In the latest Comic Book Legends Revealed, discover why the first issue of Moon Knight was completely redrawn by Bill Sienkiewicz!
Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the eight hundred and thirty-third installment where we examine three comic book legends and determine whether they are true or false. As usual, there will be three posts, one for each of the three legends.
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COMIC LEGEND:
Bill Sienkiewicz had to completely redraw Moon Knight #1.
STATUS:
Apparently True
The pairing of Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz occurred in a relatively unusual place, in the back of the Marvel magazine, Hulk! (which had started its life as a black and white magazine featuring early adventures of the Hulk, but then revamped into a color magazine with stories set in the present done in the style of the Incredible Hulk TV series when that TV series became such a hit).
After two issues featuring artwork by Gene Colan and Keith Pollard, Sienkiewicz debuted in Hulk! #13 and right from that first page, it was clear that Marvel had something special with this guy…
The character soon proved so successful that after remaining as a back-up in the pages of HulK! until issue #20, the character then was given his own Marvel magazine lead feature in Marvel Preview #21…
The next logical step, of course, was for Moench and Sienkiewicz to do an ongoing series and Marvel decided to make it a regular comic book rather than a magazine. Now, it is important to note that Jim Shooter always had a very particular stance on first issues, as he felt that they were obviously a bigger deal than any other issue since they were, well, you know, the first ones. So he was very particular about getting them right. I’ve done a number of legends over the years about creators having to redo first issues at Shooter’s behest. Here’s Tom DeFalco about having to re-write Team America #1 in a weekend:
The comic book was Team America #1 and Jim Shooter was the one who decided the comic book had to be redone at the last minute. I don’t know why we ended up in my apartment, but we did. Jim sort of re-plotted the book–page by page, figuring out if we needed new artwork or could live with the pre-existing art and I re-wrote the script. Jim gave me the first few pages in order so it was easy to re-write them. As the night wore on, Jim would give me pages out of order with notes on how to re-script them.
Eventually, he started cutting up pages and giving me panels–sometimes in groups and sometimes individually. Talk about a man with vision! I still don’t know how he managed to keep the story straight, but he did. Me, I was just struggling as I scripted individual panels and fed them to the letterer.
I do remember that my wife woke up around 6:00 am to get ready for work. She discovered Bob Layton asleep on our kitchen floor with his head inside our refrigerator. I later learned that Bob wanted a soda or beer and the last can was on the bottom shelve in the back. He was so tired he sat on the floor to get it, but fell asleep. Yeah, we freelancers live glamorous lives! Jim led another of these re-do parties over the years.
Since I always felt we were replacing a sub-par book with a different type of sub-par, I stopped the practice when I became editor-in-chief.
Here’s Jackson Guice on Bob Layton and him having to redo X-Factor #1 from scratch:
The first issue was double-sized. We put it together under the guiding hand of Mike Carlin and the first issue was finished and submitted for final approval to Jim Shooter — who, for reasons he would have to explain himself, decided the entire issue was unacceptable and would need to be redone from scratch — with only 2-3 weeks remaining before the printer’s deadline! Those were a dark few hours, as I recall. Bob and I pleaded that there wasn’t enough time to completely rework an entire double-sized issue, but Jim was adamant and told us if we were not up to the task he would bring in people who were capable of doing so– it was our choice.
I holed in my hotel room and drew like crazy, night and day, sitting on the floor hunched over a small coffee table which serving as my drafting table; Bob often sitting a few feet away scripting or inking. Inker Joe Rubinstein was shanghaied into our merry band of misfits to help speed up the work. During the course of the next mad few weeks, a hurricane churned up the eastern seaboard and seemed determined to drive straight into New York harbor for dramatic effect. Overnight, Manhattan Island (and apparently the entire hotel staff) evacuated the city. The last surreal act before departure was the hotel concierge handing me a roll of masking tape and requesting I tape off the windows in my room — and wishing me luck.
Well, the hurricane thankfully made an unexpected left turn during the night and drove ashore to the south, with the next day dawning bright and clear like a scene from the movie, The Omega Man. For several hours we could ill afford to lose, Bob and I wandered the deserted streets of downtown New York looking for any open deli or restaurant in order to eat. It was a very unique experience.
Long story short, we did somehow manage to completely redo that first issue — Bob, Joe, and I gang-inked the last of the pages while they were hurriedly being colored in the Bullpen right up through the final hours of the deadline. The book went to the printer and the rest is history.
Finally, then, from an interview with Moench and Sienkiewwicz by Christopher LaRochelle in TwoMorrows’ Back Issue #95, here’s Bill Sienkiewicz…
I actually had to draw that story twice because my first version wasn’t really up to Jim Shooter’s standards for a first issue. I think he felt that a lot of my choices were too clever or artsy, and he wanted more in the way of establishing shots. He had a certain set of rules, and I listened to what he had to say. I think that Jim took an interested and that meant that he was going to shepherd it. It certainly made me step up my game and stop being precious about things. It made me want to hit it out of the park from the first go-around.
The final issue had Sienkiewicz’s wife at the time, Frankie, help him out on inks to get it done.
Thanks to all of the creators for the great information over the years!
SOME OTHER ENTERTAINMENT LEGENDS!
Check out some entertainment legends from Legends Revealed:
1. How Did the Song “Let it Go” in Frozen Save Elsa From Being a Villain?
2. Were Waylon Jennings’ Last Words to Buddy Holly “I Hope Your Plane Crashes”?
3. Is Sarah Michelle Gellar Really Banned for Life From McDonald’s?
4. Is There Really a Law in Washington D.C. That No Building Can Be As Tall As the Washington Monument?
PART TWO SOON!
Check back soon for part 2 of this installment’s legends!
Feel free to send suggestions for future comic legends to me at either [email protected] or [email protected]
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