ROCK ’N’ ROLL COMICS ISSUE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW SAM J. JONES STAR OF THE ROCK ’N’ ROLL SCI-FI CLASSIC $8.95 No.101 December 2017 FLASH GORDON SCHOOL’S OUT, TRUE BELIEVER! ALICE COOPER, MARVEL HERO KISS OFF, DOC DOOM! KISS IN COMIC BOOKS I THINK YOU LOVE ME! PARTRIDGE FAMILY, THE COMIC T.REX’S MARC BOLAN INTERVIEWS STAN LEE! SIR PAUL McCARTNEY, FEARLESS FRONT-FACER! 1 82658 00115 5 MARVEL’S STEELTOWN ROCKERS & LILA CHENEY! Flash Gordon © 1980 Universal City Studios, Inc. Other characters their respective copyright holders. All rights reserved. COMIC-CON’S HOUSE BAND, SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT! Volume 1, Number 101 December 2017 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury“thmics” Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond! PUBLISHER John “Cougar” Morrow DESIGNER Rich “Earth, Wind &” Fowlks COVER DESIGNER Michael “MC5” Kronenberg PROOFREADER BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury ....................... 2 Rob “Zombie” Smentek Remembering Seduction of the Innocent, the band… and Miguel Ferrer SPECIAL THANKS INTERVIEW: Sam J. Jones, Flash Gordon ............................ 4 Jack Abramowitz Richard Makinson A chat with the coolest cosmic hero from the rockin’ sci-fi classic Neal Adams Scott Manson Zeea Adams Bill Maus CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG BIGLEY: Cartoon by Al Bigley............. 10 Isabel Addie Max Maxwell Take the last train to fanville to replay the Monkees’ comics connections Terry Austin Hugh McKenna Nick Barrucci Bob McLeod FLASHBACK: Sir Paul McCartney, Fearless Front Facer! ................ 12 Arvin Bautista Robert Menzies Maybe we’re amazed by this Beatle’s mighty Marvel honor Stuart Bell Tim Moen Al Bigley John Francis Moore BACKSTAGE PASS: The Sensational Alex Harvey Band ................. 17 Chad Bowers Bill Mumy The story of the little-known (in the USA) musical Marvelite Jarrod Buttery Allan Murray Paul Castiglia Fabian Nicieza INTERVIEW: Marc Bolan Interviews Stan Lee ........................ 20 Amy Chu Luigi Novi The Man and T.Rex’s front man, plus Angie Bowie as Black Widow Chris Claremont Kevin O’Rourke Zal Cleminson Dan Parent FLASHBACK: Saturday Morning Supergroups ....................... 24 Paty Cockrum Keith Partridge Tunes from toons, with multimedia stars from your childhood Max Allan Collins Scott Pentzer Robert V. Conte Carol Rambo BEYOND CAPES: Partridge Family, David Cassidy, and Bobby Sherman ..... 30 Kelly Corvese John Romita, Sr. A psychedelic school bus and two teen idols, in Charlton Bronze Age comics Peter Criss Scott Mitchell Kelly Sue DeConnick Rosenberg FLASHBACK: Forty Years of KISS in Comics.......................... 36 Dynamite Chris Ryall From Marvel to Dynamite, KISS continues to conquer comic books Entertainment The SAHB Fans Jackie Estrada Facebook Group GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: KISS Unplugged ................... 44 Fayetteville Jim Salicrup My KISS Story author Robert V. Conte reveals the KISS comics we didn’t see Comic-Con Shannon Tom Florio Steve Sherman INTERVIEW: KISSing Up to Amy Chu............................... 54 Stephan Friedt Louise Simonson Meet the latest KISS comics writer Catherine Glen Chris Sims BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Hypno-Hustler.......................... 56 Chris Glen Spike Steffenhagen The disco-era do-badder Marvel just can’t forget Dito Godwin John S. Stuart Grand Comics Roy Thomas FLASHBACK: Alice Cooper: From the Inside ......................... 58 Database Steven Thompson School’s in for Professors Hannigan, Salicrup, and Austin as they revisit Marvel Larry Hama Mort Todd Premiere #50 Ed Hannigan Gerry Turnbull Alex Harvey, Jr. Peter Vassallo PRINCE STREET NEWS: Cartoon by Karl Heitmueller, Jr. ............... 63 Tyro Harvey Dennis Woloch Comic and cartoon characters’ favorite music artists Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Andy Helfer FLASHBACK: Lila Cheney: Marvel’s (other) Mutant Musician ........... 66 Heritage Comics The story of the New Mutants’ teleporting, rock-’n’-rolling super-singer Auctions If you’re viewing a Digital James Hogg Edition of this publication, PRO2PRO: Steeltown Rockers ..................................... 71 Dan Johnson PLEASE READ THIS: Larry Hama, Elaine Lee, and Steve Leialoha, and their offbeat Marvel miniseries Sam J. Jones This is copyrighted material, NOT intended Ken Kelly for downloading anywhere except our BACK TALK ................................................... 76 Mike Kelly website or Apps. If you downloaded it from another website or torrent, go ahead and Reader reactions Rachel Kilbury read it, and if you decide to keep it, DO Reuben Kincaid THE RIGHT THING and buy a legal down- BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, load, or a printed copy. Otherwise, DELETE Rob Kirby IT FROM YOUR DEVICE and DO NOT Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: Scott Kolins SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS OR POST IT BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Hans Kosenkranius ANYWHERE. If you enjoy our publications Email: [email protected]. Eight-issue subscriptions: $73 Standard US, $116 International, enough to download them, please pay for $31 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. David Anthony Kraft them so we can keep producing ones like this. Our digital editions should ONLY be Flash Gordon © 1980 Universal City Studios, Inc./TM & © King Features Syndicate. Alice Cooper Bruce Kulick © Alice Cooper. KISS © Kiss Comics, Ltd. Partridge Family © Sony Pictures Television. All Rights Elaine Lee downloaded within our Apps and at www.twomorrows.com Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless Stan Lee otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2017 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing, except for Steve Leialoha Confessions of a Young Bigley TM & © Al Bigley and Prince Street News TM & © Karl Heitmueller, Paul Levitz Jr. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1 by Dan Johnson Flash! Ahhh… …Savior of the Universe! The affable, inspirational star of the 1980 film Flash Gordon, at a convention appear- ance. Photo courtesy of Sam J. Jones. Movie © 1980 Universal City Studios, Inc. Flash Gordon TM & © King Features Syndicate. When it comes to comics and rock ’n’ roll, there is no better fusion I can accomplish what he has in those years, but I’d like to give it a shot.” of the two than the 1980 cult movie classic, Flash Gordon. With its I got prayed up—I really wanted God’s blessing on this, and I felt if I was spot-on casting, special effects, and a killer soundtrack by Queen, going to do it, I would give myself six-month intervals. If I went to Hollywood, Flash Gordon has become legendary, with new fans discovering it all the and I found myself progressing in any way, shape, or form, I would give time. At the 2016 Fayetteville Comic-Con, BACK ISSUE got the chance to myself another six months. But if I found myself backstopping, or regressing, sit down and talk to the star of the film,Sam J. Jones, to discuss how he in any six-month interval, I was just going to try something else. came to play one of the greatest space legends of all time, the making of JOHNSON: Sounds like a solid course of action. I take it you never had the movie, and the impact the film has had on his life and the fans. cause to second-think the decision? – Dan Johnson JONES: Actually, the first month I got connected to a really good acting class doing scene study and improvisation, and a month later, we had DAN JOHNSON: First off, how did you get your start in the movie agents auditing the class and we were doing showcases. [Then I got] industry, Sam? a commercial representative, so I was being submitted for TV commercials. SAM J. JONES: I was in the Marine Corps playing football and I had Three months later, after about 200 auditions, I ended up getting hired this brilliant idea that I would serve one hitch and then I would go play for a Schaefer Beer commercial with the legend, Jerry West of the pro football with the Seattle Seahawks. So I got out, and went to L.A. Lakers. I did the Schaefer Beer commercial, and that really built Seattle to visit my grandparents, who were living there. up my self-esteem and confidence. From there, I ended up getting a JOHNSON: When was this? theatrical agent, and then I was being submitted for movies. JONES: This was in 1976. I met with part of the coaching staff and JOHNSON: How did that process go? they said, “We don’t want you to play for [the Seahawks], we want JONES: My first 50 to 80 auditions were the same thing. There’s going you to play for our semi-pro team, the practice team.” So I played one to be a lot of rejection, for whatever reason, and you can’t take it season there and I wasn’t feeling it. You know how we have that spark personally. I reached a point, even at that young age, where I had to and that passion to do something and nobody’s gonna stop us? I was dismiss all the negative stuff. [Regarding other actors up for the same 22 and didn’t have that spark anymore. roles,] I dismissed the fact that this was not my competition. My only At the same time, I read an article about Clint Eastwood. By ’77, he had enemy is me, and I needed to walk in that room and be prepared. already been in [show] business 22 years. I said to myself, “I don’t know if Once I started doing that, and thinking, “If they want Sam Jones, they’re 4 • BACK ISSUE • Rock ’n’ Roll Comics Issue gonna get Sam Jones. If they don’t want Sam Jones, they’re gonna get somebody else.” JOHNSON: Now, when you did make it, your first role was in 10 with Bo Derek.