#4 Archie Goodwin



For my money, Archie Goodwin was the best editor to ever set blue pencil to paper, in comics. He was the epitome of what an editor should be; not just a traffic manager, but also someone who nutures the talent and helps them craft their best work. He was that rare person in a top position that no one ever (that I read) had a negative word. But, this isn't favorite editors.

One of the things that made Archie the best editor was that he was the best writer, without even trying. Archie could write rings around his colleagues, without being showy about it. He wrote complex characters, interesting plots, and great, natural dialogue.

He had multiple Batman stories, which were great in their own right; but, his concoction, with a very young Walt Simonson, of Manhunter, really stood out. It was just 8 pages, in the back of those 100-pg issues, but it dominated the book. Archie slowly unveiled a mystery of a man, spoken in whispers, who seems to be both hero and villain. Interpol agent Christine St Claire travels the globe, tracking down rumors, until she finally catches up with the man, and finds the truth is even wilder than the rumors. In those pages, Archie gave us just enough to let our brains add texture to the descriptions of Manhunter's battles. Walt gave us key frames, speeding up or slowing down the pace with the layouts and panel numbers, which he credits to Archie. Christine is a narrator for most of the first third, but you get a sense of who she is. Then, she meets Paul Kirk and they fight their way out of a bad situation. So, she proves quite capable on her own. It just builds and builds, then reaches an epic conclusion, something that didn't happen in mainstream comics. Of course, it helped that Archie was going to Marvel.

At Marvel, Archie handled this and that; but, it was on Star Wars that he really impressed me. I've said it before and I will say it again; Archie Goodwin is the best writer to ever pen a Star Wars story, and that includes Leigh brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, Donald Glut, Alan Dean Foster, and Timothy Zahn, let alone George Lucas. Archie understood the archetypes and he made them real characters. After the initial adaptation, the series struggled a bit to figure out what to do next. Roy had a nice idea, about doing The Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven; but he got a bit too cute about it. When Archie came on, he took us back to Tatooine and showed us what life was now like under direct Imperial rule. We saw former adversaries working together on the planet, in the face of dangerous Imperial experiments. we saw Han confront Jabba and we met an ex-Imperial stormtrooper-turned-bounty hunter, named Valance, who hated droids. We soon learned why and he immediately became one of the most memorable characters in the Star Wars universe, one who I am convinced inspired Boba Fett, as he was presented in the films. If that weren't enough, he gave us a new antagonist, since Lucasfilm was holding back on some things and limited the use of Vader and the reveal of the emperor. So, Archie created Baron Tagge, a rival for Vader, who hates him as much as the Rebel Alliance. He has family money and the power that comes with it, practices with a lightsaber, and bears a grudge against Vader for blinding him. This was really good stuff.

Then, Archie took over the newspaper strip and wrote some terrific stories, with Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon on art. Russ Manning had been doing the strip; but, it was never quite as good as the Marvel stuff. Archie changed that. If anything, the newspaper strips became better.

Archie also reunited with Walt on the Alien adaptation, for Heavy Metal. There, he got relatively free rein to adapt the movie and he is both faithful to the story and yet adds new layers to Ridley Scott's somewhat thinly sketched characters (using Dan O'Bannon's script). They crafted a masterpiece which stood as an example of how to adapt a movie to the medium of comics and use the structural elements of comics to their best.

If that wasn't enough, Archie penned dozens of stories for Warren, while editing the line and almost single-handedly crafted Blazing Combat, one of the greatest war comics anthologies ever created. Archie wrote about real soldiers and real wars, not the Hollywood stuff. He also had the cajones to write a story from the point of view of a Viet Cong guerilla, during the height of the Vietnam War. It got them kicked out of the military PXes and pretty much killed the comic; but, damn it was worth it!

Archie would occasionally pen a story, in his latter days, just to keep his hand in and everyone drooled with envy. His legacy is still more how he helped young talent find their best voice and how he created about the only real garden spot at Shooter's Marvel, with Epic, where creativity was applauded, not shoehorned into one template. When he passed away, a light went out in the comic world and they are still looking for a new bulb.