he left, Thomas had already written Wonder Woman #300, and advanced solicitations dropped the big spoiler that Wonder Woman would accept Steve Trevor's marriage proposal. This was the first appearance of Lyta Trevor (who later becomes Fury from Infinity Inc.), and the Sandman (Garrett Sanford) plays a big supporting role in this story. Mishkin had no part in this issue. Thankfully, everything returns to status quo before we move onto Wonder Woman #301.

Issue #301 has Wonder Woman hanging out on Paradise Island with the rest of the Amazons. We're seeing a lot more of this under Mishkin's creative direction -- he's really bringing Wonder Woman back to her Greek roots. It's a set-up for a new story arc -- this time about the previous Amazon who held the title of 'Wonder Woman'. I found this story to be very well-written and intriguing. Mishkin knows how to set the pace to keep things mysterious. I'm enjoying this very much. (As it happens, Wonder Woman #301 is also around the same time when Mishkin and Gary Cohn debuted their Amethyst preview story in Legion of Super-Heroes #298.)

Gene Colan art from Wonder Woman #301 (1983)

Wonder Woman issues #303 and #304 features a super-villain who last appeared in a Green Lantern story written by Marv Wolfman. This is somewhat fitting, since Wolfman was the editor on Wonder Woman by this point. I always enjoy stories that have another hero's villain cross-over to another character's title, so Mishkin's run is batting 1000 as far as I'm concerned. Ernie Colon takes over as editor in issue #304.

Wonder Woman #303 (1983): In today's edition of 'Guess that Green Lantern villain'...
Art by Gene Colan

The next issue (#305) in this run has Wonder Woman battling Circe (one of her more 'classic' rogues) and reminds us that Wonder Woman has a four-decade-long legacy with her own rogues gallery. So far, it would appear that Mishkin is managing to keep Wonder Woman contemporary (and not campy) while still respecting her roots.

Starting with issue #306, Don Heck becomes the new penciller AND inker (replacing Gene Colan). Colan's art is very moody and atmospheric (see: Marvel's Tomb of Dracula), while Heck has very crisp lines and makes it feels like a bright and cheerful 'super hero' comic. Colan also had the tendency to use a lot of BIG panels in his stories -- making them feel a lot shorter than their allotted 18 pages.

Panels from Wonder Woman #306 (1983). Art by Don Heck.

Issue #306 also begins to see Wonder Woman's support characters getting more exposure -- Etta Candy, Steve Trevor, Phillip Darnell, Keith Griggs, Lisa Abernathy  -- they're all in here taking part in one of the most confusing cold war espionage thrillers I've ever read. It would seem that Mishkin is trying to build on Wonder Woman's strong supporting cast and show readers more of Diana's personality. I'm seeing a strong trend towards realism and depth in Mishkin's work. While I couldn't understand the conclusion to the cold war spy thriller, I still thought this story arc had strong character development and I was interested enough to keep reading. 

So far, at this point into Mishkin's run, readers had written in asking to see: more about Diana's ties to her Amazon heritage, appearances from her old rogues, and more attention to her support characters. For anyone keeping score, Mishkin has delivered on all three.

Next up, there's a two-issue story arc (#308 - #309) in which she teams up with the Black Canary and Elongated Man (reinforcing her ties as a Justice Leaguer). I had trouble maintaining interest in this story arc -- partly because Mishkin put all of the interesting sub-plots he'd brewing up on hold, and partly because I was more interested in Wonder Woman's civilian life and interactions with her support characters (I wasn't kidding when I said his characterization was really really good). Additionally, issue #308 was when Ernie Colon left as editor on Wonder Woman to illustrate Amethyst v1 (also written by Mishkin and Cohn) and to work on his science fiction graphic novel (see: The Medusa Chain). Alan Gold becomes the new editor in issue #309.

Panels from Wonder Woman #308 (1983). Art by Don Heck.

Issue #310 features more Greek mythology. I'm feeling that Mishkin is taking some creative liberties with his recounting of Greek myths, but it's adding to the Wonder Woman lore and fills us in on the mysterious origin of the 'previous Wonder Woman' -- so hey, I'm enjoying this. Mark Beachum is the guest penciller on this issue and Pablo Marcus inks.

panels from Wonder Woman #310 (1983). Art by Mark Beachum and Pablo Marcus.

A major obstacle with writing Wonder Woman was deciding what to do with her love interest, Steve Trevor. Readers had polarized views on Trevor's role in the series -- some felt that he was crucial to Wonder Woman and her love for him was the only tie to man's world, while other readers felt he was boring as hell and should get killed off (again). Mishkin took the higher ground here and tried to turn Steve Trevor into a character fans would care about...

...as demonstrated in issue #311 when Steve Trevor narrates the story. This two-issue story arc had Wonder Woman solving a sci-fi/supernatural mystery which I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did.

The supernatural force that is destroying jet fighters in mid-air is... [dramatic pause]... gremlins. That is correct, folks. Gremlins. Coincidentally, I was about to put the finishing touches on this review and publish it, when I discovered Brian Cronin of CBR posted an article of his own about this. Cronin points out that Mishkin added the whole 'gremlins' several months BEFORE the movie Gremlins was released, which just happens to be a HUGE coincidence. The Gremlins in Mishkin's story gave off a friendly, helpful Smurf-like vibe as opposed to the type of creatures that may or may not devour a human infant from the Gremlins film.

That's right. Gremlins.
panel from Wonder Woman #310 (1984). art by Don Heck.

As an added bonus, the long-running "Will she reveal her secret identity to Steve Trevor? Or won't she?" subplot that had been running *forever* finally gets resolved. By the end of it all, this sci-fi story ends with Wonder Woman getting a new side-kick/supporting character... who is a Gremlin.

Issues #313 and 314 have Wonder Woman battling Circe (again). In the background, the plot thickens as it is revealed that Wonder Woman had memories erased by her mother, Hippolyta. A new villain is introduced: Tezcatlipoca -- a chieftain of the Aztec Gods. Issues #315 and #316 are spent battling Tezcatlipoca. For anyone who's curious, Blue Devil #1 (created and written by Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn) was released around the same time as Wonder Woman #316 -- Mishkin is now the regular writer on three DC books (i.e., Wonder Woman, Amethyst and Blue Devil).

introducing... Tezcatlipoca!
panel from Wonder Woman #314 (1984). art by Don Heck.

I can appreciate Mishkin introducing a NEW god-like threat that isn't based on a Greek mythological figure, but once again, I'm eagerly waiting to find out what memories Diana's mother had stolen from her and I'm wondering if Mishkin is deliberately stalling because he hasn't written that far ahead in the plot, yet. (ha!) We are giving a few tidbits of info... like Steve Trevor had already died -- which makes me even more eager to discover who this current Steve Trevor is...


Issue #317 is filled with even more revisions to Amazon mythology -- we are introduced to a 'lost' tribe of South American Amazons:

panels from Wonder Woman #317 (1984). Art by Don Heck and Rick Magyer.

Wonder Woman #318 was a Kurt Busiek and Irv Novick fill-in issue -- so I'll be skipping over this one. Editor Alan Gold revealed that it was planned to occur out-of-continuity, and meant to give Mishkin and Heck a breather. It doesn't mean that we can't appreciate the cover, however:

Wonder Woman #318 (1984). Cover by Eduardo Barreto

And this brings us to issue #319. This... this is what I've been waiting for! Some answers at last! But first, we need to deal with the dramatic return of Dr Cyber -- a Wonder Woman villain I had little familiarity with but was always genuinely curious about. The next few issues deal with more Cold War intrigue as Dr Cyber steals the launch codes for America's nuclear warheads and Wonder Woman narrowly averts World War III.

Dr Cyber finally gets the drop on Wonder Woman.
panel from Wonder Woman #320. Art by Don Heck and Rick Magyar.

In issue #322, after a climactic battle with Dr Cyber, the entire 'missing memories and the mysterious death(s) of Steve Trevor' storyline wraps up. I wasn't aware at the time of reading this, but the mysterious return of Steve Trevor had been an unresolved plotline in Wonder Woman's continuity that had been running since 1980 -- and it wasn't even the first time the writers had killed Steve Trevor and brought him back to life! (Which is probably the most telling detail of how badly Wonder Woman's continuity was messed up.)

For the curious: the answer involves parallel earths, which gives us a bit of foreshadowing to the upcoming Crisis On Infinite Earths. The living and breathing Steve Trevor we see now accidentally came from a parallel reality and crash landed into this reality. After a lot of exposition and a fistfight, Steve Trevor is ultimately restored to his 'whole' self after merging with Aphrodite's son, Eros.

...yeah, I'm still kinda unclear on all of this.

What the hell? From Wonder Woman #322.

Issue #322 was the first issue in a long time with NO Huntress back-up, just 23 pages of Wonder Woman. This may have also been the kiss of death on this series, since Wonder Woman #322 was the last monthly issue and would be published bi-monthly starting with issue #323.

Issue #323 was quite possibly the funnest issue of Wonder Woman Mishkin had written in a while. There were a lot of Wonder Woman villains in this one (ex: Angle Man, Silver Swan, Cheetah, Dr Psycho), Etta gets Wonder Woman powers, the Monitor and Harbinger make an appearance (it was an unofficial Crisis on Infinite Earths tie-in), and there's a bit of romantic tension building between Diana and Keith Griggs. According to editor Alan Gold, this story was originally pitched by Mishkin to be several issues long, but Gold asked Mishkin to keep it contained within one issue to give readers a break from long, complicated storylines.

panels from Wonder Woman #323 (1985). Art by Don Heck

According to editor Alan Gold, like all DC writers at the time, Mishkin was obliged to add Harbinger and the Monitor to Wonder Woman's regular continuity in issue #323, quite possibly without really knowing what the aftermath of Crisis On Infinite Earths would be or what the Monitor was all about. (I personally love reading about editorial curve-balls that were thrown at writers and how they dealt with them.) Hence, we get a Monitor who is more or less a power-broker for villains -- which is how he was introduced in the Teen Titans books:

panels from Wonder Woman #323 (1985). Art by Don Heck

To conclude Mishkin's run, issues #324 and #325 featured the return of the Atomic Knight -- a DC sci-fi character that first debuted in the sixties, ran in about twenty stories, took a twelve year hiatus, and re-appeared in 1983's DC Comics Presents #57 (also written by Mishkin and Cohn). After Mishkin left the title, the Atomic Knight no longer appeared in Wonder Woman... but that's okay because we'd see Atomic Knight reappear again in 1985's Outsiders v2.

re-introducing...the Atomic Knight! panels from Wonder Woman #324.

These were 'bridging issues' meant to bridge Mindy Newell as the new writer (much in the same way Roy Thomas had done for Mishkin). Mishkin's last issue of Wonder Woman would be #325. Mishkin was nice enough to write 'Glitch' (the gremlin sidekick that Steve Trevor befriends back in issue #311) out of the series, and Newell was freed up to take the series in the direction she chose to. Curiously, a new female supporting character, Lieutenant Lauren Haley, is added to the roster -- and I'm wondering if this was at Newell's request because it's kinda late in the game for Mishkin to be throwing in new characters...

introducing Lieutenant Lauren Haley. Wonder Woman #325.

This more or less concludes Dan Mishkin's run on Wonder Woman. It was announced in issue #324 that Mindy Newell would be succeeding Dan Mishkin.

Following Wonder Woman #325, Mindy Newell took over writing chores for the title. The letters column hinted that Newell had big plans for Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman, and a few great storylines of her own dealing with Hippolyta and her son... but alas, these never saw print. The series ended four issues later at issue #329. Curiously, Newell decided to finish up the Tezcatlipoca storyline after Mishkin left, which built up to and was immediately followed up by an official Crisis On Infinite Earths tie-in. The last issue of this series (a Crisis tie-in) was written by Gerry Conway.

Following the last issue of the series, Trina Robbins wrote a four-part Wonder Woman mini-series meant to satiate Wonder Woman fans while they tried to figure out their next move -- because, really, I don't think THEY even knew what was happening next:

(from Wonder Woman #325)

By issue #323 (after the title went bi-monthly), it was pretty much known by fans that the Wonder Woman series was in trouble.  I'm wondering if Mishkin knew that the writing was on the wall for this series by this point? In issue #327, readers KNEW that sales on Wonder Woman were really poor. From this point on, every Tom, Dick & Harry wrote in to suggest how to save the series or who to blame for faltering sales. Many readers felt that nothing, short of killing her off and starting all over again, could resolve Wonder Woman's messy continuity. A recurring suggestion was that there weren't enough *good* guest stars and why couldn't Wonder Woman make an appearance in [insert title of best selling comic here]? Finally, a lot of readers complained that Don Heck's sub-par art was responsible for bringing the series down (ouch!).

As hard as editor Alan Gold tried, Wonder Woman just didn't have enough of a readership to justify a Wonder Woman Special.

A recurring theme in Mishkin's run is that the readers were hard to please; some absolutely adored the supporting cast, some wanted them all killed off. Some readers wanted Wonder Woman fighting more super-villains and to feature less mythological characters, while other readers wanted more mythology and Amazons in Wonder Woman's title. Some long-time readers just didn't like the way Mishkin was handling the book, in general. Most notably, Mishkin "gets into it" with Wonder Woman super-fan, Carol Strickland, in the letter column of Wonder Woman #321 with a two-page letter that editor Alan Gold felt was worth printing in it's entirety.

To break it down, Strickland wasn't satisfied with:

1) The sexism in Mishkin's Wonder Woman stories,

2) Mishkin's treatment of Queen Hippolyta,

3) Mishkin's Artermis sub-plot,

4) A few details about Wonder Woman's powers, history and abilities that Mishkin may or may not have gotten wrong, and

5) Wonder Woman's new gremlin sidekick, "Glitch"

I don't necessarily believe that Strickland spoke for ALL die-hard Wonder Woman fans, but she DID reiterate a few points that had come up in the letter column before. She was also coming at this from the perspective of a fan who lived and breathed Wonder Woman, and had a much better grasp on her history than I did. (I mean, had I been reading Wonder Woman since the seventies, I probably would've felt as strongly as Strickland did.) To his credit, Mishkin replied gracefully to Strickland's feedback and handled it like a pro -- while he did agree with her on a lot of her points, he also did remind her that Wonder Woman's continuity is rife with inconsistencies and that he's doing the best he possibly can with the assignment he was given.

[By the way, Carol Strickland is still very much alive and active online, and we hope to grab an interview with her someday soon.]

Ultimately, it was editor Alan Gold who blamed Wonder Woman's disappointing sales on "a bad rep because of lackluster fabulation over the years. That bad rep is what we're up against, I think." (Wonder Woman #324, letter column)

----

As someone who already knew the basics of Wonder Woman (i.e., daughter of Hippolyta, came from Paradise Island, lived among Amazons, had a love interest with Steve Trevor, a good friend named Etta Candy, lasso of truth, her alter ego was Diana Prince) this wasn't the worst jumping on point and I was able to pick up the story pretty quickly.

Due to the luxury of owning all twenty-something issues of Mishkin's run, I had no trouble keeping track of what was going on. While these were really good story arcs, if you missed a few issues, you were kinda lost. With the exception of Wonder Woman #323, none of the stories were 'one-and-dones'. (Which is probably why I don't think I've EVER seen a Mishkin Wonder Woman story appear in a Wonder Woman anthology.)

Ed Hannigan and Dick Giordano cover

I really really enjoyed the ex-Wonder Woman story line Mishkin wove up. Same with the 'missing memories about Steve Trevor' thing. There were lots of things happening with the support characters, too -- even Etta is included in a subplot. I saw some strong character development, and at some points I was more interested in the subplots involving the supporting characters more so than the main story at hand.

The entire 'Etta getting Wonder Woman powers' reminded me of the crazy days of the Silver Age of DC when just about anything could happen thanks to 'imaginary stories'. Wonder Woman #323 is probably the most memorable issue among Wonder Woman fans, just for the sake of Etta getting to play the 'superhero' of the story for once.

Wonder Woman is a larger-than-life figure, a Greek goddess (sorta) who has immense power. Almost like a DC comics counterpart to Marvel's Thor, perhaps. So, she SHOULD be in big EPIC stories and not battling street crime.

Another distinct thing about Wonder Woman... well, what is she? Is she an adventurer? A soldier? A mythological hero? A fighter pilot? An Amazon trying to understand man's world? A superhero? An emissary sent to protect mankind from itself? Well, she's all of these things. You can more or less fit Wonder Woman into any type of story you want. While Roy Thomas' prior run saw Wonder Woman having a lot of adventures with other super-heroes, it seemed like Mishkin wanted to explore her mythological ties. Also, I don't remember ever seeing as many skeletons as I have in Mishkin's run -- maybe a nod to the supernatural/horror stories he'd been writing in House Of Mystery?

Frank Miller and Dick Giordano cover

I felt that Mishkin wrote a 'very strong' Wonder Woman -- a 'woman of the eighties'. No-nonsense. Knows what she wants, what she's fighting for, has principles and values, upholds the American ideals. Characterization is key, and Mishkin's characters had loads of it.

---

Two subplots that never saw resolution:

Why does Sofia look like Diana Prince? Sofia was introduced WAY BACK in Wonder Woman #297 (Mishkin's first solo issue) as a terrorist that Wonder Woman rescues and "reforms" to become an Amazon. Over the course of Mishkin's run, Sofia becomes more ingrained in Amazon culture and even discovers Hippolyta's cover up to keep memories from Diana.

panels from Wonder Woman #322. Sophia is the woman in the green blouse. Compare to Wonder Woman. Hmmm...

Sofia last appears in the series at issue #322 (just before the Atomic Knight team-up) and decides to 'stay' on Paradise Island. My guess was that Sofia was originally introduced to somehow play into the post-Crisis Wonder Woman pitch Mishkin had been rumored to have proposed, but was written out of the story when Mishkin's proposal was refused.


A second unresolved subplot involved Diana Prince (Wonder Woman's alter ego) and Major Keith Griggs becoming an "item". The storyline was cut short due to the series only lasting four more issues after Mishkin left:

panels from Wonder Woman #323 (1985). Art by Don Heck

This concludes my review of Dan Mishkin's Wonder Woman run. I don't believe it's been reprinted as a TPB yet, so if you want to seek it out, you'll need to pick up the back issues like I did.



-Justin

Bob Layton at Ottawa Comiccon

On May 13th, Ty Templeton held a special event at the 2017 Ottawa Comiccon called 'On the Couch with Bob Layton'. For nearly an hour, Templeton had Layton tell the audience about how he got into the comics industry and the inspirations behind his more well-known work (i.e. Iron Man, Valiant comics, etc).

DC in the 80s was fortunate enough to attend this event in-person. It was a fantastic interview and Layton did most of the talking (providing insights into his career which I would've never thought to ask him about) and it felt like one hour was just not enough time. In the interest of the Bob Layton autobiography that will inevitably NEED to be published someday, we will NOT be recounting the entire presentation, but instead just focusing on the highlights relevant to DC in the 80s.

Bob Layton (left) being interviewed by Ty Templeton (right)

How Layton was introduced to comics

"At the age of four years old I bought my first comic book, and it was a Showcase issue of Challengers of the Unknown by Jack Kirby. The story-telling was so clear that I could tell what was happening -- here I am in Preschool and I knew the story. I made my sister sit down and teach me how to read so I knew what was in the balloons and what they were saying. So I actually skipped a grade of school -- I graduated high school when I was seventeen because I was reading proficiently by the time I even got to Kindergarten."

Later on in the interview, he mentioned Wally Wood as the artist on the first comic he ever read. Based on those clues, I'm going to guess that his first comic book was 1957's Showcase v1 #12.

The comic book that started it all?

His first fanzine -- Contemporary Pictorial Literature (CPL)

"The fanzines that we produced at the time were very very popular -- there was a lot of stuff out there. I got the idea that if I send those fanzines up to the comic companies, those guys will read them. So I used to send twenty-five copies to Marvel, DC, Charlton [Comics] and anybody else that was publishing. Sure enough, they were passing 'em out. [Roger] Stern wrote really funny articles -- I mean, they were hilarious. I had my little art in there -- that's how Wally [Wood] first saw me. He saw my art in one of the fanzines and told a mutual friend that if I was ever on the East Coast that he'd take me on as his apprentice."

"At the time we were doing our little digest fanzine, CPL, with Roger Stern, and we had our house staff fan artist -- an unknown guy named John Byrne. John started with us. So did Bob Hall, Michael Uslan was an article writer for us, Steven Grant was a regular contributor to it. I mean I could go down the list of people -- it was like a Who's Who of people who wound up in the business now. In the case with all of us, we were publishing our fanzines and then Charlton got a hold of us -- because we did a special Charlton issue of CPL."

Bob Layton co-founded the Contemporary Pictorial Literature (CPL) fanzine with Roger Stern. Other comic pros involved in the CPL fanzine: Alex Toth, Tony Isabella and Roger Slifer (to name a few). CPL ran from 1973 to 1975.

Cover of CPL #11 (1974). Curious to see the interior?
Visit http://ripjaggerdojo.blogspot.ca/2010/08/contemporary-pictorial-literature-11.html

His first ComicCon

"I also put on the very first ComicCon at Indianapolis in 1975. I've always had sort of an entrepreneurial side to me -- I always wanted to understand the business that I wanted to be in, regardless of what it was. I LOVED comics. In those days, because we didn't have the internet and ways to get in touch with each other, it was very hard to network with other comic book fans. So, I decided to put on a ComicCon in 1975. It was awful. I was twenty years old and I didn't know jack about anything. It still came off big, but that was one of the beautiful things -- I made such great friends out there: I had Walt Simonson, Howard Chaykin, Dick Giordano was there, Michael Uslan was there. One of the kids who came to the Comiccon -- he talked his parents into driving him all the way from Illinois because there was a Comiccon in Indianapolis and he wanted to meet a professional writer there, y'know, he was dying to do that. This little twelve year old convinced his parents to drive all the way there so he could meet Michael Uslan and sit down and talk with him -- that kid was Sam Raimi [creator of Evil Dead film franchise]."   

Networking

[in response to discovering that Wally Wood wood take him on as an apprentice]

"I had $200 in my pocket and a beat-up Galaxy 500 station wagon and I drove up there and I slept on Walt Simonson's floor in Queens until I found an apartment. And then he passed me off to Chaykin, who lived upstairs. Chaykin and Bernie Wrightson lived upstairs, and they made me go up there to sleep. They all lived in the same apartment building in Queens. Bernie and Howie [Chaykin] shared an apartment, and then Walt Simonson and Al Milgrom shared an apartment." 

First breaking into Marvel

'I started as an inker [for Charlton] because that was the easiest way to break in. They needed inkers. Always. It was always the easier way to break in to comics. I mean, I wanted to write. I wanted to do everything. Which I eventually did -- but you have to start somewhere."

"Wally [Wood] hated going in to New York City. We lived in Derby, Connecticut -- a little depressed town in Northern Connecticut. So I would volunteer to deliver pages for him. I would get on the train, take the two and half hour ride down to New York City, and I'd go up to Marvel or I'd go up to DC and -- because I was delivering Wally Wood pages -- I'd say 'I have to give this to the Art Director personally'. And, of course, in my other arm, I'd have my own sample [pages].  And that's how I wormed my way in."

"I was delivering pages from Wally to Marvel -- I was going into John Romita's office. John was, like, pulling his hair out. He was having conniptions because the regular inker on the George Tuska book (which happened to be involving Iron Man) got sick, and had to send the pages back -- which took forever -- and there were only 3 days left before this book had to ship. He's on the phone trying to find someone who could knock this book out. 22 pages. At that particular time, I was dividing my time between working for Wally Wood and working for Dick Giordano down at Continuity Associates Studios (which was a big advertising firm that Neal Adams and Giordano ran on Madison Ave in New York). So I looked at John and lied through my teeth and said 'I can do it, John. I can do this in 3 days.' I was doing background inks at the time -- I got $6 a page for background inks. You know how many pages you've got to ink to pay rent at $6 a page? Living in the New York tri-state area? John's like 'okay kid, I'm gonna give you a shot'. What did he have to lose? The book wasn't going to get done anyways."

"I had a plan -- I was going to get help. I ran up to Continuity Associates Studios -- up there there were a whole bunch of fledgling guys like me who were working for Dick Giordano and Neal Adams at the time. Guys like Terry Austin, Steve Mitchell, Bob Wiacek, Bob McLeod, guys whose names you'd be familiar with if you were a comic fan. We were just kids then. I started passing out pages and I said 'I'm buying the beer'. I said 'I'm going to do those pages, everybody do everything else' and so we stayed up for 3 days and we banged that sucker out. (For the record, I found George Tuska years later and apologized to him in person.) I come in, and here's this ghastly thing, and I put it on his [Romita's] desk, and he's like 'wow. thanks, kid'. And that was it, that's all he said."

Layton was initially worried that he had killed his career with that very rushed assignment, but it led to his first official inking Marvel inking job on Champions #9 (1976). Layton didn't want to reveal which Tuska book he worked on, but based on the clues I'm going to assume he's referring to 1976's Iron Man #91.

cover by Herb Trimpe and Aubrey Bradford

Early inking work for Marvel and DC

"I bounced back and forth a lot, because -- you've got to remember -- we got paid nothing. If they paid me 2 more dollars a page, I was DC's [slave]. Y'know? And if Marvel offered me a $1.50 more, I was Marvel's [slave]. Y'know? That's how we did it -- we just bounced back and forth. Finally, the last bounce I did -- it's funny because I did one issue of the X-Men with Dave Cockrum (he was a friend), and I said 'This is stupid. The X-Men. Who are these guys?'. It was a bi-monthly book, so it only came out once every 2 months. I thought, 'I don't want to do this, it's just another team book', so I left and, of course, they became Marvel's #1 selling book. John Byrne comes on, and Terry Austin... it's like when actors turn down Academy Award-Winning roles. I left THE X-MEN to go over and do Star Hunters. Y'know? I can't say that I'm a genius or anything because I actually walked away from that. But, actually, it all worked out great..."

Green Lantern vs Gorilla Grodd from DC Super Stars #14 (1977).
Pencilled by Rich Buckler, inked by Bob Layton.

DC's Star Hunters (1977)

"... because that's where I met David [Michelinie]. David and I started co-plotting together over there (he was writing Star Hunters). He recognized that I had a flair for creativity and story-telling. He loved my ideas so we collaborated on that. And then DC was about to implode -- they were about to cancel a third of their line -- I kind of smelled it coming. Dick Giordano gave me a little heads up on it, too. And I said to David, 'Let's go back to Marvel'. David never worked there, but said I knew people there so... (I'd been back and forth doing my thing)..."

The Star Hunters premiered in 1977's DC Super-Stars v1 #16 and ran for seven issues as an ongoing series from 1977 to 1978. Tom Sutton became the inker for the title after issue #5. The saga of the Star Hunters was never resolved.

Cover penciled by Don Newton, inked by Bob Layton

Revitalizing Marvel's Iron Man (1978)

"We went over to Marvel and we were still relatively unknown at that point -- we hadn't made a name for ourselves yet or anything. What they would do back then -- a contract was signed with the National Distributor to distribute comics to newsstands and spinner racks all over the country for 12 issues. So, if the sales figures come back on the first 6 issues and it looked like the book was gonna tank... which was weird because tanked back then was 90,000 [copies]... what they'd do is remove John Buscema (or their other A-list guys) off those books, and try schmucks like me because they figured I couldn't hurt it, and then finish out the last 6 issues. So one of the books the offered me was Iron Man -- which I'd waited my whole ENTIRE LIFE to get a crack at."

"When I first started Iron Man, I asked them if we could change a few things. They said "We don't care, we're going to cancel it". So, we set off a bomb on page 5 and killed EVERYBODY and by the next five issues we had created James Rhodes, the Hall of Iron, the variant armors, and... the book took off. The next thing I know, they put a contract under my nose and I'm on contract with them. Another weird coincidence: my editor for Iron Man? Roger Stern."

"I've always been a very technologically savvy guy. I've always been very science savvy. By the late 70s heart transplants were common place. Here's a guy who's a billionaire and a genius, and he can't figure out a way to fix his heart? I personally knew people who were having heart transplants by then! We were trying to create a new corporate world -- the book was now about Tony Stark. When we took it over, it wasn't about Iron Man -- it used to be that Tony was just the shill, he was the guy with the money so he could be Iron Man all the time. I wanted to be Tony Stark as a kid -- I didn't care about Iron Man. I didn't care about the suit. I wanted the girls, the cars and the money. I wanted to be the smartest guy in the room. Previously, the emphasis at Marvel was never on Tony Stark, and that's what we brought. But we had to change the 'heart' thing because it didn't make sense." 

Tony Stark's Alcoholism

"One of the clichés of Iron Man was: he'd be fighting the Mandarin or Ultimo, and he's just about to win, and he'd fall over at the end of the issue with heart problems. I don't know ANYONE who's had 50 heart attacks and lived! Again, medicine had caught up to Iron Man and the heart thing seemed outdated now. Since we were creating a brand-new and intricate corporate world for him, we wanted to give him something to be his kryptonite -- something he'd struggle with --  and it seemed to me that alcoholism would be the best thing. Plus, you have to remember the time we were living in: this was the 1970s and it was a time of social awareness. Comics don't really set trends, we reflect them. Comics really reflect popular culture. At the time, awareness of drugs and alcohol was actually being talked about. It seemed... appropriate... given the type of character we were writing."


Layton also set the record straight that, while he may have given Tony Stark alcoholism, Tony's extreme drunkenness (ex: sleeping in an alleyway, puking in his shoes) was Denny O'Neil's doing.

Iron Man #128 - "Demon in a Bottle". Inks by Bob Layton

Leaving Marvel Comics and the Birth of Valiant Comics

"One of my dearest friends in the business was an inker from DC named Jack Abel. He was a New York treasure --- a great inker -- y'know, an amazing, talented guy. And Jack had a stroke (sometime in the early 80s) and he lost the ability to draw, even though he still had it in his head. So Marvel Comics, feeling some loyalty to Jack -- because he'd been there forever -- they made him a proof-reader. This is so he'd have a job and he could finish out his career, because we don't have retirement plans -- we just work until we drop dead, guys, okay? That's the way it normally works. So... I remember seeing Jack sitting in the corner, and I would talk to him and he was just miserable. He wanted to draw -- he knew HOW to draw, he could draw BETTER than me -- BUT he couldn't do it anymore. I started to realize the biggest problem with this, the worst disservice I could do to myself and to my mentors, was to become a wage slave. Y'know? Basically become Marvel's slave for the rest of my life. The only way I was really going to succeed and grow beyond doing the same friggin' thing over and over again until I dropped dead or had a stroke like Jack or whatever, was to participate in the creation of stuff. To own it. To own what I create." 


"Valiant Comics started out in the noggin of Jim Shooter and Steve Massarsky -- they were actually putting together Marvel Ice Capades, believe it or not, and THAT fell through... and I don't know why. (chuckles) Jim always used me as a resource up there, so they got a line on venture capital through that project -- which DIDN'T happen -- but they still had the line on the venture capital. The comic business, by that time, was starting to really boom... I mean when I did X-Factor (that was one of the last big series' I did there at Marvel), I set Marvel sales records at that point. It was stupid, y'know? It was the like the first time I had ever gotten royalties. It was amazing. That would've been around 1985."


"So anyways, I get a call from Jim and he says "Look, you're my idea man. I need to create a whole line of characters over here. I need you over here." and I replied "Well, I'm on contract, I've got health insurance and all sorts of benefits and stuff" and Jim replied "I'll see to it that you get a percentage of the company." So I went over there and I ran production, and we had the Gold Key characters (Magnus Robot Fighter, Solar Man of the Atom, Turok Son of Stone) but they suddenly got the idea in their head that "we have licensing for WWE and Nintendo and we're going to do those instead", and they blew through the ENTIRE investment with the worst comic books they've ever made. I mean, JUST AWFUL. And I was screaming "People who play games don't want to READ comics about Mario, okay? They want to PLAY Mario!". Y'know? They couldn't GIVE this crap away."

Gameboy v1 #4 (1990). Published by Valiant Comics.
I like to imagine Solar, Man of the Atom is behind that door.

"I basically sat down and we co-created the entire line of [Valiant] characters and we launched those with Solar and Magnus. The FIRST new one was X-O Manowar -- which was mine. 'Conan in a Can' is what we called it among ourselves. I wanted to go totally opposite of Tony Stark, but they wanted me to create an armored character. And then the list goes on and on. Those books are still around."

X-O Manowar #1 (1992). Valiant Comics.

"I worked on almost every single first issue Valiant put it out -- I'm uncredited in a lot of stuff -- plus, I ran production. I put myself in the hospital twice, from exhaustion. I did EVERYTHING there for the first 2 years. It was INSANE." 


Interestingly enough, a few of Bob Layton's former collaborators did work at Valiant Comics during the early 1990s:

• David Michelinie wrote (most of) the first eight issues of  1992's Rai, the first sixteen issues of 1992's H.A.R.D.Corps, and the first three issues of 1993's Turok, Dinosaur Hunter.
• Bob Hall wrote thirty-three issues of Shadowman from 1992 to 1995. He also wrote seven issues of Timewalker in 1995.  
• Roger Stern worked on a few issues of Magnus Robot Fighter in 1992.

The Current State of Comics (2017) 

Additionally, Layton had a few insights to give on the current state of the comic industry:

"When the bottom fell out of the collectability aspect of it in the late 90s, there was a concerted effort by the comic companies to cater to their base: the "hardcore" guys -- the older guys -- who had money and jobs and other stuff. Basically, they [the comic companies] started writing comics for those guys, and the thing is... when we worked, every issue was a FIRST issue. It was on the newsstands. EVERYTHING had to be a 'jumping on' point for someone, y'know? They have LOST the ability to do that now -- that's part of the problem. How many people go to the movies and see an X-Men film and think "Oh! I love the X-Men!" and then they go to the comic book shops to buy a copy of the X-Men and it's not even the SAME characters ...and it's part 6 of a 12-part story ...and they're just totally confused! That's part of the problem -- there's a DISCONNECT now. Comics used to be the jumping on point for the genre, now it's film and television. That's why, in the comic industry, the numbers are not as healthy as they used to be."

"One of the reasons I got out of comics -- and I don't want to trash it by any means -- but there's a tipping point.... and it's coming. Would you pay $7 USD for a 22-page pamphlet? For $7 USD I can get Netflix and watch two season of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones -- it's the same characters for the same money!  Versus one badly done comic book that's issue 3 of a 10-part story. We're competing with Hollywood for the same characters, the same money. So, something has to change. Somebody -- smarter than me -- has to figure out how to do it."

"We're going to end on an upbeat note: the European model is the way to go. In Europe, have you seen Lieutenant Blueberry? These are french books that are done almost actual size. They're beautiful, hardback editions that you don't have to stick IN A BAG. They have a high enough price point that your retailer can make a profit with less copies. They're fully contained stories --  so you don't have to keep buying book after book after book. And you don't have to put them in a PLASTIC BAG -- you put them up on your bookshelf next to your other hardback novels and they'll STAY THERE FOREVER."

---

We did stop by Bob Layton's convention booth afterwards to ask a few follow-up questions.

Earth-Two Huntress (Helena Wayne). 

We asked about his co-creation credits on the Earth-Two Huntress (first appearing in 1977's DC Super-Stars #17). Layton, in fact, had a very large part in the creation of the Huntress back in the late 70s and even had a radically different costume in mind for her. "The costume she ended up with looked liked a combo of Batman and Catwoman's costumes -- no wonder Batman was able to figure out it was his daughter so quickly", he joked. Layton shares Huntress co-creator credit with Paul Levitz and Joe Staton.

In case you're wondering, his favorite series that he's ever wrote is still The Second Life of Doctor Mirage (published by Valiant Comics in 1993). Layton added that he's a closet romantic comedy fan, and this was his chance to write for the genre. He added that it sold really well until he left the series.

Second Life of Doctor Mirage #9 (1994)

Sometimes you go to a comic book convention, try to strike up a conversation with a comic pro sitting at his/her booth, and they have absolutely nothing to say. Bob Layton is NOTHING like that. Layton is extremely charismatic -- a truly energetic and engaging talker, and I encourage you to walk up to his table at any convention he appears at and chat with him. He has lots to say and has a lead a very interesting career. My only regret was not being able to ask him more X-Factor questions.

---

I've got to give credit (where credit is due) to Ty Templeton -- he was an excellent MC, kept the conversation with Layton on track, and clarified some details for fans who may not have been clear as to what Layton was referring to. It was almost as if Tepleton had the same questions we fans did. It was an excellent panel and I encourage you to attend any other panels Templeton hosts.

Layton also made a strong recommendation to check out Charlton Comics: The Movie (in which he makes an appearance to talk about his time working for Charlton Comics). By the time you read this, the movie may already

Extra big thanks to Ottawa Comicon and Agence Pink for organizing this informative and entertaining event.


Justin Francoeur

DC retro art of Amy Spaulding

One of our absolute favorite things to do at conventions (besides chattin' with comics pros, cosplayers and DC comics fans) is taking a walk through 'Artist's Alley' to scope out the wares of local illustrators and artists. We keep our eyes peeled for any art featuring DC comic book characters. It's really interesting to see how different artists portray their favorite DC characters. Currently, it would seem that *most* convention illustrators and artists are producing anime-influenced art, which I''m sure appeals to the gaming crowd [these are fandom conventions after all, so I'm sure artists are trying to hit as many audiences as possible]. That being said, I'm always drawn to art that looks "different" from whatever else is displayed en masse out there, and I'm a sucker for painted and mixed medium art. Amy Spaulding hits all of the above-mentioned points quite effectively. Visually stunning, her painted/mixed medium art stands out among the crowd and makes use of interesting motifs - really, who isn't a fan of the realist painted art [Norman Rockwell, Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper, etc] most prominently found in 1940s/1950s americana?

Amy studied fine arts with a concentration in painting at Queen’s University and then went to Sheridan for illustration. Sheridan is where she became interested in narrative visual storytelling and comics. In studying illustration she found her inspiration was in mid century pulp, pinups and advertising. Anything from Zane Grey covers, Gil Elvgren’s pinups, Robert McGinnis to 50s kitchen ads.

Amy's appreciation of female comic book characters is apparent in her art. Surprisingly, Amy really didn’t read comics growing up. "I devoured fantasy novels", Amy told us.  "My favorites were Terry Brooks’ works, in particular The Sword of Shannara Trilogy, Terry Pratchett and Tolkein."

"I really dove into comics in my late twenties and my instant favorites were golden age Wonder Woman and Shazam. They embodied everything I loved about mid century in terms of style and a healthy dose of kitsch. Wonder Woman is still my go to, I am obsessed with Cliff Chiang’s run at the beginning of the new 52 and Yannick Paquette’s work on Wonder Woman Year One."

"Kelly Sue DeConnick and Gail Simone are writers that have never disappointed me and I will usually pickup any of their projects. Pretty Deadly is one of my favorite pieces of writing ever."

Meeting with Amy at the Ottawa Comicon was a real treat, and I'm really luck I got to catch up with her. In the past few years she's been quite active on the convention circuit and has made appearances at Toronto Comic Con, Wonder Con, Megacon and she just got back from HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC which she couldn’t speak highly enough of. You can all catch her at Montreal Comicon in a couple weeks, Boston Comicon, Toronto FanExpo and Hal-con in Halifax.

Amy is currently opening up her commission list for Montreal Comiccon. Posts with price breakdowns are all over her social media and any more specific inquiries can be directed right to her email amy.spaulding@gmail.com. Commission slots can be purchased directly on her Etsy shop as well.

Amy also told us that she's working on some fun side projects that will showcase her love of retro kitsch. She has some fabric designs and tiki inspired resin jewelry coming out this summer which she will be displaying on social media very soon.

Amy's website: Amyspauldingart.com
Amy's Instagram: amy_spaulding
Amy's Twitter: @acspaulding
Amy's Tumblr: amy-spaulding
Amy's Facebook: facebook.com/amyspauldingillustration/
&
Amy's Etsy page: awemeillustrates.etsy.com