Random Reads: "Primate Patrol" by Kashdan, Landgraf, and Simons

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Is it any wonder that during the Groovy Age, DC's line of war mags were among their best sellers? I mean, editors like Paul Levitz knew how to get four dimes out of our pockets with the ease of a practiced pickpocket! A Jim Starlin cover featuring armed gorillas dressed in tattered Nazi uniforms? Take my money, DC! George Kashdan's story is kinda cool, too, with it's sci-fi, Planet of the Apes inspired plot (did the folks behind the new POTA flicks read this comic? Hmmm?), but it's the art on "Primate Patrol" that Ol' Groove really digs. Yers trooly always thought that Ken Landgraf and Dave Simons (together or separately) were excellent artists with style that really appealed to me. After you get finished staring at the captivating Jim Starlin cover, flip it back and enjoy this treat from Weird War Tales #89 (April 1980)!

Famous First Fridays:"Cyrano's Army"--Walt Simonson's First Published Story

In August 1972, a young artist named Walter Simonson made the trek to DC Comics' New York offices. The whole visit had been a bit of a bummer until he sat down at a table in the coffee room and began chatting with some of DC's "new guys"--Howard Chaykin, Michael Kaluta, and Alan Weiss. While they shot the breeze, Kaluta took Simonson's portfolio to production man Jack Adler, who took the portfolio to publisher Carmine Infantino. "After a few minutes, Jack comes racing back into the room and he says, 'Carminewantstoseeyouletsgo"--that's how it came out."* Simonson walked out of the DC offices that day with three back-up scripts, the first of which was for editor Joe Orlando's Weird War Tales#10 (October 1972). Simonson drew the story we're about to read on the ping-pong table at the house he was sitting. There seems to be a theme that runs through these Famous Firsts in regards to the beginnings of the really great artists of the Groovy Age; through humble beginnings are super-stars born (though Walt never seems to consider himself a super-star, Ol' Groove--and a lot of you, I'd bet-- certainly do). Here's that first strip, in all its four color glory, written by one of the all-time-best, Len Wein. Preeesenting "Cyrano's Army"!


What the hey--while we're at it, how 'bout a gander at Walt's first cover art?


Before long, Simonson hooked up with Detective Comics editor Archie Goodwin to create Manhunter, which led to a career that allowed Walt to draw (and usually write) nearly every major superhero, from Batman to the Hulk to Thor to the Fantastic Four to the X-Men to Orion of the New Gods; sci-fi comics including Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, Battlestar Galactica, and Robocop/Terminator; not to mention the fantasy worlds of Michael Moorcock and so much more. That humble visit nearly 37 years ago turned into a life-long career that's produced tons of magnificent mags that have given fun and enjoyment to millions. See, Walt--you are a super-star!

*Modern Masters Volume 8, p. 12. July 2006. TwoMorrows.