It’s been a tough week for classic comic fans as several beloved creators have passed away: Russ Heath, Marie Severin and Gary Friedrich.  Each has left behind an impressive body of work that will be celebrated for years to come.

Gary Friedrich, often tagged with the Marvel nomenclature as Groovy Gary Friedrich, was special as he was the Marvel writer who hooked me in deep.

Friedrich had quite an origin to his own comics career.  He came into the industry along with his hometown pal Roy Thomas. He shared an apartment with Bill Everett and freelanced on Charlton Comics and Mars Attacks! and Superman trading cards at Topps. Friedrich created Hell-Rider for Skywald, and in retrospect it’s easy to see that this character was a prototype for his signature Marvel creation: The Ghost Rider. 

While at Marvel, Friedrich would write quite a number of titles, but beyond The Ghost Rider, there was something special about his writing on one title in particular that grabbed me: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos.  Continue reading “With Further Ado: WAH-HO0 for Gary Friedrich” →