DC Comics announced today it was abandoning the Comics Code, which makes it seem as if the organization that has cast a pall over the industry since 1954 is on its way out.

So it’s the perfect time to dig into my vault and pull out a 1976 letter written by Gerry Conway (during his brief reign as Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics) to Len Darvin (then the head of the Comics Code Authority). Gerry was asking for a requested edit to The Inhumans to be reconsidered, and while the particulars aren’t as controversial as the Blue Valentine brouhaha, it does make for an interesting peek behind the curtain at a custom that has long outlived its usefulness.

Archie and Bongo are apparently the last Comics Code holdouts.

With any luck, soon there’ll be none.

Over on Facebook recently, Steve Niles posted the front and back covers to the 1975 album Spider-Man: Rock Reflections of a Superhero, the rock opera which, unlike Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, never got any of its performers injured. (Well … as far as I know.) It brought back many memories, because I was on staff at Marvel then, and one of my assignments was to act as an advisor to the creators of the project, making sure they correctly understood the finer points of Spider lore.

Steve’s post sent me scurrying to find my personal copy of the album. Here’s the way most people saw the back cover.

But the copy I was given looks quite different.

I can remember long talks at a recording studio on Park Avenue during which I’m sure I was overly passionate about who the characters were and how their lives intersected. Though I never got album credit for my work, as you can see, the creators did thank me profusely for my efforts.

Terence P. Minogue wrote, “Thank you for your help with this album. You gave us an insight to Comic Art that was crucial and invaluable to completing this project.” And Tommy West and Terry Cashman also signed the album.

Who were these guys? To be honest, I wasn’t that musically inclined, so their names meant little to me, and I hadn’t realized the level of musician that was involved in the project. But by doing a search on their names now, I see that Cashman and West were producers of, and Minogue was a musician and vocalist on, the Jim Croce album I Got a Name.

If I’d realized that at the time, I would have been very impressed, and maybe in too much awe of them to propound so self-righteously about Marvel minutiae. Better that I didn’t know!

If you want a sample of how it all turned out, give a listen to a couple of cuts.

I was watching the September 22 episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit earlier this week—though describing what I was doing as “watching” may be overstating the case. I really don’t have the time to focus my attention on the TV and literally watch. Except for some special programs that are near and dear to my heart, such as Breaking Bad or Mad Men (or Deadwood or The Wire or Treme), I tend to treat TV like radio, and simply have the set on in the evenings while I continue to work, work, work.

Anyway, at one point in the episode, the detectives visit a foster home and come across a very special guest star—the stack of comics pictured below.

Sorry I couldn’t grab a crisper shot off the screen!

I recognize the comic at the top of the pile as being The Eternals #1 from October 1985, but I can’t identify any of the others by the little we see of their covers.

But a few questions come to mind.

1) How much does that 25-year-old premiere issue go for these days? Can someone check a price guide for me? Which leads into the next question …

2) If that comic turns out to be expensive, is it a comic that a little kid, maybe 8 or 10 years old, living in a group home with other kids in 2010, could possibly afford to own? That is, does it make sense in terms of the story, or did a set dresser grab a pricey comic without thinking?

3) Finally—anyone recognize any of the other comics sticking out of the stack?

As you can tell, whenever I see comics appear in the context of a TV show, I start over-thinking it …

I’ve autographed many artifacts over the years, but none has affected me as deeply as copies of the 1975 Marvel Con program books which arrived yesterday from a collector. One of the highlights of that program were eight pages of photos of the Bullpen as it existed 35 years ago. (You can see those photos on display over at Diversions of the Groovy Kind.)

This fan wanted to get as many of those photos signed as was still possible, but before I signed my name, I looked through those pictures of old friends, many with autographs from those who were no longer with us to autograph anything ever again, and I found myself getting choked up and near tears.

I had to set aside the books for signing until today, when was I better prepared to look through those pages without weeping.

There was Irene, looking as I’d first met her. (And there we both are below, as I’ve already shared with you.)

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In response to repeated requests (OK—make that one request), here’s a column I wrote for The Comics Journal back in 1978. It was pointed out to me that though I posted the text of all of my mid-’80s TCJ Ethics columns here, I never shared my much earlier one-off which I’d called “Bullpen Bull.”

As you’ll see, I used to scribble down quips made by my fellow Bullpenners, and once I was no longer on staff, I decided to share my favorites.

My favorite from among my favorites? The day production manager John Verpoorten, bemoaning how late our books had become, walked into the Bullpen, towering over us all, and said, “I was just speaking to our printer. He was wondering if we were still in business.”

Back in 1976, Gerry Conway wrote the introductory memo below laying down the law as the newly installed Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics. A lot of what he had to say made sense, because Marvel was a train wreck as far as scheduling was concerned, always falling victim to what was then known as the Dreaded Deadline Doom. But Gerry wasn’t around to see all his plans implemented, because he was only in his position for three weeks.

Or was it four? Or maybe even six?

I’m no longer sure, because though I’ve been remembering his term as lasting only three weeks, I’ve heard others who are equally as sure insist that it was one or the other of those two additional time periods. So until someone turns up further documentation, I’m keeping an open mind (and an elastic memory).

One thing I am sure of, however, is that though this memo is dated March 12, 1974 … that really wasn’t when it was written. After all, I hadn’t started working for Marvel yet by that date, and neither had Gerry. Since it was packed away in my files between a memo from me to Stan Lee dated February 12, 1976, and a letter from Gerry to Len Darvin at the Comics Code dated March 15, 1976, I can safely assume that the date on the memo is off by two years. (more…)

That’s me below at a party being hosted by Marvel Comics, circa 1975.

Why was Marvel Comics hosting this party? I have no idea. Nor does my wife, who was also working at Marvel then. Though when this picture was taken, she was not yet my wife.

To get to this party, I took an elevator to the top floor of a tall building. There was an amazing view. Could the party have taken place at the Rainbow Room? Yes, it could. But I can’t be sure.

Why were we there? I told you, I can’t remember.

Could it have been a Christmas party? Hmmm … I don’t think so. But, again, I can’t be sure.

Why was a life-sized Doctor Strange cutout there? I can’t remember that either.

Why am I sticking my head through the hole where Doctor Strange’s face should be? Because that’s what you do when you see a superhero without a face.

Why was there someone on hand snapping our pictures? I may never know.

Of course, if anyone reading this happens to have been there back in the old days of the Marvel Bullpen and has any memories of this event … maybe I have a chance of knowing after all.

Anyone?

(And BTW—the reason this photo came to mind today? Because Stan Lee wants an Oscar.)

This will be my last post based on old issues of FOOM, I promise. But I couldn’t resist, especially since in this case, I have more than just one piece of the puzzle.

I loved the writing of Don McGregor, first in Warren’s black-and-white comics, and then at Marvel with Black Panther and Killraven. He was then, and remains now, one of my favorite comic-book writers. But even those of us who were his fans had to admit that he could be a bit … well … wordy.

Which will explain the tweaking he received in FOOM #9 at the hands of Marv Wolfman and Marie Severin, who collaborated on “The Harmony Factor Syndrome Beneath Wakanda.”

And as for that other piece of the puzzle—here’s Marv’s original script for that feature. (more…)

When I dug out the March 1975 issue of FOOM last week, I found something fun on the back cover—a piece of John Byrne art I don’t think has seen print in 35 years.

I have no idea why we ran this image that issue, not when it was a “Special Cosmic Issue,” with all the other feature content relating to Marvel’s cosmic characters such as Captain Marvel, the Silver Surfer, and Adam Warlock. John probably just whipped up the spoof as a joke and we all thought it so silly we couldn’t resist sharing it.

Which is sort of the same reason I’m sharing it now.

So check out Shang-She, Mistress of Kung Fu, as she teams up with Iron Sis to take on the insidious Su Manchu.

In 1978, Marvel had plans to create a short promotional movie to sing its own praises. Why? And to whom? Was it meant for advertisers? Possible Licensees? Hollywood studios to which the company was pitching its characters?

Who knows? All I can say for sure is that a seven-page script was created titled “The Marvel Age of Comics: 15 Minute History in Film,” one that explained how, starting in 1961, Stan Lee changed everything. The film was meant to be narrated by Stan himself, who can be seen in sketch form on the first page of the script below.

The artist for that six-panel intro? None other than Stan’s baby brother Larry Lieber, who also happened to script the introductory appearances of both Iron Man and Thor.

There’s plenty of interesting info here, especially when Stan explains the creation of two of Marvel’s most important properties. (more…)