Comics Interview: Dissected – Issue #16

Welcome to the latest instalment of our Dissected feature here on Nerdly, where one of our comic gurus, Ian Wells, delves into comics history and looks back at Comics Interview, the long-running journal of interviews and criticism from David Anthony Kraft (DAK).

Up Front

The whole of the Up Front is dedicated to talking up Southern Knights, there is even a free insert preview to #8 of Southern Knights. Ads for the series have run in nearly every issue of CI and with #8 it officially becomes a CI publication. Just as a word of warning I found this to be a mixed issue of Comics Interview, there are two each of writer and artist interviews, and the cover feature isn’t the main interview!

Arnold Drake

Arnold Drake is something of an enigma. He created Doom Patrol and Deadman, as well as working on X-Men and Batman. The former would go on to have success under different stewardships later in their publication history. While when he worked on the latter they weren’t at their peak. I believe his best work came at the end of the Silver Age just as things were about to change. Doom Patrol was ahead of its time as they touched on here. The seed of the idea came from Drake wanting to do something in line with what Marvel was doing. The good thing about an old pro like Drake doing an interview is that he doesn’t hold back. He says editor Jack Schiff had trouble with the anti-hero because he was too ethical. He claims to have been on the ball by seeing what Marvel was doing and even penned a memo to the DC higher-ups declaring Marvel would soon overtake them. He predicted DC would attempt to stay in touch with Marvel by aping what they were doing. All of this is explored brilliantly in Reed Tucker’s book Slugfest. Drake further sticks the needle in by saying the appointment of Carmine Infantino as publisher was “an indication of bankruptcy… They had no idea what was going on.” Ouch! Drake is able to laugh off the Doom Patrol/X-Men coincidences. He notes the only way it could be construed as copying is if he and Stan Lee were writing back to back. I always find it odd they ask the creators if they are following books they are no longer on. I get that he created Deadman so might have some vested interest, but it is also the nature of work for hire to move on. In the bullpen bubble a lot of these guys are friends so it’s like they are intentionally looking for sparks. He admits to the culture shock of moving to Marvel and writing ‘Marvel Method.’ After this the conversation kid of meanders through Drakes career. Starting out with his meeting Bob Kane (a neighbour of his brother) working on Batman and Star Trek for Gold Key. The interview does end with a titbit of comics history. When asked if he would return to comics he answers by saying he doesn’t editors approach writers over 35, he follows this up by saying comics has been his lowest earner ever. Even after 1976 when he “shocked the front office at DC. By demanding reprint payments.”

Levitz is Legion

There was a time when The Legion of Super-Heroes were considered a big deal. I myself have never had any interest, it all seems convoluted with the ties to Superboy/Superman. I know Jim Shooter started writing Legion comics at 15 after penning a letter to the letters page. Paul Levitz is another fan-turned-writer, so maybe this interview will shed some light on their appeal. Levitz got his break in comics by producing The Comic Reader fanzine with Paul Kupperberg. Is that why comics feel like a closed circle to break into nowadays, there are no fanzines? Levitz as well as being the Legion scribe is a vice president at DC so the interview covers both grounds, tackling a point I made in the Up Front. This role has seen him set up DC with World Color who use the new Flexographic printing process. The thinking behind the move is that comics are now not seen as a disposable product, people are willing to invest a little more so the quality should reflect that. Another project he is overseeing at this time and you can sense his enthusiasm as you read his answers is the Super Powers toy line. There have been a few comments in the pages of CI that seem to be a little more grounded when it comes to the potential of the Direct Market. It tells a different story to the endless possibilities and excitement from earlier issues. Dick Giordano state the Direct Market had a potential growth of 400%. Levitz simply says in retort to that: “Everybody has their own ideas… there’s a lot of potential growth left.” Linking to what Arnold Drake said about working ‘Marvel Method’ Levitz says he has always worked that way, this has to be a by-product of being a fan and reading about it and then going to actually implement it. We are three pages in and now we switch to talking about The Legion. I can’t believe there are two Legion series run concurrently. The biggest tease to the readers is that he already knows how the effects of Crisis will play out on The Legion.

The Art of Jurgens

I once had a Marvel lithograph from an anniversary year by Dan Jurgens. He has taken over art duties on Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes, a move instigated by Karen Berger. I am going to show my lack of knowledge here and admit I didn’t know what position at DC Berger held before she became synonymous with Vertigo. I didn’t know she worked on the ‘main’ titles. I do feel we are going to hear her name a lot more as CI goes on and we may even see the early stages of the birth of Vertigo within forthcoming interviews. Jurgens leaving Warlord to take over on Legion is another instance of an artist admitting to burnout on a title, an all too common theme in recent interviews. They never go into detail on whether it is creative burnout or physical. Of course, you can always read between the lines and assume there are also some editorial manipulations going on behind the scenes. Although you can usually tell from the interviews the unhappy artists from the contented ones. In this case, Jurgens states he never felt Warlord was “the right type of book for him” as well as putting it down to “a combination of a lot of things.” This interview is a good example of having a shift in perception during the read and review. Like I knew Jurgens had a solid career as both an artist and writer into the ’90s playing a major role in ‘Death of Superman.’ But this interview is so early in his career that nothing really stands out about his answers. Now that may be the questions, as things don’t go deep on his process or influences and he is new to writing at the time, that isn’t touched on as much. It would be interesting to see him pop up again when he is more established and see if he is more media-trained. I’m not saying he is dull, there just isn’t much meat on the answers. Again maybe it is a case of questioning, which hasn’t been a problem in a magazine thus far.

Gabbing with Gibbons

It is odd to think that in 1984 Dave Gibbons had one year of American comics under his belt, that being Green Lantern for DC. At the time he is best known for Rogue Trooper from 2000AD and Dr Who at Marvel. We have seen in the pages of CI that British comics have a smaller trickle-down to American audiences and usually come about from certain creators giving them praise. V for Vendetta would be a prime example of this. It is well renowned now but at the time of this interview, it is more like a comic creator’s comic. With this interview we are in deep with the beginnings of the British Invasion, so it will be interesting to get the views and influences of a young Dave Gibbons. The early part of the interview deals with Doctor Who which I have never really been a fan of comics of TV-wise. Although again it is yet another example of someone cutting their teeth on Marvel UK. The art showcased in the interview reminds you of Gibbons’ clean-line style. He is best known for Watchmen and I feel because of the unique colour job, sometimes his line style gets forgotten or lost. The first bit of interest is when he mentions buying his first Superman comic in Woolworths. I remember the shop, they went bust in my lifetime but I never remember them selling comics. Growing up in rural England he says comics became a believable career path when he saw an issue of Nick Fury by fellow Brit Barry Smith. Gibbons spends a good amount of time talking up the other talents on the 2000AD roster. Bolland, Mills, Wagner, McMahon and O’Neill. All names that a cropping up more and more in the pages of CI. Moving onto his own influences he notes Wally Wood, Carmine Infantino and Frank Bellamy. Most annoyingly is that he said he learnt to draw comics merely from copying pages. He received no formal training outside of a surveying course. There is some foreshadowing when he says he would like to work with Alan Moore again which obviously in a few years turns into Watchmen. He also says he would love to work on Superman. He would team with Moore on the Superman annual for 1985 but it could have been more. It is well documented the duo were tapped to do Superman after Watchmen but it never came to fruition for whatever reasons.

Settle Down in The Book Nook

The retailer interview this month features the owners of the Book Nook in Illinois. Early doors the pair of Brian Morris and Douglas Sanford are tackling a question that has plagued comic show owners since the dawn of time; How do you stock up on stuff that will keep the business going? Brian has the brilliant on-the-mark reply of “Anybody who comes up with a precise formula for ordering comics will make a fortune.” Like I said this is not a new problem and it is going to have all new light shining on it with the recent news revolving around Diamond. Doug goes on to outline some of the common problems that arise in a normal week. Anyone who has spoken to staff in their LCS or watched a documentary about running a shop has heard the stories of haphazard shipping. I once saw a guy on YouTube there should be no such thing as 9.8/NM+ grades given by CGC if they saw the way books arrive via UPS! In the Book Nook comics make up over 50% of their business. It got me thinking about what was the first shop to start stocking comic-related merchandise and then how long did it take to catch on? Reinforcing some themes in this and past issues of CI Brian says he is a big fan of Warrior and recommends it to customers in the store who are fans of Swamp Thing. What shines through in this interview is the pairs want to put the customer first. It starts with the earlier question of trying to stock what will sell to their customer base whilst at the same knowing them well enough to make recommendations or tell them when something is bad. At the end of the interview they each make a prophetic statement when asked what they see for the future of comics. Doug says they are going to become more mainstream and accepted, whilst Brian says new creators will make bolder decisions. This is October 1984 so we are 14 months away from a year that gave comics a shot in the arm.

Legendary Letters

Dutter vs Sacks goes into round? I don’t know I lost count. I find it odd how much space has been dedicated to these two arguing about She-Hulk. It honestly feels like something from the 2020s. I know I wanted to see sparks in the letters pages but this is too much. The rebuttal from Sacks in this issue is the fourth letter concerning the quality of She-Hulk and Dutter’s distaste. One of the letters reveals Dutter has a letter in the current issue of Fantastic Four flying his anti She-Hulk flag. The guy clearly has a problem. When it got personal; He called Sacks a Sl*t and she replied by calling him a *$@#%*!! I thought the editors would have pulled the plug on giving them space. This had led me to believe the editors or whoever oversees the letters page knows Dutter or Sacks or both.

NEXT: Elementals! Tarzan! Steinberg!