His Name is... Savage

Robert Franklin, the black-and-white magazine was published by Adventure House Press, and distributed to newsstands.

Publication history

"His Name is... Savage" #1 (June 1968), the sole issue published, was the first full-length comics story in a non-comic book format since 1950, when St. John Publications issued the digest-sized hardboiled detective novellas "It Rhymes with Lust" and "The Case of the Winking Buddha". Like them, "Savage" was also sold on newsstands rather than in book stores. Marvel Comics, shortly after "Savage" appeared, published the first of a two-issue comics magazine, "The Spectacular Spider-Man", starring that titular superhero. Like the similar, anthological comics magazines of the time, such as "Creepy", "Eerie" and "Vampirella", "Savage" and "Spider-Man" cost 35¢, whereas a typical comic book cost 12¢ and double-size issues 25¢.

Background

Gil Kane in the 1960s was a well-established comic-book artist who had co-created the modern versions of the DC Comics superheroes Green Lantern and the Atom. He was additionally an early and outspoken advocate of creators' rights in an industry that at the time did not offer character ownership or royalties. Circa 1963, Kane set up a studio on East 63rd Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York, and for five years worked sporadically on both "His Name is... Savage" and a project that would become the paperback comics novel "Blackmark". Kane in 1996 said the actual drawing of "Savage" "was done, from beginning to end, in 30 days. That last page was inked at the printer while they were getting the book ready"."The Comics Journal" #186 (April 1996): "Interview with Gil Kane, Part I", p. 86]

Kane conceived the character Savage, an espionage agent and troubleshooter, and developed the story and art. He based his protagonist visually on actor Lee Marvin, whom Kane had seen in the movie "Point Blank". Though Kane would alter the character's face for reprint editions, he said in 1996, "We never had any trouble from Lee Marvin — obviously he never saw the goddamn thing. We never had any trouble from anybody".

During this process, he brought in Archie Goodwin, a writer-editor then at the black-and-white horror-magazine publisher Warren Publishing, to script. Larry Koster handled production, with artist Robert Foster contributing a painted cover.Herman, Daniel, "Gil Kane: The Art of the Comics" (Hermes Press, Neshannock, Penn., 2001), p. 65. ISBN 0-9710311-1-8 (hardcover), ISBN 0-9710311-2-6 (trade paperback)] Manny Stallman, a comic-book artist and Kane colleague, introduced Kane "to printers and sales representatives, and it was through Manny that I met the people who ultimately allowed me to turn out "His Name is... Savage"," Kane said. [ [http://www.povonline.com/cols/COL146.htm POV Online (column of July 25, 1997), by Mark Evanier] ]

Kane entered into an arrangement with the large newsstand-distribution company Kable News, who jointly published the magazine with Kane under Kane's imprint, Adventure House Press, Inc.. Kane said in 1996 that Cable paid the printing and manufacturing costs but no art or editorial fees.

The project encountered production difficulties, with Kane having difficulty finding a printer willing to risk alienating the large mainstream comics publishers.

Difficulties continued at the distribution level. Adventure House Press printed 200,000 copies, but only approximately one-tenth reached newsstands, per Kane's private estimate. [Herman, Ibid., pp.78-79] Local distributors, who took magazines on consignment from national distributor Cable, chose for unknown reasons not to carry the magazine, and returned their copies for credit. "We started to get all these boxes of comics back", Kane said. Though planned as a continuing series, with Kane having completed cover art for issues #2-3, [Herman, Ibid., pp.66-67] only this initial issue was produced.

ynopsis

That sole story, "The Return of the Half-Man", is a science-fiction spy thriller concerning a cyborg renegade general named Mace who kidnaps the U.S. president and impersonates him at a United Nations assembly in an attempt to ignite a world war. The story and art were more graphically violent than comic books and movies of the day, with one panel showing a pulped and bloody crushed hand and another showing a metal gun-barrel smashing through a man's teeth and sending teeth flying,

Legacy

The character returned, with his facial features changed, in a four-page vignette titled "Gil Kane's Savage" in the benefit publication "Anything Goes" #1 (1986, Fantagraphics Books). Kane also drew the cover, featuring Savage.

Writer Steven Grant said circa 1999 that he and Kane were scheduled to collaborate on a "His Name is... Savage" comic-book miniseries for Dark Horse Comics. [ [http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/2954/magic.htm The Steven Grant Interview: Sentinels of Magic] (no date)] Kane died on Jan. 31, 2000.

Reprints

Fantagraphics reprinted "His Name is... Savage" in 1982 under the title "Gil Kane's Savage".

Footnotes

References

* [http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2007/02/09/friday-on-the-cutting-edge-of-long-ago/ "Comic Book Resources" (Feb. 9, 2007): Comics Should Be Good (column): "Friday on the Cutting Edge of Long Ago", by Greg Hatcher]
*Scholz, Carter: "Kane's Progress" (review of "His Name is... Savage): "The Comics Journal" #74 (Aug. 1982) pp. 35-39

External links

* [http://www.stevestiles.com/kane2.htm "His Name is Kane", Part 2, by Steve Stiles]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20000213/ai_n9966608 Radford, Bill, "Influence of Master Comic Illustrator Will Not Be Erased", "The Gazette" (Colorado Springs, Colorado) (Feb. 13, 2000)]