''Hollywood Superstars'' is a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series created by writer

Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series ''Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and bl ...

and artist

Dan Spiegle Dan Spiegle (December 10, 1920 – January 28, 2017) was an American comics artist and cartoonist best known for comics based on movie and television characters across a variety of companies, including Dell Comics, DC Comics, and Marvel Comi ...

originally for

Epic Comics Epic Comics (also known as the Epic Comics Group)Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins: The Truth About the Epic Comics Group!" Marvel comics cover-dated November 1982. was an imprint of Marvel Comics from 1982 to 1996. A spin-off of the publisher's ...

, an imprint for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

for creator owned properties, and ran from November 1990 to April 1991. Thematically, it is similar to an early series by the same team, ''

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. S ...

'', published by

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market. It was ...

, but without the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

element.

Premise

The series featured the adventures of Jerry Naylor, a

stunt coordinator A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company for stunt casting. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of stunts for a ...

disillusioned the film industry, Melody, an aspiring actress trying break into the business and Leo Haney, a good natured

stand up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

. Together, they run a private detective agency in Hollywood, where they deal with various crises such as irresponsible professionals who recklessly endanger innocents in the making of films. In keeping with the creative team's tradition, Evanier also posted lengthy essays about the entertainment industry with color illustrations by famed cartoonist,

Sergio Aragones Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

Production history

The series was commissioned by then Epic editor, Archie Goodwin, who wanted a regular series for the imprint by a reliable creative team that could appeal to a different audience than Marvel's usual fandom. Goodwin anticipated running the series for 1–2 years, possibly at a small loss, while using it to explore alternative means of distribution. Furthermore, the stories would be later bound in

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

for sale in

book store A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...

s; it's a retail concept that would become regular practice in subsequent decades. The arrangements with Marvel's legal team took 10 months to develop an acceptable contract with Evanier and Spiegle. By then, Goodwin had moved to

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

and the current editorship had no interest in marketing material beyond their mainstream comics audience and the title proved short-lived as a result. In 2014,

About Comics About Comics is a publisher of comics and comics-related material founded in 1998 by Nat Gertler. According to Gertler, it is intended to be "eithera mainstream comics publisher, nor an alternative comics publisher". The company has published w ...

collected the material for the first time, releasing the entire run in a single black-and-white volume.

References

External links

Hollywood Superstars
on Mark Evanier's personal website Epic Comics titles {{comics-stub