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FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
- ARTICLE - PENCILLED PAGES - INKED PAGES -



2001: A Comics Odyssey
(Part 1 - Getting To Plot a Story)

by Kevin Hall

young boy reading comic
Image courtesy genecolan.com
Do you remember the very first comic convention you went to? Do you remember the first time you met one of your favorite writers or artists? Do you remember seeing your name for the first time in a comic book letters to the editor page? Usually, I have a terrible memory...but I can recall these events very clearly because I was blessed enough to have them all happen in just one year - actually, most of them occurred in the amazingly short period of just 3-4 months during the summer of 2001.

I'm relating this tale to you for two reasons: First off, it's just fun for me to step through it again in my mind. But the main reason I want to get this down on paper (so to speak) is this: if you've ever thought about attending a convention, or if you've ever wanted to meet a writer, artist, or other celebrity, and especially if you've ever dreamed about writing or drawing a comic book, I want you to see that dreams can come true, even for average nobodies like you and me.

The first part of that most amazing of years actually started almost three years previously in 1998. I'd been a fan of the comic book Daredevil for about 17 years, and I'd been running the Daredevil Resource website for about two years by that time. I knew that April of 1999 was going to be Daredevil's 35th Anniversary, and I came up with what I thought would be the perfect way to celebrate such an important event! Marvel could publish a double-sized issue with four half-size stories by the following teams: Stan Lee/Gene Colan, Frank Miller/David Mazzucchelli, Ann Nocenti/John Romita, Jr., and DG Chichester/Lee Weeks. These teams were representative of the longest running teams, and the teams which had the most impact on Daredevil over the years.

cover of DD#38 by Lee/Colan
Lee/Colan
cover of DD#227 by Miller/Mazzucchelli
Miller/Mazzucchelli
cover of DD#255 by Nocenti/Romita Jr.
Nocenti/Romita Jr.
cover of DD#299 by Chichester/Weeks
Chichester/Weeks

In my mind, I could see it clearly: Not only would Marvel like the idea, but they would tell me that they wished they had thought of it, and they'd be glad to do it! Thanks so much, Kevin! It's such an obvious winner that everyone would enjoy, so there's no way it couldn't happen, right?! At this point, if you're a fan like I was, then you're not only agreeing, but wondering why you never heard of that project. However, any comic professional who's happened to stumble across this page is chuckling, if not falling out of his/her chair laughing. As they only know too well, there are probably 1000 ways it could not happen, and that's just on Monday morning between 9:00 and 10:00 am.

Well, I called Marvel on the phone, absolutely sure that they'd see the wisdom of my incredible idea (which I still do think is a great idea, by the way). I got bounced around between three or four people, and somehow I did finally end up on the phone with Chris Claremont, who was the head man at that time. He directed me to send in a written proposal, and very pointedly suggested that it would be better to use Gerry Conway than Stan Lee because "Conway had worked on more issues with Gene than Lee". While this isn't actually the case, I suspect Marvel & Stan were already experiencing some friction by this time. Anyway, I sent in the proposal, and I never heard another word about it.

DD #1 cover
Daredevil(v.2) #1
Enter Joe Quesada and the Marvel Knights crew. After not hearing anything for some months from Marvel editorial, I decided to try a different channel and check with the current creators on the book. When I approached Quesada, both artist and editor of the book at that time, he told me that they already had something special planned for Daredevil's anniversary. Amidst much hype, Daredevil hit the #1 seller spot, and began to experience some major completion/delivery problems. One year went by where only three regular issues came out. The long and short of it was that DD's anniversary came & went without a squawk or a peep.

This is probably the point where any sane fan (is that an oxymoron?) would have thrown in the gloves. In fact, the 35th anniversary had passed, so what reason would there even be for a "special" issue? Well...Daredevil was just 15 short issues away from another milestone: its 400th issue. I'd even sketched out rough plots in my head for all four teams on the special, although I wouldn't have even pretended to have the chutzpah to try and make suggestions to any of those folks. In the words of Wayne and Garth: I wasn't worthy. At the same time, I wasn't ready to completely give up on the idea either. Besides, I still had one more ace up my sleeve.

I met Gene and Adrienne Colan two years previously at an appearance at my local comic book shop. I'd put together a website for Gene and had already bartered with him for a couple of neat drawings. I was thinking of bartering with Gene for something really cool in a Daredevil vein, and I decided to go all out and see if he'd consider a short story with the understanding that I might get it published some day. He was open to the idea, so then I had to decide what to send him: script or synopsis. I still had this pipe dream of getting Stan Lee to do the dialog at some point, and I knew that Gene likes working without a lot of restrictions, so I sent off a couple paragraph plot a la the Marvel method and put my trust in the Dean. (My trust was very well placed as you will see.)

pencils to page 1
Page 1 pencils - Gene Colan
I went back to work on Joe Quesada, this time pitching for the 400th issue. And this time I had some very heavy duty ammunition: the pencilled pages already completed! Considering the trouble they were having putting Daredevil out on time, I thought it made even more of a statement. But truth be told, I basically cheated -- I think it's impossible to hold drawings by Gene in your hand and not want to see them printed. Well, Joe said he'd have to check with some folks around the office to see if anyone saw a problem. Continued problems with Daredevil, busy-ness with the entire Knights imprint, and then Quesada's promotion to Editor-in-Chief kind of left the whole thing hanging once again. Three strikes! I wasn't ready to leave the batters' box, however. I gently nudged him one more time toward the end of 2000, and he said I'd have to talk with Stuart Moore, the new editor of Daredevil and the Marvel Knights titles.

Moore was receptive to the idea, but he also wanted to check it out with legal, PR, etc. and find out if he could get the OK on adding that many pages to the book. After my previous experiences, I felt like I was walking a tightrope for about 2 or 3 months -- wanting to prod Moore and Marvel just a little, so the project didn't get forgotten again, but not wanting to prod so much that I became a pain in their collective tushes. Stuart called me back in March just a little before my birthday and told me the project was a GO! What a present, eh?

story credits
All the folks involved
Moore and I both suggested to Quesada that he be the one to ask Stan to participate -- current head man to original head man. Stuart called me back a little over a week later and said Stan Lee was on board. He then asked if I had any inkers in mind and mentioned that Tom Palmer was inking the rest of the issue. I told him I thought either Palmer or Williamson would be an excellent choice -- both are incredible inkers, Gene has a particular affection/affinity for those two, and both had inked many important issues of Daredevil. This last item was important to me as the 400th issue was reuniting Stan and Gene on the character 35 years after they'd originally done it together. Tom Palmer ended up inking the story, and I had the extreme pleasure of getting to chat with him over the phone four or five times.

Was this "special" anniversary story a major turning point in Daredevil's career? Did it change the course of his life in the comics from that day forward? Was it a story people will be talking about for years to come? No. To all of the above. In fact, a lot of fans were confused as to why the "bonus" story was even included. With the "Volume 2" relaunch, it wasn't obvious that this was Daredevil's 400th issue (it was Vol. 2 #20), and somehow Marvel overlooked mentioning to the readers that this was Hornhead's landmark 400th issue!

story credits
Autographs from The Legends
So, in the back pages of Volume 2, Issue #20, you'll find a simple little six page vignette about Daredevil and Spidey's friendship drawn with beautiful art by two masters: Colan and Palmer, dialogued with Stan's contagious energy, and dreamed up by this very humble and very thankful fan of ol' Hornhead. I hope you enjoy it. I know I did. Having my name alongside folks like Lee, Colan, and Palmer is any fan's dream come true!! They were all also kind enough to sign a copy of the comic for me as well. There may be some real prima donnas or other less than perfect creators out there, but I'll tell you this much: Misters Lee, Colan, and Palmer are superhuman in the best ways - they're friendly, kind, and they truly have a passion for what they do.
Note: I've included thumbnails below of the pencilled and inked pages by Colan and Palmer. Please click on them to see larger views and really enjoy the art of these two craftsmen.

By the way...in the European printings, I got to be Kevin "007" Hall rather than Kevin "7-11" Hall. I much prefer the European point of view. I'd rather be thought of as a secret agent than a Slurpee -- wouldn't you?

This article is ©2003 Kevin Hall.

PENCILS by Gene Colan

Click on the thumbnails below to see a larger version of the original pencilled pages from the story.


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INKS by Tom Palmer

Click on the thumbnails below to see a larger version of the original inked pages from the story.


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The Daredevil Resource ©1996,2004 Kevin Hall.     Corner DD graphic courtesy Piekos Arts.
Daredevil TM & ©2004 is the property of Marvel Characters, Inc. - all rights reserved.