Tower of Shadows
Encyclopedia
Tower of Shadows was a horror
/fantasy
anthology
comic book
published by Marvel Comics
under this and a subsequent name from 1969-1975. It featured work by such notable creators as writer
-artists Neal Adams
, Jim Steranko
, Johnny Craig, and Wally Wood
, writer-editor
Stan Lee
, and artists including John Buscema
, Gene Colan
, Tom Sutton
, Barry Windsor-Smith
(as Barry Smith), and Bernie Wrightson
.
The stories were generally hosted by either of the fictional character
s Digger
, a gravedigger
; Headstone P. Gravely, in undertaker garb; or one of the artists or writers.
It is unrelated to the novel The Tower of Shadows by Drew Bowling.
After the eighth issue, the title changed to Creatures on the Loose, publishing a mixture of sword and sorcery
features, horror/fantasy reprints, and the science-fiction werewolf
feature "Man-Wolf."
Designed to compete with DC Comics
' successful launches House of Mystery
and House of Secrets, Tower of Shadows, like its companion comic Chamber of Darkness
, sold poorly despite such notable talent. After its first few issues, the title began including reprints of "pre-superhero Marvel" monster stories and other SF/fantasy tales from Marvel's 1950s and early ' 60s predecessor, Atlas Comics
. After the ninth issue, the title changed to Creatures on the Loose, and the comic became a mix of reprints and occasional sword and sorcery
/SF series.
"At the Stroke of Midnight", writer-artist Jim Steranko
's lead story in the premiere issue (Sept. 1969), won a 1969 Alley Award
for Best Feature Story. Its creation had led to a rift between the celebrated Steranko and editor Lee that caused Steranko to stop freelancing for Marvel, the publisher that had showcased his highly influential work. Lee had rejected Steranko's cover (see at left), and the two clashed over panel design, dialog, and the story title, initially "The Lurking Fear at Shadow House". According to Steranko at a 2006 panel and elsewhere, Lee disliked or did not understand the homage to horror author H. P. Lovecraft
, and devised his own title for the story. After much conflict, Steranko either quit or was fired. Lee phoned him about a month later, after the two had cooled down, and Steranko would return to produce several covers for Marvel from 1972-73.
Ironically, a Lovecraft story, "The Terrible Old Man
", appeared two issues later, adapted by writer Roy Thomas
and penciler Windsor-Smith. Additionally, Thomas and Tom Palmer
— a renowned inker
in a rare example of his penciling and inking — adapted the Lovecraft story "Pickman's Model
" in issue #9 (Jan. 1971).
Marvel also published the all-reprint Tower of Shadows King-Size Special #1 (Dec. 1971).
. The book then became all-reprint until issue #16 (March 1972), when writer Thomas and the art team of Gil Kane
and Bill Everett
introduced the series "Gullivar Jones, Warrior of Mars", starring an interplanetary Earthman created by author Edwin L. Arnold
in his 1905 book Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation
. Following another issue by Thomas and one by Gerry Conway
, science fiction novelist George Alec Effinger
wrote the final three installments.
Effinger continued as writer for the series that immediately followed, in issue #22 (March 1973): "Thongor! Warrior of Lost Lemuria!", adapting a sword-and-sorcery barbarian character created by author Lin Carter
. Following writers Tony Isabella
and Gardner Fox
, Carter himself co-wrote (with Steve Gerber
) the final two installments.
Thomas, Marvel's associate editor at the time, recalled in 2007 that Thongor had been the company's first choice when Marvel decided to published a licensed fantasy character, rather than the eventual hit Conan the Barbarian
. Publisher Martin Goodman
"authorized us to go after a character. I first went after Lin Carter's Thongor, who was a quasi-Conan with elements of John Carter of Mars, partly became editor-in-chief Stan Lee
liked that name the most ... I soon got stalled by Lin Carter's agent on Thongor (he was hoping I'd offer more than the $150 per issue I was authorized to offer), and I got a sudden impulse to go after Conan".
The title's last series, "Man-Wolf," starring John Jameson
, the werewolf
son of Spider-Man
supporting character J. Jonah Jameson
, ran from issue #30-37 (July 1974 - Sept. 1975). Its writers were Doug Moench
, Isabella, and David Anthony Kraft
, with art by pencilers George Tuska
and George Pérez
. The series depicted Jameson as a god to an alien race and introduced Lunatik
.
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
/fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
under this and a subsequent name from 1969-1975. It featured work by such notable creators as writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
-artists Neal Adams
Neal Adams
Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...
, Jim Steranko
Jim Steranko
James F. Steranko is an American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator....
, Johnny Craig, and Wally Wood
Wally Wood
Wallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
, writer-editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
, and artists including John Buscema
John Buscema
John Buscema, born Giovanni Natale Buscema , was an American comic-book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics during its 1960s and 1970s ascendancy into an industry leader and its subsequent expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate...
, Gene Colan
Gene Colan
Eugene Jules "Gene" Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series...
, Tom Sutton
Tom Sutton
Tom Sutton was an American comic book artist who sometimes used the pseudonyms Sean Todd and Dementia...
, Barry Windsor-Smith
Barry Windsor-Smith
Barry Windsor-Smith, born Barry Smith is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best known work has been produced in the United States....
(as Barry Smith), and Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson
Bernie "Berni" Wrightson is an American artist known for his horror illustrations and comic books.-Biography:...
.
The stories were generally hosted by either of the fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s Digger
Digger (comics)
Digger is a fictional comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared as a story narrator/host in the horror anthology series Tower of Shadows #1 Digger (Roderick Krupp) is a fictional comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared as a story...
, a gravedigger
Gravedigger
A gravedigger is a cemetery worker responsible for digging graves used in the process of burial.-Fossors:Fossor or Fossarius , from the Latin verb fodere 'to dig', referred to grave diggers in the Roman catacombs in the first three centuries of the Christian Era...
; Headstone P. Gravely, in undertaker garb; or one of the artists or writers.
It is unrelated to the novel The Tower of Shadows by Drew Bowling.
After the eighth issue, the title changed to Creatures on the Loose, publishing a mixture of sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural...
features, horror/fantasy reprints, and the science-fiction werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
feature "Man-Wolf."
Original series
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' successful launches House of Mystery
House of Mystery
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...
and House of Secrets, Tower of Shadows, like its companion comic Chamber of Darkness
Chamber of Darkness
Chamber of Darkness was a horror/fantasy anthology comic book published bi-monthly by Marvel Comics that under this and a subsequent name ran from 1969-1974...
, sold poorly despite such notable talent. After its first few issues, the title began including reprints of "pre-superhero Marvel" monster stories and other SF/fantasy tales from Marvel's 1950s and early ' 60s predecessor, Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
. After the ninth issue, the title changed to Creatures on the Loose, and the comic became a mix of reprints and occasional sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural...
/SF series.
"At the Stroke of Midnight", writer-artist Jim Steranko
Jim Steranko
James F. Steranko is an American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator....
's lead story in the premiere issue (Sept. 1969), won a 1969 Alley Award
Alley Award
The Alley Award was an American series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, under executive secretary Jerry Bails, and later Paul Gambaccini and David Kaler, the award...
for Best Feature Story. Its creation had led to a rift between the celebrated Steranko and editor Lee that caused Steranko to stop freelancing for Marvel, the publisher that had showcased his highly influential work. Lee had rejected Steranko's cover (see at left), and the two clashed over panel design, dialog, and the story title, initially "The Lurking Fear at Shadow House". According to Steranko at a 2006 panel and elsewhere, Lee disliked or did not understand the homage to horror author H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
, and devised his own title for the story. After much conflict, Steranko either quit or was fired. Lee phoned him about a month later, after the two had cooled down, and Steranko would return to produce several covers for Marvel from 1972-73.
Ironically, a Lovecraft story, "The Terrible Old Man
The Terrible Old Man
"The Terrible Old Man" is a very short story by H. P. Lovecraft, written on January 28, 1920, and first published in the Tryout, an amateur press publication, in July 1921...
", appeared two issues later, adapted by writer Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
and penciler Windsor-Smith. Additionally, Thomas and Tom Palmer
Tom Palmer (comics)
-Biography:Although Palmer has done a small amount of pencilling work , the vast majority of his artistic output since the 1960s has been as a comic book inker...
— a renowned inker
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
in a rare example of his penciling and inking — adapted the Lovecraft story "Pickman's Model
Pickman's Model
"Pickman's Model" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft, written in September 1926 and first published in the October 1927 issue of Weird Tales...
" in issue #9 (Jan. 1971).
Marvel also published the all-reprint Tower of Shadows King-Size Special #1 (Dec. 1971).
Creatures on the Loose
Retitled Creatures on the Loose with issue #10 (March 1971), this version led off with a seven-page King Kull story by Thomas and artist Bernie WrightsonBernie Wrightson
Bernie "Berni" Wrightson is an American artist known for his horror illustrations and comic books.-Biography:...
. The book then became all-reprint until issue #16 (March 1972), when writer Thomas and the art team of Gil Kane
Gil Kane
Eli Katz who worked under the name Gil Kane and in one instance Scott Edward, was a comic book artist whose career spanned the 1940s to 1990s and every major comics company and character.Kane co-created the modern-day versions of the superheroes Green Lantern and the Atom for DC Comics, and...
and Bill Everett
Bill Everett
William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics...
introduced the series "Gullivar Jones, Warrior of Mars", starring an interplanetary Earthman created by author Edwin L. Arnold
Edwin Lester Linden Arnold
Edwin Lester Linden Arnold was an English author. Most of his works were issued under his working name of Edwin Lester Arnold....
in his 1905 book Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation
Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation
Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation is a novel by Edwin Lester Arnold combining elements of both fantasy and science fiction, first published in 1905. The last of Arnold's novels, its lukewarm reception led him to stop writing fiction...
. Following another issue by Thomas and one by Gerry Conway
Gerry Conway
Gerard F. "Gerry" Conway is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante The Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man...
, science fiction novelist George Alec Effinger
George Alec Effinger
George Alec Effinger was an American science fiction author, born in 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio.-Writing career:...
wrote the final three installments.
Effinger continued as writer for the series that immediately followed, in issue #22 (March 1973): "Thongor! Warrior of Lost Lemuria!", adapting a sword-and-sorcery barbarian character created by author Lin Carter
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...
. Following writers Tony Isabella
Tony Isabella
Tony Isabella is an American comic book writer, editor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath, DC Comics' first major African American superhero, Black Lightning, and as a columnist and critic for the Comics Buyer's Guide.-Marvel Comics:Before he joined...
and Gardner Fox
Gardner Fox
Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer best known for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic-book historians estimate that he wrote over 4,000 comics stories....
, Carter himself co-wrote (with Steve Gerber
Steve Gerber
Stephen Ross "Steve" Gerber was an American comic book writer best known as co-creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck....
) the final two installments.
Thomas, Marvel's associate editor at the time, recalled in 2007 that Thongor had been the company's first choice when Marvel decided to published a licensed fantasy character, rather than the eventual hit Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
. Publisher Martin Goodman
Martin Goodman (publisher)
Martin Goodman born on was an American publisher of pulp magazines, paperback books, men's adventure magazines, and comic books, launching the company that would become Marvel Comics....
"authorized us to go after a character. I first went after Lin Carter's Thongor, who was a quasi-Conan with elements of John Carter of Mars, partly became editor-in-chief Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
liked that name the most ... I soon got stalled by Lin Carter's agent on Thongor (he was hoping I'd offer more than the $150 per issue I was authorized to offer), and I got a sudden impulse to go after Conan".
The title's last series, "Man-Wolf," starring John Jameson
John Jameson (comics)
John Jameson is a fictional character in publications from Marvel Comics.-Publication history:...
, the werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
son of Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
supporting character J. Jonah Jameson
J. Jonah Jameson
John Jonah Jameson Junior is a supporting character of Spider-Man in the .Jameson is usually the publisher or editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, a fictional New York newspaper and now serves as the mayor of New York City...
, ran from issue #30-37 (July 1974 - Sept. 1975). Its writers were Doug Moench
Doug Moench
Douglas Moench , better known as Doug Moench, is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Black Mask, Moon Knight and Deathlok.-Biography:...
, Isabella, and David Anthony Kraft
David Anthony Kraft
David Anthony Kraft, also credited simply as David Kraft, is an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He is primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, Comics Interview.- Writing career :...
, with art by pencilers George Tuska
George Tuska
George Tuska , who early in his career used a variety of pen names including Carl Larson, was an American comic book and newspaper comic strip artist best known for his 1940s work on various Captain Marvel titles and the crime fiction series Crime Does Not Pay, for and his 1960s work illustrating...
and George Pérez
George Pérez
George Pérez is a Puerto Rican-American writer and illustrator of comic books, known for his work on various titles, including Avengers, Teen Titans and Wonder Woman.-Biography:...
. The series depicted Jameson as a god to an alien race and introduced Lunatik
Lunatik
Lunatik is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.- Publication history :Lunatik first appeared in Creatures on the Loose #35-37 , and was created by David Anthony Kraft and George Pérez....
.
Reprints
Tower of Shadows stories reprinted in other Marvel comic books or black-and-white horror-comics magazines:- "At the Stroke of Midnight" (#1, Sept. 1969)
- Writer-artist Jim SterankoJim SterankoJames F. Steranko is an American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator....
- Marvel Visionaries: Steranko (Marvel, 2002, ISBN 0-7851-0944-7)
- "One Hungers" (#2, Nov. 1969)
- Writer-penciler Neal AdamsNeal AdamsNeal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...
, inker Dan AdkinsDan AdkinsDan Adkins is an American illustrator who worked mainly for comic books and science-fiction magazines.-Early life and career:... - Monsters Unleashed #8 (Oct. 1974)
- "The Moving Finger Writhes" (#3, Jan. 1970)
- Writer Len WeinLen WeinLen Wein is an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men...
, penciler Gene ColanGene ColanEugene Jules "Gene" Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series...
, inker Mike EspositoMike EspositoMike Esposito may refer to:* Mike Esposito , comic book artist, writer and publisher* Mike Esposito, lead guitarist for the rock music group Blues Magoos* Mike Esposito pitcher for the Colorado Rockies...
(under pen namePen nameA pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Joe Gaudioso) - Giant-Size Chillers #3 (Aug 1975)
- "The Terrible Old Man" (#3, Jan. 1970)
- Writer Roy ThomasRoy ThomasRoy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
, penciler Barry SmithBarry SmithBarry Smith may refer to:*Barry Smith , ontologist at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York*Barry Smith , preacher from New Zealand...
, inkers Dan Adkins, John VerpoortenJohn VerpoortenJohn Verpoorten was a comic book artist and editorial worker best known as Marvel Comics' production manager during the latter part of the Silver Age of Comic Books and afterward, during a seminal period of Marvel's expansion from a small publishing concern to a multinational popular culture... - Masters of Terror #1 (July 1975)
- "Contact!" (#6, July 1970)
- Writer-artist Tom SuttonTom SuttonTom Sutton was an American comic book artist who sometimes used the pseudonyms Sean Todd and Dementia...
- Supernatural Thrillers #11 (Feb. 1975)
- "Sanctuary!" (#8, Nov. 1970)
- Writer-artist Wally WoodWally WoodWallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
- Conan the Barbarian #47 (Feb. 1975)
- "Pickman's Model" (#9 Jan. 1971)
- Writer Roy Thomas, penciler-inker Tom PalmerTom Palmer (comics)-Biography:Although Palmer has done a small amount of pencilling work , the vast majority of his artistic output since the 1960s has been as a comic book inker...
- Masters of Terror #2 (Sept. 1975)
External links
- Tower of Shadows at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
- Towers of Shadows at the Big Comic Book DataBaseBig Comic Book DataBaseThe Big Comic Book DataBase is a website containing information about comic books, and run by the maintainers of the Big Cartoon DataBase. , the database contains information on over 100,000 books in 5000+ series, including over 35,000 cover scans....
- Creatures on the Loose at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
- Creatures on the Loose at the Big Comic Book DataBaseBig Comic Book DataBaseThe Big Comic Book DataBase is a website containing information about comic books, and run by the maintainers of the Big Cartoon DataBase. , the database contains information on over 100,000 books in 5000+ series, including over 35,000 cover scans....