|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 18, 2017 21:06:00 GMT -5
For more info on the MLJ heroes, I recommend Mighty Crusaders network, which features an index of all the heroes through the various iterations, as well as some of their other even smaller features, and a little about the villains. It also features this awesome piece of work from irv Novick...
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 19, 2017 5:41:42 GMT -5
Thanks for the link to the Mighty Crusaders page, great stuff. Also: Bob Phantom? Dude, you're not even named Robert. Heck, Walter Phantom sounds better...
|
|
Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,624
Member is Online
|
Post by Confessor on Nov 19, 2017 5:46:37 GMT -5
Oz, the enduring magical fantasy land, created by L Frank Baum. Oz has been extremely popular since its creation and it has inspired its share of comics, including the first joint venture by DC and Marvel, an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (the film version). Marvel followed that up on their own, with The Land of Oz. The Big Two weren't alone in the exploration of Oz and First Comics would go on to publish Eric Shanower's wonderful (pun intended) series of Oz graphic novels. Now, in the mid-90s, it was Caliber's turn. They published Stuart Kerr, Ralph Griffith and Bill Ryan's continuation of the Oz tales. A trio of young adults, Mary, Kevin and Pete are looking through an old trunk of comics and books, that Kevin and Pete bought at a house sale, from an old man (for $50). They thing they have discovered the next Mile High Collection and are looking up comics, when mary uncover a huge, antique book, with a lock on it. Pete is able to pick the lock and open it, which unleashes a tornado. Before you can say Judy Garland, the trio and their dog Max are whisked to the Land of Oz, where they soon find themselves assaulted by Munchkins. The males end up separated from Mary and each discover a part of what has gone on. The new Nome King has taken control of the land and forced Queen Ozma to share power with him. The Scarecrow is King of Munchkinland, a cruel dictaor, while the Tin Woodsman rules a metal kingdom of his own, with an iron (or, at least, tin) fist. The Lion is attended by a bevy of lionesses. Pete and Kevin encounter the Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman and Cowarldy Lion and free them from the control of amulets, which affected their minds. Meanwhile, Mary has been saved from the Munchkins by Jack Pumpkinhead, who introduces her to a group of freedom fighters, including Tik-Tok, Amber Ombi, Hungry Tiger, a winged monkey, Hammerhead, Jinjur and various Munchkins and Winkies. They Earth youths help the freedom fighters battle the forces of the Nome King to free Ozma and the Land of Oz. The series is great fantasy adventure and faithful to the Oz books and characters, from the big to the more obscure. The tale is darker (not that Oz didn't get dark, at times) and grittier than Shanwer's versions, fitting into that darker sensibility of many of Caliber's projects (and the comics of the 90s, in general). What is clear is that the creators have a genuine love of the material and they put together a great epic that races along. Not content with just that saga, they also created a series of specials which told of the Nome King's rise to power, how the Wizard and Dorothy were banished via magic, and how the Scarecrow, Woodsman, and Lion came under the spell of the Nome King. The series lasted for 20 regular issues, then a series of mini-series, as well as the Oz Special prequels. Caliber had quite an Oz franchise going, before it all came to a halt. It was revived at a revived Arrow Comics (which had published several books that ended up continued at Caliber, when they ceased publication), where the story was concluded in Dark Oz. That was followed by a 9-issue Land of Oz. These are well crafted books, though some of the art is a bit rougher than Shanower's wok, or some other Oz-related works; but, the writing and plotting are top notch and the art has its great moments. it is visually inventive and Ryan has a way with facial expressions, which helps propel the story. The fantastic and the mundane work hand in hand. These might be a bit much for a young reader; but, pre-teen and teen Oz fans should love it, as well as adults. They are certainly better than the recent movie. Next up, a look at Caliber's one-man crime fiction factory: Brian Michael Bendis, before he was putting words in webslinger's mouths. Great review, Cody. I'm a big, big fan of Caliber's Oz series (and the later Arrow series too). I read these as they were coming out and today have a complete run, including all the specials. I totally agree with your review, the stories were great and the scripting excellent. The artwork was a little rougher than most mainstream books of the time and very much gave the comic an "indie" feel, but the art was still rather inventive and didn't detract from the story at all. It's high time I re-read this series again.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2017 9:27:11 GMT -5
codystarbuck that is some nice Novick artwork. The MLJ (Archie) heroes are something I have been interested in the last few years. I have been getting into their stories when I can. Honestly I think DC did a better job with them than Archie ever did.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 19, 2017 10:03:56 GMT -5
codystarbuck that is some nice Novick artwork. The MLJ (Archie) heroes are something I have been interested in the last few years. I have been getting into their stories when I can. Honestly I think DC did a better job with them than Archie ever did. Certainly the Impact line, which featured people like Brian Augustyn, working on some of the projects. Impact was very much filled with young talent, hoping to prove themselves. Also, DC paid them better, which I'm sure was a better motivator.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 19, 2017 21:07:12 GMT -5
By about 1945 (give or take), the MLJ heroes were mostly gone, replaced by more humor strips, as the success of Archie influenced John Goldwater to go more into that genre. They even renamed the company Archie Comics. From this time through the bulk of the 50s, Archie was focused almost entirely on humor comics, most featuring Archie and the Riverdale gang. This was a fertile period for Archie and the post-war Baby Boom created a large audience for their books. By the middle of the decade, a crusade against crime and horror comics (and some attacking comics, in general), three of the 4 biggest publishers (Dell stayed out of it) got together and created the Comics Code Authority, out of self-preservation. They also had the ulterior motive of shoving some of the competition off the newsstand, especially EC Comics. One of the casualties of this hysteria was Mainline Publications, the new company founded by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. They had been producing comics for Crestwood and had found huge success in the creation of the first recognized romance comic, Young Romance. The duo decided to go into publishing and invested their savings. However, their distributor, leader news, was also the distributor of EC and they became increasingly gunshy. Joe Simon spoke of entire bundles of their material going undistributed. With their cash from publishing at a trickle and with a dispute over royalties at Crestwood, Simon & Kirby were on the ropes. They gave up when Leader News went under and decided to go their separate ways. Simon went off to advertising, while Kirby went to DC and ate crow. Towards the end of the decade, Kirby had had enough of petty nitpicking on art assignments (wrong number of shoestrings on cavalry boots, a native american figure mounting a horse on the wrong side) and legal squabbles over Sky Masters and hooked back up with Simon, who was ready to play in the comics game again. DC was having success with superheroes and Archie decided they wanted back in the game. So, they turned to Simon & Kirby to revamp an old hero and create a new one. The old character was the Shield; but, true to form, Simon & Kirby had no interest in revisiting Joe Higgins. They had already done their version of the idea, with Captain America (and more successfully so). Instead, they created a new Shield, better known as Lancelot Strong. Lance's father is Prof. Fleming, who is researching the untapped potential of the brain. His experiments aim to prove that by stimulating those dormant centers, at a young age, you can develop a superhuman. He unveils the subject of his experiment, his toddler son. His visitors are horrified and threaten to alert authorities. meanwhile, evil, stinking Commies are out to steal Flemings secrets. Fleming decides to hit the road before child welfare services turn up and runs off with young Lancelot in a mobile lab. The professor finds his truck sideswiped by the Commies and he runs off the road (despite having a heck of a lot more mass and horsepower; some scientist!). Baby Lancelot goes crawling off, with the brain stimulator still strapped to his head. Nearby, farmer Abel Strong finds the boy and from then on, raises him as his own. Lancelot Strong grows into a strong young man and while he and a friend are out poking in the woods, they come across the wreckage of Prof. Fleming's mobile lab. lancelot goes poking inside. meanwhile, something collides with a Sputnik satellite, which crashes to the Earth in a remote area of the US. Guess where? Lancelot emerges from the lab wearing a mask, then shows off the snazzy uniform he has found. He hears a commotion and zips off in a flash and finds a space monster, which he battles and defeats. He departs, giving his name as The Shield. He returns home but soon finds that the wreckage has been hauled away by the Commies. he tracks them down and attacks them, as they are loading things onto a submarine. Being a red blooded (super) American, he cleans their Commie clocks and rams through the sub, sinking it. He then returns home to fins his draft notice. Lancelot soon finds himself in the Tank Corps (armored division, actually) where they are testing a new atomic tank. The tank runs amok and Pvt Strong jumps in to stop it, narrowly missing a colonel and his daughter, in her little convertible. Turns out the Commies have tiny minions. The Commie agents hits the trio with shrinking gas and takes them away in a shoebox. Lancelot wakes up, changes into his Shield costume, then fights his way through micro-men, chameleons, big dogs and oversized furniture to find the mind behind things. he is sending the newly regrown colonel and daughter into a subatmoic "microverse." Pvt Strong grabs a huge gun and shoots a machine out of the mad scientists hands. he then zooms around and is finally regrown to full size, where he kicks Commie tail and rescues the officer and daughter. And that's just the first issue! Alas, there would only be one more issue, as DC sent a cease and desist letter to Archie, complaining that the Shield infringed upon Superman. John Goldwater agreed to yank the title and two wonderful issues are all we got. Meanwhile, the first issue previewed the next title: The Adventures of the Fly. The Fly is young Tommy Troy, an orphan straight out of Dickens... The orphans are being starved so that Aaron Creacher can pay his gambling debts. Tommy goes to confront him and overhears the story. he gets caught and sold off to work for an old couple at a hanuted house. In their attic room, he finds a ring, which brings Turna. emissary of the Fly People! His people lived on the Earth and devloped great magic; but, an accident destroyed most of his people and the rest left for another dimension. the ones who remained were transformed into houseflies. He grants Tommy the powers of the insect word, and a stinging gun, which Tommy Uses to go after the crooks exploiting the orphans. He rounds them up and saves the day, before turning back into Tommy Troy. Tommy soon runs up against his biggest nemesis, the Spider... Simon & Kirby continued with the Fly through the 4th issue, then left (Kirby's work only appears in the first two issues; other stories are by Al Williamson, Jack Davis and Carl Burgos). Kirby went back to Atlas and Simon moved back to commercial work, before doing some work for Harvey in their attempt at reviving heroes, in the 60s. Meanwhile, the Archie Adventure Series line gained a third hero, independent of S&K. That would be the Jaguar. The hero is the creation of Robert bernstein and John Rosenberger. Their series features Ralph Hardy, who is on an archeological dig in Peru. A serpent rises out of a crack in the Earth and terrorizes the surrounding area. hardy takes refuge in an ancient temple, where he finds drawings of the Incas fighting the same serpent, with a magic belt. He also finds the belt. He dons it and is transformed into the Jaguar and defeats the serpent. He continues to use the belt to fight monsters, aliens, and people from different time periods, out to cause trouble. The belt also has ancient Incan jet nozzles (!!!) which allows the hero to fly. The stories have nice art; but, fairly derivative sci-fi stories, with the same threats over and over again. The title continued for 15 issues, before being cancelled. It was enough to ensure the character's future, in the 60s and beyond. The Fly also continued without Simon and/or Kirby, with fairly mundane stories, until 1963, when it, too was cancelled. Along the way, Tommy Troy became an adult lawyer and gained a female sidekick, Fly Girl, who was actress Kim Brand. She was rescued by the Fly and given her own ring, by Turan, allowing her to transform into Fly Girl. of course, she is madly in love with the Fly (ick, cooties!!!). Within less than a year, Archie decided to give it another go, with the heroes, restarting the Fly with issue 30, with a lighter tone, attempting to imitate the banter of Marvel Comics and Stan Lee. The issue reintroduces the old MLJ hero, the Comet, in a new form. John Dickering is forgotten, as we get a prince from Altrox, with advanced science. He's warm for Fly Girl's form and wants to marry her. Unfortunately, she is a sspicious female and ticks off her fiance, who leaves her sobbing and apologizing. Seriously! This pile of male chauvinist pig dung sets the tone for what is to follow. The Fly is changed to Fly-Man (like Spider-Man) and his series continues, reintroducing other old heroes, including a third Shield, the Comet and the Black Hood. In issue 31, they each save the Fly from his arch-enemy, the Spider, then depart. The Spider brings them together the disperses them, to kill the Fly. However, they come back and save him, with much marvel-style bickering. They decide to use the name that the Spider used to draw them together and call themselves the Mighty Crusaders. At this point, Archie is using the name Radio Comics, Inc, for these adventure series, though the Archie brand is on the covers. With the launch of the Mighty Crusaders team title, they would begin using the Mighty Comics name, which takes us into the next, rather infamous phase of our story. By the by, being a shrewd businessman, Joe Simon was able to exercise his rights and retain ownership of both the Fly and Lancelot Strong, which was why they did not appear in the later DC Comics Red Circle stories. However, they would turn up again, after DC forgot about the previous letter, when the heroes would be revived again, in 1983. Next up, the Mighty Comics Group and the return of the creator of Superman!
|
|
|
Post by mikelmidnight on Nov 20, 2017 12:56:21 GMT -5
Thanks for the link to the Mighty Crusaders page, great stuff. Also: Bob Phantom? Dude, you're not even named Robert. Heck, Walter Phantom sounds better...
I once had a peculiar dream about a sort of parallel Green Lantern Corps, who brought ugly aliens in and gave them cosmetic surgery. Their name? The Bob Phantom Corps. Don't ask me!
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 20, 2017 22:16:42 GMT -5
Thanks for the link to the Mighty Crusaders page, great stuff. Also: Bob Phantom? Dude, you're not even named Robert. Heck, Walter Phantom sounds better...
I once had a peculiar dream about a sort of parallel Green Lantern Corps, who brought ugly aliens in and gave them cosmetic surgery. Their name? The Bob Phantom Corps. Don't ask me!
I never understood Bob Phantom either. You had a few characters with names like Speed Saunders and Jack Frost, Johnny Quick; but, they were either knockoffs of things like Flash Gordon (himself based on athlete nicknames) or used Jack, a common name for heroes in fairy tales and legends. I didn't mention one of MLJ's dumber names, used for a back-up strip: Red Rube. he was a superhero, who transformed when he says "Hey, Rube!" the old carny call for help. He gains his powers from the spirits of his ancestors, who each bestow a specific power. He also transforms from child to adult. Hmmmmmm, wonder why that sounds familiar. I would say I wonder why Fawcett didn't sue; but, they had their hands full with DC. The Scarlet Avenger may sound like a cool name, until you see his costume.... A green suit? Okay, the Sandman originally had one; but, your name is the Scarlet Avenger; not the Christmas Avenger. Meanwhile, that is one weird shape for the cowl/mask. He only lasted for about a year or two, so he wasn't one of the biggies, though he did have Irv Novick drawing at least some of his stories. This guy is Zambini the Magician. I believe he cleaned ice skating rinks in his spare time. Oh, wait; that'd be Zamboni the Magician. My mistake. You can see why they were so quick to embrace Archie; they weren't exactly hitting it out of the park with superheroes, or any of their other features. The Shield, Black Hood and Steel Sterling were their biggest superhero draws, followed by the Hangman. Black Hood and Hangman were pretty violent, so that was probably part of it.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 20, 2017 22:33:39 GMT -5
ps One of the problems with 1940s MLJ is that they weren't the best rates in town and some of their talent moved to better paying gigs. Jack Cole moved on to Quality, leaving the Comet to die. CHarles Biro moved on to Lev Gleason, where he was writing, drawing and editing, and became their main voice. Harry Shorten got bumped up to editorial duties and didn't write much after 1941. He had been the writing force behind their earliest and most popular characters, with Biro handling some of the rest. Bob Fujitani was noted for his work on the Hangman; but, he was also working for Hillman and Quality, which had better rates. He freelanced quite a bit, with Avon Holyoke and others, before mostly producing for Lev Gleason, in the late 40s. Irv Novick probably had the longest tenure of the artists, until MLJ cut back on the superhero stuff. Robert Kanigher had written for MLJ and was instrumental in getting Novick in at DC.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 22, 2017 16:39:48 GMT -5
So, by 1963, Archie Comics had once again given up on superheroes, after a brief flirtation with their Archie Adventure Series, which included The Double Life of Private Strong (2 issues), The Adventures of the Fly (longest lasting, through Nov 1963) and Adventures of the Jaguar (15 issues, ending in Sep '63). However, another event would entice them to try again in 1964: Marvel Comics. By 1964, the Marvel Age was in full swing if not quite at full capacity (the doors would be blown out by 1966). Timely/Atlas had been another lower tier publisher, with a few hits and a ton of knockoffs, trying for volume, rather than quality. Archie was going strong with America's Favorite Teenager, with a plethora of popular titles. It would have it's own tv cartoon show, in about 4 years, as well as a bubblegum pop hit, with "Sugar, Sugar," from a band of studio musicians and singers. So, why not try superheroes again and mimic Marvel's successful style? Well, for one thing, Archie didn't have Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko. They didn't even have a Don Heck. No, they had Paul Reinman. Reinman had worked for MLJ in the 40s, producing many stories featuring their top heroes and many of the lesser ones. He had also worked for All-American (sister publisher to DC) on Green Lantern and the Atom. He was a solid, dependable, if unspectacular artist. He drew lively stories; but didn't exactly wow you with them. Depending on the writer, his stuff would be entertaining, if not memorable. He had been working for Marvel, primarily as an inker over Jack Kirby, when he decided to try other pastures, ending up back at Archie (the former MLJ). He would join one of the more influential writers of the 1940s: Jerry Siegel. Siegel had been in and out of comics, after he was essentially blackballed by Mort Weisinger and by his attempts at legal action against DC. He was working for Marvel as a proofreader, while also writing some stories as "Joe Carter," for the Human Torch, and, under his own name, for the Angel. Archie wasn't the highest paying gig; but, they offered Siegel steady work, when he needed it. Also, he had a lighter touch with his stories (by that point, having left behind his early attempts at social crusading, with Superman). Archie hoped that he might prove to be another Stan Lee, especially since he helped give life to the character who enticed the MLJ/Archie publishers into going into comics. The revival began in late 1964, in The Adventures of the Fly #30. As a back-up story, Jerry Siegel penned the tale, "Fly Girl Meets The Comet," where, as the title says, Fly Girl meets the superhero, The Comet. However, this wasn't the Jack Cole Comet, who was dead. This was a brand new Comet, an alien prince from the planet Altrox. he was dressed in a red and white outfit, with a rainbow colored helmet (as seen here, in 1983) He comes to Earth to wed Fly Girl, who is quite flattered; but, louses up the whole deal when she knocks his helmet off, to see if he is a robot. She mind probes him and tries to see if his face is a mask. Eventually, the guy figures out she is a nut and decides to bugger off back to his home planet, where the women aren't so paranoid. So, Jerry siegel was turning Fly Girl (who was a rather lightweight character) into a Lois Lane snoop. The next issue sees the formation of the revived MLJ heroes as the Might Crusaders. Note that the cover says Fly-Man, while the indicia says Adventures of the Fly. We see how Archie is trying to ape Marvel, and their most popular hero, Spider-Man. The irony is that Spider-Man owed much to the earlier Fly, as well as creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. The story finds the Fly's (now called Fly-Man) arch-enemy, the Spider, escaping from prison, via a tricked out garbage truck (supplied by his henchmen). Fly-Man fails to stop him and must be rescued by another hero at every turn, including the Comet (in a new green and orange costume; but, same goofy helmet), a new version of the Shield, and the Black Hood. Eventually, all 4 receive a notice to meet the others, to form the Mighty Crusaders. They are puzzled, as no one sent the invite and disperse, then the Spider attacks Fly-Man. Fly-Man defeats him and the others return, showing that Fly-Man's loss of powers had been a ruse. They decide to stay together as the Mighty Crusaders, though the editors leave it up to readers (while the Spider urges them to vote "no.") Issue 32 sees them face their first foe, Eterno, the Eternal Tyrant. The issue is filled with wannabe Stan Lee dialogue, plenty of bickering, and Paul reinman's serviceable, if bland art. We soon see the return of the Wizard (in a new, pseudo-Egyptian costume) and the Hangman; but, they turn out to be villains. Subsequent issues of the Fly-Man sees little of the insectoid hero and more of characters like the Shield and Black Hood. We find out what happened to the Black Hood in the years between, as he was zapped by a ray and turned incorporeal, until later restored. The Shield is mysterious, at first; but, is eventually revealed to be Bill Higgins, son of the original Shie;d, who has been turned to stone, by the villain the Eraser. Bill tries to carry on the family legacy; but, his hero activities cost him job after job. We meet the Web, who has retired, since bringing his brother to justice and settling down with a wife. A new crook ends up on the scene, using his name and his costume. The original comes out of retirement, after convincing his wife, then brings him to justice. However, the thought of giving up the excitement is terrible to the Web and he continues in secret, while his wife finds more chores for him. The group's adventures are showcased in Mighty Crusaders, for 7 unfunny and visually unspectacular issues. The best that Jerry Siegel achieves is goofy. Issue 4, "Too Many Superheroes" is indicative of the series. The gang is summoned together and immediately starts bickering and fighting, until it is broken up by Fireball, one of the 4th tier MLJ heroes. He's soon joined by Firefly and Inferno, who want to join. They are sent out on an initiation test. Meanwhile, poor henpecked John Raymond wants some action. He leaves behind the nag....uh. missus, and goes for a walk, where he meets up with the Fox, Bob Phantom and Black jack. Sounds vaguely like The Incredibles! The boys show up at the Crusaders meeting and try to join, while demonstrating their abilities, without impressing many. Fox proves to be sly, avoiding a Shield punch, which hits Black jack, who throws a dropkick which hits the Web (who isn't in fighting trim). Fox steals a kiss from Fly Girl, which torks off Fly-Man. Meanwhile, the pledges are getting their clocks cleaned by the Hangman, disguised as The Dragon. Magicians Zambni and Kardak show up, then Steel Sterling and Mr Justice. Not to be outdone, the Jaguar materializes, as do the villains Hangman and Shield, as well as the Spider. Captain Flag and the Shield's sidekick, Dusty show up and Dusty recognizes that this Shield isn't the original. They talk privately. The villains fight each other, they Roy the Super Boy shows up, along with the Wizard, from the past, and stop the Wizard of the present, helping the Crusaders capture him and hangman. Everyone wants to join and a donnybrook breaks out. Finally, the newcomers get ticked off and leave and we end up with the gang we started with. While this is going on, Fly-Man comes to an end, with issue 39 and is replaced by Mighty Comics, which picks up the numbering (to maintain Second Class mailing privileges, rather than take the more expensive route of filing for a new title). These comics feature solo stories, while Mighty Crusaders deals with the group. Fly-Man had been pushed out of his own book, so the transition to Mighty Comics seemed best. The stories continue much as they had been in Fly-Man, with a few decent ones (such as Black hood facing his old foe, the Skull) and some decent stuff with the Web (apart from the unfunny henpecked husband stuff). They don't quite set the world on fire and Jerry Siegel proves not to have Stan's touch. The art varies a bit; but never rises to Kirby or Ditko, though there were worse things out there. Mighty Comics had a poor rep among fans and the sales never matched the Archie humor line, so back to the vault they went. However, when the batman tv show fad sparked off a short-lived camp craze, they were dusted off for a paperback, from the MLJ partners paperback house, Belmont, called High Camp Super Heroes. This didn't prove any more successful and that would be that, for a while. Next up, Archie tries a bit of horror, in the 70s, and a pair of digests stoke the furnace for a superhero revival.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 23, 2017 14:25:41 GMT -5
So, sometime around 1972, Archie decided to branch out again from their traditional comics. This coincided with another, rather unique venture for Archie: the Spire Christian Comics. Let's start with Spire, then we'll dive into the somewhat polar opposite. Spire was actually a separate company, which worked in partnership with Archie. Spire was created at the Fleming H Revell Company, a publisher of Christian books and other material, which dated back to 1870. It was founded by evangelist DL Moody (as in the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers) and his son-in-law, Fleming h Revell. The comics featured adaptations of Christian inspiration books, like Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place and David Wilkerson's The Cross and the Switchblade. There were several others, including one about Tom Landry, as well as bible stories. However, what brought the company together with Archie was Al Hartley. Hartley was a writer who had worked for Atlas (things like Patsy Walker) and Archie. He became a born again Christian and severed ties with Martin Goodman over the black & white magazine Pussycat, which featured nude cartoons (ala Little Annie Fannie). He went to work for Archie and started inserting some of his beliefs into his stories there. He was eventually told to tone it down a bit; but, was then approached by the Revell company to do freelance work to adapt The Cross and the Switchblade into a comic. Its success led to others. Hartley had an idea and made a pitch to John Goldwater (who was Jewish but was fairly religious). Spire would license the Archie characters for comics produced by Spire, with specific religious and moral themes. Goldwater okayed the deal and the result was over a dozen comics with the Archie characters. These comics were published between 1972 and about 1982, with several reprintings of individual issues. While this partnership was going on, Archie decided to jump on another trend: horror comics. Yep, they were going to publish comics that tended to send some of Spire's audience into fits. The catalyst was the success of Warren's magazines, which had prompted similar output at other publishers, including DC and Marvel. However, thanks to the Comics Code (which John Goldwater presided over), they were "mystery" titles and were heavily toned down from the days of EC and others. Warren got around this by publishing their material as magazines, for adult newsstands, rather than full color comics. Archie was going to produce Code-approved material and approached Gray Morrow to package and edit the material. His memories of it were foggy; but, he started out designing logos, then putting together the comics, which mixed old MLJ material with new work. To put this out, Archie revived the Red Circle name that had been used in a joint venture with Martin Goodman, in the 40s, as a way of branding Goodman's various publications. It was used intermittently, so it never really established an identity. However, Archie launched the line with the Archie name on the cover, and one of their characters as a host: Sabrina. Chilling Adventures in Sorcery was the title that launched this experiment, with Archie's teenage witch, Sabrina. The early material featured work from the regular Archie writers and artists, which makes for bizarre results. However, starting with the third issue, they used the Red Circle logo and Sabrina departed for more wholesome pastures. With issue #6, the book was rechristened Red Circle Sorcery and lasted 6 more issues, before Archie pulled the plug. Gray Morrow acted as editor and chief writer, but the line featured work from Vincent Alcazar, Don Glut, Jesse Santos, Dick Giordano, Marv Channing, Frank Thorne and Alex Toth. The Red Circle line would soon add another title, Super Cops. The comic is an adaptation of the film, starring Ron Leibman (Zorro the Gay Blade) and David Selby (Dark Shadows, Falcon Crest), directed by Gordon Parks (Shaft). The film is based on the story of two actual New York cops, whose story was told in the book, Super Cops, The True Story of the Cops Called Batman and Robin, by LH Whittemore. The film came out on the heels of Serpico, but gathered neither the acclaim nor box office. The exploits of the two real cops were also alleged to be the inspiration for the tv series Starsky and Hutch. The film was an inspiration for Edgar Wright's Hot Fuzz, and Wright sent out a tweet asking for a dvd, from Warner Bros. Warner would later release it on the Warner Archives and Wright introduced the film during an appearance with Robert Osborne, on TCM. There was only the one issue of Super Cops; but, Red Circle would release another title, Madhouse. The comic had been Archie's Mad House; but, the title was renamed Madhouse Glads, featuring a group of the Madhouse Glads, a sort of Monkees style band. For three issues, it became a horror title, under the Red Circle name, and featured stories from Morrow, Don Glut, marv Channing, Bruce Jones, Vincent Alcazar, Frank Thorne and others. With issue #98, it went back to humor and continued under the Archie banner. Morrow had one other piece, which did not see publication; a revamping of the Black Hood. Instead of the original cop-turned-costumed vigilante Kip Burland, this was Thomas "Kip" Burland, nephew of the original. This Black Hood takes over from his uncle, who explains he was just one of several Burlands who used the masked identity of the Black Hood, swiping a gimmick from The Phantom. This Black Hood wears black motorcycle leathers and a black mask, that looks more like a balaclava, than a traditional hood. The younger Kip Burland would ride a motorcycle and carry a special "pepperbox" pistol (which looks similar to the one Mike Grell later gave to Jon Sable). The story is grittier than the norm, with more in common with the men's adventure pulps of the era, like The Executioner and The Destroyer . There were four stories created, but unused: the origin story from Gray Morrow, "Black Hood Hits a Sour Note," from Marv Channing and Al McWilliams... another from Channing and McWilliams, "It's Murder to Beat the Odds" and one from Morrow, neal Adams and Dick Giordano, :Life is Not Like a Comic Book" This material would go unseen until 1978 and 1979, when Archie, under the Red Circle name (in the indicia) published two digests: The first digest featured a collection of the Mighty Comics material, featuring the Black Hood ("The Nightmare World of the Skull", from issue #47) and the Web ("The Web Vs the Flipper," from #46); "Marco's Eyes," From Adventures of the Fly #2 (Simon & Kirby), the Jaguar's origin ("The Monster Mouse," from Adv. of the Jaguar #1), the contents of The Double Life of Private Strong #1", and two stories from Chilling Adventures/red Circle Sorcery (both with Morrow art). Also included were a few stories from Archie's Riverdale superhero identities: Pureheart the Powerful/Captain Pureheart (Archie), Super Teen (Betty, and Captain Hero (Jughead), as well as Evilheart (Reggie). These stories had predominantly appeared in Life With Archie, (there were a couple of Captain hero comics, with Jughead). I'll look at these later, after we wrap up the "real" superheroes. That was followed by a second digest, with the unpublished Black Hood material. Also in the isse were more Private Strong (finishing off the material from the first issue and a story from the second), the introduction of Kim Brand (Fly Girl) from Adv. of the Fly #9 (as well as a couple of others), another Jaguar story; Hangman, Steel Sterling, and the Web stories from Mighty Comics (issues 45, 44, and 40 respectively), a Wally Wood piece, a Fox story from Mighty Comics and a couple more stories of Betty and Jughead, as Super Teen and Captain Hero. That first Superhero Special digest was my first visual introduction to the MLJ heroes (after reading about them in The World Encyclopedia of Comics). The stories were lively, somewhat silly, and darn good (the Simon & Kirby stuff) and it whet my appetite to see more, which would soon be met by the next revival attempt, in 1983. Gray Morrow wasn't finished with the Black Hood. Aside from reprinting the material from the digest (along with some new stories) under the red Circle banner, Morrow would rework the first story (featuring the new origin) into Stingaree, in the pages of Heavy Metal Vol3 #3, July, 1979). This time, the hero is a woman; but, much of the plot remains the same. Morrow said he later ran into someone from Archie's sales department and found out that the Red Circle material had decent sales; but, John Goldwater had pulled the plug on the line, for unknown reasons (possibly due to content). Next up, we enter the 80s and Archie's biggest attempt to revive their heroes, within the new Direct Market. This one will have another wrinkle in it, also, in the form of the revived THUNDER Agents.
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 23, 2017 17:21:28 GMT -5
*Loved* that second digest, and read it to tatters. That was also my introduction to the Archie superheroes. I've since reacquired it, and also bought the first one. The second one is better, but they're both packed with good stories.
Those Spire Archie comics, by the way, were a real trip. When I went through a phase of reading mainly Archie and funny animal comics, I accidentally bought one of those - and I still remember how weird it was seeing the various Archie characters start quoting scripture, or, say, Betty kneeling down and praying for salvation. Heck, at the time I was going to a Catholic elementary school, so I was no stranger to religious indoctrination, but I still thought those were laying it on too thick. Needless to say, after that I made it a point to more closely examine any Archie comics, and checking for that Spire logo, before buying them.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 23, 2017 18:00:58 GMT -5
Spire and Revell were from the evangelistic vein of religious publishing (which is the bread and butter of that industry) and that kind of material was fairly typical of their output. I came in contact with the material via a neighbor, who went to a private Christian school. I grew up in a religious household (my grandfather was a Baptist preacher, as well as a farmer); but, my family church was a bit more laid back when it came to the dogma. I loved comics and he had the Hiding Place one and maybe Cross and the Switchblade (I think I saw God's Smuggler, as well). I don't recall them having any of the Archie ones. Later, I got some scans of some of those, along with a bunch of other material. The Archie ones sort of feel like a typical Archie comic, then suddenly take a right turn into heavy religious material. The irony was John Goldwater was Jewish; but, he felt the material's moral stance fit in with the Archie publishing philosophy, even if his own beliefs ran different than Hartley's born again Christian ones.
Really, that isn't too different from a lot of the other publishers. A great many of the original publishers and creative people were Jewish, though most comics tended to steer out of religious matters, other than occasionally showing clergymen (and nuns) and tended to show more of elements like Satan and other demonic figures, as villains. Max Gaines published Picture Stories from the Bible, which featured both Old and New Testament stories, despite Gaines being Jewish. I'm sure commercial considerations factored into that. DC later published a Treasury Edition of The Bible (Limited Collector's Edition #36), with Sheldon Mayer stories and predominantly Joe Kubert art (Nestor Redondo and his studio also contributed), though all of the stories were from the Old Testament (both Mayer and Kubert were Jewish). In the Silver Age and beyond, both DC and Marvel tended to mostly shy away from it, in part due to Code restrictions; but also for the more pragmatic consideration of not taking chances of offending potential readers (or their parents) with one set of beliefs over another.
The evangelical Spire material was a lot more "in your face" about this kind of material than most, apart from Treasure Chest of Fun and facts, which was distributed to Catholic schools and was very heavy with Catholic dogma of the era (especially anti-Communist propaganda). Marvel, in the 80s, did publish a biography of Pope John Paul II, which seemed a little out of character, given their traditional handling of religion. Of course, Frank Miller later brought Matt Murdock's Catholic faith more overtly into Daredevil, while Chris Claremont did similar things with Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde.
When I was young, my family church used to get Sunday Pix, a small pamphlet of comics and text stories and puzzles. The comics were a mixture of Bible stories and adventure stories with religious parables, including Tullus, about a Christian in the Roman Empire (whose stories had been going since the 50s, with some reprints). Those were pretty good and a little more "middle of the road."
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 23, 2017 18:11:24 GMT -5
*Loved* that second digest, and read it to tatters. That was also my introduction to the Archie superheroes. I've since reacquired it, and also bought the first one. The second one is better, but they're both packed with good stories. Those Spire Archie comics, by the way, were a real trip. When I went through a phase of reading mainly Archie and funny animal comics, I accidentally bought one of those - and I still remember how weird it was seeing the various Archie characters start quoting scripture, or, say, Betty kneeling down and praying for salvation. Heck, at the time I was going to a Catholic elementary school, so I was no stranger to religious indoctrination, but I still thought those were laying it on too thick. Needless to say, after that I made it a point to more closely examine any Archie comics, and checking for that Spire logo, before buying them. I kind of preferred the first one, as I liked more of the superhero stories; plus, the Archie ones were pretty entertaining. The Black Hood battle with the Skull was one of the better stories from the Mighty Comics material and the Web was suitably entertaining. The henpecked element is often cited as being terrible by fans; but, the overall tone of those stories made for better satire than the rest of the Mighty Comics material. I loved the Simon & Kirby Prvt. Strong material and the bulk of that first issue is there; plus, one of the best of their Fly stories. The Jaguar origin story was one of the better ones of that character. That variety and level of quality (the S&K stuff) gave it the edge, for me. The Black Hood dominates the second and it's good stuff; but, I'm not as big of a fan of urban vigilante type characters and would have preferred a more superhero take on the Black Hood. That said, Gray Morrow wrote a much better vigilante than most who put pen to that material, in comics. It also had more of the mystery stuff, which also wasn't as much my cup of tea, though I've read my share of that kind of material. I enjoyed the Archies-as-superheroes enough to track down a couple of those original comics, back in my collecting days. I believe I had a Captain hero and either a Pep or Life With Archie, with a Pureheart story. Later, when Archie put out the Super-Teens miniseries, I bought all 4 issues, since it mixed reprints with new stuff (including Veronica finally getting her own superhero identity, Vanity). I'm going to hit that material later.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2017 18:30:32 GMT -5
I have that Spire Tom Landry issue, it's pretty beat up but I plucked it out of a dollar bin at a con earlier this year. The Chilling Adventures/Red Circle Sorcery is one of my favorite series. I don't quite have a complete run (#10 is hard to find around here, both I and a dealer friend were looking for it, he'd been looking for 4-5 years for it to complete his run, and when I found it I bought if for him as he has always done me solids in our deals and it was he who sold me my Conan #1 for a great price-so I need #10 and one other issue). But it's a fantastic horror anthology. I need to track down those Madhouse issues under the Red Circle banner as well.
-M
|
|