Rebuilding The House
- Extracted from A New House: Marvel's Great Shift in the 80s from YouTube Channel Kamen-Kun, 2013
Graphic novels have had a long a varied history, though with different definitions as to what constitutes one, as well as many varied accounts of just which one is the first. Many fans of the genre will point to Maus, Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns as the literary trilogy which sparked the genre and pushed comic books into adopting a mature, long-form literary approach.
Others however would point to Sabre, a science fiction swashbuckler in which the self-consciously romantic rebel Sabre and his companion Melissa Siren fight the mercenary Blackstar Blood and others to achieve freedom and strike a blow for individuality. Published in 1976, a full decade before the previously mentioned titles were truly appreciated or thought. Yet that is discounting the stories from Europe, and in particular Cortomaltese, created by Hugo Pratt, and one of the defining titles which inspired much of the artistic evolution in the West.
Yet all those titles and claim would fail to point to the many different non-western stories being written decades prior, stories that had all the marks of a graphic novel; long-form, closed ended, fictional narrative with complex characters and literary merit.
From its humble beginnings in the late 19th century, to the now juggernaut of the Japanese publishing industry, Manga has become one of the most famous exports of Japanese literature the world over. From kids to adults, men and women from all over the world and walks of life read manga. With the medium including works in a broad range of genres: action, adventure, business and commerce, comedy, detective, drama, historical, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and fantasy, sports and games, and suspense among others.
[Scenes from different Manga and Anime are shown]
Manga however took a long time to get to where it is today, and one of its major influences came, ironically, from the west itself. Many of the great Mangakas such as Osamu Tezuka, Yoshinori Nakai and Shotaro Ishinomori had much of their influence when watching and reading old comics made by Walt Disney themselves. In fact, many credit the stories of Donald Duck written by Carl Barks, which had such a rich and detailed plot, story and design in its drawings as the ones that pushed them down the path of becoming a Mangaka themselves. The influence of Carl Barks can really not be underestimated...But, for full story of Carl Banks and his influence, you can check up our video here.
Now, back to the topic.
With modern manage evolving in the East, it started adopting traits not seen or discarded when it came to the west. After the 50s hearing on children's violence, and with Fredric Wertham's book "Seduction of the Innocent" in everyone's mind, comics in the United States began a process by which many mature or "adult" topics were severely curtailed, if not outright banned. Romance could not go beyond kissing or handholding, terror had to show no blood nor deformities, many of the old-time monsters from literature were outright forbidden to be shown, and acts of violence had to be de-escalated or at the very least not be shown to have drawn blood at all. All of these restrictions led to the conclusion in many that comics were, in the end, just childish, the things that little boys read before becoming adults.
The creation of the Comic Codes Authority did not help the situation, creating an environment where many of the big comic book publishers (Gold Key, DC and Marvel) had to severely limit their output, or go bankrupt. Both DC and Marvel chose different roads by revamping their old superheroes, while Gold Key was unable to adapt and had to eventually close their doors. Thus, we had a situation where for the last two decades, Japan and its manga industry had evolved in a rich environment hat could, and was encouraged, to explore any and all topic they could find. Whereas in the United States, the very idea that comics could go beyond fantasy and childish imagination was just ludicrous.
Something had to give, and that something was the Comic Code Authority when during the 70s a series of actions taken by Marvel managed to not only crack their seemingly impenetrable armor, but to also put on full display how little power they actually had to affect the consumer mind who was thirsty for new experiences.
The first action was the creation, and then distribution, of a new line of comics that re-imagined the Marvel Superheroes, but in the style of Pulp magazines; the more gray and morally dubious tone of the story allowed for many a new artist to explore ideas long forgotten about vigilantism, justice, love, and common law and order among others. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby even won an Eisner Award for their first run of Spider-Man Noir, showing that there was a true market for a more mature audience.
The second action came with the buyout of Marvel, first by the artists and creators themselves, and the by Lucasfilms who had long been fans of the more irreverent and daring tone and actions of the company under Stan Lee to break from the shackles and censorship of the Comic Codes Authority. George Lucas himself was a big fan of Howard the Duck, with plans to produce a movie of some kind including the character, as seen in our past video of last year.
With the newfound freedom and financial support, as well as revealing how toothless the Comic Code Authority truly was, Marvel was ready to move in a new direction when it came to their new comics. New artists and writers were ready to once more flex their creative muscles, and among them, two would take inspiration from the new wave of Manga from Japan, creating fanbases that redefined Marvel's future for the decades to come.
The Two Big Gambles
In the mid-1970s, Marvel Comics was undergoing a series of changes in the position of editor-in-chief. A succession of different editors came and went leaving Marvel in chaos, to the point that Stan Lee had to once more take the reins if only to bring some stability to the company once more after the Lucasfilms buyout. During this period, the reorganization of the company allowed for the removal of many from the Board of Directors who had hindered the creative process of many a previous artist, and allowed for new blood to take charge.
With the quick turnover at the top, a recent employee by the name of Jim Shooter rapidly found himself rising in the ranks, and soon after 1979, he went on to become Marvel's editor-in-chief. During this period, while Stan Lee relocated to Los Angeles to better oversee Marvel's animation, television and film projects with Lucasfilm's TV and Animation divisions, Shooter was left largely in charge of the creative decision-making at Marvel's New York City headquarters.
Among Shooter's new directives was an expansion on the genre of stories being told; the Cyberpunk genre had just been released into the mainstream with both films and comics in different magazines. R. Talsorian had also released their famous TTRPG to great success, and what better way to capitalize on it than with comics that would celebrate and aim towards that demographic. Among the many artists who would continue to work on the current titles, Shooter also had commissioned works that could satisfy this new need for the fans.
However, no one expected what would come next.
Steve Englehart, one of the veteran writers of Marvel, was given the task to work on a new title that would thus bring in new readers. During his talks with Michael Pondsmith in order to better understand the genre (and it also helped that R. Talsorian was also under Lucasfilm's banner) the seeds of what would soon become Bubblegum Crisis were planted. Englehart, who much preferred not trodding on the same ground, took the entire concept of Cyberpunk's biggest fear, that of the American government being taken over by foreign corporations, and turned it on its head by showing American companies taking over the Japanese government.
However that alone was not enough for Englehart, as though the story might seem different, to him it still felt like retreading old ground, especially when the lead artist's drawings, Herb Trimpe, simply showed the supposedly futuristic structures a bit too clean, seeming more like military buildings just given a tune up. For this, he needed a new perspective, and what better way than to visit and speak with the many new animators from both DreamWorks and Sunrise who'd arrived to the states. Though not comics, the drawings and inspiration taken from discussions with Yoshiyuki Tomino and Shoji Kawamori, allowed for him to finally understand just what it was that the series was missing, as well as the overall style that it would require.
As such, Englehart went out of his way to once more rehire one of their previous artists who'd gone on to work for Heavy Metal magazine; Alex Niño, a Filipino comic artist who'd arrived with the first wave along with Tony DeZuniga, and had worked on both DC and Marvel before being let go due to his preferences in drawing. Now, with a new lease on what and how he could draw, his true talents were given a chance to shine; lush, full of rich detail, and playing with shades or surreal composition which drew the eye across the page masterfully, Bubblegum Crisis story was only enhanced with the artwork in full display, creating an almost hazy and surreal feeling that jumped at you from the page with both the themes in question, and the beautiful art on full display.
It was, in many ways, the first example of an Original English Language Manga, or at the very least one heavily inspired by Eastern animation. Yet it would not be the only one, and in many ways it would share the title with fellow Marvel artist, Geoff Senior.
Unlike Englehart, Geoff Senior was a relatively new member of Marvel's staff. A British young man who worked in the UK Marvel's office, he'd been hired mostly in order to aid in the reprinting, and reinking of Marvel's old titles for distribution in the United Kingdom and the European Market. Soon he and writer Simon Furman established a quick and growing friendship as they saw they shared most of the same interests when it came to both comics and entertainment; both of them were Young and very interested in both the animation and comic drawings of the times, they had devoured not only the many comics that had been in print, but also the new influences being delivered thanks to the Lucasfilms and their Japanese imports, as well as the new wave of animation thanks to shows like Gundam, Pacific Rim and Macross.
All shows which came to influence their future endeavor; being at the low end of the totem hierarchy, both Geoff and Simon would often get together during their time off and discuss different ideas that could then be made into comics. Their work eventually coalescing into a loving homage to Spider-Man comics (taking another bit of inspiration from the Spider-Man Noir line), and adapting the character into its most radical version yet.
The result was SP//dr: Amazing Armored Hero. The story of Peni Parker, a normal girl like any other until her father, who was the pilot of Sp//dr, a mech developed by Oscorp that was used to help protect the city, died. After his death, she was contacted by Oscorp for the intention of having her bond with "Sp//dr", becoming its next pilot and protecting the city. It was a bold new idea that recontextualized the lessons of Power and Responsibility that the character was originally based on.
Both comics, though not popular at first, had a momentum that slowly but surely won ground amongst those who were mostly tired of the mainstream comic scene, the crowd that would usually go more for magazines like Heavy Metal or independent comics like Elfquest were now buying both comics like they were sure to run out any moment.
The mix of a fresh and unique look, with the unique style taking inspiration from manga and anime, soon became a feature that just drew in more and more buyers, making them the most popular of Marvel titles not focused on Superheroes, a first for Marvel, and something that Jim Shooter made sure to capitalize on by making them the flagship titles for his new initiative. And though different titles were created such as The Zeta Project, at the end of the day, no other non-mainstream title was able to equal the sales for both Bubblegum Crisis and SP//dr: Amazing Armored Hero.
The Eclipse Line
It was in 1982 when things were shaken once more when a new talent came to the doors of Marvel with recommendations from the God of Manga himself. Akira Toriyama, born in 1955 in the Aichi Prefecture of Japan, a Mangaka of renown in his own native land thanks to the original comedy and satirical work Dr. Slump, had decided to leave and like Kurosawa before him, turned to the west in order to apply his talents once more.
Future interviews brought to light how Toriyama was tired of working on Dr. Slump over and over again, and had been trying to break out into a different genre or story, only for the editors to pressure him back into working more, declaring that unless he could bring them something as good or greater than Dr. Slump, he was to remain in his station and keep on drawing. Toriyama chose to quit, take his family and creations with him, and try his luck in the land of the free. A quick interview with Jim Shooter where he showed both his skill and ideas (and that he still owned the rights to Dr. Slump for distribution in the United States) was all that was needed to be hired on the spot.
Thus it was that with a third title on Hand, and more possibly coming as well, that Shooter created a third line of comics for Marvel; the Eclipse Line, a more mature oriented comic line where titles like Bubblegum Crisis, SP//dr: Amazing Armored Hero and now Dr. Slump were to be the be printed at. It would be a place where no comic title would need to care about continuity with another, where crossovers may take place, but not overlap nor interfere with their own inner continuity.
The announcement was met with interest, though not with the riotous expectations that he perhaps expected, but the upward sales of Dr. Slump more than made up for it. For the first time ever in Marvel history, they began to show the worlds the joy of Manga from a master at his craft.
And the people loved it...Arale was such a rambunctious bundle of joy and power, the characters she interacted with where just hilarious yet filled with complexity at the same time, and the artworks was something beyond what they had expected before, with the round lines of both vehicles and building, along with the expressive faces of the characters showing something bold and unique. The mix of irreverence and childishness, adult and young entertainment, just made it one of the top sellers, in many ways overshadowing the other two titles of the line.
It would soon be followed by another, as Toriyama was finally allowed to work on his short story; a small adventure of a young kid in order to find a treasure like no other; one where friendships and enemies were made, where villains held sway and a hero was needed, a story where the fate of their world was at stake.
Thus it was, that the newest title, Sand Land, was born.
Only lasting around fourteen issues, and being introduced in the manga style that needed reading from right to left, Sand Land was a bit of a dud when it was released. Though at the time it was thought that the fact that the main character was a demon (though all the prints made sure to call them Oni to make a difference), later research shows that it just had the bad luck of being released in the midst of popularity for Dr. Slump, with further reprints in the future giving it the respect and accolades it deserved.
With his previous title rising, and the newest one flunking right out of the gate, Toriyama was once more feeling doubt as to whether he could make another original story. In order to clear his head, he and his wife decided to take on a movie, managing by stint of luck, to catch one of the final showings of the Kung Fu Kid. It was during the climax of the final confrontation between Bruce and William, as his wife made an innocuous comment about Toriyama always enjoying this kind of movies and shows, that it finally hit him. The one thing he'd been missing all along, the idea that would finally push him out of his rut and into what he was sure would be his next big work.
He would make a comic about Martial Arts.
It was not an easy process, as Toriyama had to go through many iterations in order to make it work. His first pitch, Dragon Boy, was felt to be a bit too childish at times and too uninspired at others. Through repeated practice and feedback from his new friends at Marvel, and taking their advice for the need to rest in order to recharge one's energies, Toriyama managed to create the newest title for the Eclipse Line; Dragon Ball, the tale of Son Goku and his adventures as he seeks to find the seven mythical Dragon Balls that can grant any wish. Taking heavy inspiration from Journey to the West (which he made sure not to mention, what with the current tension with China), the title was an amazing blend of adventure, action, comedy, slight adult themes (for America) and the amazing artwork only Toriyama was able to deliver so far.
And to say that it was a sensation would be underselling it.
Dragon Ball exploded into popularity from the get go, its characters and world feeling vibrant and lived on respectively. Sales began to tick up, with constant reprints needed, each issue selling more than the last. The names soon became household names as Son Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, Puar and Oolong among others were soon heard in workplaces in conversations around the water cooler, in schools as children played out their many adventures, in talk shows and news as Toriyama was invited to speak in front as everyone and anyone wanted to hear and learn more of the young genius behind one of the greatest stories of their generation.
Dragon Ball came to rival Spider-Man in popularity, with deals made in promotions and merchandising alone making sure that Marvel's budget would remain in the black for years to come, matching Star Wars in popularity after a couple of years. It soon came to the point that Shooter wished to spin Dragon Ball out of the Eclipse Line and make it its own Universe, with new characters to better explore the setting and more adventures to come. Only the refusal from Toriyama, who did not wish to be so completely tied down as he was with Dr. Slump stopped the plan.
The Aftermath
With the increasingly popular Dragon Ball as the definitive Flagship for the Eclipse Line, and the solid showing of the other two titles currently being written (not to mention the reprints of Dr. Slump) the time to expand the line had come. Shooter, seeing how much of the appeal of the line came from manga inspired comics (if not outright manga themselves) called for the creation for more similar titles.
His argument grew in strength when a new artist and writer joined Marvel after the burst in popularity of Dragon Ball, and seeing that unlike many of the different comic companies, Marvel had instituted Iron Clad guidelines that made sure to protect the artist's creations and made it impossible for anyone to take and use without their permission (This later led to the now infamous debacle with Howard the Duck's creator Steve Gerber in 84'). That Toriyama personally came to speak with him in order to welcome him, and the agreeable and friendly atmosphere from the staff, managed to convince Stan Sakai that Marvel was the right place to publish and distribute his newest work; Usagi Yojimbo. A story that, while not as big as Dragon Ball, would still manage to gain a fair amount of popularity, often times manages to approach or match the second-best title.
However, making it so in-house was a tall order; Englehart had to study and take heavy inspiration from different sources in order to make his, and he was one of their most innovative and experienced writers. Geoff Senior and Simon Furman were still young adults who had grown up with the style and thus could easily mold themselves to it.
Most of Marvel's staff however consisted of men who had spent their entire lives deeply submerged in western style comics, to have them change their styles would be possible, but it would take so much time and effort for what the results would be.
Toriyama however suggested an alternate route; he could take assistants for his work like many mangakas did in Japan, they would in turn learn the basics and develop their own style from the experience, and in turn could then be offered the chance to work with marvel. it may take longer, but at the very least it would allow for a wider pool of talent for the future. With Sakai agreeing to also host and teach some of the assistants so long as they aided in the drawing, Shooter approved of it.
From that moment on it became official, the Eclipse Line was here to stay, and has so far remained as one of the most lucrative areas for Marvel. Though the original Dragon Ball series has long ended, its impact remains in both Marvel and the world (with some recent hints that Toriyama may return to said title growing in the last year). The newest manga inspired comics, or "Amerimanga" as it's come to be called, have become a staple of not only Marvel but eventually rival DC Comics and Charlston as well, not counting the many independent comic companies that make sure to at the very least add an Amerimanga for variety's sake.
Marvel however has been the one at the forefront thanks to the program that allowed for more talent to be nurtured in house, as well as taking in any and all Mangaka that would prefer to, like Toriyama, try their luck across the Pacific. This has led oddly enough to both harsher and less restrictive laws in treatment for Mangakas, with some studios making sure that they can never leave with their works, while others prefer to give generous benefits to avoid them ever wanting to leave.
Ending
Marvel's new addition to the House of Ideas did not end with the addition of Toriyama and Sakai to their ranks, and their assistants and students took their torch to create their own works that have achieved as much fame as theirs, their lessons being applied and shared with the world; Ben Dunn, creator of Ninja High School, and both Jason and john Waltrip, the writers and illustrators for the Macross comics, were all assistants to Toriyama, and in many interviews have expressed their admiration and gratefulness for his lessons when starting out. Their works rank among the most popular in the Eclipse Line and in Marvel altogether, as well as the most prolific writers for different titles.
Ryan Brown and Richard Moore both were assistants to Sakai, and they would in time bring about their own works if in different formats. Richard Moore would gain acclaim for his Far West comic, a fantasy/Science Fiction Amerimanga hybrid that has so far expanded with the help of Ryan, who took Co-Writer and artist duties whenever Moore would need to take a break. The team has collaborated in near every issue, with collaborations in different comics being expected of them.
Terry Moore and Jeff Smith are among the latter group who joined in the late 80s to early 90s, bringing in their own works such as Strangers in Paradise and Bone respectively. The first time in a while when not Amerimanga comics were published under the label. Terry Moore has gone on to write different short stories of high quality, while Jeff Smith's bone remains as one of the new Flagships of the comic line.
Wendy and Richard Pini, of Elfquest fame, eventually also joined Marvel and the Eclipse Line, their own work having gained a great deal of notoriety, and with the promise of a possible Elfquest movie in the future. The couple have gone back to working on the comic by themselves, exchanging ideas, and moving the plot forward steadily instead of the spreading themselves too thin.
And finally, Fred Perry began his own experience as an apprentice to both Ben Dunn and Richard Moore, creating his own series Gold Digger under the Eclipse Line. The story has been in publication for 20 years now, and is only matched by some very few currently in print. The adventures of the titular Digger Family and its mix of martial arts, fantasy and science fiction, along with its colorful cast, makes it very clear that the future is in good hands.
And that's all we have for today. Thank you all for joining me in this trip down memory lane. Please don't forget to like and subscribe, and I'll see you all in the next one. Take Care!
A.N.: this came to me when I heard that Toriyama would be joining Marvel. As I was thinking on the changes that would occur, I also came to think about the other changes that had been done and how they would all accumulate and bring about a much different Marvel than one would expect. So, I thought I would combine both and see what would come out of it. The rise of Amerimanga, and Marvel becoming a pioneer of it, while at the same time attracting those who would go on to work independently on the genre, seemed like a no brainer to me. We get to benefit from some of the greatest titles in independent comics, while giving them a good stable environment where they can make sure their work is printed. It's win-win.
