Back Issue #158 April 2025 (magazine review).
With this issue of ‘Back Issue’, we have the start of editor Roger Ash’s tenure on this title. In his editorial, he reveals that former editor Michael Eury set up the premise and got things organised for this edition, and he just made sure everything came in. This is also the ‘Mister Issue!’ looking at characters with that moniker. I have to confess I didn’t recognise this version of Mr Freeze on the cover but was puzzled that, considering Reed Richards, aka Mr Fantastic, has 18 pages inside, you would have thought he deserved a head picture on the cover at the least. Ash says about having other theme issues, Then we ought to see the Mrs, Ms and Miss in another one.
Bear in mind, ‘Back Issue’ focuses on the period of the 70s-80s; you should be putting on your thinking cap as to who was missed. Off the top of my head, Mr Sinister.
For openers, though, we have Mr Freeze. Classed as a C-level villain whose first appearance in Batman #121 as Mr. Zero was directly copied into the 1960s TV series. Writer Bryan D. Stroud goes over his history and interviews some of his creators and how he evolved. The observation by Kelley Jones that the villains of Gotham City, like Batman, were born from tragedy. Although I agree with it in part, there have to be some exceptions. Some, like Catwoman, were changed to fit that criterion but much later on. Other villain galleries, such as those in Central City, are certainly not tragic; instead, they take pride in their crimes.
I’m still filling gaps in my understanding of underground creator Robert Crumb, this time with Mr. Natural as writer Steven Thompson goes through his history. I’m still puzzling over him, and I wondered if Crumb considered him his future self.
Then we come to Mr Fantastic as writer Jarrod Buttery goes over the history of Marvel Earth’s smartest person. A key problem is keeping characters young with a 60-year-odd history in appearances and having to be redefined. Of course, the real problem here is Richards and his wife are parents of two children, and ageing them would age them as well. Reading here, I did wonder if Stan Lee had ever considered calling him Mr Elastic, but I guess having the leader have the same name as his team made more sense, and Jimmy Olsen used a variation of the name from time to time. A lot of his history is also that of the Fantastic Four. What I think is missed is the number of failures attributed to Richards as well as his successes. He never did resolve turning Ben Grimm back into a human permanently, and the Thing has now accepted his appearance.
There is no greater contrast than that between Mr A, created by Steve Ditko, and the character as described by writer Ian Millsted in his analysis. Very right-wing, the likes of The Question, again by Ditko, was also a major influence on the Watchmen’s Rorschach. Although I’m not an advocate of such right-wing behaviour, you would expect it in people who become vigilantes and work outside the law. I learnt a lot more here, and, as Millsted points out, Mr A’s appearances were few and far between over the decades. The fact that Mr A’s alter ego was a news reporter shows a common theme for careers.
Artist Karl Heitmuller Jr’s double-page spread of assorted characters with title monikers, both male and female, still excludes Mr Sinister, and I’m sure there must be other omissions. It would also be interesting to see those with apparent military rank, although I think there would be a lot less, so I would probably include professors and doctors to bulk it up.
Writer Dewey Cassell has a look at multi-millionaire Mr Loren Jupiter, who took over the training of the original Teen Titans, sans Robin, for a while. Something that isn’t accounted for as they ditch their costumes is that Jupiter would automatically learn their mentors’ true identities.
Now Mr Weatherbee is someone I’ve never heard of, but then I haven’t seen any Archie Comics in over fifty years. Writer Mark Arnold gives the history of the Riverdale High School principal who appears to be a mainstay in his titles.
Michael T. Gilbert is interviewed by Joshua Winchester about his Mr. Monster creation, which fills in more gaps for me, as I always assumed he was created for ‘Back Issue’. There are plans for a couple volumes of his appearances, which might help.
Oddly, the Mr X article by writer Philip Schweier doesn’t help, as a previous article on the subject was far more useful.
One thing about this latest ‘Back Issue’ is there are a lot more articles this time. Reading character histories and their creator’s perspective might not be for everyone, but it certainly fills in a lot of background information.
GF Willmetts
September 2025
(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82 page illustrated magazine. Price: $10.95 (US). ISSN: 1932-6904. Direct from them, you can get it for $ (US))
check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_54&products_id=1822
