Epic Illustrated #1 - Marvel

No magazine has been more requested to show up here than Epic Illustrated.

I never really got into Epic when it was first out(1980-1986) so I never had any issues of it in my box o' magazines, but reading this first issue made me want to read more of them.

I had always thought that Epic was full of the kind of sci-fi/fantasy that, frankly, just never appealed to me as a kid, or now--stuff with elves and mystical wizards(even now, if I read a story and it opens with "In the land of the faeries..." I go zzzzzzzzzzzz) and I guess I never bothered to actually look inside an issue and find out whether I was right.

One other thing I neve realized was the extent to which Marvel with Epic was trying to compete in the Heavy Metal/slick magazine market. This issue opens with a two-page ad(y'know, like a real magazine) for Kawasaki motorcycles, which is grown-up enough, and then facing the table of contents we get this:
...you didn't see this ad in Marvel Two-In-One much.

After an editorial by Stan Lee(of course) and some early testimonials from Ray Bradbury, George Pal, Neal Adams(who is typically frank--and even a little skeptical--about whether Marvel will treat Epic's creative people right) and others, we get...The Silver Surfer?

Yes, the first story, "The Answer", stars the Surfer and Galactus and is by Lee, John Buscema, Rudy Nebres, and colors by Rick Veitch. It's a metaphysical tale of the Surfer trying to find The Answer. It's more of a Think Piece rather than a story, per se, and probably the kind of tale Stan imagined himself "moving on" to, had the Marvel style of slam-bang action and melodrama not become the industry standard.

At first I thought it was an odd choice to open with the Surfer--if you're trying to establish a new magazine with a new identity, why open with one of Marvel's big superhero stars? I mean, what, was Ant-Man busy?

But then I realized that Marvel probably figured that, saucy denim jeans ads or no, Epic was going to have a lot of the same audience the color comics had simply because it was from Marvel, so why not gently guide that audience into this new experience, by opening with a character they all knew? Well played, Stan.
The next story is "Homespun" by Elfquest's Wendy Pini, and is the exact kind of story that would keep me from buying Epic--a tale of faeries and mystical creatures. I'm not knocking the piece--it's well done and as you can see from the splash page, exquisitely drawn and colored--it's just not my cup o' tea.

Next is "Aware" by Leo Duranona, a Warren-esque piece of two characters who know they're only characters in a story. That's been done before, of course, but at only five pages its over before it wears out its welcome.

"For The Next 60 Seconds" by Bob Larkin is similar, in that its not anything you haven't seen before(a black humor piece about the end of the world), but its only three pages and Larkin's storytelling is effective.

Jim Starlin contributes the longest tale "The Metamorphosis Odyssey", all in black and white, the first three parts of it are all in this first issue. A truly galaxy-spanning tale of a race of beings and one who has to leave his home because he won't go along with a grim plan to take over Earth(there's a lot more to it, but I can't hope it to summarize it all).

Ray Rue contributes "Lullabye of Bedlam", a Twilight Zone-ish fantasy tale, and next is a text story, "Elfspire" by John Pocsik and Thomas Blackshear. Oh no, more elves!

Next are three one-page stories all by Yugoslavian cartoonist Mirko Ilic, the first of which, "History of Human Absurdity" is a classic which reminds me of Richard Corben's Warren work:
"Convert" is another dark-humored story, this time by Ernie Colon, which means its awesome. 'Nuff said.

"Heads" is by Arthur Suydam, a tale of revenge among different races of creatures. The story was ok, but Suydam's artwork is great.

Chapters 2 and 3(titled "Za!" and "Juliet") of Starlin's "Metamorphosis Odyssey" are next("Juliet" is set outside at night, and Starlin's work is so effective and moody you can practically hear the crickets chirping); following them is "Detour" a one-page text piece by somone named...George Bush??

Last is "Topaz" by Carl Potts, who growing up I was more familiar with as an editor at Marvel, not a writer/artist. It's a light-hearted tale featuring a couple comprised of a centaur and a topless woman(yep, this magazine is for adults, all right), and Potts' work is excellent. This panel alone struck me as a marvel(sorry) of layout, rendering, and color:
Finally, there's a one-page creator's biography page by Archie Goodwin, and is unusual just for actually mentioning other company's comics, by name, something Marvel never did which always seemed a bit silly to me. Leave it to Archie Goodwin to go the classy route.

Like I said at the beginning, I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked Epic, and how varied the contents and talent were. Back issues of Epic are plentiful and cheap on eBay, so this definitely won't be the last time we talk about it here!