Life Is Drawing Without An Eraser by Dewey Cassell with Jeff Messer TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 5 One: Origins ................................................................................................................................. 6 Two: Brenda Starr ....................................................................................................................... 13 Three: Aquaman ........................................................................................................................ 15 Four: The Legion of Super-Heroes ............................................................................................... 20 Paul Levitz Interview ......................................................................................................... 26 Five: The Warlord ........................................................................................................................ 30 Spotlight: The Savage World of The Warlord ................................................................. 36 Dan Jurgens Interview ........................................................................................................ 39 Savage Empire ....................................................................................................................... 41 Six: Batman .................................................................................................................................. 45 Seven: Green Lantern/Green Arrow ........................................................................................... 48 Denny O’Neil Interview ..................................................................................................... 53 Eight: Tarzan ............................................................................................................................... 60 Nine: Starslayer: The Log of the Jolly Roger ............................................................................... 70 Spotlight: The Cosmic Exploits of Starslayer .................................................................. 74 Ten: Jon Sable, Freelance ............................................................................................................. 78 Spotlight: The Double Life of B.B. Flemm ....................................................................... 86 Mike Gold Interview .......................................................................................................... 88 Sable Television Show Episode Guide .............................................................................. 94 Eleven: The Longbow Hunters ................................................................................................... 96 Arrow: The Television Series ............................................................................................ 104 Twelve: James Bond ................................................................................................................ 108 Thirteen: Shaman’s Tears ......................................................................................................... 112 Spotlight: Shaman’s Tears ................................................................................................ 118 Fourteen: Marvel Comics ....................................................................................................... 120 Fifteen: Other Stuff .................................................................................................................. 124 Mark Ryan Interview ........................................................................................................ 128 Sixteen: Retirement ................................................................................................................. 132 Seventeen: Inspired by Grell—A Personal Story ................................................................ 134 Eighteen: The Mike Grell Method ........................................................................................ 137 Mike Grell Comics Checklist ............................................................................................... 142 Mike Grell Gallery of Art ..................................................................................................... 146 CHAPTER ONE Origins Most of the comic book artists from the “Golden Age” really wanted to be illustrators. Many drew comic books because it was the only work they could find. And many used a pseudonym, so no one would know they were drawing comics. But their true aspirations remained to one day become illustrators such as the great J. C. Leyendecker and James Montgomery Flagg. Over time, the success of artists like Al Capp, Milton Caniff, and Hal Foster brought an allure to drawing comic strips. The work was steadier than comic books, which could rise and fall on the whim of the editor, and your work was seen by millions of people across the country, most of whom were adults. There was a respect afforded artists drawing comic strips not found with comic books. Michael Jon Grell was part of a new breed of artist who, while they may have still aspired to be an illustrator or have their own comic strip, actually enjoyed drawing comic books. They were fans of the medium and wanted to be a part of bringing the four color stories to life. For them, drawing comics was not just about making a living, it was about making your mark in the industry. And through the success of their work, drawing comic books became not only respectable, but cool. Here, then, are the “origins” of artist and writer Mike Grell. Dewey Cassell: Let’s start at the beginning. When and where were you born? Mike Grell: I was born September 13, 1947, in Iron Mountain, Michigan, but my hometown is Florence, Wisconsin. Iron Mountain’s the nearest town hospital, and that was across the border, in Michigan. Cassell: Tell me a little bit about your parents. What did they do? Grell: Mom was a barmaid and later worked in an electronics factory that made components that went into Telstar, the first communications satellite; Dad was a lumberjack. They were very fortunate to have any jobs at all. In 1961, during the Kennedy Administration, the government did a survey of the 10 most depressed areas in the United States. My hometown area was tied for first with Appalachia. I was very much a child of the knew what a dollar was, so I go to find the treasure, and down ’50s, and we grew up without television. I never saw a TV until I went straight into the bottom of the pit trap. They dug that I was eight and we didn’t get one until I was 11, but it was great thing deeper than I was tall. I’ll tell you what, I had sand in my because, for one, we had no context of what we were missing. everything. They finally hauled me out and filled it in before the Number two, we had radio, we had movies, we had comic books, folks got home. comic strips, and learned to read real books. We were sent outside My crowning achievement as a little brother was, 35 years to play and told, “Be sure to be home before the street lights later I told that story at Thanksgiving dinner and my mom got come on.” pissed off at both of them. She said, “Why am I just hearing this Cassell: Do you have any brothers or sisters? now?” I said, “Are you kidding? They said if I told you, they’d Grell: I have two older brothers, and I survived them both. I throw me back in!” My oldest brother laughed and said, “You’re mean, I survived their best efforts to take me out when I was four just lucky bamboo didn’t grow in Wisconsin.” Now that I think years old. They once dug a pit trap in the backyard and covered about it, I probably am. I used to stand up against the side of it over and told me there was buried treasure on the other side. the garage and let Bob and Dick shoot arrows and throw knives They said, “Anybody who digs it up can keep it.” And I said, around me, and I was probably 16 or 17 before it dawned on me “What’s the treasure?” They said, “It’s money.” I said, “How that they might not have been missing on purpose. much?” They said, “It’s, like, a dollar!” Well, at four years old, I Cassell: It sounds like you had a colorful childhood. Grell: Yeah, it was great. Around town I was known as Tarzan. Previous page: Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest in action by Mike Grell. Cassell: Really? Top inset: Mike Grell meets Robin (actor Burt Ward) in a photo Grell: Yes, absolutely. I had a series of ropes and platforms strung appearing in The Amazing World of DC Comics #12 [July 1976]. in all the trees in the neighborhood, outside of town, up in the 7 CHAPTER THREE Aquaman Among the heroes in the DC universe, Aquaman frequently garners the least respect. Perhaps it’s the orange and green outfit or maybe the part about talking to fish, but until Aquaman recently made it onto the silver screen, he had a serious PR problem. However, Mike Grell always liked the King of the Seven Seas. So, it seems somehow fitting that it was with Aquaman that Mike Grell first dipped his toe into the world of professional comic books. Cassell: How did you get your start at DC Comics? Grell: When I was in Saigon in 1970, a guy by the name of Ed Savage came from back in the States carrying a small stack of his favorite comic books with him. In his pile Ed had