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Home , Beyonder, Black Spider, Bob Budiansky, Danny Fingeroth, Frank Bolle, Jackie Estrada

August 2015 No.82 $ 8 . 9 5

THIS ISSUE: BRONZE AGE EVENTS! vs. JLA/JSA Wars Crisis’ 30th anniversary Millennium Invasion! Gauntlet & more! 7 0 8 2 6 7 7 2 8 5 6 2 8 1

Avengers, Defenders, and all related characters TM & © 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 (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 John K. Kirk Al Bigley Stan “The Man” Lee Michael Breakfield Alan Light Chris Brennaman Pat Loika Eliot R. Brown Allen Milgrom Luigi Novi Kurt Busiek Dennis O’Neil Jarrod Buttery Martin Pasko BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury ...... 2 ByrneRobotics.com Tom Peyer OFF MY CHEST: The Twilight of ...... 3 Tom DeFalco Anthony Snyder The slow fadeout of Stan the Man as a comic writer Jackie Estrada FLASHBACK: Summertime Special: The Avengers–Defenders War ...... 8 The summer Steve Englehart pitted team against non-team Talley FLASHBACK: Crisis? What Crisis? JLA/JSA Crossovers ...... 15 Peter B. Gillis John Trumbull JLA writers chime in on the endless summers of Bronze Age League/Justice Society gatherings Grand Comics Karen Walker Database John Wells THE TOY : Marvel Super Heroes ...... 30 Scott Green A maxiseries hit for Marvel produced a dud toy line for Mattel. What went wrong? Heritage Comics FLASHBACK: Secret Wars II: The 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 -starring Marvel epics #5 (Aug. 1985). Art by George Pérez. TM & © DC Comics. website or Apps. If you downloaded it from another website or torrent, go ahead and BACK TALK ...... 74 read it, and if you decide to keep it, DO THE RIGHT THING and buy a legal down- Reader reactions load, or a printed copy. Otherwise, DELETE IT FROM YOUR DEVICE and DO NOT

SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS OR POST IT BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Crisis on Infinite Earths ANYWHERE. If you enjoy our publications Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, enough to download them, please pay for c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: them so we can keep producing ones like this. Our digital editions should ONLY be [email protected]. Six-issue subscriptions: $60 Standard US, $85 Canada, $107 Surface downloaded within our Apps and at International. 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 or 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 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 ’s avalanche of characters Sadly, with a couple of exceptions, the policy remained for a year, and ’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 ’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 – 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 Romita, , John Severin, often lacking in their distinguished competition’s comics, , —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 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 or . 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 have been canceled, to wrap up their stories fast and then come up with a while the once giant-sized The 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 and Spider-Man. Lee has handed roy thomas Large panels, often only four to five a page, and much The Incredible over to Roy Thomas. A few months less writing than a year before. Captions and editorial later, 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 . 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 , 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 . After never-to-be-forgotten cosmic storylines

Bronze Age Events Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3 It was July of 1973. The Watergate hearings were in full swing, “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” was a number-one hit for Jim Croce, and Live and Let Die, the eighth James Bond film, was out in theaters. Comics were still a bargain at 20 cents and were a great summer- time diversion. Sadly, though, that summer there would be no King-Sized Annuals from Marvel Comics to provide some extra zing. But writer Steve Englehart would come to the rescue. He devised a plan to give readers a special summer treat: a multi-issue, multi-month matchup between two titanic super-teams that would move back and forth between two different titles! This was a new idea, and a daring one, too. It was a matchup of establishment heroes against , friends against friends, and had more superheroes than you could shake an uru mallet at! This was… THE AVENGERS–DEFENDERS WAR! THE WARM-UP by K a r e n W a l k e r The idea of super-teams battling was not a new one, of course. It had happened repeatedly throughout comics history. Typically, teams would meet, perhaps briefly fight due to an initial misunderstanding, and then join forces against a common foe. This would all take place within one title, usually even one issue. In the Marvel Universe, the first such team vs. team confrontation took place in #26 (cover-dated May 1964), when the Avengers and Fantastic Four came into conflict while going after the Hulk. And so it would go, teams occasionally running into one another and scuffling before they worked things out. By 1973, the Avengers had been around for a full decade and had seen numerous roster changes. They were arguably the number-one team at Marvel, and had established them- steve englehart selves as major leaguers with the Kree–Skrull War, an epic story arc, Photo credit: Alan Light. just a couple of years before. The Defenders, on the other hand, while composed of some of Marvel’s heaviest hitters like the Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and Dr. Strange, was a team of outcasts and iconoclasts. The Defenders, as a team, had only been around for two years, appearing first in #1 (Dec. 1971) and continuing for two more issues of that title before getting their own book in 1972. Roy Thomas would write the team’s first three appearances in Marvel Feature; Steve Englehart would take over with the first issue of The Defenders. The Silver Surfer was added to the mix and the cast was further

“You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry” The man-mountains mix it up in the conclusion of the Avengers–Defenders War! From The Defenders #10 (Nov. 1973) and the team of Steve Englehart/Sal Buscema/Frank Bolle.

TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

8 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Events Issue [Editor’s note: This exhaustive survey of JLA/JSA crossovers contains some SPOILERS—but hopefully they won’t diminish your enjoyment of these classic tales, some of which have been reprinted multiple times.] I was born in July of 1961, the same month and year that the concept of Earth-Two, created by writer John Broome, artists and Joe Giella, and editor , was introduced in “ of Two Worlds!”, published in The Flash #123 (Sept. 1961). The Flash learned that there was another Earth— another entire universe, actually—existing in a parallel dimension, separated by a transition zone, where the superheroes and mystery men he knew only from comic books actually lived. The Flash met his counterpart, who came out of retirement to aid the Scarlet on a case. This original and older Flash had a heralded career years earlier, and had also been a member of the Justice Society of America, a counterpart to the Flash’s own of America. To simplify matters (although a lengthier explanation would always be required), the then-current Flash, Barry Allen, who in time would be known as the Silver Age Flash, lived on Earth-One, and the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, resided on Earth-Two. In 1963, in “Crisis on Earth-One!” and “Crisis on Earth-Two!”, published in Justice League of America #21 and 22 (Aug. and Sept. 1963), and written by Fox, illustrated by and Bernard Sachs, and edited by Schwartz, the Justice League and the Justice Society teamed up for the first time, and this truly classic crossover blossomed into an annual event that lasted 23 endless summers. I did not read those early adventures, although I became familiar with the Justice League and various members by watching their animated adventures in The Superman/ Hour of Adventure cartoons broadcast on Saturday mornings during the late 1960s. In 1970, my parents purchased for me my first superhero , Justice League of America #82 (Aug. 1970), so that at the age of eight I was introduced to the concept of Earth-Two, the Justice Society of America, and JLA members I was not familiar with (Green and ) in one exciting and entertaining swoop. So what I had missed before, and had no real connection to, now became an integral part of my life, integral to this very day, although the continuation of Earth-Two, the Justice Society of America, and the JLA/JSA team-ups as I knew them were vanquished from my life 30 years ago, leaving only its history, its memories, and its nostalgia. And for all the research I’ve put into this article, all the focus I’ve maintained to make this a thorough history of JLA/JSA team-ups published during the Bronze Age, it is also an excursion in my own personal nostalgia. SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE JLA/JSA’S BRONZE AGE Fox’s JLA tales were plot- and puzzle-driven, two of Schwartz’s editorial trademarks, and not character-driven, a “trademark” of DC during the Silver Age of comics. Writer Denny O’Neil changed all that when he took over the book in 1968 with JLA #66 (Nov. 1966), although it took a few issues for the changes to kick into gear. During the transition period from Silver to Bronze Age, 1968–1969, O’Neil had Diana Prince– take a leave of absence (#69), J’onn J’onzz, the Martian leave to seek out his fellow Martian refugees (#71), and become the social conscience of the League. Although the Bronze Age formally began in 1970, O’Neil’s first JLA/JSA team-up in the summer of 1969 set a new standard for the annual crossover by adding emotional punch and a surprising new addition to the JLA. JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #73 (Aug. 1969) “Star Light, Star Bright— Star I See Tonight!” JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #74 (Sept. 1969) “Where Death Fears to Dread! Writer: Denny O’Neil. Artists: Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. Editor: Julius Schwartz. Justice League of America: Superman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, the Atom, . Justice Society of America: Black Canary, Dr. Fate, Wonder by J i m K i n g m a n Woman, Green Lantern, Dr. Mid-Nite, Superman, , . Villain: Aquarius. Guest-star: Larry Lance. TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Events Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15 Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars was a comic-book/ toy crossover event of massive proportions that influenced TM comics publishing forever. Written by Marvel editor-in- chief , penciled by Mike Zeck and (various issues), and inked by John Beatty, this epic-scale, 12-issue maxiseries ran between 1984 and 1985. This series came about as the result of a toy line that Mattel Toys wanted to create to offset a DC-character-based series of action figures created by rival company Kenner. While Marvel Comics, under Shooter’s leadership, profited hugely from it, their business partner, Mattel, missed out on significant product development and was unable to capitalize on this relationship for a number of reasons: communication issues, differences in creative , by John K. Kirk and economic factors. Mattel was unable to do with the toys what Marvel did with the series: create a memorable product that would resonate in the hearts and minds of its customers for years to come. There were some astounding and significant after-effects of Jim Shooter’s monumental series on the rest of the Marvel Universe: the new direction of the Fantastic Four, the heart-rending breakup of and Peter Rasputin, Spider-Man’s black costume … and others. To briefly summarize the plot of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, an assortment of superheroes, including the teams of the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four as well as Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man (James Rhodes, rather than Tony Stark) are abducted by a seemingly omnipotent cosmic being known as the Beyonder. Transported to a composite planet made up of sections taken from other planets (including Earth), they are set against a collection of abducted villains, including the , Dr. Doom, Dr. Octopus, the , , , the , the Enchantress, and the . Towering above this cadre of villains is the all-powerful . As Dr. Doom puts it, it is a gathering of forces, as if for war. The story sees a series of colossal battles between these two forces, which culminates in a struggle against Doom, who claims the Beyonder’s power for his own. After he is defeated, the Beyonder retrieves his jim shooter lost power, and the heroes and villains make their way back to Earth. Jim Shooter’s tenure as Marvel’s editor-in-chief may have been controversial, but the fact remains that one of his legacies was the creation of this epic series that fundamen- tally shaped the direction of the publishing company he worked for and arguably influenced the nature of comic publishing for the future. The richly creative days of the ’80s

To Infinity and Beyond(er) The iconic Mike Zeck/John Beatty cover to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 (May 1984). ’Nuff said!

TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

30 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Events Issue TM

“Ever since I began here at Marvel, I’ve been getting suggestions—hundreds and hundreds in the mail, from readers—that a lot of our major characters, or all of our major characters, should be together in one story,” Jim Shooter (then-editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics) told Jim Salicrup in Comics Interview #14 (Aug. 1984). “We have another series in the works that’s related. I guess you could call it a ‘sequel.’ For the moment we’re calling it Secret Wars II, but that’s more of a joke than anything else, because I swore I’d never do anything like this again.” THE WAR CONTINUES Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 (May 1984) ushered in the “Event Age.” The Beyonder, a mysterious entity from another universe—where he was that entire universe— became aware of us when an unknown event opened a pinhole from our universe into his. Intrigued, he set Marvel’s premier characters upon a patchwork planet, “,” and urged them to fight. Enjoyable as it was seeing the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spidey, and the Hulk team up against some of Marvel’s biggest villains, and watching Dr. Doom—as usual—play outside the box and turn the tables on everyone, many questions were left unanswered. Who is the Beyonder? What event by gave him access to our universe? To where did he Jarrod Buttery (and Dr. Doom) disappear at of the 12-issue maxiseries? “From the very beginning I planned a sequel,” Shooter explained in #27 (June 1985). “In the presentation I gave two-and-a-half years ago, the last paragraph described the ideas I had for a sequel. Naturally, if Secret Wars had been a disaster, we probably would have forgotten about ever doing Secret Wars II. But the twelve-issue series was one of the best-selling comics in several decades. So naturally we are going to go on and do SWII.” Once again, Jim Shooter was the writer and Sal Buscema was scheduled for art duties. Secret Wars II #1 (July 1985) was published three months after the conclusion of the first series but, on his blog, Shooter emphatically denied that the sequel was rushed: “We knew from direct sales orders more than a month before #1 of the first SW series that the numbers were huge. Therefore, we planned a sequel immediately, more than a year before SWII #1. We were absolutely not ‘rushing out a sequel.’ Rushing had nothing to do with the quality of my work. Yes, I had plenty to do as EIC and writing SWII tested my limits of endurance, but I guarantee you, it was the best I can do. If I’d had more time I would have slept more, but I doubt that the writing would have been better. The artists, and , probably wished they had more time, but artists always do. The main problem there was that Sal Buscema lost us a month.” In the Marvel Age interview, Shooter stated, “Sal Buscema was originally slated to draw it, but the only trouble with Sal is that he’s in Virginia. And this book requires such tight continuity that it is difficult to work with someone so far from . So there was nothing wrong with Sal, only where he was living.”

The Beyonder’s Back Mutants and Avengers gather on the John Byrne/ cover to Secret Wars II #1 (July 1985).

TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

38 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Events Issue TM

by Robert Greenberger

48 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Events Issue In January 1986, comic-book readers were treated to the largest company the legendary JSA meet their modern-day counterparts in “Crisis on reboot ever before attempted, one clearly with as much impact as the New Earth-One!” and “Crisis on Earth-Two!”, seen in 1963’s Justice League 52 relaunch had on modern-day readers in September 2011. It’s hard to of America #21–22. The two-part story sold very well and became an believe that three decades have passed since this seminal event, which left annual event until the 1980s, each story using “Crisis” in its title. a legacy of financial imperatives and creative challenges that have become routine. As a result, fans arriving after Crisis on Infinite Earths have no sense “A CONFUSING BARRIER” of the displacement this had on all that had come before. By 1981, DC had a growing number of parallel worlds, and even Marvel A refresher course, therefore, is required at the outset. Comic books began having various universes, without the strict sense of numbering didn’t have much of any sort of until the 1960s. them (that came later). But, by then, the young, energetic was Prior to that, characters gathered in the same story as seen in the running DC and felt the concept was a confusing barrier to new readers. colossal battle between the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner. Even after When writer Marv Wolfman suggested in 1981 that something be done to All-American Comics and National Comics gathered their premiere streamline the continuity, she was all ears. Their discussions, later involving heroes in All- #3 as the Justice Society, their adventures were editor and executive editor , evolved into a never reflected in their host series. mega-story slated for the company’s looming 50th anniversary in 1985. That all changed with Stan Lee and the Marvel Universe when It had been made clear that the story had to clean the slate in a way Spider-Man showed up at the Baxter Building, hoping to get hired never before attempted. The story had a cosmic sweep to it and was by the Fantastic Four. Suddenly, characters, both friend and foe, initially considered to be The History of the DC Universe, but as the were bleeding across titles, a feat slowly imitated by DC Comics. DC then creative imperatives grew, the title no longer fit. Instead, the idea of did Marvel one better by borrowing the concept of parallel collapsing the into a single DC Universe sounded like universes from science-fiction stories and had the Golden much more of a, ahem, crisis. Age Flash meet his Silver Age counterpart in Flash #123 Plans were slow to form, but to signal this was no in 1961, a story that slowly kicked off a trend we’re still ordinary event, a character dubbed “the Monitor” began seeing used (or overused, if you ask some) today. mysteriously appearing throughout the line, beginning As the parallel-worlds concept proved popular with in the summer of 1982. He could be found not only in the readers, some of whom were reading the comics in their core superhero line but in Jonah Hex and G.I. Combat, adulthood and remembering the earlier generation of implying he was traversing time and space, so what- heroes, editor Julie Schwartz rolled the dice and had ever he wanted, it had to be something important. Marvel Comics, meantime, heard what was happening at DC and set out to steal some of their commercial thunder. A moribund toy-line tie-in comic was released as Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, noteworthy for being a company-wide crossover with “permanent” changes to the characters, marv wolfman although the only really long-lasting change was the Photo credit: Alan Light. arrival of a black Spider-Man costume, which later turned out to be a sentient being better known now as . DC’s announced plans included not one book, but two: Crisis on Infinite Earths and Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe. Again, Marvel launched its own directory known as The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, released in 1983, scooping DC by two years. Clearly, readers were in for something special. It was discussed that not only would the multiverse be forever altered but substantial changes would happen throughout the lineup of heroes and villains. Nothing on this sort of scale had been attempted by a comics publisher before. It was also something that had never been attempted on a creative level. DC Comics executives in the mid-1950s thought it had been long enough since the heyday of the superhero and that it might be worth trying again. And when Showcase #4, starring the Flash, sold well enough, management took a slow approach. Flash appeared in four scattered issues before being returned to his own title, but when DC tried to replicate that success with Green Lantern, they wisely gave him three consecutive issues of Showcase. As a result, it was a few years before there were enough revived characters to populate the JLA. Crisis on Infinite Earths’ format of a self-contained maxiseries was still a relatively new concept at the time, and previously, DC’s only other maxi-series were titles like Camelot 3000, which were set out- side any continuity. A 12-part story featuring nearly every character the publisher possessed was a herculean task. Today, the notion of editorial and writer retreats where years of events are sketched out grew out of the Superman Summits which didn’t begin until 1990 or so. In 1984, when Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and I sat for weekly lunches to hammer out how the Crisis could take shape and who would be affected, we were treading in unknown waters. Three guys in a

Worlds Will Live, Worlds Will Die The utterly astounding Crisis on Infinite Earths limited edition print from 2000, illustrated by George Pérez and Alex Ross.

TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Events Issue • BACK ISSUE • 49 The 1985 maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths left a new DC Universe in its wake. Crisis didn’t just reboot the DCU—it proved that crossover events could be very popular with readers. From 1986 on, DC instituted annual crossover series. Where once the JLA and the JSA were enough to solve any yearly crisis that occurred, now these stories spanned the entire breadth of the DCU. And as the years rolled on, they grew bigger and bigger. THE MAKING OF LEGENDS In 1986, DC’s multiple Earths had been merged down to one, but it was an Earth still in need of expansion and definition. Reboots of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were all underway, yet there was nothing to define the new DCU at large. Robert Greenberger, who was at DC at the time, says, “After Crisis proved such a success, and Dick Giordano held a series of editorial meetings with an eye towards the post-Crisis universe. There was money to be made so at one time, every editor was tasked with coming up with their own vision of a new company-wide crossover. The winner was the one without a name which, as readers now know, was Paul’s own pitch which became the ill-fated Crisis of the Soul. [Author’s note: For more of the story behind Crisis of the Soul, see BACK ISSUE #9.] “Once it was clear editorial and many creators were not crazy about Crisis of the Soul, Dick realized he had a gap on the schedule that needed filling. Since he was in the process of recruiting Mike Gold away from First Comics, he asked Mike for ideas. Gold, in turn, brought to the table and they brainstormed what became Legends. Dick had Len Wein come in to dialogue to ensure everyone sounded right and I was on board to coordinate, especially in the weeks before Mike moved from Chicago and got settled into his new office.” A limited cast made sense to editor Mike Gold, both as a way to keep by John Trumbull the series manageable and to differentiate it from Crisis. Gold wrote in Legends #1, “As a starting point, I thought the story should focus in on characters with legendary status. The word ‘legendary’ stayed in John’s mind, triggering the word ‘Kirby,’ as in Jack Kirby, the legend who fused an epic quality in the way we see superheroes. From there, we developed a springboard: looks at Earth and is offended its residents create legends out of heroes when the only legend they needed was Darkseid.” As coordinating editor Greenberger explains, the goals of Legends were fairly clear: “Much as it was understood the Big Three (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) needed to be revamped as a result of the Crisis, the woefully underpowered JLA needed an infusion of major talent. And we needed a Flash. Once obvious needs were identified, then we looked to see what might grow out of the story being told that year. As Legends grew and the JLA and Flash were slotted for spinning off, new-to-DC John Ostrander was promised a book spinning out as well, so he and I got to work and we came up with . Roy Thomas had been champing at the bit for Captain Marvel, so it made sense to add him to the mix” [for the Shazam!: The New Beginning miniseries]. As Crisis of the Soul morphed into Legends, original Soul penciler Jerry Ordway bowed out due to miscommunications as well as scheduling difficulties with the upcoming Adventures of Superman series. Incoming Superman writer/artist John Byrne was tapped to be Ordway’s replacement, but could only fit six issues into his schedule. John Ostrander condensed his Legends plot down from eight issues to six, with the ever-creative Byrne suggesting revisions along the way. Despite the change of creative personnel, the storyline of Legends remained fairly stable. As Robert Greenberger recalls, “The series premise barely changed although issue-to-issue elements evolved, especially as John Byrne began making more and more suggestions, like his dig at [the Marvel ’s] and Jim Shooter in the opening pages of issue #5, which was never in the plot.”

Byrne, Baby, Byrne! Signed John Byrne cover art to the 4th issue of Legends, DC’s follow-up to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com).

TM & © DC Comics.

Bronze Age Events Issue • BACK ISSUE • 55 TM

It’s probably impossible to find a list ranking the greatest events in Marvel Comics and not see The Infinity Gauntlet included. A simple Google search proves that. If a website or publication has made that list, then odds are pretty good that The Infinity Gauntlet isn’t just on it, but at the top. It’s not hard to understand why. For starters, the story is beyond grandiose. It’s not just superheroes confronting a . There are heroes, sure, and there are definitely villains. But there are also gods, celestials, living archetypes, physical embodiments of forces of nature, and scores of alien races all locked in cosmic combat, with some fights by C h r i s B r e n n a m a n being too much for mere mortals to even comprehend, let alone . On top of being grandiose, the story is oddly straightforward. The stakes are clearly defined, the villain easy to root against, and the heroes properly challenged. Sure, it makes for a richer reading experience if you track down and read a few story arcs from the 1970s, but you don’t actually have to do that to enjoy or even understand anything that’s going on. Steeped in continuity, it’s actually perfectly crafted as a standalone. Oh, and that villain we mentioned? He’s actually frighteningly competent and effectual. In the first issue of The Infinity Gauntlet, with a snap of his finger, he accomplishes his macabre goal of killing half of all sentient life in the universe. Just like that, he achieves his objective. Before the story even really starts, Thanos the Mad Titan has already won. And, despite its cosmic scale, The Infinity Gauntlet is a story that’s grounded and simple. Thanos has become God and Earth’s heroes aim to change that. That’s it. There are twists, turns, and swerves, but the story never really strays from being about two groups vying for one crazy, powerful object. It also manages to work in a few pretty amazing and quiet character moments, like when , surrounded by his dead friends, delivers to an all-powerful Thanos one of the most memorable Captain America quotes to date: “As long as one man stands against you, Thanos, you’ll never be able to claim victory.” Cap is backhanded to death three pages later, but that doesn’t negate that awesome moment. However, despite being epic, despite being balls-to-the-wall action, despite just being a good story, the appeal of The Infinity Gauntlet and the three major stories that followed has always been firmly rooted in the affectations and voice of its architect, Jim Starlin. These were major tent-pole events, to be sure, but they were also direct continuations of stories started (and ended in some cases) by Starlin all the way back in the 1970s. The Infinity Saga, while easy to enjoy as a standalone story, is actually just another chapter in a larger tale told by the same visionary. In a landscape where creators stick with a book for maybe an arc or two and one that is historically inhospitable to older talent, there’s something special about that. The Infinity Gauntlet and its sequels, The Infinity War and The Infinity Crusade, were also equal parts product of their time and perfect confluence of many disparate events. While it’s fairly certain that characters as rich as Thanos and Adam would have eventually been resurrected under the pen and guidance of some other creator (and almost were), what’s uncertain is what would have happened if it had not been handled by Jim Starlin under the volatile business and publishing conditions of early-1990s Marvel. THE SAGA OF THE INFINITY GAUNTLET There had certainly been cosmic stories before The Infinity Gauntlet, The Infinity War, and The Infinity Crusade debuted. Jim Starlin even penned more than a few of them. His career was practically built on all things cosmic thanks to 1970s runs on Marvel books like Captain Marvel and Warlock, and he continued the trend in his creator-owned series, Dreadstar. However, you’d be hard-pressed to find any as massive in scale as the books bearing the Infinity banner.

Cosmic Crisis Writer Jim Starlin illustrated this 1991 promo poster to the Marvel crossover The Infinity Gauntlet.

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68 • BACK ISSUE • Bronze Age Events Issue