Tom Veitch: 1941 to 2022

I was sorry to hear that writer Tom Veitch had passed away on February 18th at the age of 80 from COVID-19. Tom Veitch had a career that spanned over four decades. He was a contributor to the underground comix movement of the early 1970s, as well as a novelist & a poet. Veitch was the older brother of acclaimed comic book creator Rick Veitch.

I am most familiar with the work Tom Veitch did in mainstream comic books from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. During this time he did work published by Marvel, DC and Dark Horse.

Animal Man #41 cover art by Brian Bolland, published by DC Comics in Dec 1991

Veitch became the writer on Animal Man from DC Comics with issue #33, cover-dated March 1991. He had the unenviable task of following after the acclaimed work of Grant Morrison and Peter Milligan on that series. Veitch’s run lasted through issue #50, August 1992.

I was in high school when Veitch was writing Animal Man and, truth be told, my tastes were, well, less than refined, so to speak.  To be brutally honest, I was a Marvel Zombie, a superhero junkie. I bought several issues of Animal Man for the stunning covers by Brian Bolland. I was definitely caught off-guard by the decidedly unconventional work inside by Veitch, who for most of his run was paired up with interior artist Steve Dillon. David Klein & Mark Badger, Brett Ewins & Jim McCarthy and Steve Pugh also contributed artwork during Veitch’s year and a half run.

Looking back on those issues of Animal Man, and my reactions to them, at the time I was probably lacking in the maturity & knowledge of political & social topics such as environmentalism, animal rights and faith & spirituality, to truly appreciate the work of Veitch and his artistic collaborators.  Nevertheless, I did have a certain appreciation for the stories they were telling. Veitch did a superb job of writing Animal Man / Buddy Baker’s relationship with his wife Ellen and daughter Maxine. I have no doubt that if I were to revisit those comics in the present day that I would enjoy them a great deal, as well as have a much greater appreciation for the themes & subjects which Veitch was addressing in his stories.

Animal Man #41 written by Tom Veitch, drawn by Steve Dillon, lettered by John Costanza and colored by Tatjana Wood, published by DC Comics in Dec 1991

In 1988 Veitch and artist Cam Kennedy had collaborated on the six issue creator-owned war / fantasy series The Light and Darkness War published by the Epic imprint of Marvel Comics. As he later recounted in Back Issue #55 from TwoMorrows Publishing, Veitch subsequently sent copies of The Light and Darkness War to George Lucas with a proposal for a new Star Wars comic book series. It’s perhaps difficult to understand now, but in 1989 Star Wars was considered a moribund property, and Veitch & Kennedy were among the few people genuinely interested in taking it forward. Lucas was impressed by their work and gave them the green light.

Star Wars: Dark Empire #1 cover art by Dave Dorman, published by Dark Horse Comics in Dec 1991

Veitch & Kennedy initially pitched this new Star Wars project to Marvel, who had published the ongoing SW comic book from 1977 to 1986. Marvel, however, got cold feet, believing SW was no longer commercially viable.  Veitch convinced Lucasfilm to speak with independent publisher Dark Horse Comics, who had recently done a successful comic book continuation of the Aliens franchise. The project was moved over to Dark Horse, and the six issue Star Wars: Dark Empire by Veitch & Kennedy, with painted covers by Dave Dorman, was published bimonthly from December 1991 to October 1992. The epic, ambitious, galaxy-spanning Dark Empire was a huge success, and Dark Horse retained the Star Wars license until 2014, when Disney bought the entire property up and returned it to Marvel.

Dark Empire was followed in 1994 by a six issue sequel, Dark Empire II, also by Veitch & Kennedy. Veitch’s storyline concluded in the two issue Empire’s End in 1995, this time with artwork by Jim Baike. I’ve always gotten the impression that Empire’s End was originally planned as another six issue miniseries and was chopped town to a third that length. Nevertheless, despite its seemingly rushed nature, it did provide a decent ending to the Dark Empire trilogy.

Veitch also wrote several Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi miniseries . Set thousands of years before the movie trilogy, Tales of the Jedi chronicled the early years of the Jedi and their battles with the ancient Sith.

Veitch is generally considered to be one of the key figures in revitalizing interest in the Star Wars franchise during the 1990s, helping to lay the groundwork for Lucas himself to eventually return to the a galaxy far, far away with the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars animated series.

Star Wars: Dark Empire #4 written by Tom Veitch, drawn & colored by Cam Kennedy and lettered by Todd Klein, published by Dark Horse Comics in June 1992

Some of the ideas & concepts in Veitch’s Star Wars stories have inspired more recent material. Most notably, it was Veitch & Kennedy who first resurrected Emperor Palpatine in a cloned body in their Dark Empire trilogy, a development that was made canonical in the 2019 movie The Rise of Skywalker. Dark Empire also saw Boba Fett return from his seeming demise in the maw of the Saarlac to become a prominent figure, again something that has been adopted by the live action SW universe in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.

Animal Man and Star Wars were but two facets of Veitch’s rich, lengthy writing career. He was an unconventional, imaginative creator who will definitely be missed.

Steampunk E.T. : The Bozz Chronicles

The Bozz Chronicles was a six issue comic book series by writer David Michelinie and artist Bret Blevins.  It was originally published bi-monthly by Marvel Comics under their Epic imprint from December 1985 to November 1986.  I recall seeing house ads for the series back when I was nine years old, but I never had an opportunity to read it.  Now, thirty years later, The Bozz Chronicles has finally been collected into a trade paperback by Dover Publications.

Michelinie was inspired to create The Bozz Chronicles after seeing the Steven Spielberg movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.  An idea struck Michelinie: What if an alien landed on Earth in an earlier era, before human technology was advanced enough to cobble together a device with which to phone home?  Michelinie decided to have his alien protagonist become stranded in England in the late Victorian Era, a period that he knew would be familiar to readers through literature, television and films.

Epic Comics editor Archie Goodwin suggested that Michelinie collaborate with up-and-coming artist Bret Blevins.  It was Blevins who designed the looks of the characters, including the unique appearance of Bozz (so called because his unpronounceable alien name begins with a buzzing sound).

Having become marooned on Earth in the late 19th Century, Bozz is overcome by despair.  He is a gentle, soulful being, a total outsider in the chaotic world of humanity.  Despondent over the thought of never returning home, Bozz is ready to kill himself.  His suicide attempt is interrupted by Mandy Flynn, a London prostitute.

Mandy immediately takes a liking to Bozz.  Inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, she decides to set herself and Bozz up as private investigators, hoping that the intellectual stimulation of solving mysteries will distract the alien from his severe ennui.  On a more pragmatic level, Mandy also recognized that the brilliant Bozz has the potential to bring in a large number of well-paying clients, thus providing her with a way out of the dangerous, degrading profession of a hooker.

On one of their early cases, Bozz and Mandy encounter “Madman” Salem Hankshaw, a two-fisted Texan expatriate.  The rough & tumble American joins their detective firm, providing both muscle and snarky wit.  Bozz and Mandy’s investigations also results in them crossing paths with the aristocratic Colin Fitzroy who, dissatisfied with the life of the idle rich, joined Scotland Yard.  Salem and Fitzroy are polar opposites, so naturally enough a rivalry develops between them, especially after the police detective takes an interest in Mandy.

I’ve been a fan of Michelinie’s writing for many years, especially his two now-classic runs on Iron Man with Bob Layton.  Even so, I was especially impressed by Michelinie’s writing on The Bozz Chronicles.  It is very witty and intelligent, a deft blending of Grand Guignol and farcical slapstick with a helping of genuine sentiment.  Michelinie does good work in developing his cast of characters, and in constructing the bizarre mysteries that drive the plots.

Blevins is another creator whose work I enjoy, and I was very impressed by his art on The Bozz Chronicles.  He demonstrates a genuine versatility in these issues.  Bozz is a cartoony, abstract figure, and Mandy is drawn as a sexy “good girl” pin-up type.  In contrast, many of their adversaries are grotesque monstrosities.

The Bozz Chronicles is an early example of what is now known as steampunk.  I think it is noteworthy that most steampunk involves taking the aesthetics of the late 19th Century and transplanting them into a different era or dimension.  This is undoubtedly due to the fact that for most of the population of the Victorian Era life was extremely difficult and grueling.  It was characterized by a cavernous divide between an impoverished majority and a wealthy aristocracy, by the exploitation of labor, and by the beginnings of global pollution as private industry ran completely unregulated.

(The novel Hard Times by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854, offers a particularly brutal portrait of this time period.)

Michelinie and Blevins do not shy away from the unpleasant realities of the Victorian Era.  The character of Mandy is a definite example of this.  Orphaned after her father abandoned her and her mother died, the uneducated young woman was forced to become a prostitute to make ends meet.  In one story Michelinie introduces a group of wealthy men seeking to use super-science to manipulate the political landscape, to ensure that the dire economic status quo remains in place.  As rendered by Blevins, London during the Industrial Revolution is a grimy & dangerous city.

Veteran artist Al Williamson assisted with inking The Bozz Chronicles.  His detailed embellishments suited Blevins’ penciling perfectly.

Also contributing to the series is John Ridgeway.  Due to deadline problems, he drew issue #4.  This made for an unusual experience.  On a creator-owned title you very seldom see outside artists coming in to do a fill-in story.  Cerebus the Aardvark was only ever drawn by Dave Sim, every issue of Strangers in Paradise was by Terry Moore, and no one is going to be pinch-hitting for Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez on Love and Rockets.

Yet for one issue The Bozz Chronicles was drawn not by Blevins but by Ridgeway.  It was interesting to see Blevins’ designs interpreted by Ridgeway.  His style is so quintessentially British.  It was so very well suited to drawing this story, a horror mystery set in an English country village in the middle of the winter.

The only weak point I found in The Bozz Chronicles is in the depiction of native Africans.  In the last two issues of the series we meet a tribe who, having encountered other members of Bozz’s people centuries before, believe he is a god.  Now admittedly Bozz is a very unusual looking figure, and he possesses some amazing abilities that seem very much like magic.  Nevertheless, the Africans do come across as rather superstitious and a bit gullible.

Okay, aside from that, I really enjoyed The Bozz Chronicles.  I read the entire book in less than a day.  I did not want to put it down.  And when I got to the end I was disappointed, because I knew that was it, there were no other stories by Michelinie & Blevins featuring Bozz and Mandy and Salem.  I wanted more!

Fortunately, because The Bozz Chronicles was published through Epic, Michelinie & Blevins retained ownership of the series.  Hopefully, with the original material now back in print, it will generate enough interest for them to reunite to create new stories.  Blevins drew a new illustration for the TPB cover, which I take as a good sign.  Cross your fingers.