Erik Larsen wrote:
I've read in a few online sources that you worked on Fantastic Four #231, the issue which preceded John Byrne's tenure as writer/artist, but you're not listed in the credits.
The issue itself seems to be a real hodgepodge, leading me to thing Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz's run may have ended prematurely. There are three pages which don't look to have been drawn by Bill (I've seen Allen Milgrom listed as penciller) and Joe Sinnott didn't ink the entire book. Later pages appear to have been inked by Bill Sienkiewicz and Frank Giacoia. Also of note, the Human Torch's girlfriend arrives and abruptly breaks up with him on the last page, leading me to thing John requested that the deck be cleared for his arrival.
Is there a story here? Were you involved? And do you know who else may have been roped into working on this issue?
Thanks for the question, Erik. Sorry that it's taken me so long in getting around to answering. (It was a busy Autumn.)
That issue of the
Fantastic Four came through the office about 40 years ago, but here -- to the best of my recollection -- is what happened:
Doug and Bill had been on the
F.F. for about a year, and were also working on the then-recently launched
Moon Knight book, which was consuming more and more of Bill's time. (Deadlines were a perennial problem in those days -- for a number of titles, it should be noted.) So, they gave up the
F.F. and John Byrne got the assignment. Doug was supposed to wrap up all of his ongoing storylines with issue #231, clearing the decks so that John could start fresh with a clean slate for his first issue.
In fact, as I recall, John had turned in his first issue of the
Fantastic Four (#232) -- fully penciled and scripted -- before the pencil breakdowns and script for that last Moench/Sienkiewicz issue even arrived in the office. At the time, Jim Salicrup, the series editor, was out sick. And, since I was in the office everyday, I somehow wound up script-editing
F.F. #231.
Anyway, in the course of my editing, I discovered that Doug had left some dangling plot-lines that John couldn't possibly deal with -- at least not anytime soon -- because he (J.B.) was already working two or maybe even three issues ahead. So, I rewrote a few panels here and there and Al Milgrom drew a new last page -- and I think a few extra panels for the third and fourth page -- to help wrap up the story. I figured that once Joe Sinnott had worked his magic on the art, it would all flow together visually. Little did I know that Bill Sienkiewicz would wind up inking/finishing the art on the last part of the issue ... with the exception of that final page which, for some reason (probably a looming deadline), Frank Giacoia wound up inking. So, good call, Erik!
I had rewritten enough of the script that I figured I should add a name to the credits, so if the readers hated the finished story, Doug wouldn't get the blame. But, by the same token, I didn't feel that I had written enough to warrant a real credit of my own, so I used a pseudonym.
I also meant to credit Al's -- and Frank's, as it turned out -- contributions as "& More," but it wound up in the printed book as "& Moore." So either I was being too cute for words, or that was a typo on my part. I really don't remember, but I can't imagine Jim Novak making that kind of mistake in the lettering.
So, to sum it all up, Doug & Bill's run was not ended prematurely … at least, not as far as I know. But, looking back on it all, I can see why it might have looked that way. At the time, what with all the crazy deadlines, I was just glad that the finished art boards got to the printers in time, and the book didn't miss shipping.
Just another one of those
Secrets Behind the Comics!Your pal,
-- Uncle Rog
)
