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In
the early eighties, while David Michelinie and I enthusiastically toiled
on the monthly adventures of Marvel's Invincible Iron Man, we came up with
the idea of publishing our own project, without the constraints of the
Comics Code Authority and the heavy-handed editorial policies of the
publishing giants. Independent publishing was in its infancy at that
time, with only a handful of books ever seeing the light of day. So the
odds were against us. It didn't matter at the time. We were in love
with the medium, as most young creators are when they meet with a modicum
of success, as we had with Marvel's Armored Avenger.
Our concept revolved around the story of Seneca St. Synn, a stage
magician who had been disfigured by the Mob, after refusing to knuckle
under to their demands. What was born of that botched assassination became
the hooded and black garbed creature of the night called-The
Sorcerer. The Sorcerer, using the magics taught to him by his Native
American Grandfather, began a trail of vengeance against the mob that was
ghastly, even by today's more accepting standards.
Okay--maybe we went a little overboard with the gooey stuff but it sure
was a great catharsis for living under the constant scrutiny of the
Powers-That-Be.
Unfortunately, the backer of the Sorcerer graphic novel bailed out at the
last minute, leaving us with pages and pages of visceral fun that no
longer had a home.
The Sorcerer, our first independent brainchild, was still-born.
Years passed and David and I continued working on the mainstay characters
that inhabit the Marvel and DC universes. But, in spite of the
various creations David and I had brought to life (either together of
separately) we had never forgotten our first, original collaboration
together.
Sure, there was talk about bringing the Sorcerer character back in other
incarnations with the mainstream companies. However, for one circumstance
or another, that never seemed to materialize.
Time marched on and the comics industry continued to evolve. Towards the
end of the last decade, independent publishing reached an all-time high,
from small basement operations to full-fledged superstar collectives such
as Image.
Spider-Man, the Crow, Superman, The Hulk, The X-Men, The Matrix and other
comic properties were well on their way to becoming part of the American
lexicon of identifiable characters, thanks wholly to the motion picture
industry's discovery of the goldmine that was the American comic book.
By the time that the movie industry woke up and discovered comics, David
Michelinie, Dick Giordano and I had made the decision to create a new
comic company whose characters would easily translate into other media,
without the normal bends and twists that Hollywood producers would have to
go through to make the characters plausible to a general audience.
Thus-- Future Comics was born.
David and I had many, long discussions about reviving the Sorcerer
under the Future banner. Agreeing that the basic concept was still sound,
we set about the task of updating the Sorcerer premise to the 21st
century.
However, as circumstances would have it, our trademark on the character's
name had lapsed. Someone else was now in possession of it. So--we had a
concept without a title. Subsequent names met with trademark rejections.
That's when the golden mask, that would become the character's namesake,
came into play.
David and I conceived a new origin for the character's astounding
abilities-manifested in an ancient mask of unspeakable power and
malevolence. And, as it sometimes occurs in the process of creating, the
other missing pieces of the character seemed to fall magically into
place. By the time we had finished with the revamp of the SORCERER,
his new name had become a no-brainer.
Seneca St. Synn morphed into Jacob Nakai and the Sorcerer had
become-DEATHMASK.
Many elements of what you are about to read survived to be incorporated
into that Future Comics' series.
For me, this story, as crude as it is by my current standards, is a
pipeline to a simpler time for me as a creator. So, I've
finally mustered the courage to allow you to see this original 48
page SORCERER novel. The artwork, by a snot-nosed, fledgling Bob Layton,
doesn't exactly hold up by today's more sophisticated standards.
However, it's still a hoot to read-- from a strictly nostalgic point of
view.
Also,
I sincerely want to thank my pal David Michelinie for 'biting the
bullet' and allowing me to present this long-lost story to you.
Enjoy.
4/1/06
(THE
FOLLOWING PAGES ARE SUGGESTED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY) |
