Happy Birthday to the late GREAT Archie Goodwin!!!

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Archie Goodwin (center) started the Epic Comics imprint at Marvel, which published titles such as Elektra: Assassin and the first color and English translation of Akira.

When and What He Did at Timely/Atlas/Marvel: Writer and eventually editor from 1968 until 1989.

Marvel-ous Accomplishments: As a writer for Marvel, Goodwin was no slouch, such as scripting a long run on Star Wars, working with artist Howard Chaykin on a well-received Wolverine-Nick Fury graphic novel and helping to create Spider-Woman. But it was his work behind the scenes as an editor that should never be overlooked. In the 1980s, Goodwin was the man who spearheaded the creation of Marvel’s Epic Comics imprint, which finally gave the publisher an avenue to release more adult titles. The label began by producing Epic Illustrated, a Heavy Metal-lite anthology, but evolved to release some of the most innovative titles of the decade:

Elektra: Assassin by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz, an all-time classic that focused on the supporting character from Daredevil.

Marshal Law by Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill, which savagely skewered the mindless violence of 1980s American superhero comics.

Groo by Sergio Aragonnes and Mark Evanier, a humor series about a naive, wandering barbarian.

Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini, a well-liked, cult fantasy title that had previously been released by an independent publisher.

With Epic, Goodwin also introduced American audiences to the works of French comics genius Jean “Moebius” Giraud and published the first color, English translation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s seminal manga series Akira.

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http://comicsalliance.com/tribute-archie-goodwin/

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Wolverine: From Madripoor to Tierra Verde - Archie Goodwin & John Byrne
Nowadays, Wolverine is perhaps the most popular mutant in the entire Marvel Universe, but that wasn’t always the case. In fact, decades ago, when Wolverine was first introduced as a new X-Men member, a lot of readers complained about how unlikable he was as a character. It took the combined effort of Chris Claremont and John Byrne to turn things around; and thanks to this creative team Wolverine soon would rise to prominence, becoming the first X-Man to have his own ongoing series.

In the early 90s, Byrne was in a transitional period. He had already worked with the most important superheroes Marvel (and DC) had to offer, he had already won all the industry awards, and he had the recognition of the critics and the fans. But around this time Byrne decided to embrace a new artistic style, and his work on Wolverine certainly reflects that change. A well-known comic book historian has explained that “John Byrne's artwork began to noticeably decline by the early to mid 90s. His work became sketchier and cruder, and relied way too heavily on computer graphics to create backgrounds. All his characters began to resemble one another. […] His style that was so distinctive and energetic in the 70s and 80s just degenerated into looking sloppy”.

Despite Byrne’s transition to a different style, Marvel decided to pair him up with legendary writer and editor Archie Goodwin. The result of their collaboration was a 7-issue arc that begun in “Basics!” (originally published in Wolverine #17, November 1989). In the opening sequence we find Logan in the Australian outback chasing a wild boar; after killing the animal and devouring his raw entrails, a soothing rain appears out of nowhere. Storm, using her powers to control the weather, has created a rain to clean and pacify her teammate.

Logan decides to get away from the X-Men, at least temporarily, thus relocating to Madripoor, in the Pacific Rim.

Archie Goodwin was very pleased to work with John Byrne, the “man who did a lot to define the character of Wolverine” and the excitement of both creators is more than evident in their first issue.
In “All At Sea” (Wolverine # 18, December 1989), Logan tries to rescue Roughouse, one of his enemies, from the sinister Geist.

In “Heroes and Villains” (Wolverine # 19, December 1989), Logan arrives to Tierra Verde, a country located in Central America. There he runs into La Bandera, a young mutant with the ability to inspire others. She leads a group of rebels with the intention of overthrowing Caridad, the country’s cruel dictator and also one of the world’s most notorious drug lords.

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In “Miracles” (Wolverine # 20, January 1990) and “Battleground” (Wolverine # 21, February 1990) Goodwin reveals more information about Geist, an expert survivor, a man who has always supported the cruelest leaders of the 20th century, including Adolf Hitler during WWII.

In “Outburst!” (Wolverine # 22, March 1990) Logan, La Bandera and their allies fight against the Spore, a bacterial infection that comes from another galaxy and that has contaminated Caridad’s vast supplies of cocaine.

“Endings” (Wolverine # 23, April 1990) is my favorite issue of the bunch.

The revolution is over. La Bandera has defeated Caridad, the dictator of Tierra Verde; however, she immediately realizes how hard it can be dealing with political issues. Logan tells her that winning a revolution is the easy part, the hard part comes later. Roughouse decides to stay in Tierra Verde and help rebuild the country. And Logan returns to Madripoor, feeling guilty for letting Geist run away. In the final pages, we see Geist living comfortably in the United States. Geist had been a Nazi officer in a concentration camp in which Magneto had been imprisoned; for the lord of magnetism, war crimes can never be forgiven, so he finds Geist, ambushes him, and acts like judge, jury and executioner.

[gurkle]

Let's not forget that Archie Goodwin was the editor-in-chief who helped save Marvel.

In the mid-70s Marvel had gone through four editors-in-chief after Stan Lee relinquished the position. Gerry Conway, Goodwin's predecessor, didn't even last a month. Goodwin helped right the ship and stabilize the company, and it was during his editorship that Marvel made such excellent decisions as putting John Byrne on Uncanny X-Men and combining the Power Man and Iron Fist books into one.

Goodwin did not want the job permanently and let his assistant editor, Jim Shooter, take over, but without him there might not have been much for Shooter to take over.

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If only there were to be an "Archie Goodwin" nowadays to help save Marvel and let a "Jim Shooter" assistent editor take over as to continue saving Marvel.

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Comic Editor Archie Goodwin Tribute

[Shadowcat]

You forgot his short, but unforgettable Dazzler run, with Paul Chadwick on art. Amazing stuff.

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"The day comics grew up" [1989]
This was a British documentary about comic books, the writers and artists,
from 1988 or '89, that was shown on the Australian ABC network back in mid-1990.
It looks at British and American comics, along with Japanese Manga, and touches on
the then relatively new subject of [now very and primitive dated] video games.
It also looks at the convention scene.

It has nice interviews with some of the creators [some of whom have since passed away],
such as Archie Goodwin, Alan Moore, Jim Baikie, John Byrne, Tom Veitch, Cam Kennedy and others.

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Walter Simonson tells us about Manhunter, Archie Goodwin, Galactica,
Raiders of the Lost Ark, Marvel, the eighties, Thor, Fantastic Four, Ragnarök and more.

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Mighty Marvel Comic Art Convention 1976. Featuring: Stan Lee autograph session;
At 3:40 an interview with Editor in Chief Archie Goodwin.

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Mighty Marvel Comic Art Convention 1976. Featuring: Captain America signs autographs.
With art lesson by Big John Buscema, sketching Conan the Barbarian. Tom Fagan,

Roy Thomas plus a Kung Fu demonstration.