Mark Andrews Concept Sketch for "lost" Spy 96 Annual Comes to Light!!!

By Bob Barnes
Special to DFG ONLINE
With all the buzz surrounding the return of superstar artist Mark Andrews to DFG Comics, a previously unknown concept sketch for the never-completed Spy '96 Annual has come to light. The sketch features a montage of scenes from the unpublished annual. When reached for comment Mark Andrews noted, "Wow, I'd completely forgotten about that sketch. That certainly is a sterling example of my Dali-esque surreal phase." Asked if he had any plans to complete the issue, he noted, "Well, as I understand it, Frank Daniels is collating the whole damned mess and trying to make something out of it. It was really quite good work, but I did it somewhat piecemeal and there are gaps." According to DFG publicist, Selina Silvurtungdevul, the annual is scheduled to finally be released later this year, but DFG production manager (and writer) Frank Daniels is finding the material quite challenging, "Frank is basically taking the thing panel by panel and creating a prose script that will accompany it so that it has much the feel of a pulp magazine. Another problem is that some of the panels are only pencilled, some are inked, while others are completely pencilled, inked and coloured. Frank hopes to have things tied up on this by Christmas." DFG fans are anxiously awaiting Mark Andrews return to DFG Comics!

Spy '96 "Lost Annual" to Finally See Light of Day!

By Bob Barnes
DFG ONLINE Staff Reporter

Once thought destroyed in a flood at the DFG satellite studio in Warkworth, ON, the original artwork for the “lost” Spy ’96 annual has been found! “This is an exciting day!” said DFG president and co-publisher, Dan Graves, “this is the second time this year that lost artwork has re-surfaced.” When asked if fans will finally get to see the annual, Mr. Graves responded, “Well, it’s in a fragmentary state. We have the script outline written by Darryl Andrews and artwork from Mark Andrews, which is incomplete.” Mark Andrews, brother of DFG V.P. and co-publisher Darryl Andrews, did some work for DFG in 1996, including the cover for an issue of Spy Classics and several pin-ups, “This was to be his big break,” said Mr. Graves, “Mark’s schedule does not permit him to complete the issue at this point. I fully intend to publish the annual, twelve years late, by making some format changes.” Mr. Graves revealed that he has asked long-time DFG Production Manager, Frank Daniels, to complete the project. “I’ve looked at the ‘remains’,” said Mr. Daniels, “and I’m confident that we can have it available this Spring or Summer.” When asked what the ‘format changes’ might be, Mr. Daniels responded, “Rather than issue the book in the traditional comic book format, we’ll be issuing it as a pulp magazine – a kind of tribute to the early days of the industry. I’m taking Darryl’s script outline and converting it to fuller prose. We will be inserting Mark’s artwork – some of which are fully inked and coloured drawings, others are B & W inks, and others are pencil drawings – and insert them into the text at appropriate places. I may have to throw in the odd picture of my own, here or there, to fill it out.” Long-time DFG readers will remember that Mr. Daniels drew a couple of issues of the original Spy Comics series back in the early eighties, in addition to his duties as production manager. “As a production man, I hate to see projects delayed or shelved. I want to get them into print; it’s what I do! I’m really excited about this project and the fact that Dan has placed it in my care. I think that fans will be pleased by the result.” Above is a sample of some of Mark Andrews’ work on the annual. Watch for it this Spring or Summer!

The Many Faces of Chief Smith -- Panoramic Poster!

DFG Comics has released a retrospective of the career of Chief Augustus Smith in the form of a panoramic poster entitled The Many Faces of Chief Smith. Since his first appearance in the very first DFG comic, Spy Comics Vol. 1, #1, in 1981, Chief Smith has been one of the most important supporting characters in the DFG universe. As DFG executive Darryl Andrews noted, "In the DFG universe everyone ages naturally, there's none of this 'slowed time' crap that you encounter in our competitors' publications. That's why we've seen Chief Smith go through the aging process over the years and his appearance has changed. We all get older and we all look different as the years go by."

Chief Smith has gone through many changes in his life since his first appearance. Perhaps the most traumatic event in his life was the death of his daughter Sarah at the hands of Capt. Nepto's foe, the Unknown Strangler, back in Spy Comics Vol. 2, #3 (Jan/Feb 1985). Her death left Smith a grimmer and more driven figure, as he was now all alone in the world with the exception of his younger brother, Sgt. John Smith, also of the Carnage City Police Force.

Smith retired from the force in 1996 (as seen in Spy '96 #3, Mar. 1996) handing over the reigns to his former Chief Inspector, Shamus McMullen. However, after Julius Smithers became Governor General, Smith was pressed back into active service as the director of the national Security and Intelligence Service (and also serves presently as tactical advisor to the Invincibles). He remains, even at his advanced age, a crucial character in the DFG universe.

The character of Chief Augustus Smith is based on his real-life namesake who now serves as a security advisor to the management of DFG Publications.

The poster features art from throughout the publishing history of DFG Comics by DFG artists Darryl Andrews, Dan Graves, Frank Daniels, and comic book legend Todd Abbot.

For a closer view of the poster, click on the image, above.

February Villian - The Terror!

We started an Online feature of profiling one D.F.G. main characters per month but due to reader demand; have expanded this form to include one hero character and one villian character. This month relive the history of one of D.F.G.'s greatest villians: The Terror!!

The Terror's background remains shrouded in mystery. No one knows who he is, what his motive might be for being such a nasty DFG baddie. He was created by Dan Graves and made his first appearance in Spy Comics Volume 2, #2 (Sept 1985) and went up against The Spymaster. It was later revealed that he was part of a band of villians led by The Killer Shark (who had arranged for the killing of Captain Nepto's parents, and much later, The Spymaster's wife, Sandra Smithers). It was believed that he died in an explosion in an old theatre that had been The Killer Shark's base of operations (see Spy vol. 2, #4), but he reappeared in Spy '96, #3 when he crashed Chief Smith's retirement party alongside the original Sy Clopps and The Jester. He was apprehended through the quick machinations of Frank Bates. His current whereabouts are unknown.

The Todd Abbot Interview - Part II

For part one of this interview, click here.

DFG-Online: Todd, before we leave the early days of DFG, can you tell us about the legendary battle you had with Dan over the Cyclone-Tornado storyline?

Todd Abbot: First of all, let me say this: Those two characters were mine. Period. I created them from start to finish. I also wrote and drew an entire two-parter for the Captain Nepto comic that never saw the light of day. I might also add that it was to be my debut as a writer! Well, I sent it in and then I get this phone call from Dan’s secretary. Apparently he wants to talk to me about the issue. Well, at first I figure that I’m getting a friggin’ award because it would have been the best thing DFG had ever published. At the very least, I thought that maybe he was going to suggest a “Cyclone and Tornado” solo title.

DFG-OL: But it didn’t quite pan out the way you were expecting…

TA: Oh boy…it sure didn’t! So, I walk into Dan’s office and he’s behind his desk as usual, but behind him he had his freakin’ lawyer. So I said, “Dan, baby, what’s with the suit with the LLB?” He didn’t answer. After a long pause, he says to me, “Todd…we can’t print it?” Well, let me tell you, I lost and it and said some things that you sure as hell can’t print. I’d poured my heart and soul out on that friggin’ storyline, you know what I mean?

DFG-OL: So what did you do?

TA: Well, first of all, I wanted some things clarified. “Is it the art?” I asked him, “Does it make all the other DFG hacks look bad?” I have to admit, it was a bit avant garde – I knew some people, that is some small minded people, would look at it and all they would see was a bunch of scribbles, but I was in a bit of an impressionistic phase in those days. But it wasn’t that. Dan said, “Todd, it’s not the art, per se, we’ve published worse crap and got away with it. Actually its what you drew on panel 3 of page 5.”

DFG-OL: Which was…?

TA: The goon thought I’d drawn genitalia on Cyclone! That was why he had legal counsel in the room. He told me that to publish the book I’d have to change that panel. Well… I told him that he must be wearing his friggin’ glasses upside-down and that the book was a friggin’ masterpiece and that I wasn’t going to change one freakin’ detail of that panel.

DFG-OL: And then…

TA: He told me that he wouldn’t publish it, plain and simple. And he never did.

DFG-OL: I heard that Dan destroyed the artwork.

TA: No. Dan may have been a spineless whelp, but we would never destroy another guy’s art. He still had a spark of creative integrity underneath all his corporate bravado. No, I took all the pages back and burned them, except for the panel in question (shows it to the interviewer – and is reproduced in this column). I dare anyone to see what Dan and his brain-dead lawyer saw. In fact, I dare you to tell me the difference between Cyclone and Tornado!

DFG-OL: Okay. So you left DFG in the mid-eighties. What came next?

TA: Well, fortunately, my advertising career was beginning to take off at this point. I got a contract designing kitty-litter packaging. It was quite lucrative. I even got to use some of my talent as a writer and came up with their jingle, which you may remember: “Plop, plop, wiz, wiz, Kitty’s done his biz biz.”

DFG-OL: Oh yeah, I still hum it in the shower sometimes.

TA: Well, it was a great contract, and those guys at the firm really appreciated what I brought to the company. It was then that I realized how “small-potatoes” the comic industry was compared to kitty litter. I was working with the big boys, now!

DFG-OL: But…

TA: Yeah, there’s always a “but.” About the mid-nineties the bottom fell out of the kitty litter market and things dried up.

DFG-OL: Is that when you approached DFG again?

TA: Are you kidding, I resolved that I’d be on skid row before I’d ever work for DFG again! However, Darryl called me up one day out of the blue and told me about DFG’s newest relaunch: Spy ’96. I asked him if he’d found some new shmuck to do all his work for him. “Well, that’s why I’m calling,” he said. DFG was expanding again, and they were letting me in on the ground floor. If you ask me, the only thing that was expanding was Dan’s ego, as usual. Anyway, I sucked up my pride and went in to see Dan. There he was behind that same big desk, a little greyer, still with the same K-Mart suit that he used to wear back in the eighties. Man, that guy needs to get some help with his wardrobe. Anyway, he turns on his famous charm and next thing you know, I’m redoing the old Jester story arc from Cap #2 for a new title, Spy Classics. You remember the original story… it was one of the ones that I ghosted for Darryl. It was just like old times, except I made sure I got my name on the book.

DFG-OL: And then?

TA: Well as usual, Dan over-expanded and by mid-’97 he was out of the game again. Fortunately, that Spy Classics issue brought me back into the game and I’ve been doing the convention circuit, other freelance work, and lecturing at art colleges ever since.

Next: Todd talks about his return to DFG for the 2008 line-up and talks about his several new projects!

This interview is copyright 2008 by DFG ONLINE and may not be reproduced, either in whole or part, by any means, without the express, written consent of the editors.