ia ea) aa AES PRICE GUIDE ae Ao NEW HOT COMICS SILVER AGE TO PRESENT , a USA $2.95 sh bau pad ae 3 POSTER &, INSIDE! wf AAt Planer Comics DS aE ety te eT from Marvel Actin e ly «ping ae Pe We He CARD caliber FANS! Biers cy gets Ska cae ae Neo Stock! basal anual ree tas Sen “6 dy ‘Sexo Us Youn Waar Lists; 2 = ae Te eae = ) Ula Sg Nis webLEs Sots es nits AG aus a j aa GUS (Z G, AAT eee % UE aU le cL A. ara 602-991-1972OK, listen up. Previews is a catalog. It features a whole lotta stuff that you're going to want. New comics, graphic novels, trading cards, posters, t-shirts, games, and more. And you can order it all from your local comics shop by buying Previews and filing out ‘an order form. But that's not all you get when you pick up Previews each month. You also get a whole lotta extra stuff- like free trading cards, hot Previews covers, and interviews with your favorite creators. You ‘might even catch a sneak peak at a new comics title or two. Go to your local comics shop and ask for Previews. With a whole lotta stuff goin’ in, you won't want to be left out. Retailers to find out more about Previews call Diamond Comic Distributors’ Senior Account Rep Bill Neuhaus at (410) 298-2981 Contents © 1991 Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. and respective copyright holders, All Rights Reserved.CONTENTS 7 fi 38 NUMBER 8 COVER NASTY | ag Though relatively new to the 22 comic scene, Bishop has a phenomenal following. Expect to hear more on this futuristic X-Man 29 in the coming months. BIG plans are in store for him. Black Canary gets tough on page 13... Treen Ca rr Portacio Interview While Portacio speaks candidly abou heb Black Canary ‘The Canary past, and Canary future, Superman's Pal min Olsen, Innocence remembered Freddy's Back! Uke not quit, totaly, completely dea. Agent Rwers ‘Want to get published? Get an agent Amazing Artists ‘More Inredible artwork rom ou loyal fan. Inside Aliens III ‘Andy Mangels spills the, ahh, beans. Number Ones Best sellers ll, the hottest ties. Bishop Profile ‘Avery rie history of Bishop. An Autographed Set of Uncanny X-Men Issues #141 and #142! SEE PAGE 52‘Ok Mr. White, but | think I'm being followed.. page 22 Grading Your Comics ‘Grating made simple. Recognize quality. Contest No. 8 Unseramble our code and win BIG! Wizard Com Watch 2 more books onthe Sizie-O-Meter. Toying Around Find out what Brian's up to his month, Toy Figure Guide Calculate the value ot your callection. The Wizard of Cards Everything you need te know... plus mare. Comic Book I.Q. Test your knowledge against the Wizard Picks From The Hat What hot books ar on the horizon? Hero's ook Word Search “Another brain teased from our researchers. Wizard's Top 10 ‘Shake-outs, winners and losers. Comic Book Price Guide ‘AI new listings for Sliver Age to present Shows & Conventions Cheek out you local show isting. Magic Words Read some of out “intresting* fan mal 77 71 56 62 55 80 86 139 142 When they're gone. jone! Each dazzling issue has it's own full color poster bound inside. Keep up with the best comics. Collect the whole set! CLIP OR COPY COUPON they're ! want the whole enchilada! Send me these: Kame sneet ety State zp + tw 14.28 Send hs card or a copy ofthis ‘ssue #2-83.50 Card atong with fssve#989.25 a check or tssve 4-59.00 money order to: fss08 53.0 Wizard Press ‘ssue #6-$3.00 Back Issue Dept. fssue #7-$9.00 P.0,BOx 434 Monsey, NY Al Seven $21.00 , cometen 10952-0434 Issu0 #1-$6.95 US Dollars. Please ada Shipping & handing: $2.50/irst book US address, ($4.50/irst book foreign address, APRIL 1992. 3LETTER FROM THE PUBLISE Gosh, This is great! Hello and welcome to the eigth issue of Wizard: The Guide To Comics. You now hold in your hands the most exciting issue to date. Thanks to you, Wizard is now more popular than ever. I've got a cool story behind this cover. Six months ago | contac- ted Whilce about doing a cover for us. | suggested an Archangel; but, Whilce suggested doing a brand new character named Bishop. Needless to say | don't think it wasn't such a bad idea. {'m glad a bunch of you stopped by our booth in New York and San Diego. It's great to get out the office (not that | don't like the office) and meet with all of you, While | was out in San Diego | paid a visit to Homage Studios to do the interview with Whilce. | think it went really well. | got a chance to hang out in the studio and take lots of pictures that I'm sure you're going to enjoy. If you could ask me one question right now, I'm sure the answer would be, "yes, Jim Lee will be doing a Wizard cover to knock the socks right off your feet!" | will not say anymore until, well... let's play it by ear, you will be properly warned. 4 WIZARD #8 “After the cover, | thought he would I wish to clear up a few questions that quite a few of you had been asking regarding our newsstand distribution, issues #8 on will have the same cover as the direct market. Due to popular demand we have also showed you a sampling of the Venom cover for #9, so make sure you reserve your copies now. Okay, okay, okay, | can't wait to tell you any longer... Issue #10 will feature one awesome ROB LIEFELD cover. Not only that but every issue will contain the Youngblood trading card #0, only available in Wizard, and if that's ot enough, were going to make this a spectacular 200+ page issue (same cover price) with so much unbelieveable stuff you're going to go absolutely crazy. OH, can't wait With all this great stuff in mind, enjoy reading your newest issue. Let me know what you think, | stil love getting mail. Stay cool, Gareb S. Shamus "The Big Cheese" Teli CT} erry ETN SU Nels} Martin Schranz DYN eyes eared} Sey Paani) In CA 1-800-287-0262 Vereen) Coron esha! Preeecu ke oI) ART DIRECTOR Michael Zinssar Saas) Brian Cunningham Pat McCallum COVER DESIGNS enone PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Doug Goldstein OFFICE MANAGER, Cease Nooo Cy ens TOUGH GUY east) COLORIST AEs ae to) ILLUSTRATOR Cece ek may Choe eee iy cree ete rca pent tern ee er harem cn are piaeneniy pecerich tienen] Cer Career ane Porras arr tno nary arene mcr eee ny pe nieeneenty Unites States of America. information Cera reer eee oe eee tetany ei eet oaGrus: Robot Fighter #1 ver Surfer #50 | Call lip 602-921 #268,270,281 248 a / / Marvel Comics Presents #85. Kifgpin Comics 1X0 Manowar #1 943 S. 48th ST. #124 4 Tempe/AZ 85281 t / Most people misSed a fot of @féat selling Marvel these books! Butnotityou ‘The first 1000 people “Wea nsec, ola Apuibaoe one to respond will be ingpin Comics. We strongly i ‘ suggested you buy heavily on entered into a draw- allofthe books onthisis ing for a set of Over the past 18 months, if 1 _ pat invested an equal Mag nus #0's, auto amount ingery book graphed by Valiant Comics Pre President dnd Magnus writer Jim Shooter! : ‘Thousands of satisfied €ustomers! We want your ppany in the business busness! Ge us aty- you be gla you da! \ e best advance order service available anywhere, fé \Y discounts on strict NVM books! Jackaging in the business: double walled boxes, wih! large orders double-boxed. Books get toy itty updated on what you sil have on order wiigasy to read computer generated invoces| ment. Amazing, but true!A Letter From Our Editor Preaching To The Choir? Hypothetical situation: You're the promotions andior marketing head for one of the top comic publishers— Marvel, DC, Valiant, Dark Horse, it doesn't matter. Your editorial department has just handed you the information ‘on a terrific new project...one that doesn't involve super- heroes, flashy costumes, the latest “hot'artist or any of the other things that usually mean automatic success in ‘comic-book publishing today. What it does have is strong storylines, mature themes (not sex, just ideas that may be a touch above the head of your average 13-year-old), clean, readable art, and a concept that—if used in a mainstream novel, for example—would be a best-seller. Where do you advertise this paragon of artistic Virtue? What audience do you try to reach in publicizing and marketing it? I you're like the promotions/marketing people at the major publishers, you put ads in Comic Buyer's Guide, ‘Amazing Heroes, Comic Shop News and, yes, WIZARD. ‘And those are the only places you will advertise. This is called “preaching to the choir”. The people who read this and other magazines about comics already know about comics, already have a pretty good idea of the range of material that can be found in the graphic story form, And they are, unfortunately, probably not the people who will most appreciate the tile in question, because it has none of the things they have demonstrated they want in a comic in the past. So the question is—where should such a title be advertised? How about The Village Voice or any other such “alternative” newspaper in any other city? How about the New York Times Book Review? or the book section of any other major newspaper. Solid example: Has anyone seen an ad for DC's ‘Sandman in any of those places—or in science-fiction and fantasy journals like SF Chronicle or Locus—in the days since it garnered two World Fantasy Awards, for Best Short Story and Best Artist? Ill bet you haven't yet the opportunity for expanding Sandman's audience seems obvious, doesn't it? Many fans and professionals—including those mar- keting and and promotion heads—have been bemoan- ing the lack of variety in comics for year...yet every time there's an oddball, non-constumed adventure title avail- able, they treat it like the ugly cousin of the superhero line. "Shove it in the comer, in the dark over there. We don't know what to do with it, we don't want to be both- ered with it. Maybe it!l just die all by itself if we leave it alone” The choir already believes, folks. It's got religion. Let's try to reach all those “heathens” outside the comics shops for a change. -Patrick Daniel O'Neill <4 TMNT #46 INKED BY KEITH AIKEN STAN SAKAI 6 WIZARD #8 FROM MIRAGE PUBLISHING WRITTEN & PENCILLED BY ‘MICHAEL DOONEY BACK-UP STORY BY TMNT #32 COLOR REPRINT p> WRITTEN & PENCILLED BY EASTMAN & TALBOT MARK BODE & BILL FITTS MARK BODE INKED BY COLORED BY8 WIZARD #8Ee iE eee ee ee In late January the Wizard went on the Mighty Mutant Tour in sunny San Diego, Wizard California. We caught up Interviews with super- talent Whilce Portacio, in the mid- dle of Uncanny Deadlines to ask him a few questions. Right now we're sitting in the new Homage Studios; Whilce has a great window seat overlooking miles of Southern California, turn around and Scott Williams is finishing up some Uncanny X-Men pages that are due out in a few weeks. If you do a complete 180 degrees you can see Jim Lee in office/studio fumbling for the latest copy of WIZARD to find out how he’s doing in the charts. ACIO APRIL 1992 9WIZARD: So Whilce, what do you notice about the comic market as opposed to years ago? PORTACIO: Something that we have been noticing is that do what they want with everything coming out of your head. We can't hire models 24 hours a day and if we did, it would take a long time. So not that many people can actu- ally do what we comics have started shifting to a creator- run market so to speak, where some- body will become popular and an issue that he did five years ago will suddenly be sold out. Before the market used to be almost solely run by characters - no mat- ter who went on the X-Men the book stayed number 1 - but slowly you see that when Todd McFarlane gets on a book and if that character is real pop- ular, then everybody wants to do it. Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, anybody who is in the top ten —- they get on a book and do the character for a little while then it's a million seller. That's actually a surprise - a million mark. It used to be 600,000; now it's a million. It'll go up to two million and then the mark is four million. Now it's eight million and in six more months you don't know where we're gonna be. I don't know what it is about the industry but more than a few of us are accused of being younger than we are. | know, for instance, Mike Baron - when I first met him I could have sworn he was 17 years old and he’s a bit older than I am. He's actually gonna be — he's older than I am. WIZARD: Has age ever been a deterrent? PORTACIO: No, fortunately it never has. This is an industry that not many people can get into, because you not only have to do what the fans want—because it is a commer- cial market—but you also have to be able to tt keer oe fot — do WIZARD: How did you break into the comic book business? PORTACIO: Pretty much just like everybody else. I got a port- folio together - samples of story telling, samples of superheroes, samples of nor- mal people, sam- ples of normal buildings, fantas- tic buildings, fan- tastic ships, and brought it to a convention and showed it to an editor. Editors are the only people who can actually give you a job, and I got a job. WIZARD: Which convention was it? Do you remember? PORTACIO: It was 1983 San Diego Con and everybody kept pretending they were (Marvel editor), Carl Potts and finally I met Carl Potts and he hired me. WIZARD: Right on the spot? PORTACIO: Yes. WIZARD: Who were the most helpful people on your way up? PORTACIO: Early on I met Brent Anderson. He actually did the X-Men graphic novel and he was very helpful with tips about the industry. I knew very little about the industry itself. As an example, I started out as an inker and one of the things that everybody else knows is after you finish inking a job, you have to erase the pencil. I didn't know that. So I sent in my first job with direct pen-cil still on it. They sent it back, and I erased it. Brent Anderson was key in walking me through all the various steps. WIZARD: Did you have any formal training? PORTACIO: | actually had a great high school art teacher. I[- was with him for] two years and he taught me pretty much the basics of everything I know right now. I did go to college for two years majoring in fine arts, but to make a long story short, I flunked out in my second year. But three months later, I land- ed this job. So it did work out WIZARD: Why did you choose comics? Why not a job in in advertising? PORTACIO: Actually, believe it or not, I was 21 and I needed to do some- thing with my life. I wanted to do some- thing in art, but I really didn't know where I was going or what I was going to do. A cousin told me that three months from now there was going to be a comic book convention and they're looking for people, so why don't you bring some stuff over? So I brought it over and this is where I am right now. WIZARD: When you were working on the Punisher, did you ever help out on the plot- ting? PORTACIO: No. Mike Baron is very good at keeping his deadlines so he was always way ahead of me. I got into the industry and I started out as an inker, even though my pen- cils were not too far from where they are now, The only problem was I couldn't tell a story. In the time that I worked as an inker, I studied story telling and cinematography and learned how to tell a story. Then I was able to land the Punisher job. When I got the Punisher job, | was pretty much honing my story telling craft, so I concentrated just on telling the story that was given to me. Even if Mike did ask for any suggestions or anything, I pretty much wouldn't have anything up my sleeve WIZARD: Were you more comfortable work- ing on a single character book like Punisher, or team books like X-Factor or X-Men? PORTACIO: It was my first book, so it was best that I worked on a single character. The deadline crunch gets to everybody, and when you start on a group book drawing six to seven people every month can be a grind to anybody starting out. I can't really say I prefer one or the other, though doing a single character would be much easier. (Slight pause while Jim makes lots of noise shooting rubber band projectiles at everyone in the studio, with his new Texas 12 shooter.) But for me right now it depends on the writing. If I like the stories, if I like the characters, I'll APRIL 1992 11deal with it pretty much however the book stands. WIZARD: Prior to working on Uncanny X- Men, were you a fan of the book? PORTACIO: Yes, actually a little story got around that I was actually called up a week before Jim to do a little fill- ins on X-Men. I turned it down, because at the time the X-men were made up of Storm and Wolverine and Colossus, and I didn’t know those people. I grew up on the X-Men of the 60's - the origi- nal team. So when the Uncanny job was offered to me which was at the time of X-Factor, I jumped on that because it was brand new and for- tunately the book I'm working on now, Uncanny, is comprised of most that original team. WIZARD: Was this an assignment you went after, or did it “fall into your lap"? PORTACIO: It pretty much fell into my lap. Jim Lee vacated the book and they offered me the book. WIZARD: How did you get along with Jim? PORTACIO: Oh, he's a pain.... Actually it's interesting about our “relationship”. We're both not very competitive artists, but if he does a particularly good drawing on any par- ticular day, I might grind down and try to outdo him. WIZARD: That's my next question. Do you guys strive to outdo each other every month, or is it kind of “do your own thing, don’t worry about the other guy”? PORTACIO: Actually, for the most part we of are on alternate schedules. When I'm draw- ing, he’s writing up a plot or finishing up some other stuff, and when he's drawing, I'm doing something else. There are times when we are doing stuff at the same time and if he'll do something particularly great, he might hold it up, and if I do something particu- larly great, I'll hold it up and we'll both be trying harder. I have to add that it’s a healthy competi- tion. I would like to say that there is very little envy in the whole thing— it's just keeping each other on their toes, because there is a tendency after you have gained any kind of success in any field to start believing the press and start slowing down. If we both keep egging each other on to do better - occasionally it will even be to the point of trying out different styles on scratch paper because something inspired us—and the other guy will be chal- lenged to try to outdo that style, so that it's healthy in the respect that because of it we keep growing. WIZARD: How do you get along with the rest of Homage Studios. PORTACIO: | think that's one of the things about the studio - it's kind of like a little fami- ly and nobody's in the Studio just because. We are all friends and we do get along well together. Homage Studios will grow, but it will grow slowly, it will be a select bunch. JIM LEE: Hey Whilce, you need help with that cover. I think I can help you out. (Whilce and I laugh.)WIZARD: How did Homage Studios get its people get all the more fantastic, because stant? you're grounding them in reality. Then you PORTACIO: We all started getting bored can fudge that line where people can start drawing by ourselves at home. You wake up thinking, “Hey, maybe this could happen”. and you walk three feet to your drawing So that issue where we had Punisher go up table and you draw, against superhero and your bed is Daredevil and I right next to you, so tried to ground any time you get ‘out as much reali- tired you lay down ty as I could and in your bed, or so far from what there’s the TV or the I've done, that phone or the com- : issue has accom- puter or something fj plished it the best. else. We met early ’ WIZARD: What on and decided, about _ other “Hey, let's get a artists? What's place"! Scott and I,m your favorite piece already had our gee ever? houses over here, PORTACIO: Ever? so we kind of out- ( I still look at and voted Jim to set upf admire, and say, Homage Studios| ¥ “Gosh darn, here in San Diego.| _ fhow'd he do But as it tumed out, that"? Just about it’s all for the best. anything that WIZARD: What Barry Windsor- artists do you Smith has done. admire? He and Moebius. PORTACIO: | still Especially admire the people Windsor-Smith. that got me juiced He can do stuff up. Three artists , where anatomy from the 1960s. Neil Adams for his realness seems a little weird but it just looks so damn and his realistic ap-proach to lighting; Jack good. He is an “artist” in my mind. Kirby for his fantastic creativeness—he has WIZARD: Most people know you for your the most creative mind I have ever seen and art. When did you first start co-plotting? his drawings are explosive; and Gil Kane— PORTACIO: | actually began co-plotting with his structure, his validity of drawing of anato- my first issue of X-Factor #63. They kind of my. Those three people inspired me to come enticed me to get on the book because they up with the style that I have, if you can call it heard from Jim that I am a fan of anything a style yet. I do like a lot of people today like Japanese and Bob Harras, the editor, called Mignola, Sienkiewicz, Golden, but those up Louise Simonson, the writer at the time, three are still paramount in my mind. and said, “Do a Japanese story”. She called WIZARD: What is your single most favorite me up and asked what stuff I was interested piece of art you've done? in and we talked and I started co-plotting. PORTACIO: Actually, my favorite right now is Ever since then I've been co-plotting X-Factor still Punisher #10. It's Punisher #10, because and Uncanny. we're all doing fantasy type books and my WIZARD: When plotting out your stories, do philosophy is since we're doing fantastical you give yourself a pretty detailed script, or people in fantastical situations, even do you leave it kind of loose, and see where Punisher, if you add realism to that then the your art takes you? APRIL 1992 13PORTACIO: | prefer detailed plots, not to the point of having all the dialogue in there detailed, but in the sense that all the action is explicit. I like detailed plots because one of my other goals is to be a film director. WIZARD: Everybody wants to be a movie star. PORTACIO: | love the idea of taking a beauti- ful screenplay and bringing it to life. I like the idea of bringing life to something two dimen- sional - something flat. WIZARD: Where do you go from here? Do you plan on doing full writing in the near future? PORTACIO: I'm having a lot of fun writing, Mostly in the sense, that I'm enjoying getting to know the characters and so I have a vest- ed interest in seeing where the characters go, because I think I know who the characters are now and where they should be going, I'm like a friend of theirs and I want to make sure everything is done right. My first love is still drawing and trying to bring life to the words, so I will work with any writer. If I get a story that's great, regardless of whether it's written by someone in the studio or somebody outside of the studio, I would do it. I took up writing because we needed a plot. We wrote something up in the studio and they accepted it. I don't really have any We a goals writing- f, fe wise, because 1 admire every- ( ‘ body else's craft } in writing and 4 Iknow a tor aut aN of them waiting to become writers. I think I have what it takes to become a great writer. I enjoy what I'm doing right now, but in the near future I'd just like to draw nice great sto- ties. WIZARD: Any characters you want to work on? PORTACIO: I'm a person of extremes and balances, if that means anything. My favorite characters have always been Deathlok and Silver Surfer, two extremes. Surfer extremely good, Deathlok “4 extremely bad, but both of 4 them have that one fine point Ay in common which is they are both human, or in Surfer's case humanoid. They are both in drastic situa- tions where everything , i s stripped frombut they still survived and they survived as themselves. They don't give up anything of themselves, Deathlok was dismantled, destroyed, his mind switched, everything— he stayed himself. The same with Surfer, everything was taken away from him. He stayed true to himself. To me that is an hon- orable goal. WIZARD: Who is your favorite X-Man? Do you have any big plans for him? PORTACIO: The official answer is Bishop, because he’s a glimpse of the direction I want the book to go in to. But the real answer is Opal. Opal is Bobby's Japanese girlfriend. I think Japanese women are gor- geous, WIZARD: In Uncanny X-Men #281, you killed off a ton of major characters. Are they stay- ing dead, or is it another “Marvel Death” sce- nario? PORTACIO: This is Marvel Comics, right? I'll be real official here, and all I can say on that point is that I was given a list of things to do and I did them. WIZARD: Speaking of dead people, are you and Jim keeping Magneto dead, or can we expect to see him again soon? PORTACIO: As I understand it, he has been put on the shelf to let other people grow, but just put on the shelf. WIZARD: Since you've started with the X- Men, it's been nothing but “major happen- ings” storylines. Any more big shakeups planned for ‘92? PORTACIO: Nothing really. For the time being we want to concentrate on not being accused of the dreaded dangling plotlines. We started a couple of plotlines so for the next four to six months, we'll be tying up and answering all the questions that everybody wants answered. After that we'll start shaking people up again. Like maybe everybody will go through the Seige Perilous and come out Japanese. WIZARD: You had something to do with both Uncanny X-Men #201 and X-Factor #68, both dealing with Cyclop’s child Nathan Summers. What do you know of the rumor concerning his being Cable? PORTACIO: It's weird, because I just inked Uncanny X-Men #201. I was a hired hand on that, and I was actually a guest inker. It just tums out that Nathan was born that issue, X- Factor #68. I had no idea who he was. People seem to have gotten the impression that this was a pet story I've had for eons, but it's just one of those weird coincidences in life. Like I told you, I get a list of things to do. One of the things on the list of X-Factor that I had to do was to somehow put Nathan on the shelf, and that is the story we came up with there. About him being Cable? Hmmmmm. I think that was one of the ideas. I have no idea of the official way it goes, because Cable is not a character that I can play around with. At the time, it seemed like that is what was supposed to happen. But again, we're in the Marvel Universe. We're all given lists of things to do, so when I get the order to have Nathan stand up and say “I am Nathan”, then I'll do it, and if 1 don't ever get the order then maybe it will never be done. WIZARD: What are your plans with Image Press? There's Rob Liefeld's Youngblood; Todd McFarlane's Spawn; Jim Lee's Wild Cats. What about you? PORTACIO: Well, I've been offered a position in the company, to join that line up. I haven't made a decision up until this point. The only thing I can say is, it seers the top 10 is shift- ing towards that direction, I might have to follow. It does entice me to create and own my own characters, however, I've been so busy on Punisher, X-Factor, and Uncanny, 1 really don't know what I want to do. WIZARD: Do you have a book, a name, a team you have in mind? PORTACIO: I've always wanted to do a Conan type story, the idea of man struggling to survive. The universe they're talking about is a superhero universe. I will have to think that out WIZARD: No characters with special powers yet? PORTACIO: No, if you do see it, tell yourself it’s something that I thought about. WIZARD: Before we go, what do you want your fans to know about Whilce Portacio? PORTACIO: | want everybody to know that I am not Whilce Portacio. There's never ever been a person by that name and there never ever will be. APRIL 1992 15The none-too-bright future first shown in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #141 & 142 has once again touched the lives of our merry mutants. In a recent battle with the evil Trevor Fitzroy, the X-Men first came into contact with the lethal mutant Bishop, a mutant with the power to absorb and re-use other people's mutant powers. As it turns out, Fitzroy had been using his mutant ability to create time portals to bring in an army of mutants from the future, which he used to battle the X-Men. Then, just as things were going smoothly, boom! Bishop and two companions (Malcom and Randall) show up to attack and kill Fitzroy’s legion. Then, as Bishop confronts Fitzroy, he learns the terrible truth - } the portals are one way only. He, Malcom, and Randall are here, and here to stay. After A fa a heated argument with Storm, she and fa Bishop part ways. Storm returned to the X-Mansion and Bishop went to hunt down the last of the escaped future mutants and exterminate them 4 before they can kill any more innocent people. So now, alone with his two comrades 2% and with no way back £4 home, the future looks f uncertain for this fs dynamic new hero.THREE WAYS TO GET P.0. BOX 877.W WARRENTON, VA 2186 PH: 703-439-2489/FAX:703-439-2766 We put the SERVICE back into subscription service with these features: * ALL NEW COMICS SHIPPED BAGGED, BOARDED & BOXED * NO SHIPPING OR SERVICE CHARGES * HUGE SELECTION (Anything in the 200 + pg. Previews magazine) * TOLL-FREE ORDER LINE Send $2 for New Issue Express Order Packet CALL OUR PREMIUM BACK ISSUE HOTLINE Find those impossible back issues. Spider- Man, Ghost Rider, X-Men and more, many ‘of the tough-to-find issues are on our Premium Back Issue Hotline. Call... 1-703-439-3073 @ CHECK OUT OUR SMOKIN’ BACK ISSUE CATALOG * 24 HR. TURN-AROUND ON IN- STOCK VISA, MC, COD & MO’S * ALL BACK ISSUES BAGGED & BOARDED * TOLL-FREE ORDERING * ALL BOOKS GUARANTEED NM-M Send $1 for Back Issue CatalogComary in the A talk with Sarah Byam...by Andrew S. Harris Sarah Byam was in Washington, DC, purely by coincidence, during the _ Clarence Thomas hearings. Normally a resi- dent of the other Washington—the Hone up in the =" top-left corner of the map—and a writer comic book com- pany—Byam found herself out of her envi- ronment but not neces- sarily out of her element. As perhaps the most overtly feminist writer in main- stream out of comics... 18 WIZARD #8 comics today, Byam has some strong ideas about women’s roles both in and out of comics, an as the writer for the new Black Canary series, she will have the forum to express them. “I’m going to make a political statement”, Byam points out, after her return from the East Coast, where she received approval from DC for the first year’s worth of storylines for the new series. “It’s gotten me in trouble before and it'll get me in trouble again, but it’s important to have Dinah believe in something”. In fact, her take on Black Canary has already been well received. Byam’s work on the recent Black Canary “New Wings” mini-series was strong enough to warrant sales that gained approval for an ongoing series, despite a usually high cover price and direct-sales-only marketing. And, as a perennial support- ing cast member in books like Green Acres and the orig- inal Justice League of America, it is the first time DC has given a writer the opportunity to show that this bird knows how to fly on her Byam has some strong ideas about women's roles, both in and“Black Canary has been a long time in the works. I worked as Mike Grell’s assis- tant for Green Arrow for a while and I was really inter- ested in Black Canary. She’s been around a long time and there hasn’t been a lot of character development in her ‘own right”, Byam says. “Most of the time it manifested itself by hav- female would act and react in a certain situation. One of the things I wanted to work on was overcoming this ‘woman as victim’ type of story. No offense to Mr. Grell, because he does a good job of creating a character that’s flawed, and that’s interesting. But Dinah all the way through has had this feminine characteristic Cy crbburcl Sect feminist act, one in which she uses her own sexuality to establish authority, rather than when the exploitation is performed by males. “This is going to be anti- feminist party line”, she begins. “The difference with what I want to do with Dinah—and I want to change her costume gradually, but not radically, ing her tell the boys she could take care of her- self, rather than doing something in her own right”, Indeed, that has been perhaps the most consis- tent observa- tion about Black Canary—that over the year—is what Tsee as the dif- ference between Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. Female sexual- ity is some- thing that can be an extreme- ly powerful thing, and there’s some- thing empow- ering about as one of the few longstand- ing female heroes in the DC universe, she seemed mis- handled by the men writing the stories, who used her either as a pretty bystander or a staple victim. But, says Byam, “I wouldn't call it ‘mishandled’ as much as ‘underutilized”, and I'm not saying that to be politic. Male writers are sometimes in a position where they have a female character and they wouldn't necessarily know how a of enduring, and that’s what I want to bring out. I'm not saying you have to be black to write a believable black char- acter or a woman to write a believable female charac- ter...but it sure helps”. Some would also say that Black Canary's costume—a combination of leather and fishnet stockings, along with a blond wig—could never be tolerated by a female writer, let alone a female character. But Byam sees Dinah’s use of the costume as a deliberately taking the thing that was used to exploit woman and turning it into something that grants you power your- self. So Black Canary uses her costume at this point for two reasons—first, out of respect for her mother (the original, Golden-Age Black Canary), and second, because she takes advantage of the way that people underestimate her because of the way she looks”. Byam’s feminist outlook is even more apparent in her APRIL 1992 19Dark Horse series Billi 99. Sales have been more than pleasing, Byam says—but she’s still afraid that not enough people have been reading it. “A lot of retailers only ordered two, three, or four copies, all of which have been selling out”, she notes. “In Washington, DC, two or three days after it came out, it had sold out. I expected it to sell out in Seattle, but when Dick Giordano (of DC Comics) was pissed off because he couldn't get a copy in New York and I couldn't find a copy anywhere to give to him, I was both happy and disappointed at the become higher-profile as the months pass. She’s already signed on to do the Green Arrow annual this coming an assignment summer, 48 PAGES--EVERY WEEK ! which seems natural given Green Arrow’s relationship with her main character. “Green Arrow continuity is a little different from the rest = same time. It’s a real difficult thing to convince retailers, to make the investment in a | black-and-white property that isn’t attached to something, that isn’t a licensed property Predator or Aliens. Let's be honest, P'm not Frank Miller. jf I’m not going to be picked up because my name is recog- nized”. now, but her name may 20 WIZARD #8 Byam may feel that way [iam y what people think of of the DC universe, and the Black Canary series is kind of a bridge between the two”, Byam says. “It’s going to be interesting to see how the two characters develop, how the relationship develops, and And, if the current sales are any indication, there’s going to be a lot of people watching.Superior. 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