Back when CrossGen looked to have a future with endless possibilties, there were actually some prototype toys made.

This a picture of the only surviving prototype of a Master Popo figure that was to come in a “Barrel of Popos.”

No kidding. It’s for real.

Many thanks to Zack Santiago not only for rescuing this relic from the trash heap of comics history but also fopr posting it on his Facebook page.

Here’s the text of an interview with me at an Italian comics magazine called Fumo di China that’s appearing there this month.

Usually, when readers think to your name, they also think to lonely and rough characters as Conan, the Punisher and Batman. You seem to be very comfortable when you write this kind of stories. Is that true?

The loner character is very iconic. It goes all the way back to Hercules, right? I think, for male readers anyway, there’s an attraction to these isolated , self-reliant heroes. The idea of the strong male figure making his way in the world without help from anyone and every hand turned against him. I certainly like that kind of character.

But you seem to like female characters too. Is there a reason for the fact that you can develop them so well?

I was the youngest of three kids with two older sisters. I think that’s part of it. I also like women. Hell, I married one. I admire them but don’t pretend to understand them entirely. But I do know that no matter how emotional a woman gets she can still think and act with clarity. That’s why women always win arguments with men. Their emotions and intellect don’t cancel each other out. And men? Get a guy mad or catch him falling in love? He’s not thinking anymore.

Also, women are always considered underdogs. And everyone can relate to an underdog who winds up kicking everyone’s ass.

Having written Batman’s and his fellows’ stories for years, you are one of the writers who most developed the Dark Knight personality. In your opinion, which are the features that make Batman what it is?

I think I explored them more than developed them. Other writers laid down who Batman is and what motivates him. I just ran with that.

Batman’s most admirable trait is his complete refusal to accept defeat. He’s use his mind, his skills and his fists to come out the victor in any situation.

What has been you personal contribution, the one you are really proud of, to the Batman mythology?

I created a lot of stuff for the Batman universe over an eleven-year period of writing for them. Much of that has been erased by continuity. But Bane seems to have survived all of that. I had the rare honor of adding a permanent member to Batman’s rogue’s gallery. That will probably be my most enduring legacy in comics.

You usually work on a specific character for a quite long period of time (you wrote almost 100 Robin and Nightwing issues, more than 60 Birds of Prey issues and a lot of Batman books). What do you think about your long “loyalty” to these characters? What kind of relationships do you have with them while you write their stories?

I get to know them. Once the character is in my head as a writer (and there’s a big difference between writing a character and reading about them) the stories begin to come out of nowhere. The plotlines grow from the characters themselves and, as I build a world around them, the plotlines compound. Kind of like real life where events lead you to other events and most of them are unplanned. I settle down into that world and there’s no reason to leave so long as the readers are enjoying it.

Lately Bruce Wayne died… or at least this is what it seem it has happened… and another hero has taken his place. What you think about the habit of killing characters to rise their sales? And what you think about this new Batman season?

I think killing characters to create storylines is an intellectually lazy approach. It worked the first few times but now it’s tired. There’s lots of other ways to shake up the status quo without killing your lead character. I have an idea for a Batman event that would stand fandom on its head without killing anyone or altering the franchise. Of course, I’m keeping it to myself.

During the last ten years, since the beginning of the new superheroes movie season, many things have changed in comics writing. How have this influenced your job? Did the way in which you were used to write them change?

The biggest change for comic book writers is the fact that the major companies now hire Hollywood writers from film and TV. This increases the competition and, at least at DC and Marvel, it’s not enough anymore to be just a comic book writer. And that’s what I am. I’m a dedicated comic book guy.

In Italy your Punisher War Zone run drawn by John Romita Jr has been recently reprinted. What do you think now about those stories?

Those stories are personal career highlights. The creation of them was fun and Don Daley (my editor at the time) encouraged me to go wild. I worked hard to make it my ultimate Frank Castle story. Johnny’s work on those issues is nothing short of genius and he made it a very special experience for me. I wish it had gone on longer.

Is there a character on which you’ve never worked that you’d like to write for?

The Fantastic Four and the Lone Ranger. And, for many years now, I’ve had a crazy idea for a graphic novel featuring The Jetsons.

You worked with many talented artists as Joe Kubert, John Buscema, John Romita Jr and many others. Is there some other artist that you’d like to write for (one you’ve never worked with)?

I would have loved to have worked with Wally Wood. I’m such a huge fan of his and I think our ideas would mesh perfectly.

And, as you said, I’ve worked with some truly legendary talents. But there’s still a few guys I’d love to collaborate with. Jerry Ordway, Alfonso Font, Juan Gimenez, Chris Sprouse and Darwyn Cooke are just the top of a long list of talents I’d like to write for.

Many people say that your Punisher stories have been propaedeutic to Garth Ennis’ version of the character. Did you read his stories? And do you think that he could have written them if you didn’t do the job you did?

I have read them and we (mostly) share the same take on the character. Garth did something  I should have done during my run by adding a recurring detective character who is trying to catch Frank. And Garth told me himself that my stories were the most influential on his approach to the Punisher.

She probably is, Linda. She’s intangible!

Drawn and Quarterly publishing is doing mankind a service with their John Stanley Library imprint. There goal seems to be to publish all of John Stanley’s non-Little Lulu work for Dell Comics in the 50s and 60s. This third volume is a gem. It’s Thirteen Going On Eighteen; Stanley’s teen comic aimed at the Archie audience.

This generous volume presents the first nine issues of the series. The first two issues are drawn by Tony Tallarico and are just fine. But with the thrid issue, Stanley takes on the art chores himself and the shift in quality is meteoric. Unlike Archie and his gang, the characters in Thirteen… are drawn from real life. Val is the lead of the book and she is self-centered, over-dramatic, boy-crazy and manipulative. In other words, a teen-aged girl. Her best friend is Judy who is the more pragmatic of the pair. Where Val is a pure girly-girl, Judy is more like one of the boys and less concerned with her appearance than in proving her strength and independence.

They both live in the same kind of con-urban or small-town environment that Lulu resides in. In fact, you half expect them to run into Tubby around one of the corners in the nameless town they live in. They both attend school but that aspect of their lives is barely presented. The stories are set more around Val’s dating life and the complications (that she created herself) of balancing one boyfriend, the picture perfect Paul Vayne, with another, next-door neighbor

The series features all of John Stanley’s trademarks of seamless plotting, deft characterization, sparkling dialogue and the ability to build a series of cascading events creating a grand farce. He came up with a winning format of a central story or theme for each issue. The short stories and vignettes would all deal with that through story usually featuring Val as the central figure.

The characters are vivid and likeable and, most of all, honestly portrayed. There’s nothing contrived about their actions or motivations. Though light and breezy the stories are grounded  in reality. When Val and her big sister Evie have conversations they ring true. Stanley perfectly creates distinct voices for each character down to phrasing and vocabulary. The dialogue is crisp and masterful and Stanley infuses his lines with varying tones of sarcasm, credulity, dismay and delight.

The failure of this series to run beyond 24 issues is probably its own sophistication. The audience for Archie, Betty, Jughead and the gang are mostly tweenie girls who enjoy reading about kids slightly older tan themselves involved in harmless infatuations and cut and paste plotting. Thirteen… presents more of the heartache while at the same time mocking teenage angst. It’s not what the intended audience was looking for. This apsect and Dell’s spotty publication schedule for the title spelt its doom.

Worth mentioning are the Judy Jr stories that appear as back-ups or half-pagers throughout Thirteen… Judy Jr seems to be Val’s best friend Judy as a child. Each story follows the same structure with Judy Jr bullying and tormenting neighbor boy Jimmy Fuzzi. Poor Jimmy does whatever he can to avoid these encounters but Judy Jr always finds a way through his defenses. The secret lives of children are very much the theme here with no one but the two main characters aware of the one-sided conflict between them. Jimmy’s mother seems unaware that he is being tormented daily by the neighbor girl and Judy Jr seems to exist without parental supervision of any kind. This is territory never explored by Lulu and Tubby.

A big thanks to D&Q for putting these books togetther. They’ve gone through the back-issue bins and picked out the forgotten plums for us. I hope they keep it up. I really want to see what Stanley did with Woody Woodpecker.