The comic book industry has had a long and extremely profitable history with licensed adaptations and promotional tie-ins. They’ve also occasionally helped fight the War On Terrible with special one-shots for charity.
No company has had more success with these endeavours than Marvel Comics. Most comic fans are aware of Marvel’s amazing run of movie adaptations, especially the ones from the late seventies and early eighties – Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Trek to name just a few. For this column, however, WOT decided to look at some of the more memorable toy licenses, cross-promotions and charities – ranking them as I see fit. FOR AM I NOT FERGUS THE JUSTIFIER?!
Journey with us now into the realms of “secret” toy advertising, scattergun marketing, genuine altruism and…other things.
1.SECRET WARS
The Password is: “Secret”
Perhaps the most successful “big event” crossover in comics history, Secret Wars was the first truly massive, 100% inter-connected storyline that included all of Marvel’s heavy hitters and ran through almost every Marvel book. Jim Shooter, the extremely divisive former EIC of Marvel, recalled how Mattel came to Marvel with the pitch for what would become Secret Wars.
Kenner had licensed the DC Heroes. Mattel had He-Man, but wanted to hedge in case Super Heroes became the next big fad. They were interested in Marvel’s characters, but only if we staged a publishing event that would get a lot of attention, and they could build a theme around. Fans, especially young fans often suggested to me “one big story with all the heroes and all the villains in it”, so I proposed that. It flew.
We went through a number of ideas for names for the toy line and series. Mattel’s focus group tests indicated that kids reacted positively to the words ‘wars’ and ‘secret’. Okay.
Mattel had a number of other requirements. Doctor Doom, they said, looked too medieval. His armour would have to be made more high-tech. So would Iron Man’s, because their focus groups indicated that kids reacted positively…etc. Okay.
They also said there had to be new fortresses, vehicles and weapons because they wanted playsets, higher price point merchandise and additional play value. Okay. When time came to actually do it, I realized that only I could write it.
Back then, nobody knew any of this BTS stuff. We just thought the limited series looked like a dream come true (except for the Doom redesign – LAME). I can personally confirm that the kids of the time considered Secret Wars to be f**king awesome and mind-blowing. The storyline also had lasting ramifications that continued to shape the Marvel Universe for years to come. While very cool at the time, we’re still dealing with this one, unfortunately:
You can blame Shooter and Mattel for all the increasingly ridiculous and meaningless cross-over events that have plagued us ever since. But say what ya want about Shooter, he really knew how to write for Spider-man.
2. MICRONAUTS
They Came From…Japan
The coolest Star Wars rip-off wasn’t Battlestar Galactica. That dubious distinction goes to Marvel’s take on the Micronauts toy franchise.
If you weren’t a toy-crazed kid when these Japanese imports swept into North America then I pity you. As a viking, I grew up with Norse mythology – but Odin and Thor have got nuthin’ on the Micronauts. F**k you Transformers and G.I. Joe – Micronauts invented articulation and interchange-ability. Only the Japanese could have created such wonderful toys.
Bill Mantlo remembered the genesis of the Micronauts comic book:
“My son had just reduced a mountain of X-Mas presents to disposable rubble,” Mantlo wrote in an issue of Comics Journal a few months before the issue came out, “and sat, in the midst of this mess of paper, tearing a group of tiny shiny figurines out of their vacuum sealed packages. The figures seemed to catch the sparkle of the lights from my parents’ Christmas tree. They were unlike any toys I had ever seen – and I’ve run the gamut in my time, from Dodge City to G.I. Joe to the Shogun Warriors. I asked Adam (that’s my son’s name) if I could see them before they went the way of all plastic and, when he handed them to me, I held in my palm the four basic figures of a new concept in toys called…The Micronauts.
The following week, he walked into Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim shooter’s office and told him of his idea; Shooter, interested, got in touch with the manufacturer, Mego. “A month later,” Mantlo went on, “we had preliminary photographs of the entire Micronauts line. I was, to say the least, floored. I had already begun extrapolating, based on just the four original figurines, a whole series of concepts. Now here, in front of me, were literally hundreds of additional figures, thousands of new suggested concepts…in effect, a whole world in need of a rationale for being.”
So, another Shooter-approved project. Was he a dick? Was he a genius? Who cares, because he helped launch some incredibly not-Terrible projects while at Marvel. Golden’s artwork on the series was nothing short of beautiful genius, and Mantlo’s “Microverse” felt every bit as real and exotic as that galaxy far, far away. For a toy property, the book had an exceptionally long run, even moving into the then fledgeling direct-sales market. A testament to the stellar work of Mantlo and Golden.
3. ROM
The Knights are Very Cold…in Space (to be read in Khan’s Voice)
ROM, Spaceknight appeared in 1979, riding the still-very-high crest of Star Wars and the late 70’s sci-fi boom:
To build interest in the toy, Parker Brothers licensed the character to Marvel Comics, which created a comic book featuring Rom. The comic expanded on the premise that Rom was a cyborg and gave him an origin, personality, set of supporting characters and villains, as well as interaction within the Marvel Universe. The comic was written by Bill Mantlo and initially illustrated by artist Sal Buscema.
Rom was…lame. The toy, that is. As a first entry into the booming toy business, Parker Bros. hedged their bets and totally cheaped out. Designed and manufactured cheap as f**k, Rom had pretty much zero articulation and even in the illustrated ads we thought he looked stupid.
And yet the comic worked.
As with Micronauts, Mantlo once again created a compelling backstory and a good ‘ol sci-fi premise that still stands the test of time (unfortunately, due to rights issues, any sort of legal reprint is yet to be released).
Revealed to be a more tragic version of the Green Lanterns, the Spaceknights were the sworn enemies of the insidious Dire Wraiths, a race bent on cosmic infiltration and conquest. Rom comes to Earth, does his thing, gets misunderstood in classic Marvel fashion and so on and so forth. As space opera, it wan’t bad. The comic certainly outlived the crappy toy.
4. HEROES FOR HOPE
It’s True We Make a Better Day, Just You and…Wolverine
Y’know, this might have been the very last time that North America felt truly unified behind an altruistic cause (not including 9/11). There really was a palpable sense of banding together to help the impoverished of the world. The spirit of the time produced “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band-Aid and “We Are the World” by USA for Africa, among many other charitable projects set up to alleviate hunger in Africa. in 1985, even the comic book industry got involved. Featuring a slew of highly-talented super-star creators, Heroes for Hope was Marvel’s very admirable attempt to pitch in.
Then-Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter described the genesis of the project this way:
One night, a few months ago, artist Jim Starlin called me at home to propose an idea that his friend and fellow artist Berni Wrightson had suggested to him — that Marvel Comics publish a special issue of The X-Men, a benefit book for famine relief in Africa. Jim and Berni wanted to do the book as a “jam,” with as any artists and writers contributing, which would enable us to bring a small army of outstanding talents together on the project, making it a real event. I thought it was a great idea. The next morning I pitched it to Publisher Mike Hobson and President Jim Galton. . . . Jim and Berni recruited the artists. Chris Claremont . . . quickly volunteered to recruit writers, and to help . . . coordinate the entire project.
Shooter! Again! Goddamn! Raising money for charity while teaching kids about compassion – it’s a shame this kind of thing doesn’t happen more often.
5. Spider-Man/Power Pack NCFPCA
When “Friendly Neighbourhood” Means Something Else
Released in 1984, a year before Heroes for Hope, this special one-shot is simultaneously both courageous and insane. I’m sure this was yet another project that passed through Shooter. Marvel was a completely different company back then, actually making comics for – and caring about – kids.
The one-shot issue, written by Louise Simonson, was distributed free and reprinted in the comics sections of many major newspapers.[15] Marvel continued the campaign by featuring the characters in print public service announcements.[16] Later the same year, when the Pack was kidnapped during the Snark Wars, the writers used the storyline to address the issue of child abduction and printed photos of missing children in lieu of the comic’s regular letters column.[17
Created at a time when some companies still had souls, the story features the stunning revelation that Peter Parker was molested as a child.
Of course the book is a little dopey, but its heart is all over the right place. For the most part, it is exceedingly well done. Fortunately they left out the panels where Uncle Ben secretly murders Skip and buries his body in the back yard. Look at the man’s face in that lower panel. I’d say Skip is about to be very sorry later than evening. “With great unspeakable crime comes great retribution.”
For Marvel to assign that kind of traumatic backstory to one of the company’s flagship marque characters – in order to help protect its comic-reading young audience – well, that takes the kind of corporate guts no longer evident in the world. Imagine, using a perfect forum like comic books to try and help kids.
6. GODZILLA
If At First You Don’t Succeed, License, License Again
This title was just flat out bug-nuts insane! Godzilla in comic book form isn’t insane – the Japanese had been doing that forever. Incorporating freakin’ Godzilla into the Marvel Universe – that was insane. Marvel partnered with Toho to make this happen, and after the super lame Godzilla cartoon I guess Toho was really desperate to get the big G set up in the West. Or maybe they were just feeling masochistic. Fortunately, this version of their most famous character wasn’t that bad. But it was totally crazy.
From 1977 through 1979, Godzilla starred in a 24-issue run[12] of comics written by Doug Moench, drawn by Herb Trimpe, and published by Marvel Comics entitled Godzilla, King of the Monsters.[13] The series thrusts Godzilla completely into the Marvel Universe. In a nod to King Kong vs. Godzilla, Godzilla first appears by exploding out of an iceberg near Alaska; although how the prehistoric creature came to be trapped again in ice is never revealed. Over the course of the series, he crosses the continental United States and eventually ends up in New York City.[14]
Yup. New York. After having been shrunk down to the size of a rat, flung into outer space and sent and back in time. Just crazy, crazy sh*t. Super fun though. This title really gave S.H.I.E.L.D. something useful to do, and it’s a damn shame the TV series isn’t more like the way they are depicted in these stories. Give yourself a minute to take in all of the image above. Trimpe was never a favourite of mine, but he wasn’t lazy, I’ll give ’em that.
7. MARVEL 9/11
Sadness and Pain
There was no way for anyone to properly express the despair and anguish of 9/11. Still, you had to do something. You had to make some comment to try and expel the all-consuming misery. Marvel gave it a (one) shot, and this was the result. Some of this managed to be poignant, even if depicting a real-life disaster makes no sense in the MCU. Which is why I made sure to include this title in the list. It’s strange to come to this after reading about something like Godzilla. Comic book disaster vs. real world disaster. The juxtaposition is extreme, to say the least. Still, this effort was borne of compassion and human feeling.
8. G.I. JOE/TRANSFORMERS (TIE)
Let Them Fight!
I was never really a fan of either of these books. But they exist, and so must be justified! War comics were never really my bag, unless you’re talking Weird War or Haunted Tank or something. Still, the original Joe line was probably the greatest toy franchise of all time. The updated line in the 80’s came back with a sonic boom, heralded by Marvel’s G.I. Joe.
G.I. Joe has been the title of comic strips and comic books in every decade since 1942. As a licensed property by Hasbro, comics have been released from 1967 to present, with only two interruptions longer than a year (1977–1981, 1997–2000). As a team fighting Cobra since 1982, the comic book history of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero has been covered by three separate publishers and four main-title series, all of which have been based on the Hasbro toy line of the same name.
The first series was produced by Marvel Comics between 1982 and 1994, running for 155 issues, and spawning several spin-off titles throughout the course of its run
That’s…insane. Nothing beats army stuff when you’re a kid, I guess. Hell, even I, Fergus The Justifier, played with an toy “army kit” when I was a kid growing up in medieval Estonia. At least it’s all pretend war, with comic book villains.
I have to admit, Transformers completely passed me by. But I have heard it is somewhat popular.
Again, Wikipedia:
The Transformers was an 80-issue American comic book series published by Marvel Comics telling the story of the Transformers. Originally scheduled as a four issue mini-series, it spawned a mythology that would inform other versions of the saga. It also had a UK sister title that spliced original stories into the continuity, running for 332 issues.
To make up for short-changing any of you Transformers nuts, here’s a cool Youtube vid (thanks to fellow WOT Contributer GORP THE MALCONTENT for sending this my way):
9. SHOGUN WARRIORS
Giant, People-Controlled Mecha-Warriors are the Coolest Thing Ever and Will Always be the Coolest Thing Ever
This title…man, it’s something else. Once again good ‘ol Herb Trimpe is given the reigns to a title involving giant sci fi characters:
The Shogun Warriors characters were licensed by Marvel Comics to create a comic book series written by Doug Moench and drawn by Herb Trimpe.[4] The series was composed of 20 issues that were published from February 1979 to September 1980.[5] In the comic book series, the Shogun Warriors were created by a mysterious group called the Followers of the Light,[6] and human operators were chosen from all around the world to operate the massive robots in order to battle evil.
Between February 1979 and July 1979, Marvel had the comic book rights to both Godzilla and the Shogun Warriors. While the characters never crossed paths in their respective comics, artist Herb Trimpe (who did the artwork for both of the series) drew a variation of Godzilla and Rodan alongside Daimos, Great Mazinger, Raydeen, and Gaiking on the top page of a comic book advertisement soliciting the Shogun Warrior toys.[11]Mattel, which had a license to produce Shogun Warriors toys, simultaneously had a licence to produce toys based on Godzilla[12] and Rodan.[13] Though he never appeared in the comic series, Red Ronin, a robot created for Marvel’s Godzilla comic book series, was mentioned occasionally and was frequently written about in the letters pages.
The Shogun Warriors comic book was pretty lame in all honestly. However, that damn Godzilla toy really knocked me for a loop when I was a kid. In medieval Estonia.
10. KISS MARVEL SUPER SPECIAL
Je*us Chr*st!!!! This Comic is Dripping Blood!!!
What can ya say? In the seventies KISS was King, especially with teenage boys. So this collaboration just made perfect business sense. And what the hell – rock ‘n roll and comics go together like popcorn and movies. There wasn’t anyone complaining, that’s for sure.
KISS already looked like comic book characters thanks to Gene Simmons’ shrewd marketing genius. Too bad they seem to be a bunch of conservative old men now. “Do you wanna rock?!’ Well alright!!! But first let’s recite the pledge of allegiance.” Whatever. At least this comic will exist forever. And yes, KISS really did add their blood to the ink.
11. CRYSTAR: CRYSTAL WARRIOR
Um.
Yeah.
THE SAGA OF CRYSTAR, CRYSTAL WARRIOR. Barf. The toys first appeared in late 1982, with the Marvel Comics series arriving later in early 1983.
Since the toys were released first, most kids naturally assumed the comic to be a licensed adaptation of the toyline. Nope. Crystar was created and owned by Marvel, who hoped to sell the license to a toy company. Sounds ideal in theory. But this? Truly idiotic. ‘Nuff said.
12. TEAM AMERICA
Just look…I mean…just…wow. The title says it all, yeah? Who can forget the uncanny exploits of “Honcho,” “Wolf” and “R.U.” Reddy?
Answer: The whole entire world.
Captain America writer J. M. DeMatteis described Team America as “another one we kind of got forced into doing.”[1] The month following their May 1982 preview appearance in Captain America, the team’s monthly self-titled series launched. It was canceled with Team America #12 (May 1983).
R.I.P. Team America.
The Team America comic books were based on a toy line by Ideal Toys. The Team America toy line was an attempt by Ideal to replace their successful Evel Knievel toy line after Knievel served six months for battery in the late 1970s, and it used many of the same molds and designs.[2]
So nothing but good vibes and sunny, rainbow intentions all round for this shoddy little venture.
Incredible property, just incredible.
– ∞: AVENGERS/N.G.E.N.
“Marvel and Northrop Grumman join forces!”
Northrop Grumman is one of the top five defence contractors in the world. The company sells bombers, laser weapons, aerial drones, cybersecurity systems and miscellaneous military equipment. Their profits exceeded $23 billion in 2015.
The event – and the partnership – were cancelled soon after this announcement. Thank God.
Marvel press release:
The activation with Northrop Grumman at New York Comic Con was meant to focus on aerospace technology and exploration in a positive way. However, as the spirit of that intent has not come across, we will not be proceeding with this partnership including this weekend’s event programming. Marvel and Northrop Grumman continue to be committed to elevating, and introducing, STEM to a broad audience.
via the Guardian:
…the numbers of civilians killed by Obama’s bombs could be in the thousands. But we can’t know for sure as the administration, and the mainstream media, has been virtually silent about the civilian toll of the administration’s failed interventions.
In May 2013, I interrupted President Obama during his foreign policy address at the National Defense University. I had just returned from visiting the families of innocent people killed by US drone attacks in Yemen and Pakistan, including the Rehman children who saw their grandmother blown to bits while in the field picking okra.
Speaking out on behalf of grieving families whose losses have never been acknowledged by the US government, I asked President Obama to apologize to them. As I was being dragged out, President Obama said: “The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to.”
Too bad he never did.
Via io9:
There’s not a lot of information available on how extensive the partnership would have been, but it featured a promotional all-ages comic (which is no longer on Marvel’s website) starring the Avengers and the “Northrop Grumman Elite Nexus,” or N.G.E.N. The comic featured the tagline “Start Your N.G.E.N.s,” and it included career recruitment advertisements and a contest where readers could enter to be drawn into an upcoming issue.
Career recruitment for a drone-bomb maker. Targeting kids. That’s what I would love for my daughter: a career in war profiteering. I understand that military hardware is necessary, and that the need to defend ourselves is necessary. But this crass cross-promotion was just wrong.
Comic books stopped being aimed squarely at kids long ago, to the detriment of us all. Oh, except when they can still be an effective delivery device for a highly suspect corporation’s propaganda hoping to normalize their operations in the eyes of the public. Those characters! Gah! All they are missing is a dog in a jet-pack. Great job on this Marvel. You too, Disney. Somewhere Jim Henson is looking down, heart-broken.
Comic books used to be fun. Comic books used to be made for kids, not made to exploit them.
I wish I could discover where all the crazy pills I’ve ingested are coming from.
Start your “N.G.E.N.’s” indeed.
They should have just stuck with Hostess.
I AM FERGUS THE JUSTIFIER!
But wait, there’s more!
Looking to the Past to Find Hope for the Future
WOT pledges to always remain positive even in the face of unmitigated Terrible. To that end, I’d like to end this column with some amazing nostalgia-crack from the days when “Make Mine Marvel!” didn’t refer to drone bombs.
