Barbaric Adventures Of Ironjaw!

Michael Fleisher wrote a truckload of comics for DC and Marvel in the 70's and 80's. He also was a key writer in the brief burst of activity which erupted under the name of "Atlas-Seaboard Comics" in the middle of the 70's. How he came to be a mainstay of that momentary company is a curious tale. Another reliable and exceedingly visible talent from that era was Pablo Marcos.

I found some of the story here in an interview from The Amazing World of DC Comics with Joe Orlando. Orlando confirms what I already knew, that Iron Jaw began as a pitch to then editor Orlando from Fleisher.

What I didn't quite realize, was that Fleisher got the chance to pitch the idea of a sword and sorcery Jonah Hex/Conan the Barbarian to DC because of his tenure on Sandman. This version of Sandman was the final pairing of the team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. After the first issue, Simon and Kirby went their separate ways, but sales reports suggested there might be life in the Sandman concept. But the classic team was no longer available and so Michael Fleisher and Ernie Chan were pressed into duty. 

 

Anyway, after the relative success of this effort, Fleisher was given a chance to pitch, but was told first to check out the Ironwolf comic in Weird Worlds. What that contributed to the final product aside possibly part of the name is speculative at best. But for whatever reasons, after all that Orlando rejected the Iron Jaw concept and gave Fleisher the freedom to shop it around. He did, sold it to Atlas-Seaboard where it became a bit of a flagship book for that company.

Meanwhile at DC, Orlando green lighted another sword and sorcery project, Claw the Unconquered by David Michelinie and the aforementioned Ernie Chan. By the time though that book hit the stands, the Iron Jaw run was nearly over at Atlas-Seaboard. What took so long I wonder? So, in the elaborate tapestry of history, we find that Joe Simon and Jack Kirby indirectly gave rise to a project at the heart of yet another publishing effort (however brief) by former Timely and Marvel comics publisher Martin Goodman. How utterly strange.

 

Below you'll find the entire story from Atlas-Seaboard's IronJaw #2. It features a fantastic Neal Adams cover (his second after a stunning effort on the debut issue), of which there are two versions, and some incredible Pablo Marcos artwork, here in its original raw, lush form. IronJaw was as close to a flagship title as Atlas-Seaboard had and this is the best issue of the brief run. (I think Marcos looks best in black and white.) The blood and thunder of Michael Fleisher's brutal and blunt barbarian rings through over and over this violent tale. I can almost smell IronJaw in this epic -- and believe me that's not a good thing. 

But before you dive into this feast, take a moment if you need to read the set up for this story, continued from the debut issue. "The World of Ironjaw" (from issue #1) sets it up very nicely.

Pablo Marcos was an artist who was able to communicate great power in his work, and these pages showcase that wonderfully. 

IronJaw went on to star in two more issues in his brief four-issue run. Though those four issues were epic in terms of the Atlas-Seaboard line. He also was the only character in the Atlas-Seaboard line-up that I can think of who headlined a second comic, this titled Barbarians featuring IronJaw. He seems clearly to be one of the tentpoles the company wanted to build around if they had remained solvent. 

This Post is a Revised Dojo Classic. 

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