1979 - Star Wars #31

Archie Goodwin provided thumbnail layouts for penciler Carmine Infantino who
was in turn inked by Bob Wiacek.

1985 - Dazzler House Ad

1980 - Star Wars #38

Star Wars #38 – “Riders in the Void!”

Marvel Comics, 1980

Writers – Archie Goodwin/Michael Golden

Artists – Michael Golden/Terry Austin

A few months ago, Disney announced that Marvel Comics would take over the Star Wars licensing rights in 2015. I thought I’d look back at Marvel Comics’ first go at the series in the late 1970s. Star Wars #38 is seen by fans as one of the best stand-alone comic stories of that series. This fill-in issue was published just before Star Wars #39-44 adapted Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

Editor Archie Goodwin does double-duty as writer in this issue with a plot assist from artist Michael Golden. In an interview withTheForce.Net, Golden recalled:

“I told Archie this story that I wanted to do and he loved it, so I sat down and drew it and Terry Austin inked it. After I had sat down to the drawing it, Archie actually called me and said they were actually going to use the story right away, so I finished up the pencils and it went off to Terry Austin to ink. I was originally supposed to write it as well, but because they needed it right away, Archie sat down and wrote it based on my notes.”

“Riders in the Void” kicks off with one hell of a splash page:

A desperate hyperspace jump strands Luke and Leia somewhere far beyond their galaxy. In the darkness of the void, they encounter a strange organic ship that rescues them, but then suddenly attacks them, trying to assess who and what they are. While they prove up to the challenges, the consciousness within the ship seems mad, and as they make their way deeper into the ship, they find the pilot. He turns out to be the last survivor of two long dead races that mutually destroyed themselves and has merged his consciousness with the ship’s controls.

It returns them to their galaxy where it engages an Imperial Star Destroyer, believing it to be part of a constructed reality the computer is creating for its amusement. When the Star Destroyer fights back and hurts it, the organic ship makes quick work of it and realizes that it isn’t much fun anymore. Dropping off Luke and Leia, the mad ship retreats into the void where it belongs and resumes playing its computer-generated games.

As a stand alone issue, it does what it’s meant to do. For a comic book series that’s constantly struggling with making any kind of changes to their cast, this issue turns the point of view around and giving this living ship some character moments. Unfortunately, it doesn’t change despite the climax of the story, the ship realizes it wants nothing to do with this reality and fades back into the void and the comfort of its artificial reality.

However, Michael Golden’s art is simply lovely and stands out as a high watermark in the world of licensed comic books. The detailed inks by Terry Austin add another layer of beauty, providing very clean, very crisp lines. Golden’s art never looked so good.

1989 - Wolverine by Goodwin and Byrne

"I had wanted to work with Archie [Goodwin] for a long time, considering him to be one of the best writers in the business. That first issue was full of so much neat stuff — small stuff, texture — that it was an absolute joy to work on, and everything I had hoped. It only got better from there.

I did not actually work “with” Klaus. It is a common misapprehension amongst fans that there is some kind of collaborative effort between all parties concerned in the production of a comic, but this is the exception rather than the rule. I penciled the first 4 issues thinking Al Williamson was going to ink (as indeed he did, a single panel on pg 2 of the first issue), and Klaus came in as a last second replacement when Al bailed. Had I known from the start that it was to be Klaus I might have had a better idea what the end result would look like, since he and I had worked on Avengers .

As to continuing on the series — Archie and I both wondered why we did only 6 issues after we got our royalty… sorry, our incentive checks. (Marvel’s insistence on calling the piece of the action the talent is paid an “incentive” becomes particularly fatuous when one views it in this context, being paid to people who no longer even work on the series! Archie and I were done and gone before the first issue even came out!)

Archie was a great talent and a true gentleman. I still miss him."

www.network54.com/Forum/248951/thread/1058981318/last-1058995882/Wolverine+%23s+17-22 

An Epic Business Card

Happy Birthday Archie Goodwin!

Archie Goodwin (1937-1998)

http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2010/07/jim-shooters-secret-origin-in-his-own_26.html

“He was just remarkable,” Shooter continues about the late Goodwin, who many still consider the best editor in comics. “He was brilliant, and everybody loved him, anybody that worked for him. We have a Frazetta cover on the first issue of Epic Illustrated. Ellie Frazetta would not take my call, but she would take Archie’s.

“Everybody loved Archie, and for good reason: he helped so many people, he taught so many people. I think that early on he was more firebrand-like, like me, and he got burned out. By that time, though, he’d gotten all those great people like Walt Simonson to respect and love him. They all wanted to work for him. Archie was great.”

1990 - Wolverine by John Byrne

1985 - Archie Goodwin's memo to Jim Shooter

http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/07/righting-ship-part-three.html

1979 - Simonson's Alien (Original Art Edition Hardcover)

Alien - The Illustrated Story - Original Art Edition Hardcover
96 pages
Published by Titan Books 
Writer: Archie Goodwin 
Artist: Walt Simonson
Released on October 30 2012

"Two of comics’ greatest talents joined forces in 1979 to bring Ridley Scott’s epic Alien motion picture to the comic book page. Out of print for over thirty years, this brand new edition (released in time to coincide with Scott’s latest opus Prometheus) has been meticulously restored from original artwork in Walt Simonson’s studio — presenting for the very first time the definitive artist’s edition of the greatest sci-fi horror ever produced."

Product Dimensions: 32.9 x 1.8 x 43 cm
Shipping Weight: 1.8 Kg

As some of you may have figured out, I'm a huge Simonson fan and one of my earliest and fondest comic book memories was picking up the Heavy Metal version of this story. To see this story in its original art format was a treat. This book is huge coming in at 14" wide and 20" tall. Please don't let the price of this book scare you off, it's worth it!

The original cover to the Heavy Metal Edition. Alien The Illustrated Story was the first graphic novel to hit the New York Times Best Sellers list!

Back cover.

The original art pages are scanned directly from Walt Simonson's collection and displayed at the same size. This version of the art has all of Simonson's efforts in his full glory from whitepaper correction, paste-ups, and coffee stains from what must have been a few late nights.

There's also a two page pitch to 20th Century Fox featuring Simonson's take on the crew and the Alien, as he hadn't been granted access to that information yet.

This collection also includes Archie Goodwin's script, which was surprisingly sparse with only dialogue. And to conclude this special edition, there's an interview with Walt Simonson and letterer John Workman, as well as an afterword penned by Simonson. 

 

Cover to the Trade Paperback edition

1985 - Anatomy of a cover - Dazzler #39

By Paul Chadwick and Jackson Guice.

http://romitaman.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=11617&GCat=15&Style=Thumb

1989 - Wolverine and Nick Fury

Wolverine and Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection
Marvel Graphic Novel #50
64 pages
Writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Howard Chaykin

“It seems like a surefire formula for success: Take two tough, no-nonsense heroes, add a story filled with espionage and intrigue, set it in a variety of exotic locales around the world, toss in some unexpected twists and surprises, have it written and illustrated by two of the top talents in comics, and what do you get? The Scorpio Connection”

   - Marvel Age #79 (October 1989)

“I've always liked Nick Fury, especially when Jim Steranko was writing and drawing his series in the 60's. I had to write several fill-in issues of S.H.I.E.L.D. when Steranko left, and I always felt that I never had the chance to give it my best shot. In the back of my mind, I always wanted another chance.”
   - Archie Goodwin, Marvel Age #79 (October 1989)

The Scorpio Connection is a decent story with enough twists and turns to pull you along. This story exemplifies the strength of Archie Goodwin’s writing. Bringing together to solitary characters and have them tackle some real issues. Chaykin’s art is always solid.

Howard Chaykin established himself with the Indy series American Flagg. He rarely contributed to either of the Big Two (DC and Marvel). Interestingly, it apparently took Archie Goodwin three years to write the script after Chaykin had drawn the graphic novel (Marvel Age #79 - October 1989).

Richard Ory did a wonderful job with the colours and in some panels the colours where used to fill in the background, like luscious Mediterranean sunsets or the grainy black and white flashbacks.

The basic plot is a pretty standard team-up. An event brings together two heroes. They each try to take on the threat on their own and fail. However, together they’re able to come out on top.

The event is the death of a mutual friend at the hands of someone posing as Fury’s late brother, Scorpio. However, things get rather complicated as the mastermind behind the situation turns out to be an old flame Fury played back in his C.I.A. days. Fortunately, he has Wolverine tag along with him to keep him in check. Things become a bit more personal when they find out who this new Scorpio really is.

This storyline continues in the pages the Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. ongoing series in late 1989.

Howard Chaykin wrote a 1994 sequel to this graphic novel called Scorpio Rising that brings all three characters together again.