''Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon'' is a two-issue

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 that represents one of the earliest

independent comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which i ...

. The first issue was self-published by prominent writer-artist

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...

in 1969, with a second issue published by CPL Gang Publications in 1976. This comic-book series is unrelated to the organization HEROES, Inc. ("Honor Every Responsible Officer's Eternal Sacrifice"), a

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

aid group for families of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

Publication history

Writer-artist

, who by 1969 had had a critically admired two decades in

comic books 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 ...

, self-published the first issue of his mature-audience comic ''Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon'' that year, after having already self-published a similar

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

, ''

witzend ''witzend'', published on an irregular schedule spanning decades, is an underground comic showcasing contributions by comic book professionals, leading illustrators and new artists. ''witzend'' was launched in 1966 by the writer-artist Wallace Wo ...

''. These comics, along with such titles by other publishers as '' Star Reach'' (1974), ''

Big Apple Comix ''Big Apple Comix'' is an early independent comic book published by Flo Steinberg in 1975. A historically important link between underground comix and what would later be called alternative comics, this 36-page, 6" × 9" hybrid with glossy color c ...

'' (1975), and ''

American Splendor ''American Splendor'' is a series of autobiographical comic books written by Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the last one in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular interva ...

'' (1976), helped bridge the gap between the countercultural

underground comics Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

and traditional mainstream fare, providing genre stories for an adult audience. Like those other examples, it was a forerunner of the late-1970s rise of the modern

graphic novel 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 ...

and the 1980s independent-comic publishing boom. Created for the military readership Wood had cultivated with his "

Sally Forth Sally Forth may refer to: * ''Sally Forth'' (Greg Howard comic strip) (from 1982) * ''Sally Forth'' (Wally Wood comic strip) (1968–74) * "Sally Forth", an episode of ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' (season 4) See salso * Sally port A sally p ...

" feature in ''Military News'' and '' Overseas Weekly'', the first issue contained no

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

indicia. The only publishing information was on an editorial page that gave the office address as "Armed Forces Dist., P.O. Box 23635, Pleasant Hill, Calif." Not targeted at children and carrying no

Comics Code The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. T ...

seal, it contained more action/combat violence and more revealing clothing on nubile young women than did mainstream comics, though it did not contain

nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to ...

gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...

; most deaths occurred in

silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

, off-panel or indeterminately within battle scenes. The glossy cover promoted "Amazing Adult Adventure".''Heroes,_Inc.''_#[nn
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/nowiki>, Wallace Wood, 1969 Series">n">''Heroes, Inc.'' #[nn
/nowiki>, Wallace Wood, 1969 Seriesat the Grand Comics Database">n
/nowiki>, Wallace Wood, 1969 Series">n">''Heroes, Inc.'' #[nn
/nowiki>, Wallace Wood, 1969 Seriesat the Grand Comics Database In October 2005, Heritage Auctions auctioned off a lot containing approximately 70,000 copies of the issue.

First issue

The 32-page, color comic book featured three stories with original characters. Priced at 15 cents when a typical comic book cost 12 cents, it bore no issue number. The cover was signed "Wally Wood 1969". The inside front cover bore a full-page ad for Mesa Hills home sites, P.O. Box 788m Santa Fe,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. A full-page ad following the first story advertised National Diamond Sales, 437 12th Street,

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The following page contained two stacked, half-page public-service ads, one for the

U.S.O. The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

, the other for U.S. Savings Bonds. A Military Diamond Sales ad after the second story gave the same address as the editorial office. Following the stories came a full-page ad for U.S. Diamond Sales, 1128 Broadway, Oakland, California. The inside back cover contained the text piece "Salute to a Medal of Honor Winner", with a black-and-white photo of U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Robert E. O'Malley. The back cover was yet another diamond-company ad, for Armed Forces Diamond Sales, 1126 Broadway, Oakland, California. The 12-page "Cannon", written and inked by Wood,

penciled A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

and credited as "Wally Wood 1969" and "Art by Ditko and Wood", was an espionage adventure starring the titular

C.I.A. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

agent, who has been brainwashed so deeply during capture by

cold war The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

that, when recovered by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

military, scientists "go all the way" and continue brainwashing him as a covert assassin for the U.S. He is assigned to rescue or assassinate Jean Voss, a nubile young member of an American anti-missile defense lab, who was kidnapped by

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, presumably

Red Chinese The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

, Communists with a base on the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...

. "Cannon" went on to be published in serial form, in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

's ''Overseas Weekly'', starting in 1971.Cannon
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 ...

Archived
from the original November 7, 2011 "The Misfits", a 10-page story written and penciled by Wood, inked by

Ralph Reese Ralph Reese (born May 19, 1949) is an American artist who has illustrated for books, magazines, trading cards, comic books and comic strips, including a year drawing the '' Flash Gordon'' strip for King Features. Prolific from the 1960s to the 1 ...

and credited "W. Wood and R. Reese" and "Copyright Wally Wood 1969", follows Mystra, a nubile young artificial human with telepathic abilities; Shag, a boyish blue extraterrestrial stranded on Earth; and Glomb, a human infant mutated by American scientists into a gray, simpleminded giant created to explore the planet

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

. Captives of the government's "Operation Misfit", they escape, only to confront an albino alien invader. Reflecting less-enlightened times, page two of "The Misfits" includes this dialog from English-speaking officials at the scene of a spaceship landing: ::"A man just emerged from the ship... Hey! It's a white man..." ::"Well, that's a good sign, anyway...." The five-page "Dragonella" credited "Script by

Ron Whyte Ronald Melville Whyte (1941–1989) was an American playwright, critic, and disability rights activist. Early life Whyte was born November 18, 1941, in Black Eagle, Montana, to Eva Ranieri, a homemaker. and Henry Melville Whyte, a railroad ma ...

and W. Wood", with art by Wood, and noted "Copyright Wally Wood 1969", is a humorous adventure of a fairy-tale baby abandoned in the woods and raised into nubile young womanhood by kindly dragons "of the ancient and noble family Isaurus". Named Dragonella, she eventually ventures forth seeking a prince to marry, accompanied by her dragon "brother", St. George. Before the final story is a letter-from-the-editor page, hand-lettered on a montage of Wood art and signed "Sincerely, Wallace Wood".

Second issue

Published in 1976 by CPL Gang Publications—which published the fanzines ''CPL (Contemporary Pictorial Literature)'' and '' Charlton Bullseye'' before its various editors and artists, including

Roger Slifer Roger Allen Slifer (; November 11, 1954 – March 30, 2015) was an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and television producer who co-created the character Lobo for DC Comics. Among the many comic-book series for which he wrote was DC's '' O ...

and

Roger Stern Roger Stern (born September 17, 1950) is an American comic book author and novelist. Biography Early career In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine ''CPL'' (''Contemporary Pictorial Literature''), one of the first platfor ...

, turned professional—this magazine-sized second issue carried a $2 cover price.''Heroes, Inc.'' #2, CPL/Gang Publications, 1976 Series
at the Grand Comics Database It contains an untitled, seven-page "The Misfits" story written and drawn by Wood; 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, ...

feature "The Black Angel", with the seven-page story "Beware the Sirens” by co-writers

Mike Vosburg Mike Vosburg (born July 23, 1947) is an American comic book artist primarily known for his work on the ''Tales from the Crypt (TV series), Tales from the Crypt'' TV series. Biography Mike Vosburg's comics career began in the 1960s, when as a 15- ...

and

, drawn by Vosburg; and an untitled, 14-page "Cannon" story, written and inked by Wood and drawn by Ditko. In addition, the inside front cover contained a full-page Wood illustration of the character Dynamo, from

Tower Comics Tower Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1965 to 1969, best known for Wally Wood's ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', a strange combination of secret agents and superheroes; and Samm Schwartz's ''Tippy Teen'', an Archi ...

' ''

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' is a fictional team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics in the 1960s. They were an arm of the United Nations and were notable for their depiction of the heroes as everyday pe ...

''; a two-page centerspread illustration of the original character Kadavahr the Resurrected, by John Byrne, plus an additional page of Byrne art; and a back-cover illustration by Wood of the original character Animan. The covers for both issues were colored by

Marie Severin Marie Severin (; August 21, 1929 – August 29, 2018) was an American comics artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics. She is an inductee of the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame and the Harvey Awards ...

References

External links

* {{cite web , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205005550/http://splashpages.com/ , title=Wally Wood , publisher=SplashPages.com , archivedate=December 5, 2007 , url=http://www.splashpages.com/ , url-status=dead , access-date=March 14, 2006Includes. Comics magazines published in the United States 1969 comics debuts 1976 comics endings Spy comics Adult comic strips Adventure comics Science fiction comics Fantasy comics Action comics Characters created by Wally Wood Male characters in comics