57: The Last Word

Peter Gillis' last years as a writer were dominated by projects that didn't quite come to fruition. He had several books in the pipeline, including sci-fi and fantasy novels, plus a short story collection Welcome to the Gillisverse. He'd also written a couple of unfilmed screenplays.

In 2016 Gillis began a serialised freewheeling web subscription story Romance of the Rose, through Connor Cochlan's Conlan Press. Gillis asked Dr Strange artist Mark Badger to provide the illustrations. Legal disputes at Conlan curtailed publication, so only 29 of its 50 chapters were posted. I believe 1First were lined up to publish a completed edition, but there's been no word on that since.

During the pandemic of 2020, PBG vowed to post a chapter a day of a new story online. As lockdown ended up running much longer than expected, his tongue in cheek madcap fantasy Humans concluded after 191 chapters, which are still available to read.

Following the publication of The Black Flame graphic novel, 1First approached Gillis about reviving Shatter. Gillis penned a 6 issue mini, with Pat Broderick on art, the first collaboration between the two since a 1980 What If. Progress was halted by a couple of factors: a video game in development based on the property, which eventually fell through, plus the pandemic. The artwork was completed in 2022, but sadly Shatter 2.0 is still yet to appear. I contacted 1First, who were very helpful and said they are still working on a release. Hopefully it'll come out soon, so when/if it does, I'll post a review here. From preview pages it looks like the monkey army is back, plus Shatter's been to the Three Stooges hairdresser.

Peter Gillis also found some well deserved recognition in his final years. As well as appearances at Chicago comic con, he also got to attend the premiere of the Eternals movie and see his name in the credits for his creation Phastos. Most of his Marvel work has finally been collected over the past few years, leading to appearances on podcasts, including a couple produced by Marvel themselves. Listening to interviews on Kurtis Findlay's excellent Epic Marvel Podcast series renewed my interest in Peter Gillis' work and classic Marvel in general, after drifting away from the mainstream scene for quite some time.

Other sources I'd like to thank: 

DNA Podcasts conducted a lengthy in depth interview.

Travis Hedge Coke did a great interview.

And of course, there's Peter Gillis' old blog and Facebook.

I'm also glad for my hoarding instincts, as those 1980's Marvel Age and Amazing Heroes back issues proved invaluable. Especially grateful to Peter Sanderson for his frequent column inches in the latter devoted to PBG's output.

My final thanks goes to Peter B. Gillis for writing so many wonderful stories, that I've really enjoyed exploring once more. Cheers for reading.