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94-548: Mark Eugene Gruenwald ( / ˈ ɡ r uː n w ɔː l d / ; June 18, 1953 – August 12, 1996) was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler known for his long association with Marvel Comics . Gruenwald got his start in comics fandom, publishing his own fanzine , Omniverse , which explored the concept of continuity . Before being hired by Marvel, he wrote text articles for DC Comics ’ official fanzine, The Amazing World of DC Comics . Articles by Gruenwald include "The Martian Chronicles" (a history of

188-563: A Bat Lash mini-series and the ongoing series Vigilante , as well as writing a Wildstorm comic book series based on the online role-playing game World of Warcraft . The Warcraft series ran 25 issues and was from #15 on co-written with his wife, Louise Simonson . He wrote the Demon and Catwoman serial in Wednesday Comics in 2009. In 2011, Simonson had a cameo role in the live-action Thor film, appearing as one of

282-487: A naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the likes of paying the rent. In contrast to the super-heroic do-gooder archetypes of established superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko , Don Heck , and others, complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became very popular among teenagers and college students who could identify with

376-516: A black-and-white magazine published by Marvel's Curtis Magazines line. Simonson also had his first run on Thor at this time, working only as the series' artist alongside writer Len Wein. In late 1978, Simonson, Howard Chaykin , Val Mayerik , and Jim Starlin formed Upstart Associates , a shared studio space on West 29th Street in New York City. The membership of the studio changed over time. In 1979 Simonson did writing and art on

470-535: A militia is named Mark Gruenwald, and is described with the same general physical attributes and personality as the real Gruenwald. The lawyer acts heroically throughout the story. In Richard Starkings ' Elephantmen , the executive director of the Information Agency where almost all of the main characters of the series work is called Gruenwald and bears a strong resemblance to Gruenwald. In an interview with Newsarama , Richard Starkings confirmed that

564-498: A tabloid -sized, 10-by-15-inch (250 mm × 380 mm), 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover. An anthology , it mixed humor features such as the funny animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger" with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the " yellow-peril " adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu -styled villain, Fang Gow. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought

658-498: A Siegel/Shuster creation from the slush pile and used it as the cover feature (but only as a backup story) in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The duo's alien hero, Superman , was dressed in a cape and colorful tights. The costume, influenced by Flash Gordon 's attire from 1934, evoked circus aerial performers and circus strongmen, and Superman became the archetype of the " superheroes " that would follow. In early 1939,

752-542: A book for the first time with his run on Marvel's licensed Battlestar Galactica series, penciling 12 sporadic issues from issues #4 to 23 with writer Roger McKenzie . Simonson began co-writing the series with McKenzie with issue #11, co-wrote some issues with Bob Layton and Steven Grant after McKenzie left the title, began writing the book himself with issue #19, staying on until issue #23. In 1982, Simonson and writer Chris Claremont produced The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans intercompany crossover between

846-497: A child, through the subscriptions to Walt Disney's Comics and Stories that his brother had. By the age of ten he was an avid fan of the work of Carl Barks , Little Lulu , Little Iodine , and Alex Toth 's work on The Land Unknown . He also enjoyed drawing from a very young age. Although Simonson was embarrassed to be seen by girls buying comics while in high school, he discovered Russ Manning 's work on Magnus Robot Fighter right before he started college, and submitted

940-735: A collection of English-language newspaper inserts originally published in Europe as the 1837 book Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer . The G. W. Dillingham Company published the first known proto-comic-book magazine in the US, The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats , in 1897. A hardcover book, it reprinted material—primarily the October 18, 1896, to January 10, 1897, sequence titled "McFadden's Row of Flats"—from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault 's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley , starring

1034-521: A conversation with the artists, who looked at his portfolio. Kaluta showed Simonson's work to Assistant Production Manager Jack Adler , who in turn showed it to DC Publisher Carmine Infantino , who after being shown the portfolio, summoned Simonson into his office. After speaking to Simonson for about ten minutes, he had Goodwin and his fellow editors Julius Schwartz and Joe Orlando give Simonson work. Simonson walked out of Infantino's office with jobs from each one of them. At one point Simonson lived in

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1128-572: A drawing that was printed in issue #10 in May, 1965, in the publication's fan page, "Robot Gallery." This was his first published work in comics. Simonson studied geology at Amherst College , with the intent of becoming an expert on dinosaurs. In 1964 or 1965, Simonson discovered Marvel Comics , in particular that company's version of Thor . Having already developed an interest in Norse mythology prior to discovering Stan Lee and Jack Kirby 's take on

1222-439: A friend who worked for DC Comics , where, as Simonson recalls, many young artists had begun working in the 1970s, in contrast to Marvel, which Simonson perceived as more stagnant. Boudreau arranged a meeting between Simonson and editor Archie Goodwin . After meeting with Goodwin, Simonson went to DC's coffee room, where he saw Howard Chaykin , Michael Kaluta , Berni Wrightson and Alan Weiss sitting together. Simonson struck up

1316-506: A mentor. During the years 1982–1984, Gruenwald did fill-in pencil work for a handful of Marvel comics, most notably the 1983 Hawkeye limited series, but also issues of What If? , Marvel Team-Up Annual , The Incredible Hulk , and Questprobe . The cover of Comic Reader #180 (May–June 1980) featuring Hawkman and Adam Strange and the entry for Merlyn the Archer in Who's Who:

1410-603: A million copies a month each; comics provided very popular cheap entertainment during World War II especially among soldiers, but with erratic quality in stories, art, and printing. In the early 1940s, over 90 percent of girls and boys from seven to seventeen read comic books. In 1941, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston , created the female superhero character Wonder Woman , who debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) and Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman in 1942. MLJ 's Pep Comics debuted as

1504-616: A nonfiction book about the developing movement in sequential art and narrative literature, along with Durwin Talon , Will Eisner , Mike Mignola and Mark Schultz . From 2003 to 2006, he drew the four issue prestige mini-series Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer , written by Elric 's creator, Michael Moorcock . This series was collected as a 192-page graphic novel in 2007 by DC. He continued to work for DC in 2006 writing Hawkgirl , with pencillers Howard Chaykin , Joe Bennett , and Renato Arlem . His other work includes cover artwork for

1598-766: A process which would lead to his being renamed as "Archangel". Their run on X-Factor included the story arcs " Mutant Massacre ", " Fall of the Mutants ," and " Inferno ". In 1983, he returned to Star Slammers with another version of the story that Marvel published in Marvel Graphic Novel No. 6. Simonson left Upstart Associates in late 1986. Simonson became writer of the Fantastic Four with issue #334 (Dec. 1989), and three issues later began penciling and inking as well (#337). For issues #347–349, he collaborated with Arthur Adams , introducing

1692-510: A profound impact upon the American comic-book industry. Their popularity, along with mainstream media attention and critical acclaim, combined with changing social tastes, led to a considerably darker tone in comic books during the 1990s nicknamed by fans as the "grim-and-gritty" era. The growing popularity of antiheroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher exemplified this change, as did

1786-442: A promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies. The promotion proved a success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals for Canada Dry soft drinks , Kinney Shoes , Wheatena cereal and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000. Also in 1933, Gaines and Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish

1880-537: A short story in Rocketeer Adventures vol. 2 #4 and drew covers for several Rocketeer comics during this period. In 2012 DC Comics published The Judas Coin , a graphic novel written and drawn by Simonson. The book shows how one silver coin paid to Judas to betray Jesus affects various characters down the centuries including Batman . In July 2014 IDW Publishing published the first issue of Simonson's creator-owned series Ragnarök , which depicts

1974-457: A story by Simonson and writer David Vern Reed . In 1979 Simonson and Goodwin collaborated on an adaptation of the movie Alien , published by Heavy Metal . It was that book that Simonson began his long working relationship with letterer John Workman , who would go on to letter most of Simonson's work. Starting in January 1977, Simonson was the original artist on The Rampaging Hulk ,

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2068-520: A superhero, science-fiction and adventure anthology, but after the title introduced the teen-humor feature "Archie" in 1942, the feature's popularity would soon eclipse all other MLJ properties, leading the publisher to rename itself Archie Comics . Following the end of World War II, the popularity of superheroes greatly diminished, while the comic-book industry itself expanded. A few well-established characters such as Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman continued to sell, but DC canceled series starring

2162-494: A ten-cent pricetag [ sic ] on the comic books". When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934), a 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company , it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression , selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print, although putting Eastern Color more than $ 4,000 in

2256-402: A third of all North American sales in the early 1950s. Its 90 titles averaged a circulation of 800,000 copies per title for every issue, with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories peaking at a circulation of three million a month in 1953. Eleven of the top 25 bestselling comic books at the time were Dell titles. Out of 40 publishers active in 1954, Dell, Atlas (i.e. Marvel), DC, and Archie were

2350-508: A true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands ". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930. In 1933, salesperson Maxwell Gaines , sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg , and owner George Janosik of the Waterbury, Connecticut , company Eastern Color Printing —which printed, among other things, Sunday-paper comic-strip sections – produced Funnies on Parade as

2444-568: A version of Thor unrelated to the Marvel version of the deity. It ran for twelve issues until 2017 and was followed by the six-issue mini-series Ragnarök: The Breaking of Helheim in 2019, also written and drawn by Simonson. In 2021, Walt Simonson revisited his run as an artist on X-Factor by providing covers and artwork for a two-issue X-Factor story in X-Men Legends , written by his wife Louise Simonson who had also scripted his issues for

2538-535: A very busy season over the past six to eight months, and I'd like to take some time off, to take time maybe to take stock and refuel a bit." Simonson was to have drawn a Daredevil story written by Frank Miller but it was never completed and remains unpublished . Simonson joined his wife Louise on the X-Factor series with issue #10. In #25, the creators gave the character the Angel blue skin and metal wings in

2632-777: A way to keep their presses running. Like The Funnies , but only eight pages, this appeared as a newsprint magazine. Rather than using original material, however, it reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from the McNaught Syndicate , the Ledger Syndicate , and the Bell-McClure Syndicate . These included such popular strips as cartoonist Al Smith 's Mutt and Jeff , Ham Fisher 's Joe Palooka , and Percy Crosby 's Skippy . Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands , but rather sent it out free as

2726-461: A year. In 1929, Dell Publishing (founded by George T. Delacorte, Jr. ) published The Funnies , described by the Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert" and not to be confused with Dell's 1936 comic-book series of the same name. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16-page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than

2820-671: Is married to comics writer Louise Simonson , with whom he collaborated as penciller on X-Factor from 1986 to 1989. Walter Simonson was born September 2, 1946, in Knoxville, Tennessee , and lived there for two and a half years. When his father, who worked for the United States Department of Agriculture , received a promotion at work that required him to relocate to Washington, D.C. , Simonson, his younger brother and his parents moved to Maryland, where Simonson's parents still lived as of 1989. Simonson first read comics as

2914-464: Is taken symbolically as the beginning of a new era, although his success was not immediate. It took two years for the Flash to receive his own title, and Showcase itself was only a bimonthly book, though one which was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined

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3008-709: The Iron Man 2020 one-shot (June 1994) and writing the Heroes Reborn version of The Avengers . In 1994 Simonson continued the adventures of the Star Slammers in a limited series as one of the founders of Malibu Comics ' short-lived Bravura label. In the 2000s, Simonson mostly worked for DC Comics. From 2000 to 2002 he wrote and illustrated Orion . After that series ended, he wrote six issues of Wonder Woman (vol. 2) drawn by Jerry Ordway . In 2002, he contributed an interview to Panel Discussions,

3102-667: The Flash and Green Lantern and converted All-American Comics and All Star Comics to Western titles, and Star Spangled Comics to a war title. The publisher also launched such science-fiction titles as Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space . Martin Goodman 's Timely Comics , also known as Atlas, canceled its three formerly high-selling superhero titles starring Captain America (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ),

3196-613: The Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , briefly reviving the characters in 1954 only to cancel them again shortly thereafter to focus on horror, science fiction, teen humor, romance and Western genres. Romance comics became strongly established, with Prize Comics ' Young Romance and with Young Love , the latter written and drawn by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; those two titles' popularity led to an explosion of romance comics from many publishers. Dell 's comic books accounted for

3290-697: The Martian Manhunter ) in issue #13 and several articles on the history of the Justice League in issue #14. In 1978 he was hired by Marvel Comics , where he remained for the rest of his career. Hired initially as an assistant editor in January 1978, Gruenwald was promoted to full editorship by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter in 1982, putting Gruenwald in charge of The Avengers , Captain America , Iron Man , Thor , Spider Woman , and What If . During this period, he shared an office with writer/editor Denny O'Neil , whom Gruenwald considered

3384-516: The Marvel method , plotting out his storylines on a grid and then doing detailed plots for each issue. After thumbnailing the story, he writes a full script, from which he moves to full-size layouts, and then finished art. Simonson inked his own work with a Hunt 102 crow quill pen. He switched to a brush during the mid-to-late 2000s, and despite the disparity between the two tools, Bryan Hitch , an admirer of Simonson's, stated that he could not tell

3478-757: The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on comic book indecency from April to June 1954. In the wake of these troubles, a group of comics publishers, led by National and Archie, founded the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, intended as "the most stringent code in existence for any communications media". A Comic Code Seal of Approval soon appeared on virtually every comic book carried on newsstands. EC, after experimenting with less controversial comic books, dropped its comics line to focus on

3572-663: The Yellow Kid . The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes introductory text by E. W. Townsend , measured 5 by 7 inches (130 mm × 180 mm) and sold for 50 cents. The neologism "comic book" appears on the back cover. Despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Company's Comic Monthly , did not appear until 1922. Produced in an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -by-9-inch (220 mm × 230 mm) format, it reprinted black-and-white newspaper comic strips and lasted

3666-597: The trade paperback compilation of Squadron Supreme . Gruenwald married singer Belinda Glass in May 1981. They later divorced, and he married Catherine Schuller on October 12, 1992, in New York after a year's courtship; she was the executor of Gruenwald's famous will. Gruenwald had a daughter, Sara. The Amalgam Comics book The Exciting X-Patrol #1 (June 1997) and the Marvel Comics book Generation X #21 (November 1996) are dedicated to Gruenwald's memory as

3760-561: The "New Fantastic Four" consisting of Wolverine , Spider-Man , Ghost Rider and the Hulk . In issue #345 he depicted dinosaurs with feathers , two decades before this idea gained mainstream acceptance among paleontologists. Simonson's decision to depict the dinosaurs in this manner was inspired by Gregory S. Paul 's then-controversial book, Predatory Dinosaurs of the World , in which Paul theorized that dinosaurs had feathers. Because this idea

3854-426: The 1938 publication of Action Comics , which included the debut of the superhero Superman . This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II . After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in

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3948-535: The 1960s, DC, and then Marvel, began to include writer and artist credits on the comics that they published. Other notable companies publishing comics during the Silver Age included the American Comics Group (ACG), Charlton , Dell , Gold Key , Harvey Comics , and Tower . Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were featured, as the anti-authoritarian underground comix made waves in 1968, following

4042-457: The 1970s coincided with the appearance of comic-book specialty stores across North America. These specialty stores were a haven for more distinct voices and stories, but they also marginalized comics in the public eye. Serialized comic stories became longer and more complex, requiring readers to buy more issues to finish a story. In the mid-to-late 1980s, two series published by DC Comics , Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , had

4136-542: The 1990s changing the format and distribution of their comic books to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small presses. The development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. Publishers had collected comic strips in hardcover book form as early as 1842, with The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck ,

4230-520: The 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , which historians consider the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of the most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to "sticking

4324-598: The American comic book has been adapted periodically outside the United States, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom . While comics can be the work of a single creator, the labor of creating them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be a separate writer and artist , or there may be separate artists for the characters and backgrounds. Particularly in superhero comic books,

4418-678: The CCA) stopped publishing crime and horror titles, which was their entire business, and were forced out of the market altogether, turning to magazine publishing instead. By 1960, output had stabilized at about 1,500 releases per year (representing a greater than fifty percent decline since 1952). The dominant comic book genres of the post-CCA 1950s were funny animals, humor, romance , television properties, and Westerns . Detective, fantasy , teen, and war comics were also popular, but adventure, superheroes, and comic strip reprints were in decline, with Famous Funnies seeing its last issue in 1955. In

4512-668: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #15 (May 1986) were Gruenwald's only comics artwork outside of Marvel. In 1982, Gruenwald, Steven Grant , and Bill Mantlo co-wrote Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions , the first limited series published by Marvel Comics. As a writer, Gruenwald is best known for creating the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and his ten-year stint as

4606-488: The February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Simonson's contribution was a story featuring the Star Slammers , his first time returning to that property since the 1990s. Simonson's distinctive signature consists of his last name, distorted to resemble a Brontosaurus . Simonson's reason for this was explained in a 2006 interview. "My mom suggested a dinosaur since I was a big dinosaur fan." Simonson creates using

4700-609: The Modern Horror age. But as of 2009 historians and fans use " Bronze Age " to describe the period of American mainstream comics history that began with the period of concentrated changes to comic books in 1970. Unlike the Golden/Silver Age transition, the Silver/Bronze transition involves many continuing books, making the transition less sharp. The development of the " direct market " distribution system in

4794-546: The Star Spangled Symbolism of Captain America, 1985-1995, a book about Gruenwald's run on Captain America, was published by McFarland & Company in 2021. American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States , on average 32 pages, containing comics . While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after

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4888-407: The angsty and irreverent nature of characters like Spider-Man , Hulk , X-Men and Fantastic Four . This was a time of social upheaval, giving birth to a new generation of hip and more counter-cultural youngsters, who found a voice in these books. Because Marvel's books were distributed by its rival, National, from 1957 until 1968 Marvel were restricted to publishing only eight titles a month. This

4982-408: The art may be divided between: The process begins with the writer (often in collaboration with one or more others, who may include the editor and/or the penciller) coming up with a story idea or concept, then working it up into a plot and storyline , finalizing it with a script . After the art is prepared, the dialogue and captions are lettered onto the page from the script, and an editor may have

5076-478: The bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, at the demand of publisher Martin Goodman (who was reacting to a surge in sales of National's newest superhero title The Justice League of America ), writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Atlas, which now re-named itself Marvel Comics . With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, Fantastic Four #1 initiated

5170-466: The book as artist with issue #367 (May 1986), after which Sal Buscema took over. Simonson continued to write the book until issue #382 (Aug. 1987). Buscema described Simonson's stories as "very stimulating. It was a pleasure working on his plots, because they were a lot of fun to illustrate. He had a lot of great ideas, and he took Thor in a totally new direction." In late 1986 he dropped several of his assignments, including Thor , remarking that "I had

5264-541: The character was based on his friend. In volume four of Nova from Marvel Comics, the new director of Project Pegasus is named Dr. Gruenwald. In 2006, Gruenwald was officially named the "Patron Saint of Marveldom" in the new " Bullpen Bulletins " pages. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) show Loki , TVA analyst Mobius M. Mobius is portrayed by Owen Wilson , and is made to resemble Gruenwald's likeness. Jason Olsen's Mark Gruenwald and

5358-617: The character, featuring Surtur and the Odinsword . In later years he would be given the opportunity to publish this story, as the writer on that title. After graduating from Amherst with a degree in geology, Simonson took a year off, and then enrolled as an art major at the Rhode Island School of Design , graduating in 1972. His thesis project there was the 50-page black and white book The Star Slammers , which took him two years to write, pencil, letter and ink himself, and

5452-501: The comic books. An American comic book is also known as a floppy comic . It is typically thin and stapled, unlike traditional books . American comic books are one of the three major comic book industries globally, along with Japanese manga and the Franco-Belgian comic books . The typical size and page count of comics have varied over the decades, generally tending toward smaller formats and fewer pages. Historically,

5546-534: The comic-book debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , the future creators of Superman . The two began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval", doing the first two installments before turning it over to others and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", they created the supernatural -crimefighter adventure Doctor Occult . In 1938, after Wheeler-Nicholson's partner Harry Donenfeld had ousted him, National Allied editor Vin Sullivan pulled

5640-432: The countercultural era. Legal issues and paper shortages led to a decline in underground comix output from its 1972 peak. In 1974 the passage of anti-paraphernalia laws in the US led to the closing of most head shops, which throttled underground comix distribution. Its readership also dried up as the hippie movement itself petered out in the mid-1970s. Wizard originally used the phrase "Bronze Age", in 1995, to denote

5734-464: The country. Some cities passed laws banning comic books entirely. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent , where he discussed what he perceived as sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror comics and superhero comics respectively, and singled out EC Comics due to its success as a publisher of these genres. In response to growing public anxiety,

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5828-575: The darker tone of some independent publishers such as First Comics , Dark Horse Comics , and (founded in the 1990s) Image Comics . This tendency towards darkness and nihilism was manifested in DC's production of heavily promoted comic book stories such as " A Death in the Family " in the Batman series (in which The Joker brutally murdered Batman's sidekick Robin ), while at Marvel the continuing popularity of

5922-471: The early days of comic books, this practice had all but vanished during the 1940s and 1950s. Comic books were produced by comic book companies rather than by individual creators (EC being a notable exception, a company that not only credited its creative teams but also featured creators' biographies). Even comic books by revered and collectible artists like Carl Barks were not known by their creator's name— Disney comics by Barks were signed " Walt Disney ". In

6016-444: The final say (but, once ready for printing, it is difficult and expensive to make any major changes), before the comic is sent to the printer. The creative team, the writer and artist(s), may work for a comic book publisher who handles the marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A wholesale distributor, such as Diamond Comic Distributors , the largest in the US, distributes the printed product to retailers. Another aspect of

6110-598: The guests at a large Asgardian banquet. The sequel, Thor: The Dark World , featured Simonson's character Malekith the Accursed . Simonson serves on the Disbursement Committee of the comic-book industry charity The Hero Initiative . Other work in the 2010s includes drawing six issues of The Avengers vol. 4 in 2012 and providing the artwork for three issues of The Indestructible Hulk which guest starred Thor. Simonson collaborated with his wife for

6204-724: The hammer-wielding deity, it became Simonson's favorite title, one that he read for four years. From this he realized that drawing comics was more fun, and more feasible as a career than working outdoors in hot weather as a geologist or paleontologist, despite harboring a love for the latter that continued the rest of his life. Simonson came to be heavily influenced by the artists who worked for Marvel, such as Jack Kirby , Steve Ditko , and Gil Kane , as well as British artist Jim Holdaway and European artists such as Moebius , Jean-Claude Mézières , Antonio Hernández Palacios and Sergio Toppi . In 1967, while in college, Simonson began writing his own epic story starring Lee and Kirby's version of

6298-483: The introduction of the Comics Code Authority in the wake of Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency , which, ignoring the social problems caused by the wars of 1939–45 and 1950–52, sought to blame those problems solely on comics. While there was only a 9% drop in the number of releases between 1952 and 1953, circulation plummeted by an estimated 30–40%. The cause of the decrease is not entirely clear. Television had begun to provide competition with comic books, but there

6392-628: The late 1940s and early 1950s horror and true-crime comics flourished, many containing graphic violence and gore. Due to such content, moral crusaders became concerned with the impact of comics on the youth, and were blaming comic books for everything from poor grades to juvenile delinquency to drug abuse. This perceived indecency resulted in the collection and public burning of comic books in Spencer, West Virginia and Binghamton, New York in 1948, which received national attention and triggered other public burnings by schools and parent groups across

6486-557: The late 1980s–early 1990s, created by Rick Parker and Barry Dutter. These strips, which ran on the Bullpen Bulletins page during the majority of DeFalco's run as editor-in-chief, featured Gruenwald depicted as a caricature and foil for DeFalco's antics. In 1996, Gruenwald succumbed to a heart attack , the result of an unsuspected congenital heart defect . Gruenwald was a well-known practical joker and, due to his young age, many of his friends and co-workers initially believed

6580-433: The major players in volume of sales. By this point, former big-time players Fawcett and Fiction House had ceased publishing. Circulation peaked in 1952 when 3,161 issues of various comics were published with a total circulation of about one billion copies. After 1952, the number of individual releases dropped every year for the rest of the decade, with the biggest falls occurring in 1955–56. The rapid decline followed

6674-399: The original series. In April 2022, Simonson and his wife Louise were reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to Operation USA 's benefit anthology book, Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds , a project spearheaded by IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier , whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from

6768-559: The process involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator(s). Fan art and letters to the editor were commonly printed in the back of the book, until, in the early 21st century, various Internet forums started to replace this tradition. The growth of comic specialty stores helped permit several waves of independently-produced comics, beginning in the mid-1970s. Some early examples of these – generally referred to as "independent" or "alternative" comics – such as Big Apple Comix , continued somewhat in

6862-505: The publication of Robert Crumb 's irregularly published Zap Comix . Frank Stack had published The Adventures of Jesus as far back as 1962, and there had been a trickle of such publications until Crumb's success. What had started as a self-publishing scene soon grew into a minor industry, with Print Mint , Kitchen Sink , Last Gasp and Apex Novelties among the more well-known publishers. These comix were often extremely graphic, and largely distributed in head shops that flourished in

6956-650: The red. That quickly changed, with the book turning a $ 30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch a new mass medium . When the supply of available existing comic strips began to dwindle, early comic books began to include a small amount of new, original material in comic-strip format. Inevitably, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. Fledgling publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would evolve into DC Comics , to release New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). This came out as

7050-469: The reports of his death to be just another joke. Just days prior, he had done one of his trademark cartwheels down the halls of the Bullpen. A longtime lover of comics, Gruenwald made it known among his friends and family that his one desire was to have his ashes used in part of a comic. In accordance with his request, he was cremated , and his ashes were mixed with the ink used to print the first printing of

7144-417: The same Queens apartment building as artists Allen Milgrom , Howard Chaykin and Bernie Wrightson . Simonson recalls, "We'd get together at 3 a.m. They'd come up and we'd have popcorn and sit around and talk about whatever a 26, 27 and 20-year-old guys talk about. Our art, TV, you name it. I pretty much knew at the time, 'These are the good ole days.'" Simonson's first professional published comic book work

7238-415: The same shield now owned by Stephen Colbert . His 60-issue run on Quasar (1989–1994) realized Gruenwald's ambition to write his own kind of superhero. However, he considered his magnum opus to be the mid-1980s 12-issue maxiseries Squadron Supreme , which told the story of an alternate universe where a group of well-intended superheroes decide that they would be best suited to run the planet. Gruenwald

7332-629: The satirical Mad —a former comic book which was now converted to a magazine format in order to circumvent the Code. DC started a revival in superhero comics in 1956 with the October 1956 revival of its former golden age top-seller The Flash in Showcase #4. Many comics historians peg this as the beginning of the Silver Age of American comic books, although Marvel (at this point still known variously as both Timely and Atlas ) had started reviving some of its old superheroes as early as 1954. The new Flash

7426-408: The size was derived from folding one sheet of Quarter Imperial paper (15 in × 11 in or 380 mm × 280 mm), to print 4 pages which were each 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (190 mm × 280 mm). This also meant that the page count had to be some multiple of 4. In recent decades, standard comics have been trimmed at about 6.625 x 10.25 inches. The format of

7520-701: The success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman , who debuted in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The period from the late 1930s through roughly the end of the 1940s is referred to by comic book experts as the Golden Age of comic books . It featured extremely large print-runs, with Action Comics and Captain Marvel selling over half

7614-478: The top-selling Marvel and DC titles. Simonson is best known for his work on Marvel Comics' Thor which he began writing and drawing with issue #337 (Nov. 1983). During his run as writer/artist, Simonson used the epic story that he first began writing in college in 1967, transformed Thor into a frog for three issues and introduced the supporting character Beta Ray Bill , an alien warrior who unexpectedly proved worthy to wield Thor's hammer, Mjolnir . He left

7708-417: The tradition of the earlier underground comics , while others, such as Star Reach , resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artist. This so-called " small press " scene (a term derived from the limited quantity of comics printed in each press-run) continued to grow and diversify, with a number of small publishers in

7802-566: The various X-Men books led to storylines involving the genocide of superpowered "mutants" in allegorical stories about religious and ethnic persecution. In addition, published formats like the graphic novel and the related trade paperback enabled the comic book to gain some respectability as literature. As a result, these formats are now common in book retail and the collections of US public libraries . Walt Simonson Simonson has won numerous awards for his work and has influenced artists such as Arthur Adams and Todd McFarlane . He

7896-468: The wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority . The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into the 21st century. Some fans collect comic books, helping drive up their value. Some have sold for more than US$ 1 million. Comic shops cater to fans, selling comic books, plastic sleeves ("bags") and cardboard backing ("boards") to protect

7990-408: The writer of Captain America (from 1985 to 1995) – during which he contributed several notable characters such as Crossbones , Diamondback and U.S. Agent . He made a deliberate effort to create villains who would be specific to Captain America, as opposed to generic foes who could as easily have been introduced in another comic. At one point Gruenwald owned a replica of Captain America's shield –

8084-661: Was Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75 which saw the return of Norman Osborn after his supposed death twenty years earlier . In the DC Universe , a building in Gotham City was named the Von Gruenwald Tower , and in the novel Captain America: Liberty's Torch written by Tony Isabella and Bob Ingersoll , the lawyer kidnapped to defend the similarly kidnapped Captain America in a mock trial before

8178-629: Was " Manhunter ", a backup feature in DC's Detective Comics written by Goodwin, which cemented Simonson's professional reputation. In a 2000 interview, Simonson recalled, "What 'Manhunter' did was to establish me professionally. Before 'Manhunter,' I was one more guy doing comics; after 'Manhunter,' people in the field knew who I was. It'd won a bunch of awards the year that it ran, and after that, I really had no trouble finding work." Simonson then drew other DC series such as Metal Men and Hercules Unbound and co-created Doctor Phosphorus with Steve Englehart . Batman #300 (June 1978) featured

8272-408: Was a cloud with a silver lining, and proved the making of Marvel, allowing the company to concentrate its brightest and best talent on a small number of titles, at a time when its rivals were spreading their creative talents very thin across a huge number of monthly titles. The quality of Marvel's product soared in consequence, and sales soared with it. While the creators of comics were given credit in

8366-464: Was also a rise in conservative values with the election in 1952 of Dwight Eisenhower . The Comics Code Authority, a self-censoring body founded to curb the juvenile delinquency alleged to be due to the crime and horror comics, has often been targeted as the culprit, but sales had begun to drop the year before it was founded. The major publishers were not seriously harmed by the drop in sales, but smaller publishers were killed off: EC (the prime target of

8460-483: Was famous for a perfect recollection of even the most trivial details. In the pages of Fantastic Four , Walt Simonson paid homage to Gruenwald by having the Time Variance Authority (TVA)'s staff all be clones of Gruenwald; no one could keep track of everything but him. Gruenwald was a recurring character with Tom DeFalco in the single-panel comic The Bull's Eye that ran in Marvel comics in

8554-427: Was highly loyal to each series he wrote. In addition to his lengthy stint on Captain America , he wrote the entire runs of both Quasar (save for one issue) and D.P.7 , and Jim Salicrup recalled that when Gruenwald was taken off of Spider-Woman after only 12 issues, he "was crushed." On September 1, 1987, Gruenwald became Marvel's executive editor, with a particular remit as the keeper of continuity. Gruenwald

8648-590: Was illustrating writer Len Wein 's story "Cyrano's Army", which appeared in DC's Weird War Tales #10, which was cover-dated January 1973. Such short back-up war stories comprised most of Simonson's early published work. He also did a number of illustrations for the Harry N. Abrams, Inc. edition of The Hobbit , and at least one unrelated print of a samurai warrior that was purchased by Harvard University 's Fogg Museum , and included in its annual undergraduate-use loan program. Simonson's breakthrough illustration job

8742-500: Was initially published as a series of ashcan promotional 5.5" x 8.5" b&w chapter booklets from 1971–1973 to promote the 1974 World Science Fiction Convention in Washington, D.C. (DisCon II). Simonson would later revisit Star Slammers throughout his career, publishing it through various publishers over the decades. In August 1972, Simonson traveled to New York with his Star Slammers portfolio, and met with Gerry Boudreau,

8836-400: Was met with skepticism from the scientific community at the time, Simonson decided to compromise by depicting the dinosaurs with a small amount of feathers, rather than covered with them. Simonson left the Fantastic Four with issue #354 (July 1991). In 1992, he wrote and illustrated the one-shot Superman Special #1 for DC. His other Marvel credits in the decade included co-plotting/writing

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