Following the success of their Star Wars comic in the late 70's, Marvel licensed several short lived toy lines, searching for a similar mass market hit. Bill Mantlo developed Mego's Micronauts action figures into a series, alongside the inspired pencils of Michael Golden. This sci-fantasy title clearly riffed on Star Wars, although as Peter Gillis pointed out, the model for the series was closer to George Lucas' inspiration, Flash Gordon (or if you want to travel further back to the root, John Carter). All the archetypes are present; the otherworld hero, the feisty princess, the dashing rogue, the stoic warrior king, and of course the bickering robot servants. Following Golden's departure after the first year, The Micronauts became stuck in a cycle of repeating story arcs and diminishing returns. The title was only saved from cancellation by a pioneering move to direct sales only, along with fellow strugglers Ka-Zar and Moon Knight. The microscopic heroes would play Land of the Giants on Earth, then return to the Microverse to defeat resurrected bad guy Baron Karza. After five years running this treadmill, the Micros' Homeworld lay in ruins, all life extinguished. It was clearly time for a clean slate and fresh approach.
In 1984, co-creator Mantlo and penciller Jackson 'Butch' Guice moved on to what turned out to be a short lived creator owned Epic series, Swords of the Swashbucklers. Ralph Macchio had recently took over as Micros editor, so naturally he turned to old friend and sci-fi enthusiast Peter Gillis to take over the reins. Gillis' initial reaction to Macchio's choice of penciller was along the lines of "You're giving me the teenage inker?" Macchio had discovered Kelley Jones' art submission while clearing out his new office, and felt that Jones' inking would be a great match for Guice. Jones inked Guice's final 5 issues, but had never pencilled a comic before and was far less confident than Macchio that he was ready to take over Micronauts. His fears proved groundless though, as Jones hit the ground running with some brilliant pencils. Bernie Wrightson may have been a clear inspiration, but the time spent inking Butch Guice had also rubbed off on his attractive detailed style. This bold new creative team was rounded out by Gillis stalwart Bruce Patterson on inks.
Micronauts #59 (1984)
Pencils: Kelley Jones
Inks: Bruce Patterson
Gillis and Jones' first issue became the last of the original series, as they were left to provide an epilogue to Mantlo and Guice's apocalyptic planet razing send-off. Following their pyrrhic victory against Karza, the Micronauts process grief over the death of their Homeworld. Unsure what eulogy to leave behind, they are in the end inspired by their droids' curiosity about their emotional states to each leave a poetic message on a beacon for travellers. This is a solemn, beautiful issue whose character vignettes and full page portraits give both writer and artist opportunity to shine. Rather than a customary fight scene, the issue culminates in text pages of each member's prose eulogy. A wonderful start that perfectly sets the tone for the new series to come.
Next: the cosmos awaits, in the majestic New Voyages.
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