The Patron Saint of Superheroes

When Ryan Stills at Invaluable.com asked me about my “superhero dream team,” he probably didn’t have this in mind: a real-world team based on actual superhumans, AKA Olympic athletes. As some of you may recall from past posts, I designed two of these in August, and three more have just joined their ranks.

I’ve revealed the secret identities of those original two Olympians already, but the other three remain masked. So consider this a test for whether superheroes really could keep their alter egos a secret just by stretching a little spandex across their faces. If anyone can unmask all five, I’ll mail you a copy of my book “On the Origin of Superheroes.” I’ll even cover the mailing cost because, to be honest, one of them is a bit of a mystery to me too.

So now here’s the team:

It’s hard leaving out some of my personal favorites (no Sienkiewicz!), especially from my own childhood and college years, but these ongoing lists are for my book “Superhero Comics,” and my editor wants the genre’s “Key Works.” Which sometimes overlaps with “stuff Chris loves” and sometimes doesn’t. I’m also keeping the focus on the authors, and that means defining a “work” by writers and artists (usually penciller). Also, to prevent someone like Alan Moore from hogging half the slots, I’m trying to impose a one-work-per-author rule. The Comics Code was revised in 1971, the first revision since it was created in 1954, and then revised again in 1989, so those are my historical markers.

Second Code Era, 1971-1988:

Claremont & Byrne’s The Uncanny X-Men (1977-81).

Chris Claremont has the longest run on any comics title. After Len Wein and Dave Cockrum’s one-issue reinvention of the series, which had been reprinting 1960s issues since #67 (December 1970), Claremont wrote The Uncanny X-Men from #94 (August 1975) to #279 (August 1991), as well as numerous spin-off titles including New Mutants, Wolverine, and X-Men #1 (October 1991), the highest selling comic book of all-time. John Byrne pencilled and often co-wrote #108 (December 1977) – #143 (March 1981), before moving on as writer-artist of a wide range of Marvel and DC titles including Alpha Flight (1983) and the Superman reboot mini-series The Man of Steel (1986). Byrne further developed the Adams-influenced visual style that would continue to define superhero comics for the next decade, and Claremont’s long-term approach to multi-issue plotting and characterization became increasingly standard. Claremont and Byrne’s joint run includes the X-Men’s most acclaimed narrative arc, The Dark Phoenix Saga, #129-138, ending with the death and funeral of Jean Gray—events Bryne would help to retcon out of existence during his five-year run of The Fantastic Four in 1986. Instead of Byrne, Claremont initially partnered with Neal Adams for God Loves, Man Kills (1982), one of the first graphic novels published in the Marvel Graphic Novel format, but because Adams refused a standard work-for-hire contract, Marvel replaced him with Brent Anderson. Byrne returned to Marvel in the late 80s to work on several titles including West Coast Avengers and Sensational She-Hulk, after which he wrote creator-owned titles for Dark Horse Comics.

Moore & Gibbons’ Watchmen (1986-87).

The most acclaimed superhero comic of all-time, the twelve-issue Watchmen, along with Frank Miller’s four-issue The Dark Knight Returns (1986), marks a major turning point in the genre, with a leap in psychological realism and a rejection of the Code-mandated triumph of absolute good over absolute evil. Moore initially plotted the series with characters DC had recently acquired from the defunct Charlton Comics. When editors objected, he and Dave Gibbons nominally redesigned the cast, creating morally flawed counterparts that interrogate the decades-old norms of the superhero character type. Because the series stood apart from the rest of the DC universe, Moore and Gibbons received unusual creative freedom, and the limited series format also enabled them to work in a closed narrative form that barred sequels, a rarity in comics at that time and a major factor in the series’ excellence. Time magazine listed Watchmen in its one hundred best English-language novels published since 1923 (Grossman 2010). Moore’s other major works include Marvelman / Miracleman (1982-89), V for Vendetta (1982-88), The Saga of the Swamp Thing (1984-87), From Hell (1989-96), and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (1999-2003).

Miller & Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One (1987).  

Following the successes of his first Daredevil run (1979-1983), Ronin (1983-84), and The Dark Knight Returns (1986), Frank Miller partnered with artist Bill Sienkiewicz for the graphic novel Daredevil: Love and War (1986) and the limited series Elektra: Assassin (1986-87) and penciller-inker David Mazzuchelli for the 1986 Born Again arc in Daredevil and DC’s history-redefining Year One arc in Batman #404 (February) – #407 (May 1987), ending Miller’s most productive period with DC and Marvel, after which he began publishing with Dark Horse. Year One, Born Again, and The Dark Knight Returns are widely regarded as Miller’s best work. Born Again, however, is marred by a literal deus ex machina ending, and though less genre-influencing than the fascist-leaning Dark Knight Returns, Year One’s time scope pushed Miller into storytelling innovations where John Byrne’s parallel The Man of Steel suffers in contrast. Unlike the sometimes cartoonish excesses of Miller’s Dark Knight Returns art, Mazzuchelli’s comparatively sparse style provided a realistic baseline rendered in short, grainy lines for the series’ much praised gritty effect. Mazzuchelli soon left superhero comics, publishing an adaptation of Paul Auster’s postmodern detective novel City of Glass in 1994 and the even more highly acclaimed Asterios Polyp in 2009.

Gaiman’s The Sandman (1988-1996).

Neil Gaiman entered comics as a fan of Swamp Thing and then as a journalist, interviewing Alan Moore and other creators for a 1986 Sunday Times Magazine article that was never published because the editor was expecting a Wertham-esque critique of the industry (Gaiman 2016: 265, 233). DC first hired him for the 1987 Black Orchid limited series with the Sienkiewicz-influenced artist Dave McKean, after which Gaiman requested Sandman, a minor and largely forgotten superhero created by Gardner Fox and Bert Christman in 1939 and briefly reinvented by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1974. Working with a wide range of artists including McKean for covers, Gaiman wrote the entire series, from #1 (January 1989) to the final #75 (March 1996), creating one of DC’s most popular titles of the 90s and drawing acclaim and readership from outside traditional comics audiences. Reprint compilations sold well in trade paperback formats, expanding readership beyond direct market comic shops to general bookstores. Though the title began before DC instituted its creator-owning imprint Vertigo in 1993, Gaiman retained copyrights, and when he left the series, it and its characters were not continued. Gaiman moved from comics to a highly successful and ongoing career in literary speculative fiction.

Third Code Era, 1989-2000:

Morrison & McKean’s Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (1989).

The term “graphic novel” emerged in the 70s, and Marvel published “Marvel Graphic Novel” and “Epic Graphic Novel” imprints in the 80s that featured stand-alone works rather than collected reprints of pre-existing series. “DC Graphic Novel” used the same trade paperback format, but Arkham Asylum, published the October after the summer release of Tim Burton’s Batman film, was one of the first graphic novels printed in hardback—then a norm of non-comics literary publishing. It soon became one of DC’s best-selling graphic novels. Writer Grant Morrison had joined DC a year earlier, reviving the character Animal Man in a limited and then ongoing series and then Doom Patrol in early 1989. When DC assigned Arkham to artist Dave McKean, Morrison revised his original 48-page script into a 67-page, screenplay-like format, giving McKean greater freedom for his expressionistic paintings, which expanded to 120 pages. Morrison later worked on a wide range of superhero titles, including his own creator-owned The Invisibles (1994-2000).

McFarlane’s Spawn (1992).

Because Marvel refused to share copyrights, a prominent group of creators, including Spider-Man artist Todd McFarlane and X-Men writer Chris Claremont, left the company to form Image Comics in 1992. Spawn #1 (May 1992), one of Image’s first publications, was a top-selling superhero comic of the year, drawing new attention to independent publishers in the Marvel-DC dominated market. Image joined Eclipse, which had formed in the late 70s and was publishing Alan Moore’s and briefly Neil Gaiman’s Miracleman, and Dark Horse, which had formed in 1986 and featured Paul Chadwick’s Concrete and soon Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. Image Comics, distributed entirely through the increasingly dominant direct market system, never joined the Comics Magazine Association of America and so Spawn and its other titles were never subject to the Comics Code. Though McFarlane partnered with various guest writers, including Moore and Gaiman, their contributions are largely forgotten, and Spawn is remembered primarily for its impact on the wider industry. McFarlane, along with fellow Image artists Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee, also defined the hypermuscular and hypersexualized style of the 90s. Despite its emphasis on creator rights, Image, using the work-for-hire argument Marvel used against Jack Kirby, claimed full copyright of the character Angela co-created by Gaiman and McFarlane and introduced in Spawn #9 (March 1993). Gaiman won a lawsuit against Image in 2002, after which McFarlane relinquished his rights and Gaiman sold the character to Marvel where Angela was introduced in 2013.

McDuffie & Bright’s Icon (1993-97).

Another independent publisher, Milestone Comics formed in 1993 but in a distribution partnership with DC with both company logos appearing on covers. Milestone consisted entirely of African American creators who retrained ownership and creative control of their work. Dwayne McDuffie wrote or co-wrote all four of the initial titles, including Icon, penciled M. D. Bright, who, like McDuffie, had worked on previous superhero titles for DC and Marvel. The two collaborated on all but five issues of the complete run, #1 (May 1993) to #42 (February 1997). The series features a Superman-like hero who, instead of landing in the 20^th century mid-west to be raised by white farmers, lands in the Antebellum South to be raised by an enslaved plantation worker. His Robin-like sidekick, Rocket, is black teenager whose out-of-wedlock pregnancy and motherhood are central themes of the series. The series is widely praised for bringing a diversity of accurately portrayed black characters to superhero comics. Icon ended when the market collapse of the mid-90s drove Milestone out of the comics business.

Waid & Ross’ Kingdom Come (1996).

The limited series Kingdom Come, #1 (May 1996) – #4 (August 1996), was co-written by Mark Waid and Alex Ross and painted by Ross. As an Elseworld imprint, the story features a wide range of DC superheroes, but outside of company continuity, enabling Waid and Ross to freely interpret and in some cases kill characters in a plotline involving the morally indifferent children of today’s heroes. Ross conceived the story while working with writer Kurt Busiek on the similar, four-issue Marvels (1994), and DC teamed him with Alex Waid, who had written for range of Marvel and DC titles, including Captain America and The Flash. The work is most significant for marking the highpoint of photorealism in the genre. In contrast to the comparably cartoonish standards of the period, Ross worked from live models and, instead of following the pencils-inks-colors process norm of the industry, painted in his preferred medium of opaque watercolors. While Bill Seinkiewicz and Dave McKean had achieved similar moments of painterly photorealism, Ross maintained the style across his work. Due to the labor intensiveness of the approach, he produced mainly cover art after Kingdom Come.

While there is no definitive canon for superhero comics, I’m working on a chapter for my forthcoming book that presents a list of “key works.” I’m defining “key” by a variety of elements including aesthetic quality, historical impact, and medium innovation. In terms of genre, a work’s influence on other creators is as noteworthy as its merits judged individually. Some works listed here are historically significant to the genre, some are individually excellent, and some are both. While a comics text might include anything from a single comic strip to a collected comic book series to a graphic novel created and published as a single work, I define and so divide texts according to authorship, usually writer-artist collaborations on a single series. When an ongoing comic book title changes authors, it also changes texts. While a complete list of key works might number into the hundreds, I’m imposing practical limits, selecting only four works from each of the six Code-defined historical periods. Here are the first eight:

Pre-Code Era, 1934-1954:

Siegel & Shuster’s Superman in Action Comics and Superman (1938-1940).

After premiering in Action Comics #1 (June 1938), the original incarnation of Superman was relatively short-lived. Jerry Siegel continued to write the character, but due to his failing eyesight co-creator Joe Shuster was no longer a primary artist after the second year. Shuster penciled and inked the Superman episodes in Action Comics #1-#5, penciled and co-inked #6-10, and then penciled or co-penciled all but three issues of #11-24 (May 1940), after which he contributed only sporadically. After the initial Superman July 1939 reprint edition, he penciled the entire 64-page quarterly Superman #2 and #3 (March 1940). Shuster’s run coincides roughly with Superman’s first arch-nemesis, the Ultra-Humanite, retconned in #13 as the mastermind behind Superman’s first year of adventures, seemingly killed in #21, and replaced by Luthor in #23. Shuster however retained some artistic control by subcontracting replacement artists himself through his “Shuster Studio.” Siegel and Shuster formally left DC, then National Allied Publications, after their ten-year contract expired and they lost their suit against the company for copyright of Superman.

Finger & Kane’s Batman in Detective Comics and Batman (1939-1943).

Because writer Bill Finger was employed by artist Bob Kane who alone was contracted by Detective Comics, Inc., Kane received sole creator and author credit for Batman. Though Finger appears to have been the primary creator, he wrote only the first two episodes before Gardner Fox’s six-issue run from #29-34, which introduced discordant supernatural and fantastical elements that Finger eliminated upon his return in #35. Kane and Finger’s partnership and creative control of the character ended through attrition. Finger wrote all of the Batman episodes in Detective Comics from #27-28, 35-59, seven of 60-68, and then only four of the next seventeen issues, leaving the series after #85 (March 1944). Kane penciled all but one issue from #27-74 and then four of the next eight, leaving the series after #82 (December 1943). Kane exclusively penciled the multi-story Batman #1-8 (December-January 1941), and Finger wrote all of #1-10 (February-March 1942). Batman #14 (December-January 1942) was the first without a story by Finger and #19 (April-May 1943) the first without art by Kane, after which both creators became increasingly rare. Finger wrote for a range of other DC titles, and Kane maintained credit for Batman after renegotiating his contract in 1949.

Eisner’s The Spirit (1940-1942).

In 1939, Will Eisner left his comics studio partnership with Jerry Iger to manage a 16-page tabloid-sized insert for Sunday newspapers distributed by the Register and Tribune Syndicate. Unlike almost all other pre-1980s creators, Eisner negotiated ownership of his work and received wide artistic freedom. The first insert was published on June 2, 1940 and featured the first seven-page The Spirit episode written, penciled, and inked solely by Eisner. Initially a police detective, Denny Colt is seemingly killed and buried but returns to fight crime under a mask and alias. Eisner had created and co-created previous comic-book heroes, including the Flame, Dollman, Blackhawk, and the copyright-infringing Wonderman, but The Spirit provided the opportunities for innovation that would establish Eisner as a central pioneer of the comics medium. Beginning May 3, 1942, Eisner, now serving overseas in the military, turned co-pencils and inks over to ghost artists and scripts to ghost writers beginning June 7. He contributed sporadically during the war, returned as the primary writer on December 23, 1945, and as primary artist January 12, 1947. His writing contributions decreased again in 1949 and his art in 1951, until he was primarily only supervising when the series ended October 5, 1952.

Marston & Peter’s Wonder Woman in All Star Comics, Sensation Comics, Wonder Woman, and Comics Cavalcade (1941-1948).

Wonder Woman was conceived by psychologist William Moulton Marston, who selected Harry G. Peter as artist and credited their collaboration under the joint pseudonym Charles Moulton. Marston also served on publisher M. C. Gaines’ advisory board for All American Comics, a sibling company to Detective Comics and National Allied Publication, later jointly known as DC. Wonder Woman premiered in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941), on sale during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, before expanding to Sensation Comics (January 1942), Wonder Woman (Summer 1942), and Comics Cavalcade #1 (December 1942). Marston’s run is notorious for themes of BDSM, which he intended to be instructional for young readers because he believed that sexual bondage—pleasurable submission to another’s loving authority—was central for conditioning good citizens. Marston died in 1947, but his writing continued to appear until Robert Kanigher officially replaced him on Wonder Woman #31 (September 1948). Peter continued on the series until his own death, with his last pencils and inks appearing in #97 (April 1958). With Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman is one of only three superhero characters in continuous publication since their pre-World War II premieres.

First Code Era, 1954-1971:

Lee & Kirby’s The Fantastic Four (1961-70).

Former Iger Studio employee Jack Kirby established himself as a major comics artist during World War II, most famously co-creating Captain American with Joe Simon in 1941 for Marvel’s predecessor, Timely. Kirby and Stan Lee’s nine-year run on The Fantastic Four, from #1 (November 1961) to #102 (September 1970), is likely the longest continuous collaboration on a single title in comics history. The first issue marks publisher Martin Goodman’s transition from the financially struggling Atlas Comics of the 50s to the soon market-leading Marvel of the 60s. The series redefined the superhero genre, while also retroactively exposing authorial and legal ambiguities that run to the core of the industry. Though Lee received sole writing credit, Kirby not only penciled but often produced storylines and drafted captions and dialogue independently, creating such characters as the Silver Surface without Lee’s prior input. Kirby died in 1994, and his estate filed for copyright termination for the characters that Kirby co-created. Marvel sued, arguing that he had been contracted on a work-for-hire basis. The Supreme Court was preparing to hear the case in 2014 when the recently Disney-purchased Marvel Entertainment settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Had the Court ruled in favor of Kirby’ heirs, not only would Marvel’s blockbuster film franchise have been affected, but the precedent would have threatened all of Warner Brother’s DC copyrights too. Lee continued writing the series for a year following Kirby’s departure to DC in 1970, leaving the series after #115 (October 1971).

Lee & Ditko’s Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy and The Amazing Spider-Man (1962- 66).

Although Kirby drew the first sketches of the character, Lee chose to collaborate with Steve Ditko, who had been working with Atlas/Marvel since 1955. Martin Goodman had little faith in the character, largely because teenagers were typically cast as sidekick not lead heroes, slotting the original eleven-page episode in the series-cancelled Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962). Increased sales however allowed Lee to reintroduce the character six months later in a new title, The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963), which has run continuously since. Ditko penciled and inked every issue through #38 (July 1966), after which he left Marvel for Charlton Comics. By the end of their collaboration, tensions between Lee and Ditko grew so high that the two reportedly no longer communicated directly, with Lee receiving Ditko’s completed artboards through a third party. Unlike Kirby, Ditko objected to Lee’s so-called Marvel Method in which pencillers worked without scripts and so assumed uncredited and uncompensated writing duties. Lee continued officially to write the series until #110 (July 1972).

Jim Steranko’s Strange Tales, Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Captain America (1967-69).

Jim Steranko applied for a position at Marvel in 1966 and, after auditioning by inking two unused pages of Jack Kirby’s original 1965 Nick Fury draft (Steranko 2013: 330-1), Stan Lee assigned him to “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” in the split-feature Strange Tales. Steranko inked Kirby’s twelve-page layouts for #151-153 and then wrote and produced all art from #154 (March 1967) to #168 and, when the series switched to twenty-page installments, #1-3 and #5 (October 1968) of its own title. After producing the covers for #6 and #7 (based on Salvador Dali), he created Captain America #110, #111, and #113 (May 1969), which featured crossover appearances by H.Y.D.R.A. and Nick Fury. Though Steranko’s total output was modest and, as evidenced by others’ fill-in work for Nick Fury #4 and Captain America #112, not always produced on deadline, his art was the most innovative since Will Eisner’s in the 1940s, overturning the layout norms set by Kirby during the preceding decade. Steranko however disliked the editorial changes Lee sometimes imposed. On #111, for example, a panel sequence was to read counter-clockwise, but Lee reordered the talk balloons so the images and dialogue contradict in the published version (Lee, Kirby & Steranko: 2014: 217, 280). As a result, Steranko produced only cover art for Marvel titles into the early seventies.

O’Neil & Adams’s Green Lantern Co-Starring Green Arrow (1970-72).

Neal Adams began his comics career illustrating newspaper strips in the early sixties, before starting at Warren and DC in 1967 and Marvel in 1969. Dennis O’Neil began as a writer at Marvel in 1966, before moving to Charlton and then DC where he famously reinterpreted Wonder Woman by eliminating the character’s powers and iconic costume in 1969. Like Steranko, Adams and O’Neil are often cited in the transition from the Silver to the Bronze Age. They first worked together on two issues of X-Men and two issues of Detective Comics published at the start of 1970, but they are remembered for their redesign of Green Lantern, which beginning with #76 (April 1970) included Green Arrow. Though Adams’ layouts are often as innovative as Steranko’s, his longest-lasting influence is the comparably photorealistic style he brought to the genre: “If superheroes existed, they’d look like I draw them” (Smith 2011). O’Neil brought a similar level of realism to the series by portraying Green Lantern outgrowing the naïvely simplistic understanding of good and evil that had defined superhero morality since the 1930s. After the title was cancelled with #89 (May 1972), the series finished as a back-up feature in four issues of Flash.