The term “Graphic Novel’ was coined in November 1964 by Richard Kyle in the pages of the fanzine, Alpha-Cappa. It started to get more traction with will Eisner’s A Contract with God (1978) and in the realm of Science Fiction with Howard Chaykin’s The Stars My Destination (1977) and The Illustrated Roger Zelazny (1978), but didn’t really become a marketing product in the US until 1982 with Marvel’s Graphic Novel Line. In Europe and elsewhere else the format was not new. In fact, it was the European format that inspired Jim Shooter and the Marvel execs to try it. (Heavy Metal was publishing reprint collections and other European material in this format as early as 1978) The decision was made in 1979 but nothing was on sale until 1982.
I’m not going to argue what is or isn’t a “graphic novel”. The most basic description is a soft cover book filled with comics that tells a complete story. For this piece I am actually only interested in the late-comers: Marvel, DC and First and the eleven years of 1982-1992. It is this period that set the mold for the US and the decades that followed.
1982 saw The Dreaming City published by Marvel’s Epic line. The contents of the comic had appeared serially in Epic Illustrated, September-December 1980. Roy Thomas adapted the story from Michael Moorcock’s seminal tale. P. Craig Russell’s stunning art screamed to S&S fans for more. Thomas and Russell would oblige.
1983 saw DC join the fray with Warlords. Written by Steven Skeates and illustrated by David T. Wernzel, it was a Lord of the Rings fan’s treasure. Wenzel would adapted The Hobbit in 1989. Before this he had been doing black-and-white adaptations of Solomon Kane for Savage Sword of Conan.
1984 had a third publisher join the party with Beowulf by Jerry Bingham. The artwork is fine but Bingham condenses the three episodes a little too much. What can you do when you only 46 pages?
The Raven Banner saw Marvel return in 1985 with familiar/yet-not-familiar material with a tale of Thor’s three buddies, The Warriors Three. Not really a superhero comic, it plays for the Sword & Sorcery crowd instead. Written by Alan Zelenetz, the book is beautifully illustrated by Charles Vess. The comic previewed in Epic Illustrated #30.
1985 also saw the first of a line of Conan graphic novels. Conan the Barbarian: The Witch Queen of Acheron was written by Don Kraar and drawn by Gary Kwapisz and Art Nichols. The contents were not overly different from what fans saw in Savage Sword of Conan (except for the color).
1986 was the peek of the GN boom with three different books by three different publishers. 1986 saw Elric return in First Comics’s Elric of Melnibone. This volume collected the Pacific Comics run from April 1983-April 1984. The writing was by Roy Thomas with art by P. Craig Russell and Michael T. Gilbert.
Marvel collected Marada the She-Wolf from the pages of Epic Illustrated. Written by Chris Claremont, it was illustrated by English artist, John Bolton. What made this book so special is John Bolton got to color his own black-and-white artwork that had appeared in Epic Illustrated.
DC split their lien in 1985 to include the DC Science Fiction Graphic Novel Line. The second last book was Larry Niven’s The Magic Goes Away. The adaptation was by Paul Kupperberg, based on Larry Niven’s novel. The art was by Jan Duursema, and over all there is nothing wrong with it, but talk about a tough act to follow. Esteban Maroto illustrated the ACE book and I know I was disappointed. DC closed up shop in 1987, leaving the field to their competitors.
Conan the Reaver from Marvel was written by Don Kraar and drawn by veteran Marvel artist, John Severin. It was a treat for Kull fans who remember Severin’s work on the early issues.
The Death of Groo was written by Mark Evanier and drawn by Sergio Aragones. Groo is unusual in that his comics appeared under just about every comic company’s banner. This go-round it was Marvel’s Epic line. Despite the title, it was not the end of goofy barbarian.
Elric: Sailor on the Seas of Fate from First was still written by Roy Thomas, the art was now done by Michael T. Gilbert and George Freeman. (P. Craig Russell had gone off to do his Nibelung series of books.) This graphic novel collected four comics that ran June 1985 to June 1986. This was the formula for First and other companies. Use graphic novels, not as a thing in themselves, but as a way of collecting runs into nice, neat packages.
1988 gave us Conan of the Isles was written by Roy Thomas, adapted from the novel by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. The art was a mixed affair with John Buscema pencils and inks by Danny Bulanadi, Ricardo Villamonte and Armando Gil on “Red Shadows and Black Kraken” and John Buscema and Dave Simons for the rest.
Hawkmoon: Jewel in the Skull gives another Michael Moorcock series a try after the success of Elric. The adaptation was by Gerry Conway with art by Rafael Kayanan, Alfred Alcala and Rico Rival. Again collected from a four-comic run, May-November 1986.
Willow, a movie adaptation of the Ron Howard film, was another thrill for LOTR fans. The scripting was by Jo Duffy with art by bob Hall and Romeo Tanghal. Faithful to the movie if not awe-inspiring.
1989 gave us Kull: The Vale of Shadow, the only King Kull graphic novel in a sea of Conan. Alan Zelenetz wrote the original story with art by Tony deZuniga. Tony got a chance to try penciling and inking his own REH comic for a change.
Conan: The Skull of Set was written by Doug Moench, the writer behind the Klarn Fantasy series, but not a regular on Conan. The art was by Paul Galucy and Gary Martin shows a new gore factor that was also evident in the Kull graphic novel. being a graphic novel, Marvel didn’t have to be follow the Comics Code, though they didn’t want to go overboard either.
More Conan in 1990 with Conan: The Horn of Azoth. this one saw the screen-writers of Conan the Destroyer, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway do the scripting. the art by Mike Dochery and Tony deZuniga is somehow less interesting than previous books.
The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad from Marvel UK collected the pieces that appeared in Strip. The comic feels more like material from 2000 AD than anything Marvel, though that isn’t surprising as the creators all worked in England.
1991 saw the end drawing near with First Comics closing its doors after legal battles with Marvel and their printers. Marvel had two more Conans before calling it quits as well.
Conan the Rogue gave Roy Thomas and John Buscema one last kick-at-the-cat with a gorgeous Hyborian send off.
1992
Conan: The Ravagers Out of Time was the final Conan graphic novel. Marvel would go on publishing other Conan comics until 2000, including a series of three-issue mini-series as well as a Red Sonja stand alone that might have been graphic novels in an early day.
After Marvel, DC and First officially ended their line of graphic novels, there was a decade of little new Sword & Sorcery. as the new millennium approached running series like Elfquest reissued books in soft covers. Marvel, Dynamite and Dark Horse eventually got in the game and new collections of Conan the Barbarian and other REH comics appeared. These evolved into massive hard cover collections that dominate the reprints today as well as sparked a new renaissance in S&S comics around 2008.
Great article! One note: I started my career as Howard Chaykin’s assistant in late 1977 while he was working on the Byron Preiss published visual novel, EMPIRE, written by Samuel Delany expressly for that format, followed closely by his adaptation of Alfred Bester’s THE STARS MY DESTINATION, both of which many consider amongst the first (if not the first) recognized “graphic novels”. Both should be included in any retrospective on American graphic novels.
I love this site, btw! So many details (many new to me) about things close to my creative heart.
You are of course right about these being important graphic novels. The piece was about what followed at DC Marvel and First. I was also focused on Sword & Sorcery.
I understand. I just thought that mentioning Eisner’s book that Chaykin’s would have warranted a nod, as well.
As you wish…