Spyman is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

, a short-lived

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 ...

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, ...

published by

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfr ...

' Harvey Thriller

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

in the mid-1960s. He starred in three issues of his own comic,

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d September 1966 to February 1967. ''Spyman'' #1 contained the first professional comic book works by

Jim Steranko James F. Steranko (; born November 5, 1938) is an American graphic artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator. His most famous comic book work was with the 1960s superspy feature " ...

. Steranko created the concept and plotted the first story. However, he did not supply any artwork, except the first page splash which includes a diagram of his robot hand. This was one of three concepts Steranko created for Harvey that saw print. Spyman was secret agent Johnny Chance, who lost his left hand defusing a nuclear bomb. Johnny was an agent of the American spy group LIBERTY, headquartered under the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

. After losing his hand, he would be outfitted with an 'Electro Robot Hand', each finger a different tool/weapon. He would soon be outfitted with a belt with extra fingers with additional uses. Chance and LIBERTY fought against MIRAGE (Empire of Guerrilla Assassination, Revenge, and International Menace), led by the Whisperer. Whisperer was killed in the first issue, and Chance would go on to fight Cyclops and the Evil Eye Society in the second issue and the Id Machine in the third. It is unknown who wrote the stories; it may have been editor

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the ...

. Pencil art was by

George Tuska George Tuska (; April 26, 1916 – October 16, 2009),George Tuska
at the Social Security Death Index via Fami ...

with

inking Inking may refer to: *Inking (attack), act of throwing ink on other person *Inking, a defensive activity of certain cephalopods and sea hares * Inking (comic book production) *Pen computing Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using ...

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

, with some inks by

Reed Crandall Reed Leonard Crandall (February 22, 1917 – September 13, 1982) Reed Crandall
at ...

, in the first issue. Ayers inked the second issue, then

Bill Draut Bill Draut (August 14, 1921–March 3, 1993) was an American comic book artist best known for his work at Harvey Comics and DC Comics from the 1940s to the 1970s. Biography Bill Draut began his career as an artist in the 1940s by drawing the " ...

the third.

References

External links

*Archive o
Spyman
at SimonComics.com (

site)
Original page

at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Spyman at International SuperheroesDial B for Blog on Spyman
(included Steranko's original concept sketch) {{Comics-char-stub Harvey Comics titles Harvey Comics superheroes 1966 comics debuts 1967 comics endings Comics characters introduced in 1966