Blackmark

"Blackmark" is a Bantam Books paperback (Bantam S5871), published January 1971, that is one of the first American graphic novels, predating such seminal works as Richard Corben's "Bloodstar" (1975), Jim Steranko's "" (1976), Don McGregor & Paul Gulacy's "Sabre" (Sept. 1978), and Will Eisner's "A Contract with God" (Oct. 1978). It was conceived and drawn by the veteran comic book artist Gil Kane, and scripted by Archie Goodwin from an outline by Kane.

The term "graphic novel", while seen in print as early as 1964 in an obscure fan publication, was not in mainstream use in 1971 when "Blackmark", a science fiction/sword-and-sorcery adventure, was first published; the back-cover blurb of the February 2002 30th-anniversary edition calls the book, retroactively, "the very first American graphic novel." "Blackmark" is, objectively, a 119-page story of comic-book art, with captions and word balloons, published in a traditional book format. It is also the first with an original heroic-adventure character conceived expressly for this form. It originally sold for 75 cents, comparable to other paperbacks at the time.

The 30th-anniversary edition (ISBN 1-56097-456-7) also includes the planned second book, the 117-page "The Mind Demons"; an eight-page historical afterword; and the paperback's double-page frontispiece. It does not include the original final page: A full-body shot of Blackmark with sword, and a Kane floating-head self-portrait and one-paragraph bio/afterword.

Publication history

Kane — a major comics artist who helped usher in the Silver Age of comic books with his part in revamping the DC Comics characters Green Lantern and the Atom, and who drew "The Amazing Spider-Man" during an a landmark 1970s run — had previously experimented with the form with his 1968 black-and-white comics-magazine "His Name is... Savage", a 40-page espionage thriller also scripted by Goodwin from an outline by Kane.

Kane said Bantam paid him $3,500 for 120 pages (including the cover) all written, drawn and lettered in "camera-ready" form, i.e., in completed form suitable to go immediately to the printing press. (The 120-page figure is either Kane's rounded-off approximation, or means he did the frontispiece and bio-page art gratis.) Kane recalled having to draw "30 pages in one week. Then I'd have to knock off for a week or two to make some additional money" drawing comic-book stories and, mainly, covers."The Comics Journal" #186 (April 1996): Interview with Gil Kane, Part 1, p. 88]

Goodwin came in, the scripter recalled, at "the 11th hour":The 2002 reissue, in its afterword, credits celebrated cartoonist and "MAD" magazine founder Harvey Kurtzman as laying out a small number of pages, and another major comics artist, Neal Adams, as inking some of Kane's pencil work, both doing so as a favor to help Kane meet his deadlines. Adams' own website, however, states, that Adams "penciled pages 80/81/82/92/98-107 / (total of 14pgs.)" [ [http://www.nealadams.com/books.html NealAdams.com: Books] ] and "Neal penciled 14 pages with Gil Kane inks (pages 80,81,82,92,98-107)". [ [http://www.nealadams.com/magslist.html NealAdams.com: Magazine list] ]

Though Bantam had envisioned a series of eight books, the publisher halted plans after the first sold less well than expected. By this time Kane had already completed "The Mind Demons", which eventually premiered — with its contents intact but its panel-layout reconfigured — as the 62-page Marvel Comics magazine "Marvel Preview" #17 (Winter 1979). In an early use of the term, it was called a graphic novel on the cover.

The first "Blackmark" book had already been reprinted by then — similarly with its contents intact but its panel-layout reconfigured — in Marvel's black-and-white comics-magazine omnibus "The Savage Sword of Conan" #1-4 (Aug. 1974 - Feb. 1975), as the 15-page "Blackmark" and the 14-page "Blackmark (Chapter 2)", "The Testing Of Blackmark", and "Blackmark Triumphant!"

According to Kane in a 1996 interview, Bantam CEO Oscar Distel had personally taken Kane's pitch after Kane's attorney had secured him an appointment through a mutual friend of the attorney's and Distel's. Kane went on to say Bantam contracted for four books, and increased the order to eight after Distel saw and liked the completed pages of the first. Then, Kane maintained,

In the same interview, Kane also blamed "Tarzan" comic strip writer-artist Burne Hogarth, an industry legend, partly for the series' demise:

"Blackmark" is unrelated to the music company Black Mark at blackmark.net, or to the fictional insurgent group Blackmark in the TV series "Babylon 5".

Awards

The book won its creator, Gil Kane, a Shazam Award for Special Recognition in 1973 "for "Blackmark", his paperback comics novel."

Critical assessments

Associate Professor Matt Thorn, School of Cartoon & Comic Art, Kyoto Seika University, Japan, on the 1971 paperback: " [I] t's a great read, beautifully illustrated. ... I found the separation of text and images to be no obstacle, and was soon absorbed in the story and art. And speaking of art, this is truly Kane at his finest. Here I think he approaches his own ideal of portraying 'life in motion'. Melodramatic? Cheesy? Maybe. "Blackmark" is pulp entertainment at its best". [ [http://www.matt-thorn.com/comicology/gnreviews.html#blackmark Matt-Thorn.com: Comicology] ]

Randy Lander, review of the reissue: " [A] work by industry legends Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin, [it] started to push the boundaries of what comics could do. The book does not look particularly revolutionary in 2002, but when you consider that it was created over 30 years ago, this illustrated novel that is a mixture of science-fiction and fantasy genres and is unquestionably aimed at an adult audience, starts to look a lot more impressive. ...Goodwin and Kane take a fairly predictable plot and stock characters and make it a fascinating and twisted ride. ... The material sometimes features cheesy dialogue or veers into melodrama, but mostly it holds up remarkably well. It's hard to argue against the merits of "Blackmark". It's a piece of comic-book history, a solidly produced book and an example of work from two of the finest creators to grace the medium". [ [http://www.thefourthrail.com/reviews/snapjudgments/061702/blackmark.shtml "The 4th Rail" (June 17, 2002)] ]

Original bio

Not included in the reissue is this one-paragraph biography:

Gil Kane was born in Riga, Latvia, but has lived in and around New York City since he was four. One of the great panel artists, he has penned [sic] virtually every major adventure strip character from Batman to Hopalong Cassidy since he began drawing at sixteen as well as working in films and publishing a magazine. "Blackmark [sic, title not italicized or in quote marks] is an important first," he says. "It contains all the elements of painting and film, drama and novels. The comic strip has always generated tremendous vitality and quality, but only recently has it begun to communicate ideas and make comment. To me it's like exploring an undiscovered country."

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.comics.org/ The Grand Comics Database]
* [http://www.lib.msu.edu/comics/ Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection, Michigan State University Libraries]
* Harvey, R.C., "The Art of the Comic Book" (University Press of Mississippi, 1996): Index entry, pp. 114-116
* Horn, Maurice, ed., "The World Encyclopedia of Comics" (Chelsea House, 1976): Index entry (pp. 287, 419