Marvel Comics: The Untold Story (61 page)

217 Within months, Marvel announced: “Spectacular Sales Prompt New Projects,”
Comics Journal
52.

217 “With the other editors-in-chief”: Groth, “Pushing Marvel into the 80s: An Interview with Jim Shooter.”

218 “
To: Anthony Stark
”:
Iron Man
127, October 1979.

218 “I don’t want to continue working”: “Magazine Line Reorganized; New Editor Hired,”
Comics Journal
50, October 1979.

218 Lee stepped in: “Gene Colan Leaves Marvel,”
Comics Journal
63, Spring 1981.

219 anonymous staffers grousing: “Superheroes’ Creators Wrangle,” N. R. Kleinfield,
New York Times
, October 13, 1979.

219 “garbage”: “N.Y. Times Article Blasts Marvel,”
Comics Journal
52, December 1979.

219 The direct-sales market: “Direct Sales Boom,”
Comics Journal
64, June 1981, and Rozanski, “Tales from the Database.”

219 “The old Marvel needed”: Joe Brancatelli, “The Comic Books,”
Eerie
110, April 1980.

220 “Fourteen years ago”: Peter Sanderson and Dean Mullaney, “Comics Feature Interview: Denny O’Neil,”
Comics Feature
4, July–August 1980.

220 Marvel’s most popular title: “TCR Top 100 Comic Books,”
Comic Reader
175.

221 “When I brought in the one”: Amash, “We Kicked the Whole Thing Around a Lot.”

222 “They said, ‘let’s do’”: “Wizard One-on-One with John Romita Jr.,” wizarduniverse.com, December 23, 2006.

222 “At one point Casablanca”: Richard Howell and Carol Kalish, “Dissecting the Dazzler,”
Comics Feature
7, November 1980.

222 “I swore that I”: Ibid.

223 he scanned
GQ
and
Playboy:
Frederick Marcus and Dean Mullaney, “Comics Feature Interview: David Michelinie and Bob Layton,”
Comics Feature
2, May 1980.

225 Roy Thomas, also in Los Angeles: Negotiations between Shooter and Thomas were outlined in both an interview with and a letter from Roy Thomas, in
The Comics Journal
61.

228 “Having a character destroy”:
Phoenix: The Untold Story
1, April 1984.

228 “Shooter wanted Jean punished”: Sanderson,
The X-Men Companion I
.

228 It was the first time: Peter Sanderson, “The Many Alternate Fates of the Phoenix,”
Comics Feature
4, July–August 1980.

229 So was Perez: Heidi MacDonald, “The George Perez Interview,”
Focus on George Perez
, Fantagraphics, 1985.

10

230 “Unfortunately . . . you come”: Sanderson,
The X-Men Companion I
.

230 death threats: Diana Schutz, “X-Men: Chris Claremont Interview, Part II,”
Comics Collector
2, Winter 1984.

230 cash registers rang: TCR Top 100 list,
Comic Reader
184, October 1980.

230 Shooter asked Jim Starlin:
Comics Feature
5, September 1980.

231 “twenty developmental”: Ibid.

231 “We figured if people”: David Schwartz, “Marvel Goes Hollywood,”
Marvel Age Annual
1, 1985.

231 asked to work up a presentation: Peter Sanderson, “Steve Gerber,”
Comics Feature
12/13, September–October 1981.

231 “Stan was responsible”: Steve Gerber letter published in
Comics Journal
57, Summer 1980.

232 “derivative media work”: “Gerber Sues Marvel Over Rights to Duck; Comes Out Ahead in First Legal Skirmish,”
Comics Journal
62, March 1981.

232 Among the other prospective: “New Gerber Creation on ABC,”
Comics Feature
4, July–August 1980.

232 “For me it was almost”: Tom Field,
Secrets in the Shadows: The Art & Life of Gene Colan
, TwoMorrows, 2005.

232 “I’ve got fans”: Mitchell Itkowitz and Michael J. Catron, “John Byrne,”
Comics Journal
57, Summer 1980.

232 “You get to hang out”: Howell and Kalish, “An Interview with Bill Mantlo.”

232 “Rarely will you find”: Diana Schutz, “X-Men: Chris Claremont Interview, Part II,”
Comics Collector
2, Winter, 1984.

235 he volunteered: John Byrne, “The Fantastic Four: A Personal Recollection”:
Fantastic Four Chronicles
, 1982.

236 30 percent of Marvel’s sales:
Comic Times
3, November 1980. Wein and Wolfman take Byrne to task in Jay Zilber, “Interview: Len Wein and Marv Wolfman,”
Fantastic Four Chronicles
, 1982.

239 “Some friend of John Byrne’s called”: Roger Green, “Questions and Answers with Jack Kirby, Version Two,”
Fantastic Four Chronicles
, 1982.

239 “Yeah, . . . sounds like fun”: John Morrow, “The Other Duck Man,”
Jack Kirby Collector
10, April 1996.

11

240 “After I got mugged”: Michael Catron, “Devil’s Advocate,”
Amazing Heroes
4, September 1981.

240 “I like to play into very daily fears”: Peter Sanderson, “The Frank Miller/Klaus Janson Interview,”
The Daredevil Chronicles
, February 1982.

241 “probably the most Christian”: Richard Howell and Carol Kalish, “An Interview with Frank Miller,”
Comics Feature
14, December 1981.

243 “In the country of the blind”: Richard Howell and Carol Kalish, “Looking Ahead at DC: Roy Thomas,”
Comics Feature
11, August 1981.

243 Dave Cockrum created:
Comics Feature
11, August 1981.

243 A sort of West Coast X-Men: Peter Sanderson,
The X-Men Companion II
, Fantagraphics, 1982.

243 “I wanted to handle it”: DeFalco,
Comics Creators on The X-Men
.

244 “We poke fun at ourselves”: Geoff Gehman, “Captain America: When A Musical Won’t Fly,”
Morning Call
, March 27, 1988.

244 “ads for toys”: Howard Zimmerman, “Kirby Takes on the Comics,”
Comics Scene
2, March 1982.

245 “I’ve created a number of characters”: Robert Greenberger, “Marvel Turns 20,”
Comics Scene
1, January 1982.

245 “I have, of late”: John Byrne, “On Creator’s Rights,”
Comics Scene
2, March 1982.

246 “most definitions of that word”: Letter from Donald S. Engel to Stuart J. Freedman, December 16, 1981.

246
X-Men
selling over: Kim Thompson, “Marvel Announces Royalties Plan,”
Comics Journal
70, February 1982.

246 “It’s me and Frank Miller and”: Sanderson,
The X-Men Companion II
.

247 “I think they’re the best two”: Howell and Kalish, “An Interview with Bill Mantlo.”

12

251 “I didn’t give a damn”: Zimmerman, “Danny Crespi.”

252 With Marvel’s comic sales rising: Kim Thompson, “Marvel Miscellania,”
Comics Journal
79, January 1983.

252 “How soon ’til we see”: “Marvel’s Professional Fannishness,” letter from Matt Feazell,
Comics Journal
84, September 1983.

254 “There are writers and artists”: “John Byrne at Dallas,”
Comics Journal
75, September 1982.

255 “No female character”:
Spider-Woman
48 letter column, February 1983.

257 “He works eight hours”: Robert Greenberger, “Creating the Comics Part B: Inking,”
Comics Scene
6, November 1982.

257 “one of the most traumatic”: Kim Thompson, “Miller, Day, Sienkiewicz Drop Marvel Titles,”
Comics Journal
76, October 1982.

257 “drastic, sweeping changes”: “Moench Goes Freelance,”
Comics Scene
7, January 1983.

258 “I could kill off”: Cat Yronwode, “Fit to Print,”
Comics Buyer’s Guide
461, September 17, 1982.

258 “I never told”: Hal Schuster, “Doug Moench, Jim Shooter, and Death in the Marvel Universe,”
Comics Feature
21, November 1982.

258 “None of them”: Ibid.

258 “Jim had an idea”: “Moench Goes Freelance,”
Comics Scene
7, January 1983.

259 “When I was talking”: Ibid.

259 “My guess is that someone”: Jim Shooter, Comment on “Superman—First Marvel Issue!,” JimShooter.com, October 11, 2011.

259 “He had been writing”: Diana Schutz, “Chris Claremont—Superstar,”
Comics Scene
11, September 1983.

259 “a rhetorical example”: September 1982 WAIF radio interview by Chris Barkley; a transcribed version was published on booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com on March 24, 2006.

260 “Gene was a creature”: Doug Moench, “Gene Day: Dweller by a Dark Stream,”
Comics Scene
7, January 1983.

260 “Gene Day Left
Master of Kung Fu
”: Gary Groth, “Marvel’s War with the Press,”
Comics Journal
79, January 1983.

260 “I’m a big Marvel supporter”: Mark Shainblum, “The Last Interview,”
Orion
2, 1982.

13

262 “I came back the afternoon”: “Shop Talk: Jack Kirby,”
Will Eisner’s Spirit Magazine
39, February 1983.

262 “I don’t know whether . . . or not”: Jim Salicrup, “Stan Lee,”
Comics Interview
, July 1983.

263 “I said, ‘I want to do a god’ ”: Leonard Pitts interview with Stan Lee, circa 1984.

263 Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz took Jack and Roz: Ro,
Tales to Astonish
.

264 “In essence”: Jim Salicrup, “Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars,”
Comics Interview
14, August 1984.

264 In August 1983: “Cadence Proposal to Take Firm Private Set by Top Managers,”
Wall Street Journal
, August 8, 1983.

266 “Why don’t you do”: Mitch Cohn, “Fred Hembeck,”
Comics Interview
22, June 1985. Direct market increases reported in Kim Thompson, “Marvel Miscellania,”
Comics Journal
79, January 1983, and Kim Thompson, “Marvel Miscellania,”
Comics Journal
86, November 1983.

268 “If the comics are good”: “Bullpen Bulletins,” February 1983.

270 “Why would a being”:
Secret Wars
9.

270 When the final issue: Renee Witterstaetter interviews with Beatty and Zeck,
Comics Interview
72, 1989.

271 “The Fire Marshal shut it down”: Dan Johnson, “Black and White and Read All Over,”
Back Issue
12, October 2005.

272 “elimination of an irritation”: February 21, 1984, letter from Jim Shooter to Joe Calamari, posted to JimShooter.com on August 26, 2011.

14

273 “I proposed that we do a Big Bang”: Dan Johnson, “Sparks in a Bottle: The Saga of the New Universe,”
Back Issue
34, June 2009.

273 “It sold through the roof”: Duin and Richardson,
Comics Between the Panels
.

274 “Since I don’t have a lettercol”: Tom Heintjes,“Secret Wars: The Memo and the Plugs,”
Comics Journal
97, April 1985.

277 “The letter was basically two sentences”: Paul Power, “Chic Stone,”
Comics Interview
121, 1993.

277 “I got a very short note”: Chris Knowles, “Jim Mooney over Marvel,”
Comic Book Artist
7, February 2000.

277 “Shooter . . . knows full well”: “Behind the Lines: Special Report,”
Marvel Age
19, October 1984, quotes from the interview in the British fanzine
Chain Reaction
.

277 “They don’t give a shit”: Tom Heintjes and Kim Thompson, “Marvel’s Original Art Vault,”
Comics Journal
92, August 1984.

278 “I wouldn’t cooperate with the Nazis”: Tom Heintjes, “Marvel Withholds Kirby’s Art,”
Comics Journal
100, July 1985.