Steve Gerber - The Wilderness Years

[scratchie]

This is an attempt to catalogue Steve Gerber's comic book work (for the benefit of myself and Reptisaurus and anyone else who cares) from the end of Howard the Duck until the end of the 90s. (He also helped write a book on computer BBS's during this period... the bibliography on his website is down so I can't double-check the list against his own bibliography or include anything that's not indexed in GCD).

This is PART ONE, or as much as I could transcribe in one sitting without going bug-eyed.

After HTD, the next things GCD lists are a bunch of Italian reprints of The Eternals that include Omega stories as backups (must have been quite thick comics).

I'm going to skip additional foreign titles, assuming them to be reprints. Following those, we find:

Weird War Tales #80, October 1979, DC
"An Old Man's Profession" (7 page story)
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)

Stewart the Rat, 1980, Eclipse
(Scratchie sez: Read it, enjoyed it, in spite of one of those anti-climax endings that made me wonder, in the absence of a "The End" caption, whether a page was missing from my copy. Great social satire by Gerber, Colan and Palmer; how can you go wrong??)

Eclipse, the Magazine #2,3, July-November 1981, Eclipse
Two short pieces drawn by Val Mayerik
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)

The Phantom Zone #1-4, January-April, 1982, DC
Four-issue miniseries drawn by Gene Colan
(Scratchie sez: Read it, enjoyed it. Nice, straight-ahead superhero story from Mr. G. Not his best work, but fun.)

Destroyer Duck #1-5, 1982-1983, Eclipse
Gerb writes the first five issues (drawn by The King) of a satirical "revenge" strip about an anthropomorphic duck.
(Scratchie sez: First issue was pretty funny in an over-the-top sort of way. Subsequent issues, not so much)

The Flash #310-313, June-Sept 1982, DC
8-page stories co-written with Martin Pasko
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)

Marvel Graphic Novel #11, 1984, Marvel
This is the Void Indigo GN, which leads into the series of the same name.
(Scratchie sez: Didn't really like this so much. It probably didn't help that it's only a setup for an ongoing series. Nice painted artwork by Val Mayerik, although he's not one of my faves.)

Void Indigo #1-2, Nov 1984-March 1985, Marvel
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)

The Immortal Dr. Fate #3, March 1985, DC
Four 8-pagers co-written with Martin Pasko
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it. And what's up with that new Doctor Fate series, anyway?)

DC Comics Presents #97, Sept 1986, DC
"Phantom Zone: The Final Chapter" (38 pages)
(Scratchie sez: Hmm. Might have to pick this one up.)

Web of Spider-Man Annual #4, 1988, Marvel
Interestingly, SG writes part 8 of an 11-part story, "The Evolutionary War".
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)

Marvel Comics Presents #1-12, Sept 1988 - Feb 1989, Marvel
Apparently a new Man-Thing story (in 8-page chunks), illustrated by Tom Sutton.
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it. I hope this shows up in Essential Man-Thing V2!)

Total Eclipse #3, Nov 1988, Eclipse
A 10-page "Tachyon" story illustrated by Cat Yronwodenthia Martin.
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)

Freddy Krueger's A Nightmare on Elm Street #1-2, Oct-Nov 1989
(Scratchie sez: You will, no doubt, be astonished to learn that I haven't read it.)

[Reptisaurus!]

Stewart the Rat, 1980, Eclipse
(Scratchie sez: Read it, enjoyed it, in spite of one of those anti-climax endings that made me wonder, in the absence of a "The End" caption, whether a page was missing from my copy. Great social satire by Gerber, Colan and Palmer; how can you go wrong??)


My last favorite work by Gene Colan. This was reprinted a couple years back, but I lost my copy somewhere. Not as good as A Prime Howard as I remember, but enjoyable.

The Phantom Zone #1-4, January-April, 1982, DC
Four-issue miniseries drawn by Gene Colan
(Scratchie sez: Read it, enjoyed it. Nice, straight-ahead superhero story from Mr. G. Not his best work, but fun.)

Destroyer Duck #1-5, 1982-1983, Eclipse
Gerb writes the first five issues (drawn by The King) of a satirical "revenge" strip about an anthropomorphic duck.
(Scratchie sez: First issue was pretty funny in an over-the-top sort of way. Subsequent issues, not so much)


I have scattered issues of both of these. I think I'd need to read the whole series before I make a critical judgement.

Void Indigo #1-2, Nov 1984-March 1985, Marvel
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)


Didn't read the GN, but these at least promised some awesomeness in the future. I liked 'em.

DC Comics Presents #97, Sept 1986, DC
"Phantom Zone: The Final Chapter" (38 pages)
(Scratchie sez: Hmm. Might have to pick this one up.)


Steve Gerber and Rick Veitch!! I'm not sure I understand this book completely, but I really like it.

Marvel Comics Presents #1-12, Sept 1988 - Feb 1989, Marvel
Apparently a new Man-Thing story (in 8-page chunks), illustrated by Tom Sutton.
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it. I hope this shows up in Essential Man-Thing V2!)


Huh. I think I've got a couple of these. Didn't even notice the Gerber Man-Thing.

Total Eclipse #3, Nov 1988, Eclipse
A 10-page "Tachyon" story illustrated by Cat Yronwodenthia Martin.
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)


I'll stick this one on my next mile high order. There's a Beanworld appearance
I'm kinda curious about in one of these issues, as well.

Thanks Scratchie. Great idea for a thread!

[Slam_Bradley]

The Flash #310-313, June-Sept 1982, DC
8-page stories co-written with Martin Pasko
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)

The Immortal Dr. Fate #3, March 1985, DC
Four 8-pagers co-written with Martin Pasko
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it. And what's up with that new Doctor Fate series, anyway?)



The Dr. Fate issue is a reprint of the four Dr. Fate back-ups from The Flash. These are pretty decent 8-page back-ups from the time that DC moved from 40 cent to 50 cent books with extra pages. Very nice artwork by Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt. Well worth picking up.

[scratchie]

PART TWO

Sensational She-Hulk #10-11, 13-23, January 1990-January 1991, Marvel
Full-length stories.
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it. This character was introduced just as I was abandoning comics and I've never had any interest in her. Although apparently these issues contain Steve's return to writing Howard the Duck, so they might be worth checking out.)

Avengers Spotlight #30-34, 36, March-Sept 1990, Marvel
Full-length stories
(Scratchie sez: Boy, Steve was really getting busy at Marvel in 1990! Yet another one I've missed.)

Foolkiller #1-10, Oct 1990-Oct 1991, Marvel
Miniseries
(Scratchie sez; This is, as the kids say, the shizz-nit! Reptisaurus calls this Gerber's best work, and I would have to put it in the Top Three, at least. A complete and utter evisceration of the whole "Just get tough with them" myth that has fueled Dirty Harry/Death Wish/The Punisher/The Dark Knight/et al over the last 30-40 years)

Marvel Comics Presents #60-67, Oct 1990-Jan 1991, Marvel
Ongoing "Poison" story (in 8-page chunks) called "Vandals of the Heart".
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)

Marvel Fanfare #56-59 Apr-Oct 1991, Marvel
Four-part Shanna the She-Devil story
(Scratchie sez: There's probably not much point in continuing to point out which ones I haven't read.)

The Legion of Night #1-2, October 1991, Marvel
Squarebound 2-issue miniseries that seems to be some sort of occult horror story, including Jennifer Kale and Fin Fang Foom.

Suburban She-Devils #1, December 1991(?), Marvel
GCD has this issue coming out in 1991, but lists the series as starting in 2001. The cover has a "30th Anniversary" blurb on it, though, so 1991 seems correct.

In any case, this appears to be a one-shot pencilled by Amanda Conner. I may have to pick that up.

Toxic Crusaders #5, Sept 1992, Marvel
Full-length story

Deathblow #1-4, Apr 1993-Apr 1994, Image
Oh, boy, we've entered the Image Age. Gerber scripts Jim Lee's plots for some 9-to-ll-pagers.

Exiles #1-4, Aug-Nov 1993, Malibu
Full-length stories
(Scratchie sez: I've owned these for about a year now but haven't actually read them yet)


Sludge #1-3, 6-11, Oct 1993-Nov 1994, Malibu
Full-length stories.

(Some of Gerb's Man-Thing stories were reprinted in Book of the Dead around this time.)

Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures #4, Nov 1994, Dark Horse
Per GCD, Steve ghosts for Russ Manning on the daily newspaper strip from 1979.
(Scratchie sez: There was a Star Wars newspaper strip in 1979? Did I miss that altogether or just block it out of my mind following the trauma that was Return of the Jedi?)

Sludge Red X-Mas #1, Dec 1994, Malibu
35 pages of, I'm guessing, Sludgy holiday goodness. Pencilled by Mike Ploog.

Codename: Stryke Force #10-14, Jan-Aug 1995, Image
Full-length stories.

Midnight Sons Unlimited #9, May 1995, Marvel
12-page backup story in this 68-page color comic.

Pitt #9-10, Aug 1995-Jan 1996, Image
Gerb scripts with Dale Keown.

Cybernary #1 & 4, Nov 1995-Feb 1996, Image
Full-length

Savage Dragon/Destroyer Duck #1, Nov 1996, Image
Spider-Man Team-Up #5, Dec 1996, Marvel
These two issues constitute an unofficial cross-over between Howard and Destroyer. Steve tells his side of the story here: http://members.tripod.com/Howard_the_duck/foulplay.htm Tom Brevoort tells his side here: http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/002945056.cfm?page=8 Steve apologizes to Tom here:
http://www.stevegerber.com/sgblog/2007/01/17/and-it%E2%80%99s-not-like-you%E2%80%99re-going-to-read-about-it-on-the-steve-gerber-web-site/

I've read the Image comic and own (but have not yet read) the Team-Up issue. I'll have to go back and read them both since it's been so long and I've forgotten all the details anyway.

Vertigo: Winter's Edge #1, Jan 1998, DC
Steve takes a year off from writing comics and returns at DC. Coincidence? This is the prelude to the upcoming Nevada miniseries.

Nevada #1-6, May-Oct 1998, DC
Six-part miniseries that seems to be a continuation of the "Las Vegas Showgirl and her Ostrich" bit from the classic Howard the Duck #16. I loved it.

Note that for rabid completists, there are some Nevada promos in Witchcraft: La Terreur #2, The Dreaming #24 and Essential Vertigo: The Sandman #22. They're credited as separate scripted stories in GCD but I suspect they're just panels/pages from the Nevada mag.

Vertigo: Winter's Edge #2, Jan 1999, DC
8-page "Preview for Nevada II"(?) Waaugh! Features Leonard the Duck. I'll have to pick this one up.

Heartthrobs #4, Apr 1999, DC
11 page romance(!) story. Who knew he had it in him?

A. Bizarro #1-4, July-Oct 1999, DC
Four-issue miniseries.
Anyone read this one?

Superman: Last Son of Earth #1-2, 2000, DC
Two issue squarebound miniseries.
I own it, haven't read it yet.

And that basically takes us to the end of 2000. Following this, we have the MAX Howard the Duck series (read it), Hard Time (loved it), the recent Helmet of Fate story (not so great) and something called Superman: Last Stand on Krypton (haven't read it).

And what is up with that new Doctor Fate series, anyway?

[JKCarrier]

Sensational She-Hulk #10-11, 13-23, January 1990-January 1991, Marvel
Full-length stories.
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it. This character was introduced just as I was abandoning comics and I've never had any interest in her. Although apparently these issues contain Steve's return to writing Howard the Duck, so they might be worth checking out.)

They're ok. Some clever satirical bits, and early artwork by Bryan Hitch. The Howard appearance was a bit of a disappointment, he doesn't really get to do much.

Marvel Fanfare #56-59 Apr-Oct 1991, Marvel
Four-part Shanna the She-Devil story
(Scratchie sez: There's probably not much point in continuing to point out which ones I haven't read.)

I liked this a lot, Gerber really gets into Shanna's head and you start to realize how seriously messed-up she is. The interesting thing about this story is that the first 3 parts were written many years before but never used. When Marvel dug it out and decided to publish it, they invited Gerber back to finish it up. He couldn't remember what he originally had in mind, so the last part kind of goes off on a weird (but interesting) tangent.

A. Bizarro #1-4, July-Oct 1999, DC
Four-issue miniseries.
Anyone read this one?

I liked it quite a bit. It's not a traditional "backwards" Bizarro -- he's more of a good-hearted simpleton, who manages to triumph against the forces trying to control/corrupt him.

And what is up with that new Doctor Fate series, anyway?

Delayed, but supposedly still in the works.

[FanboyStranger]

And what is up with that new Doctor Fate series, anyway?

I believe they pushed the lauch back a few months to give new artist Justinaino some prep time after Gulacy had to back out. I think it's still coming out this summer. June or July, maybe?

A. Bizzaro was a lot of fun, but the Last Son of Krypton Elseworlds series ranks among the very best of Elseworlds. Not Golden Age good, but leaps and bounds above most Elseworld stories.

[Reptisaurus!]

Foolkiller #1-10, Oct 1990-Oct 1991, Marvel
Miniseries
(Scratchie sez; This is, as the kids say, the shizz-nit! Reptisaurus calls this Gerber's best work, and I would have to put it in the Top Three, at least. A complete and utter evisceration of the whole "Just get tough with them" myth that has fueled Dirty Harry/Death Wish/The Punisher/The Dark Knight/et al over the last 30-40 years)


Welllll... favorite long-form work. The Dead Clown story in Man-Thing are my two favorite issues.

Marvel Comics Presents #60-67, Oct 1990-Jan 1991, Marvel
Ongoing "Poison" story (in 8-page chunks) called "Vandals of the Heart".
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)

Exiles #1-4, Aug-Nov 1993, Malibu
Full-length stories
(Scratchie sez: I've owned these for about a year now but haven't actually read them yet)


Read a couple issues. Very not impressed.

Sludge Red X-Mas #1, Dec 1994, Malibu
35 pages of, I'm guessing, Sludgy holiday goodness. Pencilled by Mike Ploog.


Really? I'll definitely try'n buy this one, then. Ditto the Amanda Connor story. (I'd buy, like, "the Complete Visual Guide to Plumber's Butt-cracks" in a second if Amanda Connor penciled it.

Hell. THere's a good chance I would've thought about maybe buying "Civil War" if Amanda Connor penciled it.)


Savage Dragon/Destroyer Duck #1, Nov 1996, Image
Spider-Man Team-Up #5, Dec 1996, Marvel
These two issues constitute an unofficial cross-over between Howard and Destroyer. Steve tells his side of the story here: http://members.tripod.com/Howard_the_duck/foulplay.htm Tom Brevoort tells his side here: http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/002945056.cfm?page=8 Steve apologizes to Tom here:
http://www.stevegerber.com/sgblog/2007/01/17/and-it%E2%80%99s-not-like-you%E2%80%99re-going-to-read-about-it-on-the-steve-gerber-web-site/


Didn't read the Savage Dragon story. The Spider-man issue was... confusing. Some fun, but confusing.

Nevada #1-6, May-Oct 1998, DC
Six-part miniseries that seems to be a continuation of the "Las Vegas Showgirl and her Ostrich" bit from the classic Howard the Duck #16. I loved it.


Yeah, this was really good. I'm still hopin' for a sequel.

A. Bizarro #1-4, July-Oct 1999, DC
Four-issue miniseries.
Anyone read this one?


I have 1 and 4. Didn't make an impression.


MAX Howard the Duck series (read it),


Barfy

Hard Time (loved it),


Season one was alright. Season two was really good!

Helmet of Fate[/I] story (not so great)


Ahh. Totally worth it for the first four pages alone!

[scratchie]

Ditto the Amanda Connor story. (I'd buy, like, "the Complete Visual Guide to Plumber's Butt-cracks" in a second if Amanda Connor penciled it. No joke. She's definitely one of the more under-utilized pencillers out there. I did see some older work by her somewhere, and it was a lot more "conventional" looking (not as cartoony as her recent stuff) but still, I'd buy almost anything she drew.

Hell. THere's a good chance I would've thought about maybe buying "Civil War" if Amanda Connor penciled it.) They could have gotten Michelangelo to draw that, inked by M.C. Escher, and it still would have been a fiasco.


Didn't read the Savage Dragon story. The Spider-man issue was... confusing. Some fun, but confusing. The Savage Dragon story isn't any less confusing. They're both a little less confusing when read together (because you get information in one book that's not in the other) but in the end, most of the story comes off as padding surrounding the big joke in the middle.

Ironically, the actual "dig" that Gerber took at Marvel is pretty innocuous, really. In the Savage Dragon book, he makes it apparent that the "Howard" who returns with Spidey in the Marvel book is not the real Howard, but a clone, thus allowing the real Howard to go into hiding under the name "Leonard". Ha ha, very clever, but anyone who was enough of a Gerber fan to be reading both books in 1996 undoubtedly thought of any non-Gerber-penned Howard as a bad clone already.

What really pissed Tom Brevoort off was the fact that Gerber was bragging about it on his website before the issue even came out. If he had been able to resist that temptation, the whole thing would have been long forgotten by the five people who actually read that comic at the time.

Helmet of Fate story (not so great)


Ahh. Totally worth it for the first four pages alone!True, but the rest of the issue read like a bad Hawkman story.

[Hatut Zeraze]

A. Bizarro!

I loved that comic. If I had to mention every 4-issue limited series that BEGGED to be made into an ongoing, this could have a shot at #1.

[scratchie]

And what is up with that new Doctor Fate series, anyway?Delayed, but supposedly still in the works.

An update from Steve's blog:

http://www.stevegerber.com/sgblog/2007/05/14/whither-doctor-fate/

I've got to give him props for remaining optimistic about this, and I suppose that being dressed-up to look like a Countdown crossover could probably help boost sales, but on the other hand, having your new title yanked and combined with some other feature, a couple weeks(?) after it was originally set to debut, isn't the most encouraging development I can think of.

[Sir Tim Drake]

This is a fascinating thread. Do you have any plans to document Gerber's work from before or after this period?

[scratchie]

This is a fascinating thread. Do you have any plans to document Gerber's work from before or after this period?I hadn't planned on it but I could if there's interest. I did hit the "after" period very briefly at the end of Part Two, but I think I mentioned everything.

[Reptisaurus!]

I hadn't planned on it but I could if there's interest. I did hit the "after" period very briefly at the end of Part Two, but I think I mentioned everything.

I can't think of anything. And Gerber's been my favorite mainstream writer since I was 23, (circa 2000) so I think I've got all his work since then.

[berk]

I can't think of anything. And Gerber's been my favorite mainstream writer since I was 23, (circa 2000) so I think I've got all his work since then.How did that come about Reptisaurius?

[Kid Monster]

Marvel Graphic Novel #11, 1984, Marvel
This is the Void Indigo GN, which leads into the series of the same name.
(Scratchie sez: Didn't really like this so much. It probably didn't help that it's only a setup for an ongoing series. Nice painted artwork by Val Mayerik, although he's not one of my faves.)

Void Indigo #1-2, Nov 1984-March 1985, Marvel
(Scratchie sez: Haven't read it.)


In pre-history, a Conan-type barbarian king and his girl get killed by a bunch of corrupt, evil wizards. Untold millenia later, the barbarian gets reincarnated as a Klingon-esque space alien, and somehow remembers his past life. He travels to 1980's Earth, retrives his old magic sword, and goes on a bloody rampage of revenge against the current incarnations of the wizards, regardless of how innocent their current lives might be. VOID INDIGO was flawed, but still very interesting and different, and deserves to be revisited. I really need to see if I still have these and dig them out.

Two odd trivia bits: 1) VI was originally a rejected revamp concept for DC's Hawkman, combining both the Earth 2 "Ancient Egyptian" and Earth 1 "Space Alien" versions of Hawkman into one character. And 2) By today's standards, VI would be one of Vertigo or Marvel MAX's milder books... but back in the days before WATCHMEN or PREACHER, the violence (no big deal, really) and titties (not gratuitous) in VOID had many fans and retailers going into a *rabid panic*. It stirred up controversy well beyond what it deserved, and was unfairly stomped on for it.