Soon, nearly every story I wrote for Marvel Comics (save for a Master of Kung Fu, all issues of which I believe are in limbo due to rights questions with the Sax Rohmer estate) will be back in print. That’s because on June 24, 2014, Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Volume 5 will be published, collecting my seven-issue run of the space-born superhero Mar-Vell, bookended by a few issues created by others.

Here’s the cover, which uses art from Captain Marvel #50, in which I separated Mar-Vell and Rick Jones.

And here’s an alternate cover, which I believe is for those who’d prefer their volume to carry the numbering system of the complete Marvel Masterworks run, rather than that of the individual title. (more…)

I often share about food here, and I often share about my early years in comics, but I don’t think I’ve ever before shared anything at the intersection of those two topics. It isn’t a Venn diagram with much, if any, overlap, so this may be a first.

Danny Crespi, who was Marvel’s assistant production manager when I worked there in the mid-’70s, gave me his recipe for spare ribs, which he said were “as good as the ribs as the Lotus Eaters.” Here’s Danny as he appeared in the 1975 Marvel Comics Convention program book.

Danny was one of the nicest guys in the world, even though when Mike Esposito, who was doing art corrections in the Bullpen back then, grandiosely said, “In six months, I’ll be running this company,” Danny quickly quipped, “Yeah. Into the ground.” (more…)

While the death of Peter O’Toole, whose work I admired in such films as Lawrence of Arabia, The Ruling Class, and My Favorite Year, saddened me, I was far more moved by learning today of the death earlier in the week of Tom Laughlin, who starred in, directed, and co-wrote the 1971 movie Billy Jack. O’Toole was, of course, the far better actor, but in terms of which man affected me the most, there’s no contest. Laughlin kicked me where it counted.

And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

I saw Billy Jack multiple times when I was a teenager, had its dialogue memorized, imagined myself standing up for the downtrodden in that famous ice cream shoppe scene (so iconic it was later spoofed by Paul Simon in a Saturday Night Live sketch), and for a time even wore a BILLY JACK FOR PRESIDENT button.

So when Marvel Comics decided to devote an issue of its Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine to the phenomenon as a tie-in to the 1974 The Trial of Billy Jack movie, who better to write a think piece about the meaning of it all than the guy who was nuts about the first film? (Beneath that wonderful Neal Adams cover you could also find a second article on the sequel by Black Panther/Killraven writer Don McGregor.) In order to make my point in the essay, I managed to drag in Paul Kersey from Death Wish and Jesus Christ from, you know, The Bible.

As I reread the piece now, I can see that it’s overly influenced by the stylistic pyrotechnics of Harlan Ellison and Tom Wolfe, it suffers from the fact that I was still a beginner at this writing thing, and it contains all the self-righteous earnestness of a college dorm room bull session.

And yet, through it all, my love for the Billy Jack films and the work of Tom Laughlin is evident, so I think it’s still worth sharing on a day like today. (more…)

Way back in the ’70s, Marvel’s Sol Brodsky commissioned me to write an Incredible Hulk coloring book. I wrote the script, turned it in, got paid for it … and then never heard a thing about it ever again.

Not until last week, when I spotted a cover from 1977 over at The Marvel Age of Comics Tumblr which had me wondering … is that the same coloring book I wrote? I couldn’t be sure, but luckily, within a few hours, Paul Di Filippo alerted me to an eBay auction, and I jumped, exercising the Buy Now option so there’d be no chance I’d lose out.

Well, now that I’ve had a chance to read the thing—all 230 words of it—I’m going to say that this is the coloring book I wrote all those years ago. And I’ll keep saying that until someone comes along to contradict me. (more…)

I received an email notification Monday that Marvel Comics had sent me a mysterious FedEx package. What could it contain? I had no idea.

Marvel’s plans are usually a mystery to me, and I tend not to find out that early comics work of mine is being reprinted until it actually has been reprinted and I receive either a check or the printed book. So I had no idea what I’d find when I returned home last night and tore open the envelope.

Well, it turns out that an eight-page story I wrote starring The Vision, which was illustrated by Herb Trimpe and colored by my (at the time) future bride Irene Vartanoff …

… which first appeared in Avengers Annual # 6 way back in 1976 … (more…)

Early this morning, I bemoaned the fact I’d never seen a copy of the Incredible Hulk coloring book I’d written for Marvel Comics way back in the ’70s, and wasn’t even sure it had ever been published. Before noon, Paul Di Filippo pointed out that a copy was up for auction on eBay.

And in a few days, that copy will be in my hands.

Is it the same one I wrote a third of a century ago? As I peruse the scans the seller had posted in the listing, I think so. But my memories of the script are vague, and with each page containing only a few words, there’s no way I can recognize my style.

(more…)

Way back in the ’70s, around the same time I wrote those Mighty Marvel Superheroes Fun Books and The Captain Midnight Action Book for Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Sol Brodsky commissioned me to write an Incredible Hulk coloring book.

I wrote it, got paid for it … and then never heard anything about it again. I never knew whether the project had been published or abandoned. I always wondered what happened, though, because I’m a completist of my own work, and so I’d occasionally search online for any mention of the thing. I never had any success, though, and hadn’t thought about the book for years.

But then a few days ago, The Marvel Age of Comics linked to a cover over at The Vintage Toy Archive, and the mystery was over. My script for an Incredible Hulk coloring book had gotten published.

At, least … I think it was my script that got used for that 1977 coloring book. I no longer own a copy of the script, and have only vague memories of the plot. Did I write about the Hulk visiting the circus? I think I did, and seem to recall a circus, but I can’t be quite sure. It would make sense, considering the character’s history with the Ringmaster. But it could be only a false memory at this point.

No way to fully solve the mystery until I get my hands on the book itself, or find a site where someone has uploaded all the interior pages. Either of those should spark a few memories. At least I hope they would.

But considering it’s taken 33 years before I came across even this small crumb of proof, I’m not holding my breath. If you’ve got a copy and can help me out, though, let me know, OK?

I love it when comic books pop up as props on episodic TV. Over the past few years, I’ve spotted copies of Justice Society of America on Alcatraz and The Eternals on Law & Order: SVU. (Meanwhile, an episode of Mary Tyler Moore featured an unidentifiable comic which I think was probably mocked up specifically for the show. At least, I’ve never been able match it up with any real cover.)

I watched Revolution today—an episode from October 30, which means I’m still one behind, so no spoilers please. In “Dead Man Walking,” computer genius Aaron Pittman is trying to figure out (and duck, ’cause here comes one of those spoilers) why his dreams/visions/angry outbursts/whatever are causing people to burst into flame, and so researches his troubles by reading …

… a comic book about the Human Torch. Specifically, Saga of the Human Torch #4, dated July 1990. (more…)

I’ve been rereading my late ’70s run of Captain Marvel this weekend (for a reason which will eventually be made clear) and noticed something I should have spotted at the time, but never did. (Or maybe I did, but forgot that I had. I’m leaning toward the former, though.)

A couple of years ago, I told you about a page of George Tuska art intended for Captain Marvel #54 which was at the last minute replaced by a Dave Cockrum splash page. Well, as I took a look yesterday at Captain Marvel’s origin story, first published in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 way back in 1967, that proverbial lightbulb went on over my head.

I suddenly saw that in his replacement page, Dave had done an homage to the cover which had started it all—

—and I’d never noticed!

Cap’s walking down a city street toward the reader, filling the page, right foot forward, people pointing, the background crowd mere silhouettes … it was obviously meant to be a tip of the hat to the Gene Colan classic.

How did I not see that immediately when the art was handed in back in 1977?

A third of a century for the scales to fall from my eyes. Wow.

Surely you had all noticed this a long time ago. Why didn’t any of you tell me?

Would you like to be a member of the Marvel Super Heroes Club? Now you can be! Since I never inscribed my name on the card below, you can print it out on heavy stock and add your own.

I have no memory of how this piece of Marvel Comics memorabilia came into my possession. And no amount of online searching reveals any history about it. But I’ve got to believe it dates from 1966, which is when the Marvel Super Heroes cartoon show aired, because the list of heroes on the card is limited to the same heroes who appeared on the show, which aired five days a week and showcased a different hero each day.

For some reason, Spider-Man’s hyphen migrated to the Human Torch, but hey, it was (probably) 1966. Give ’em a break!

And besides, that wasn’t the first time Spidey lost his hyphen.

If anyone can provide more background info on this card, I’d appreciate it, since the Internet seems lacking, but until then—join the club!