I loved "Conway's Corner". According to what I've read, Gerry Conway was miffed when he was passed over for the top editor slot at Marvel when Roy Thomas stepped down. So he headed off to the "Distinguished Competition" where he was given darn near carte blanche to create comics he wanted. Some really great stuff came out of Conway's Corner as his little sub-brand was dubbed. New characters like Steel, Kobra and Firestorm, new teams like Secret Society of Super-Villains and Freedom Fighters, and revivals of Blackhawks and Justice Society of America. One project was Hercules Unbound which took the legendary Greco-Roman demi-god and plunked him down in the middle of the "Great Disaster". The Great Disaster was the apocalypse in which the in earlier days John Broome's and Murphy Anderson's Atomic Knights had dwelt and in which Kamandi was set (sort of). It's a brilliant stroke to use a fantasy hero like Hercules, but genius to place him into a sci-fi setting. Add the amazing art of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and the lush ink finishes of legendary Wally Wood and it's a comic book for the ages. Later when Conway left, the book was handed over to other writers like David Michelinie and Cary Bates, but the core of it was developed by up and coming artist Walt Simonson. The talent on this one was simply amazing.
Here are the covers.
The series has never been collected on its own but was part of a massive Showcase Presents volume which also had the Atomic Knights and other tales reputedly set in the same world.
We need these stories available in color, but I'll take what I can get.
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I was pulled in by Wally Wood on quite a few DC productions back then. It was a fun book, but like much of Conway's output, it was derivative of other material. In addition to Kamandi's influence, fair enough, the parallels to Gold Key's Mighty Samson comic seemed pretty clear in those days.
ReplyDeleteWhen Conway finally did get that editor position at Marvel a few years later, he allegedly alienated and drove off a lot of the talent, according to Steve Englehart's accounts. Conway was still a relative youngster and was outta there pretty quickly.
I've read that too, and frankly that the job was just boring. Being an editor ain't no fun and is not for everyone who wants the title, especially of a large house like Marvel was. They were handing the titles around willy nilly and only a few of the guys (Archie Goodwin comes to mind) had the true editorial chops. Even Roy Thomas wasn't that cut out for it, since his focus was so singular. That's what I credit Stan Lee with, not the creation of so much but the effective management of same.
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I have the Great Disaster book but haven't read it. Horrors, I have to correct that mistake!
ReplyDeleteYes you do. It's full of real greatness such as the Atomic Knights, Hercules and more.
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hi, these are great - ive been reading them in 'the great disaster' collection. it seems like half the time the writers forget that kevin is supposed to be blind though haha
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