| Archie Goodwin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1937-09-08)September 8, 1937 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | March 1, 1998(1998-03-01) (aged 60) New York City, U.S. |
| Area | Writer,Penciller, Editor |
Notable works | Vampirella Manhunter Luke Cage Iron Man Star Wars (comics) Epic Illustrated |
| Awards | Shazam Award Eisner Award Bill Finger Award Inkpot Award[1] |
Archie Goodwin (September 8, 1937 – March 1, 1998)[2] was an Americancomic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number ofcomic strips in addition to comic books, and is known for hisWarren andMarvel Comics work. For Warren he was chief writer and editor of landmark horror anthology titlesCreepy andEerie between 1964 and 1967. At Marvel, he served as the company's editor-in-chief from 1976 to the end of 1977. In the 1980s, he edited the publisher's anthology magazineEpic Illustrated and itsEpic Comics imprint. He is also known for his work onStar Wars in both comic books and newspaper strips. He is regularly cited as the "best-loved comic book editor, ever."[3][4][5]
Archie Goodwin was born inKansas City, Missouri, and lived in many small towns along the Kansas-Missouri border includingCoffeyville, Kansas. He consideredTulsa, Oklahoma as his home town. There he spent his teen years atWill Rogers High School and in used magazine stores searching forEC Comics.[6] and contributor to EC fanzines in the 50s. His classmates at Will Rogers included illustratorPaul Davis andBroomhilda creatorRussell Myers forming a cartoonist's club that met daily at the Owl Drugstore at 11th Street and Pittsburg in Tulsa. After one year at theUniversity of Oklahoma, Goodwin moved to New York City to attend classes at what became theSchool of Visual Arts.[7]
Goodwin began as an artist drawing cartoons for magazines and as a freelance "writer and occasional art assistant" toLeonard Starr's newspapercomic stripMary Perkins, On Stage.[3] His first editorial work was forRedbook magazine from 1960 to 1964, on which he worked both before and after his Army service as a draftee.[8] He also did cartoons forFishing World magazine in 1959.
"Comics writing is similar in form to writing a movie script or a play," Goodwin said in an article for theTulsa Tribune, December 17, 1986. "I write a description of the panel (stage setting), and then the captions (dialogue)," he said. "Since I have some art background, I might do a series of thumbnail drawings before I write anything. Comics writings is like any other kind of writing. You draw on everything that's around you. Watching people on the street, eavesdropping in restaurants – sooner or later, you're going to use all of that."
His first story written before he went into the Army was drawn byAl Williamson andRoy Krenkel and published in 1962 just after his discharge from the Army.[citation needed] He was never on staff at Harvey Comics. By 1964 he was the main script writer forWarren'sCreepy magazine. Much of his work there, according to Batman editor Mark Chiarello, was a "homage to the favorite comics of his youth, theE.C. line."[5] By the second issue he was co-credited (alongside Russ Jones) as editor, and soon became editor of the entire Warren line:Creepy,Eerie andBlazing Combat.[3][9] He worked for Warren between 1964 and 1967, as head writer and Editor-in-Chief, in which roles he is credited with providing a mythology for Warren's classicVampirella character, as well as penning her most compelling stories.
After his departure from Warren in 1967, Goodwin would occasionally contribute stories over the next 15 years and even returned for a short stint as editor in 1974.[10]
Archie Goodwin's first prose story was published byEllery Queen's Mystery Magazine, which warned him he could not use Archie Goodwin as apen name because it was aRex Stout character in theNero Wolfe books. According to Goodwin's wife Anne T. Murphy, the magazine's editors "then were so delighted when he wrote back to say that it was his real name that they used the anecdote as the introduction to the story, which ran in the July 1962 issue."[11] (It was actually the July 1964 issue.)
From 1967 to 1980, Goodwin wrote scripts forKing Features Syndicate, including thedaily stripSecret Agent X-9,[3] drawn byAl Williamson and editorSylvan Byck, as well as working on other strips ghost writingCaptain Kate by Hale and Jerry Skelly. He also worked with Williamson onFlash Gordon comics #3–7 published byKing Comics in 1966.
Star Hawks was acomic strip created byRon Goulart andGil Kane, first published on October 3, 1977, that ran through May 2, 1981 byUnited Feature Syndicate. It was written through April 1979 by Goulart, followed by Archie Goodwin (1979–1980).
His experience ghost writingDan Flagg inspired "The Success Story" (drawn by Williamson, who had ghosted onFlagg) forCreepy No. 1 (1964), famed among comic strip fans for itsEC style dark humor in depicting a creator whose only contribution to the strip that made him rich was his signature.[12]
Blackmark is apaperback book (Bantam S5871) published by the American companyBantam Books in January 1971. It is one of the first Americangraphic novels. It was conceived and drawn bycomic bookartistGil Kane, and scripted by Archie Goodwin from an outline by Kane.[13]
Goodwin worked briefly forDC Comics during the 1970s, where he edited the war comicsG.I. Combat,Our Fighting Forces, andStar Spangled War Stories,[9] and replacedJulius Schwartz as editor ofDetective Comics[9] for one year. Goodwin's collaboration withWalt Simonson on the"Manhunter" back-up feature inDetective Comics won severalawards.[14][15] Goodwin also wrote the Batman lead feature inDetective Comics, where his collaborators included artistsJim Aparo,[16]Sal Amendola,Howard Chaykin,[17] andAlex Toth.[18]
Goodwin first worked for Marvel Comics in 1968 and was the original writer on theIron Man series which launched that year. According to Goodwin, when he entered editorStan Lee's office to apply for a job with Marvel, Lee was in the middle of writing an Iron Man story and handed himphotostats of the pages he was working on for his writer's test. Goodwin speculated, "I assume if he had been working onSgt. Fury, I'd have been writingSgt. Fury. Thank God he wasn't writingMillie the Model when I walked in."[19] Goodwin and artistGeorge Tuska co-created the supervillain theController inIron Man No. 12 (April 1969).[20]
Luke Cage, the first African American superhero to star in aneponymous Marvel comic book series, was created by Goodwin and artistJohn Romita Sr. in June 1972.[21] While briefly writingThe Tomb of Dracula series, Goodwin and artistGene Colan introduced the supporting characterRachel van Helsing.[22] Goodwin co-created (withMarie Severin) the firstSpider-Woman,[23] as well as writing her first appearance inMarvel Spotlight No. 32 (February 1977).[24]
Goodwin also co-designed Marvel'sNew Universe line and created four of the eight series in the line. He explained, "[Marvel editor-in-chief]Jim Shooter keeps saying of me: 'Well, here's this guy, in one meeting, he suddenly spews out half the ideas for the New Universe.' What that doesn't take into account is that for about five or six years I've had these half-formed notions and finally here is a situation where they would all fit in. ...it wasn't like I just went into the meeting and suddenly four concepts sprang full-blown from my brow."[19]
In 1976, Goodwin replacedGerry Conway to become the eightheditor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, with the understanding that it would only be temporary until a permanent replacement could be found. He ultimately resigned at the end of 1977 and was replaced byJim Shooter. While Goodwin was editor-in-chief, Marvel secured the rights to publish theStar Wars film'scomic adaptation and tie-in series, which then sold phenomenally well (helped by a dearth of otherStar Wars merchandise at the time) at a point when the comics industry was in severe decline. Goodwin recalled about theStar Wars comic book, "That really worked ... but I can't take any credit for it.Roy Thomas is the one who brought it to Marvel, and he had to push a little bit to get them to do it."[25] He followed Thomas in adapting theStar Wars characters into an ongoing comic book with artistCarmine Infantino,[26] as well as continuing the story (pre-Return of the Jedi) in a dailycomic strip. Goodwin wrote the strips under his own name, although many websites and other sources erroneously claim he used the pseudonymsR.S. Helm andRuss Helm. WriterMark Evanier corrected the matter by stating "Archie did write theStar Wars comic strip (as well as otherStar Wars material) but only under his own name. Russ Helm was a completely different person writing under his own name."[27] During Goodwin and Infantino's tenure on Marvel'sStar Wars series, it was one of the industry's top selling titles.[28] He wrote comic book adaptations for Marvel of the twoStar Wars sequels as well as other science-fiction films such asClose Encounters of the Third Kind andBlade Runner.
Alien: The Illustrated Story, or simplyAlien, is an American sixty-four-pagegraphic novel adaptation of the 1979 science fiction filmAlien published byHeavy Metal magazine in 1979. It was scripted by Archie Goodwin and drawn byWalt Simonson. The book was a major critical and commercial success and was the first comic to ever be listed on theNew York Times Bestsellers list.
While developing the comic, Goodwin worked from the original script. Simonson, as well, had access toproduction stills and even saw arough cut of the film, which helped him capture the essence of the story. As a result, however, a few scenes that were cut from the final film ended up being included in the graphic novel.
One reviewer praised Archie Goodwin's script adaptation, which he felt improved on some flaws in the film: "Goodwin... seems to get more into the class divisions on board theNostromo betweenRipley and Parker... [T]he characters are a bit more fleshed out..."
Heavy Metal published an eight-page teaser for the book inHeavy Metal magazine in vol. 3, No. 1 (May 1979). A second eight-page preview was published inHeavy Metal vol. 3, No. 2 (June 1979). The original 64-pagetrade paperback was released in June 1979 and distributed bySimon & Schuster. The comic was also translated in Japanese, Spanish and Dutch.
After Marvel Comics passed on publishing the American incarnation ofMetal Hurlant (Heavy Metal), Editor-in-chiefJim Shooter was charged with producing an alternate title, which becameEpic Illustrated.[29] It was initially edited byRick Marschall, but Shooter approached publisherStan Lee to urge a replacement: "I told Stan, 'There's one guy who could do this. I don't know if we can get him.' He said, 'Who's that?' 'Archie Goodwin.' The reason I didn't think we could get him is because he used to be my boss and I didn't know how he'd feel about coming back and me being his boss."[4]
Goodwin was at the time still working for Marvel as a writer, and Shooter recalls concocting a plan whereby the company "pretended that Archie reported to Stan. In fact, I was doing all the paperwork and all the employee reviews and the budgets" so that Goodwin could have the illusion of not working for his successor.[4] In the autumn of 1979, Marschall was fired and Goodwin hired asEpic's editor.[30]
Shooter approached Goodwin after the moderate success of theEpic magazine and creator-owned graphic novels to produce a full-fledged line of creator-owned comics,Epic Comics. Goodwin initially balked at the additional workload, and Shooter turned the line over toAl Milgrom before Goodwin ultimately accepted editorship.[4][19]
Goodwin introduced the first English translation ofKatsuhiro Otomo'sAkira and published English translations of the work ofJean Giraud, a.k.a. Moebius. Archie also gave many writers and artists their first jobs in comic includingTodd McFarlane inCoyote #11-14 with his first cover on issue 13.
Goodwin returned toDC Comics as an editor and writer in 1989.[31] He wrote the graphic novelBatman: Night Cries[32] painted byScott Hampton and published in 1992. Throughout the 1990s, Goodwin edited a number of Batman projects, including theElseworlds miniseriesBatman: Thrillkiller, and theAlan Grant-written/Kevin O'Neill-illustrated parody one-shotBatman: Mitefall, a take-off of the "Knightfall" saga, filtered through the character ofBat-Mite.[9]Armageddon 2001 was a 1991crossover event storyline. It ran through a self-titled, two issue limited series and most of the annuals DC published that year from May through October. Each participating annual explored potential possible futures for its main characters. The series was written by Goodwin andDennis O'Neil and drawn byDan Jurgens.[33]
Among Goodwin's most notable last editorial projects wereStarman, written byJames Robinson and first published by DC in 1994 and DC'sBatman: The Long Halloween byTim Sale andJeph Loeb. Loeb and Sale's first work on Batman appeared inBatman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special No. 1 (Dec. 1993) edited by Goodwin.[34] It is a testament to Goodwin that Loeb has said that Goodwin inspired their portrayal of Gotham police chief Jim Gordon inThe Long Halloween and its sequelBatman: Dark Victory, while Robinson (who considered Goodwin both a mentor and close personal friend), continued to list Goodwin as a "Guiding Light" on later issues ofStarman published after Goodwin's death. Goodwin editedBatman: Legends of the Dark Knight andAzrael.[9] Goodwin'sCreepy work is cited by editorMark Chiarello as informing the creation of theBatman: Black & White series.[5]
In the Spring of 1990 he was diagnosed as having cancer and undertook a course of chemo-therapy while still working at DC. Goodwin died on March 1, 1998, after battling the disease for 8 years.[7]
The Archie Goodwin Archive and Collection are housed at OKPOP (Oklahoma Museum of Pop Culture) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Donated by his children Jennifer and Seth Goodwin.
Goodwin's work won him a good deal of recognition in the industry, including both the 1973Shazam Award for Best Writer (Dramatic Division), and the 1974 Shazam Award for Best Writer (Dramatic Division) for theManhunter series running inDetective Comics #437–443. In the same years, he also won Shazam Awards for Best Individual Short Story for "The Himalayan Incident" inDetective Comics No. 437 and for "Cathedral Perilous" inDetective Comics No. 441. In 1974, he also won Best Individual Feature-Length Story for "Götterdämmerung" inDetective Comics No. 443. All story awards were shared withWalt Simonson forManhunter episodes).[35][36] Goodwin's work onManhunter, in which he both updated an obscure Golden Age hero, and, in the series' last episode, took the daring approach of killing him off (one of the few comic book deaths that has actually "taken" and not been reversed orretconned away in the decades since it occurred) is very well regarded by both fans and other comics professionals.
Goodwin stated in his final interview, "I think thatManhunter is one of just several projects that I've worked on that I consider a highlight in my career. It is something that I may never be able to top in a lot of ways. To have done that and for DC to have given me the opportunity to do that was great."[37]
In 1980, he shared the Eagle Award for Favorite Comic Magazine given toEpic Illustrated.
In 1982, he received theInkpot Award given bySan Diego Comic-Con.
He threepeated winning the Harvey Award for Best American Edition of Foreign Material given to Epic's collected Moebius albums in 1988, for Epic's Moebius seriesThe Incal in 1989 and in 1990 for Best Foreign Reprint given to Epic'sAkira series.
He won "Bob ClampettHumanitarian"Eisner Award[38] in 1992.
In 1993, he won theWizard Fan Award withDenny O'Neil,Joe Quesada andKevin Nowlan for the Favorite Miniseries forBatman: Sword of Azrael.
He was namedBest Editor by theEisners in 1993.[39] As well as receiving theUK Comic Art Award for Best Graphic Novel withScott Hampton forBatman: Night Cries.
1997 brought more Harvey Awards to Archie by winning Best Domestic Reprint Project, with Bob Kahan, forBatman: The Dark Knight Returns 10th Anniversary Edition Hardcover.
Archie was also awarded two Eisner Awards in 1997. First withGary Gianni for Best Short Story for "Heroes" fromBatman: Black & White and another withJames Robinson,Tony Harris andWade Von Grawbadger for Best Serialized Story forStarman "Sand and Stars"(Issues #20-23)
Goodwin was honored posthumously in 1998, by being named to theNational Comics Award Roll of Honour and he was entered into theEisner Hall of Fame.[39]
In 2007, Goodwin was inducted into the Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame inPauls Valley, Oklahoma, located in theToy and Action Figure Museum.[40]
In 2008, he was one of two recipients of that year'sBill Finger Award, which annually honors one living and one deceased comics creator. The award was presented July 25, 2008, during the 2008Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards ceremony atSan Diego Comic-Con.[41]
He makes a cameo appearance in a crowd scene on the splash page ofMs. Marvel volume 1 No. 15, (March 1978) with thought balloons showing him trying out various nicknames for himself.
Archie appears in a crowd scene on the cover/back cover of DCAll New Collectors' Edition #56 "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali" (1978) drawn byNeal Adams and edited by fellow OklahomanE. Nelson Bridwell. Archie is No. 15 on the key and is sitting in front of theJackson 5 on the back cover.
He is name-checked in issues of Marvel'sStar Wars comics including in the alien-language words "Niwdoog Eihcra", his name in reverse.
A character based on him appears in issue No. 82 ofCerebus (January 1986). He stands at the foot of the giant, living stone statue Tarim and repeats everything Tarim says – as if he is passing Tarim's commands to the masses. At the end, the annoyed Tarim threatens to kill "anyone pretending to speak for Tarim" when Archie's character looks up and stops repeating Tarim by telling the masses to get to work.[42] The scene has often been interpreted as an allegory for Goodwin's relationship withJim Shooter, butCerebus writer/artistDave Sim denies this and said "I have nothing but the greatest respect for Archie and in no way intended anything but a little 'hello' to one of my favorite New Yorkers."[43]
In Marvel Comics',What The--?! No. 5, (July 1989) Goodwin appears as King Archibald the First in the short storyThe Alien-Ated Legion, which parodies the mature approach of Epic Comics. In the last panels, King Archibald says that he had never been interested in superhero comics.[44]
The airport in fictionalGotham City, home of theBatman, is named the Archie Goodwin International Airport. The airport made its first appearance in Batman No. 34 (April 1946) and remained unnamed until it was given a name on a Gotham City map made for theBatman: No Man's Land crossover event in 1999.[45]
In the first DC Comics spinoff ofBatman: The Animated Series calledThe Batman Adventures. Goodwin appears as Mr. Nice, a super-strong, but childishly-innocent super-villain. He is one of a screwball trio of incompetent super-villains that includes The Mastermind (a caricature ofMike Carlin) and The Professor (a caricature ofDennis O'Neil). Their first appearance comes in No. 10 (July 1993) with the Riddler. The trio's first cover appearance came in No. 20 (May 1994) and their last story came in No. 30 (March 1995).
Batman: Gotham Adventures No. 13 (June 1999) features the last appearance of the characters with Mr. Nice leaving the group to fulfill a prophecy, with the issue being dedicated to Archie Goodwin.[46]
Together with exciting new artist Walt Simonson, [Archie] Goodwin executed seven flawless tales that chronicled Paul Kirk's hunt for the world's deadliest game...Manhunter's award-winning revival earned undying acclaim for its talented storytellers.
{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)New DC editor Archie Goodwin scripted the lead feature with artist Jim Aparo.
{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Basil Sandhurst...donned an exoskeleton that was powered by mental energy. This act, written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by George Tuska, turned him into the Controller.
{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Spider-Man's female counterpart debuted in this story written by Archie Goodwin and penciled by Sal Buscema.
{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)[The series' creative team] locked into place beginning with issue 11, when Archie Goodwin and Carmine Infantino took over.
The industry's top seller? We don't have complete information from our Circulation Scavenger Hunt for the years 1979 and 1980, but a very strong case is building forStar Wars as the industry's top-selling comic book in 1979 and its second-place seller (behindAmazing Spider-Man) in 1980.
| Preceded by | Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief 1976–1978 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Iron Man writer 1968–1970 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Stan Lee | Fantastic Four writer 1971–1972 | Succeeded by Stan Lee |
| Preceded by | The Incredible Hulk writer 1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Detective Comics editor 1973–1974 | Succeeded by Julius Schwartz |
| Preceded by | Iron Man writer 1976 | Succeeded by Gerry Conway |
| Preceded by | Wolverine writer 1989–1990 | Succeeded by |
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