''Void Indigo'' was a short-lived and controversial

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 written by

Steve Gerber Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include ''Man-Thing'', ''Omega the Unknown,'' ''Marvel Spotlight:' ...

and drawn by

Val Mayerik Val Mayerik (born March 29, 1950) is an American comic book and commercial artist, best known as co-creator of the satiric character ''Howard the Duck'' for ''Marvel Comics''. Biography Early life and career Val Mayerik was born in Youngstown, ...

. It was published by

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 ...

from 1983 to 1984. ''Void Indigo'' focuses on an alien named Jhagur (he is known on Earth as "

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

"). Jhagur had been a human on Earth in a previous incarnation, and he returns to Earth with a spirit of vengeance against the four wizards who had tortured and killed him in his previous life. He comes to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at the end of the graphic novel.

Publishing history

Gerber initially shopped the story to independent publishers as well as

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 ...

, but could not come to an agreement. He brought it to

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 ...

, a company he had recently quit. Originally a pitch for revamping

Hawkman Hawkman is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1, published by All-American ...

, Gerber reworked the story into one of the first

graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

(''

Marvel Graphic Novel ''Marvel Graphic Novel'' (''MGN'') is a line of graphic novel trade paperbacks published from 1982 to 1993 by Marvel Comics. The books were published in an oversized format, 8.5" x 11", similar to French albums. In response, DC Comics establ ...

'' #11) published by

in 1983. It was then meant to spin out into a six-issue

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

by Epic. There were minor references implying that the story was set in the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...

in spite of it being a creator-owned title. Due to the comic's extreme (for the time) portrayal of violence, however, distributor reaction to the first issue of the limited series was negative. Critical reaction was harsh for the same reason: in his ''

Comics Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The public ...

'' column, "The Law is a Ass",

Bob Ingersoll Robert Ingersoll (born October 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and writer. Ingersoll's full-time occupation was an appellate attorney with the Cuyahoga County Public Defender Office in Cleveland, Ohio, until he retired in 2009. He is more widely ...

cited the book as being a "crime against humanity". In revisiting his columns a decade later, Ingersoll edited his criticism to take out "very inappropriate" assumptions about Gerber, although he still found the series to be "pustulate". Orders for the second issue dropped due to negative reviews, and Epic's editor-in-chief Archie Goodwin considered it not worth publishing the rest of the series due to the pressures he and the company were under. Issues #3–6 were never completed, although the synopsis was later leaked onto the Internet,VOID INDIGO, Storyline Synopsis – Issues #3–6 (November 8, 1984).
/ref> providing an idea as to how the series would have finished.

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1983 comics debuts Marvel Comics graphic novels Marvel Comics limited series Comics by Steve Gerber Defunct American comics Unpublished comics Science fantasy comics