Famous First Fridays: Dave Gibbons' U.S. Color Comicbook Debut

Award-winning Watchmen artist/co-creator Dave Gibbons had to start his color comicbook career somewhere on this side of the pond (according to his bio, he started working circa 1973 in British comics). It looks like he crossed over during the Groovy Age, with Giant-Size Marvel Chillers volume 2, number 1 (November 1975). Hidden in the middle of this part original/part reprint sixty-eight page scream-fest we find his humble debut, "The Borrowed Face", written by Carl Wessler. Dig it, baby!

Watchmen Weekend Wrap-Up: Captain Atom and Nightshade

Welcome back, Groove-ophiles! Today we're gonna take one last look at the Groovy Age characters that served as the inspiration for Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen! For our grand finale, we'll focus on Captain Atom (transformed in Watchmen to Dr. Manhattan) and Nightshade (Watchmen's Silk Spectre). Remember,

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= . Got it? And away we go!

Captain Atom first appeared in Charlton's Space Adventures #33 (December 1959). The first super-hero co-created by artist Steve Ditko (along with writer Joe Gill), Captain Atom looked to be Charlton's answer to DC's Superman and Green Lantern. Ditko and Gill actually produced one of my all-time favorite origin stories in that fateful issue. Let's take a little peek, shall we?


(Man, whoever colored the interior story must've been asleep when they told 'im about Cap's red and gold togs, y'think?)

Ditko's inspired art, along with Gill's taught and tense scripts made this strip a stand-out. The good Captain appeared issues 33-40 and 42 (December 1959-March 1961, May 1961) of Space Adventures before disappearing. In March 1965, Charlton began reprinting Captain Atom's exploits in Strange Suspense Stories, beginning with issue #75. The reprints lasted until Strange Suspense Stories' final issue #77 (July 1965). This time, however, Captain Atom didn't disappear. In September, 1965, Captain Atom #78 (picking up the numbering from SSS) hit the stands with brand new stories and art. Co-creators Gill and Ditko returned to their creation (aided and abetted by the wonderful inks of Roke Mastroserio), this time with the freedom to spin more fabulous tales than their previous 5 to 9 page format had allowed.

Changes began with Captain Atom #82 (July 1966). The cover gave us two new characters in the Captain Atom universe; a new villain called the Ghost and a new heroine by the name of Nightshade. Looking at the first page, we had a new writer by the name of David Kaler, as well.

Nightshade was the daughter of a U.S. Senator and his extra-dimensional wife who learned she had the power to become a living, two-dimensional shadow. A pretty cool power, and coupling it with martial arts abilities made her quite a formidable opponent. She teamed with Captain Atom for a few issues, seeming to develop a bit of a romantic bond with our hero. Then in CA issues 87-89, Kaler teamed with artist supreme Jim Aparo on Nightshade's solo back-up strip and filled in the details of Nightshade's origin. Here are some highlights from that classic tale...



Steve Ditko gave Captain Atom a sleeker, "more modern" look with issue #84 (November 1966). Some fans flipped for it, others were reaching for a barf bag. Personally, Young Groove kinda dug it! Take a look and decide for yourself, Groove-ophile!

When Captain Atom ended with issue #89 (September 1967), both the Captain and Nightshade disappeared from the comics racks, seemingly for good. But weird things happen in comicbook land, don'tcha know? In 1977, Modern Comics, an imprint of Charlton Comics, began reprinting vintage Charlton comics in toto (but with new ads). Among those reprinted were three key issues of Captain Atom, #s 83-85. Then in 1978, Charlton reprinted the Captain Atom stories that had appeared in the original Space Adventures (the same ones that had been reprinted in Strange Suspense Stories) in their new Space Adventures title (issues 9-12 , February-October 1978). But wait, there's more! In February 1982, fan writer/artist Dan Reed created a brand new Captain Atom story for Charlton's Showcase-style title, Charlton Bullseye (#7). Captain Atom, Nightshade, and other Charlton Action Heroes appeared in two comics published by Americomics (Americomics #1, cover-dated April 1983 and Americomics Special #1 cover-dated August 1983).

From there, it was on to DC where the Captain and his pals would not only inspire Watchmen, but gain new lives (and sometimes, as in Captain Atom's case, new identities) in their own DC titles.

Whew! I hope you enjoyed this Watchmen Weekend, Groove-ophiles! We'll be back to our regularly scheduled Diversions on the morrow! Til then, be cool, baby!

Watchmen Weekend Continues with Blue Beetle and Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt

Welcome back to Ol' Groove's Watchmen Weekend party, Groove-ophiles! Yesterday we took a look at the Question, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's template for Rorschach, and Peacemaker, who inspired the Comedian. Today we're gonna get down with the ever-lovin' Blue Beetle and Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt! If you're keeping score, Blue Beetle begat Nite-Owl and Thunderbolt morphed into Ozymandias. Or, for you visual learners:
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= . Got it? Good!

Blue Beetle has a long and checkered history in comicdom. Created early in the Golden Age (1939 to be exact!), BB has appeared in comics under no fewer than five different publishers and enjoyed nearly as many secret identities and costumes. The Groovy Age Blue Beetle, the one published by Charlton (and later Americomics and DC) and created by Steve Ditko is the one we're focusing on today. It was this version, sporting one of the all-time greatest superhero costumes, that led Moore and Gibbons to create Nite-Owl. Ditko's Blue Beetle was not only an awesome character, visually, but just doggone cool all the way around. In his secret identity of Ted Kord, BB was an inventor and industrialist a la Tony Stark. He created all kinds of far-out gadgets, not the least of which was his high-tech, beetle-shaped aircraft lovingly referred to as "Bug". He first appeared as a back-up in Captain Atom #83 (August 1966) and fandom immediately took him to their hearts. Check out this snippet from his debut by Ditko with scripting by Gary Friedrich...

Blue Beetle is on the prowl in his "Bug" when he hears gunshots coming from the City Bank. Wasting no time, he's on the scene and ready to bust heads!


BB drops the bad guys off at police headquarters, thus ending his first outing as a costumed crimefighter. Short and sweet, but all-in-all not a bad intro!

Ditko wisely kept his Blue Beetle mysteriously tied to the original, and you know how us comicbook fans love our mysterious pasts and ties to Golden Age continuity. Between the mysterious back story, costume, gadgets, and fun characterization BB should'a been a huge, huge hit. Charlton had faith in BB, faith enough to give him his own mag with its own first issue (something rare for Charlton) beginning in March, 1967. They even created a house ad trumpeting BB's comic.

The Blue Beetle's mag lasted a mere five issues. The tardiness of its final issue made it seem to have held on a bit longer than the other members of Charlton's Action Heroes line, but it finally bit the dust in August, 1968. Ted Kord went on to become a cult favorite and starred in a very successful DC mag in the 1980s. Sadly, DC recently killed him and replaced him with yet another Blue Beetle. Hopefully they'll fix that one of these days...

Peter Cannon...Thunderbolt was created by Peter A. Morisi (a Golden Age comicbook artist who went on to become a policeman who moonlighted as a comicbook artist, compelling him to sign his name as P.A.M. so as to hide his cartooning career from his superiors). PC...T was inspired by the Golden Age Daredevil, to whom Morisi had tried, unsuccessfully, to attain the rights, hence the very similar costume designs. Morisi also pinched the origin of another Golden Age character, Bill Everett's Amazing Man, for Thunderbolt's origin (AA's origin was also homaged by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane when they did Iron Fist, but you knew that already...). So, while not wholly original, Peter Cannon...Thunderbolt was still a great deal of fun. Morisi's beautiful art was a throwback to the great days of the Golden Age, his stories were globe-trotting romps in the tradition of Terry and the Pirates, and PC...T enjoyed an 11 issue run (Peter Cannon...Thunderbolt #1, October 1966; Peter Cannon...Thunderbolt #s 51-60, December/January 1966-August 1967). Here's a partial look at PC...T's origin from Peter Cannon...Thunderbolt #1!

Told ya it was fun stuff! Be back tomorrow for our grand finale starring Captain Atom and Nightshade! Pax!