August 2015 No.82 $ 8 . 9 5 THIS ISSUE: BRONZE AGE EVENTS! Avengers vs. Defenders JLA/JSA Secret Wars Crisis’ 30th anniversary Legends Millennium Invasion! Infinity Gauntlet & more! 7 0 8 2 6 7 7 2 8 5 6 2 8 1 Avengers, Defenders, and all related characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Volume 1, Number 82 August 2015 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond! John Morrow DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST John Byrne (from the collection of Scott Green) COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Andrew Arnell JimShooter.com Ian Ascher Dan Jurgens Paul Balzè Barbara Kesel Steven Bayer Jim Kingman The Beyonder John K. Kirk Al Bigley Stan “The Man” Lee Michael Breakfield Alan Light Chris Brennaman Pat Loika Eliot R. Brown Marvel Comics Rich Buckler David Michelinie Bob Budiansky Allen Milgrom Sal Buscema Luigi Novi Kurt Busiek Dennis O’Neil Jarrod Buttery Martin Pasko BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . .2 ByrneRobotics.com Tom Peyer Gerry Conway Bill Sienkiewicz OFF MY CHEST: The Twilight of Stan Lee . .3 Tom DeFalco Anthony Snyder The slow fadeout of Stan the Man as a comic writer Steve Englehart Jim Starlin Jackie Estrada Joe Staton FLASHBACK: Summertime Special: The Avengers–Defenders War . .8 Danny Fingeroth Roger Stern The summer Steve Englehart pitted team against non-team Mike Friedrich Max Talley Keith Giffen Roy Thomas FLASHBACK: Crisis? What Crisis? JLA/JSA Crossovers . .15 Peter B. Gillis John Trumbull JLA writers chime in on the endless summers of Bronze Age Justice League/Justice Society gatherings Grand Comics Karen Walker Database John Wells THE TOY BOX: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars . .30 Scott Green Marv Wolfman A maxiseries hit for Marvel produced a dud toy line for Mattel. What went wrong? Robert Greenberger Mike Zeck Heritage Comics FLASHBACK: Secret Wars II: The Crossover Takes Over . .38 Auctions A star-studded remembrance of the Beyonder’s return Paul Howley FLASHBACK: Crisis at 30 . .48 A look back at the most influential crossover in comics history If you’re viewing a Digital Edition of this publication, FLASHBACK: Crisis on Infinite Crossovers . .55 PLEASE READ THIS: The post-Crisis crossovers of DC Comics FLASHBACK: The Infinity Saga . .68 This is copyrighted material, NOT intended for downloading anywhere except our Jim Starlin discusses his trio of Thanos-starring Marvel epics #5 (Aug. 1985). Art by George Pérez. 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Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. www.twomorrows.com Cover art by John Byrne. Avengers, Defenders, and related characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2015 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. In the background: Cover to Bronze Age Events Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1 Stan’s Last Stand Stan Lee, as seen in a Crazy! Magazine subscription ad from the mid-1970s, and some of the last comics he wrote at Marvel. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. by M a x Ta l l e y This article covers the final two and a half years Stan Lee wrote monthly Batman or Superman story would stand alone, leaving less room for comics. Of course, he continued to write/edit Marvel anthologies and character development, or sense of continuity—is uncertain. created the Spider-Man newspaper strip. But my focus is on a transitional, Stan’s Soapbox of January 1970 stated, “If our earth-shattering new unsettled time when the Silver Age morphed into the Bronze Age, policy hasn’t really grabbed you by the time you read these words—don’t when the two writers (Stan Lee and Roy Thomas) who controlled the worry! We’ll switch back to our old, cataclysmically confusing, continued- continuity and changes within the Marvel Universe ceded their strict story policy before you can say, ‘No wonder they dumped old Stan!’ ” control to new writers like Gerry Conway and Steve Englehart. Fan backlash over the decision was immediate. “I was sorry to hear This period is rarely discussed in detail. Something went wrong at of your decision to cut down to single issue stories, as I don’t feel you can Marvel in early 1970, but there were several factors involved in this get the proper characterization and motivation into so few pages and still misdirection—beyond the usual tired memes that Stan was over the hill, have action,” wrote Christine Cassello in The Amazing Spider-Man #82. or couldn’t create anything without Jack Kirby’s avalanche of characters Sadly, with a couple of exceptions, the policy remained for a year, and Steve Ditko’s plotting abilities. and classic extended storylines like those involving Dr. Doom (Fantastic To understand the slump of 1970, one must first look at 1968 and Four #84–87), or Namor’s Serpent Crown saga (Sub-Mariner #9–13), the first half of 1969. Pick any Marvel title during those months or Spider-Man’s Tablet adventure (Amazing Spider-Man #68–75), and you’ll find a stunning cover, usually symbolic, with few would not return until the Kree–Skrull War. In those multi-part if any blurbs. Inside the covers, there is art by Kirby, stories, the writers could provide the character development John Buscema, John Romita, Gene Colan, John Severin, often lacking in their distinguished competition’s comics, Marie Severin, Jim Steranko—all at their peak. Even and the artists could really let loose. When forced back newcomers like Barry Smith and DC stalwarts Neal into the early Marvel style of short stories that concluded Adams and Gil Kane joined in the fun. The few quickly, it was an uncomfortable switch for Lee and Roy stories not written by Stan Lee and Roy Thomas are Thomas—who had both excelled for years on subplots by Archie Goodwin or Gary Friedrich. and large casts of characters. It was also harder on the By the January 1970 cover-dated Marvel issues, artists, who as part of the “Marvel Method” either Steranko has gone, Barry Smith isn’t drawing super- plotted or co-plotted the stories. Suddenly, they had heroes, and Dr. Strange and Nick Fury have been canceled, to wrap up their stories fast and then come up with a while the once giant-sized The Silver Surfer is struggling brand-new plot and villain every month. as a 15-cent book, causing Stan to throw in guest-stars Take a look at Amazing Spider-Man #80 from 1970. like the Human Torch and Spider-Man. Lee has handed roy thomas Large panels, often only four to five a page, and much The Incredible Hulk over to Roy Thomas. A few months less writing than a year before. Captions and editorial later, Neal Adams stops penciling The X-Men and the title © Marvel. asides are rare. There are dialogue balloons and thought slides into reprint limbo for five years, Gil Kane and Thomas stop working balloons. (The reduction of paper size from 12.5" x 18.5" to 10" x 15" also on the peripatetic Captain Marvel, and Archie Goodwin leaves Iron Man. contributed to this.) The return of the Chameleon after 78 issues would However, Marvel still retained a wealth of talent. What could slow down seem to be a momentous event, but he is easily dispatched in a single issue. their creative ascendancy of the preceding six years? These are solely my Then in issue #81 we are treated to the Kangaroo. Feeling nostalgic? own opinions as an outsider, and I respect that many insiders may disagree. Neither am I. With the new easy-come, easy-go policy, Stan and Roy were Stan’s editorial decision to switch from multi-part stories to single- forced to come up with new villains fast. The Kangaroo might have fit into issue stories had a profound effect, though it was publisher Martin the first year of Spider-Man, or among early Daredevil foes like the Leap-Frog. Goodman’s idea, according to Roy Thomas (who did not read or But this bland blonde who described the acquisition of his skills thusly: “I lived necessarily agree with my editorial, but was kind enough to provide a in kangaroo country—eating what they ate—going where they were— few email answers). Whether it had been Marvel readers complaining working—training,” seemed absurd in the maturing Marvel of 1970. that they couldn’t follow the story if they missed an issue, or Marvel’s Perhaps worse evidence of the single-issue constraints can be attempt to copy a weaker aspect of most DC comics—that every found in The Mighty Thor.