Fear and Loathing (1987-1989)

All illustrations are © Kevin O'Neill & Pat Mills

First edition

First arc of 6 issues, 28 pages each, published in the US by Epic Comics (a "creator owned" adult subsidiary of Marvel Comics) between August 1987 and February 1989. This story has been subsequently named Fear and Loathing for the US paperback in June 1990. The 6 original comics display glossy paper quality superior to contemporary standard. Kevin O'Neill has used direct colouring technique for that first story.

issue #1	issue #2	issue #3
issue #4	issue #5	issue #6

Plot

In the streets of San Futuro, a mysterious flying superhero, The Sleepman, is murdering women disguised as Celeste, a female super being with increased power of seduction. Marshal Law’s investigation leads him to suspect Celeste’s companion, the Super Patriot, hero of the nation and incidentally the one person he hates the most.

Themes

The main purpose of this first story is to pinpoint the misleading of the American dream through the glorification of supposedly heroic acts of war. The main target here is personified by the hero of an American uchronic nation, the Public Spirit, a Superman look-alike (but more generally an iconic synthesis of classic superheroes).

With this story (and the ones that follow), it is the true experience of Vietnam veterans that Mills wants to confront to the myth of the American hero. It is no wonder that Mills has made the Public Spirit an astronaut, who, as of Neil Armstrong in 1969, held all the public attention, while at the same time, true American heroes lived hell fighting a dirty war in Vietnam.

Also, in the wake of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen, the authors have theorized and even prophesied with that first story the change of tone that the comic industry will know in the next decade: more cynical atmosphere and characters with a stronger "dark side". This idea is illustrated in the story by the transition between 2 types of super hero role models, when the Public Spirit’s son eventually recognizes Marshal Law as his true father/mother figure.

References

References to comic characters

There are actually few of this sort of references in this original story. Indeed, there are much more explicit references to Marvel or DC super heroes in the following stories. This first arc focuses mainly on the archetypal symbol that represents the Superman look-alike Public Spirit. So, for this first adventure, it seems that most of the costumed heroes are genuine creations of the authors.

• Page 1 and 2 of the first episode, we can cross The Shadow, a character created by Walter Gibson.
• In page 2 of the third episode, there is a reference to the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents (the founding event that will make him the Batman). Another reference to that event can be found in the name of the street, in panel 2 of page 7 of the same episode ("Crime Alley").
• A few Spider-Man, Plastic Man/Mr Fantastic and Batman in page 23 of episode 4.
• Some Aquaman/Submariner in page 26 of episode 4

The Shadow

Biblical, religious and mythological references

Being textual or visual, there are very numerous religious references in that first story (both Kevin O'Neill and Pat Mills went to catholic schools, and they did not appreciate the experience).

• Virago: it's a Latin word that means in the Bible, "woman". It is the name given to Adam's first wife, the one create from his rib, a name which was later translated as "Eve". In the world of Marshal Law, Virago, along with the Super Patriot, are the first 2 super heroes created from Dr. Shocc experiments, subsequently, they could also be considered as brother and sister.
• Public Spirit civil name is Buck Caine. Cain in the Bible, is one of the 3 sons of Adam and Eve, the one who killed his brother Abel in a fit of jealousy. He then will be banished by God and marked, so everybody who tries to kill him dies. Mark of Caine is the title of episode 5, where the Sleepman tries to kill his father, and dies by the hand of Marshal Law (the hand of God?). Cain also married his sister and they had a son Enoch. In Victor Hugo’s poem The Consciousness, Cain is followed by an eye that always reminds him of his crime. As the mask of the Sleepman shows only one eye, the Sleepman can be seen as a reminder to the Public Spirit of his past crimes (the Sleepman reenacts the killing of Virago and he himself is the leaving proof of this crime). If you're not convinced, just re-read pages 22 and 23 of the second episode …
• The Public Spirit is also often compared to the new messiah throughout the comics (see Nemesis reference).
• In episode 5, the Sleepman's childhood is told in a visual style that contrasts with the general atmosphere of the comics (pages 1, 7 and panel 5 of page 12). There are also plenty of Christ-symbols, like halos or crucifix (pages 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 16).

• Nemesis is the goddess of vengeance and may also be associated with a person, a punisher or an avenger. The name is also associated with anger. In the penultimate page of chapter 6, "anger" and "revenge" appear on Marshal Law's outfit, for he is the true incarnation of the goddess. Of course, Marshal Law is also the personal Nemesis of the Public Spirit, his archenemy, his black star, the one that will eventually lead him to his fall. For that matter, Marshal Law is clearly the negative twin of the Public Spirit. If Buck Caine is the new Messiah, then Marshal Law is clearly the Antichrist (notice the red inverted cross on Marshal Law's mask).
• Judas S. Cariot and the Scapegoat characters (no comments).
• The opening panel of the third episode: of course there is what causes the bombing but there's also what is bombed.

• Episode 3, page 22, episode 4, pages 13 and 14 (no comments).

Other References

• The name of the creator of super heroes, Dr. Shocc, refers to "shock therapy" (ECT or electroshocks), developed for psychiatry treatments in the late thirties. Outside the psychiatric area, the shock treatments rapidly shows potential for CIA's interrogation techniques, a theme much more developed in the second story. We could also have a political reference here, related to the infamous "shock doctrine".
• There are also obvious visual phallic symbols, along what is literally discussed about that topic in the comics. For example, take a quick glance at the 4th panel of page 13 of episode 4.

Have you noticed?

• Warning, spoiler on some clues scattered here and there about the identity of the villains: episode 4, page 12, panel 3: "... It’ll be up the walls the mood I’m in" (Virago is literally capable of flying) and panel 5 (no comments). Page 15, panel 2: Danny looks into a small mirror in which we only see one of his eyes like on the mask of the Sleepman. The mirror is positioned near a bird’s cage (the Sleepman is one of the few superhero who can fly but he is not allowed to do it).
• In the first panel of the first comic, the Sleepman can be seen in a form of a shadow on a building on the right.
• Have you also noticed where a blind character wipes himself in the first section of page 24 of episode 4?

• The Sleepman "fetal" cover of episode 5 is not an unprecedented iconic figure. Kevin O'Neill has already used this concept to illustrate a cover for the US edition of Nemesis The Warlock.

• Page 16 of the last episode: Marshal Law made an ugly gesture after being locked in the toilet.

Some juicy quotes

• First episode, page 13: "I'm a hero hunter...I hunt heroes...haven't found any yet", and its counterpart on the last episode, final pages: "I'm a hero hunter...I hunt heroes...haven't found any yet. But I know where they are" (i.e. the cemetery).
• First episode, page 15: "Lot of people say I hate super heroes...that's not true, you know...well, all right...it's partly true...okay, it's true". That quote also gets its counterpart in the last episode, page 24: "Now I'd never dream of hitting a man when he's down...that's true, you know...well, all right...it's partly true...okay, it's a lie".
• Last page of episode 3: "If you're the new Messiah...I'm going to be the one to drive in the nails".
• There is an obvious Dirty Harry's side to the Marshal, especially with that kinds of saying: "If it makes you feel better, I took out ten of them" and "Smile when you call me an asshole".
• About Lynn Evan's super heroes thesis: "I didn't understand all the article, due to the angle of my forehead, but I got the general idea...in fact, it tied in with my own theory...I'd suspected for some time american's greatest hero was a dickhead".

Reprints

First U.S. paperback published by Epic comics (with a new cover) in 1990: it is the same format and the same paper quality as the original comics. All the original covers are included.

epic comics fear and loathing

This paperback includes 8 pages of a then unpublished prologue, a short genesis of the hero and his universe. The last unpublished page is illustrated in order to make a visual transition with the first episode. Note that this prologue will also featured in British magazine Toxic! (# 14 and 15, named Rites of Passage for the occasion), but in another configuration, for it serves as a flashback scene between The Hateful Dead and Super Babylon (with 2 other extra pages).

Below is an extract of the prologue where one can recognize the Private Eye in the foreground (from the story The Kingdom of the Blind) and the Public Spirit. Notice the position of one of Rubber Johnny's foot.

For other details regarding this paperback go here.


In 1990, the English fortnightly magazine Strip (Marvel UK), published this story in its 12 first issues, with three exclusive covers. What's most interesting in this version is the printing format, which is magazine size, and the quality of the glossy paper used.

strip #1

strip #3

strip #7

Below are sketches and interview of Kevin O'Neill for Strip #1 (a sticker was given with this first issue).

Note that Strip #6 has first been printed on low quality paper, the newspaper kind, and has been reissued correctly and given away free of charge with Strip #9.


Here’s the Graphitti Designs edition, limited to 1500 copies signed by the authors. That US release (1990) includes the entire contents of the Epic paperback, and the second story Marshal Law Takes Manhattan (here simply named Crime and Punishment). Moreover, this beautiful hardcover edition with a faux leather hardcover, contains 16 pages of editorial material, including among other things, study sketches and reproductions of the exclusive French material. For full details regarding this edition go here (and here).

graphitti designs marshal law

A UK paperback was released by Titan Books in 2002. It has the same contents as the US epic comics paperback, prologue included, only the introduction by Clive Barker has been replaced with a foreword by Pat Mills and it has a different cover (from the first volume of the French edition). In addition, that paperback contains O’Neill’s extra art dated 1995, planned for a film project eventually cancelled. For other details regarding this edition go here.

titan books fear and loathing

More recently, this story has been collected in 2013 by DC in hardcover form in its Marshal Law Deluxe Edition, reprinted in 2014 as a softcover trade paperback.

DC deluxe edition HC

DC tpb

For full details regarding these latest editions go here.

International publications

French edition

Three volumes, published between September 1989 and May 1990, collect the entire story. Covers, back covers 2nd and 3rd of cover were exclusive to this edition.

zenda #1 chasseur de héros

zenda #2 bactéries

zenda #3 spirit of america

All volumes are oversized hardcovers printed on superior quality paper. The pictures inside the theatrical opening page for each chapter have been removed. Below are some exclusive art created by Kevin O'Neill especially for this edition:

2nd & 3rd of cover for #1	2nd & 3rd of cover for #2	2nd & 3rd of cover for #3
title page for #1	title page for #2	title page for #3
back cover for #1 & 2	back cover for #3

Translation is ensured by Stéphane Salvetti and the lettering by Martine Segard. It has been probably a difficult task for the translator to find French equivalent for the many super beings names featured in this story, ensuring they were catchy without betraying the original sense. Le Marchand de Sable, (The Sandman) is for example a very good translation for The Sleepman, although its meaning is not necessarily well known by the readership. Downside is, this name does not allow as much stress on the poetic irony of the latest caption in episode 5 where the dying Sleepman "... can sleep forever". The other choice would have been to keep the original names, but lets salute the effort of chosing the hard way (with rare exceptions, for example, the untranslatable title of the second episode "Evilution" which is an English contraction of the words "evil" and "evolution").

The comparison between the two versions, reveals no major non sense or contextual mistake. Nonetheless, a few points can be pinpointed:

In page 22 of episode 6, the end of the sentence is missing in the second panel: "It must never show shameful weaknesses, never break down in tears". This is not trivial because this crying Marshal Law (contradicting the psychological profile of superheroes done in parallel in the narration) can then echoing the third panel of page 26 where this type of narrative is again used (emphasizing that Marshal Law, is not a one-dimensional character).

Page 27 episode 5, in the third panel, "high noon" has been translated by the word "midi" (12 am). High Noon is actually the original title of Le Train Sifflera Trois Fois, an important reference when it comes to epic Western duels.

More annoying, but not a translation problem, texts from first panel of pages 22 and 24 have been interchanged in episode 6.

More anecdotic, often psychological assertions from the thesis of Lynn are written directly on the drawing (no frame) in the original version. For the French edition, the publisher has been forced to use solid black frames that remove a small part of the drawing.

Italian Edition

In Italy, this story has been translated in paperback form in 1991 by Play Press (go here for some details).

play press marshal law

... and more recently reprint in 2014 by RW edizioni (first volume of the 2013 DC Deluxe edition adaptation):

rw edizioni lion marshal law #1

Spanish Edition

In Spain, it's the original 6 comics format that has been chosen in 1991 by Comics Forum:

These comics come with soft glossy covers and excerpt from the interior illustrations on the back cover. For the first issue, the theatrical opening page is missing (the B&W pictures are missing in all issues) but on the other side, it contains a full editorial page by Lorenzo Diaz to present the series to Spanish readers. The translation is credited to Eduard Solé.

In issues #3, 4 and 6 a small virgin version of the next month cover was included at the end of the comic.

Note that this story has been reprinted in September 2013 in one volume by ECC ediciones (first volume of the 2013 DC Deluxe edition adaptation):

ecc ediciones miedo y asco

Portugese Edition

In Brazil, it's the original 6 comics format that has been chosen in 1991 by Abril Joven:

Note that the editor probably wanted to put the emphasis on the "adult content" side of the comics as he had substituted the original cover for issue #4 with a more explicit interior panel (the Public Spirit getting a shot on the loo). The content of those comics is identical to the original edition, only the B&W pictures in the theatrical openings were replaced by other similar pictures (for © reasons?). There is no credit for the translation.

theatrical opening for issue #6