Wishing a blessed Amartithi to my Meher Baba family around the world.
"Do not search for God outside of you. God can only be found within you, for His only abode is the heart."—Avatar Meher Baba
SEMI-REGULAR MUSINGS FROM THE SEMI-REGULAR MIND OF WRITER J.M. DeMATTEIS
"Do not search for God outside of you. God can only be found within you, for His only abode is the heart."—Avatar Meher Baba
What's even more mind-boggling—in the very best way—is the fact that, barring a gap here and there, Moon has remained in print ever since that aforementioned first issue. In fact, this May sees the release of Moonshadow The Definitive Edition—Expanded: an updated version of the Eisner-nominated hardcover DH released back in 2019. And, yes, "expanded" means there are even more behind-the-scenes extras included in this 528 page beauty.
So happy that this story—which remains so close to my heart—will be back out in the world.
Pop! Poof! Ping! (If you know, you know.)
Tomorrow sees the release of the latest Doctor Strange Marvel Masterworks edition—which, to my great delight, is reprinting, for the first time in decades, Into Shamballa, the Doc Strange graphic novel I did with artist/co-plotter Dan Green, way back in the mid-eighties.
I wrote an essay about the book, and my collaboration with Dan, for this new edition and you can read it below. Enjoy!
In the early 1980s, my then-wife and I decided it was time to pack up our belongings and our not quite two-year-old son, move out of Brooklyn, where we’d both been born and raised, and relocate to that vague, magical kingdom called Upstate. We ended up in a charming old house in a charming little town about a hundred miles north of New York City.
Problem was, we didn’t know a soul in the area and it was a difficult adjustment—especially for me: A writer who spends a good part of his existence locked away in his own imagination doesn’t have many opportunities for meeting new people.
One day a package arrived from Marvel—a regular occurrence in that ancient era before the digital revolution—with what I assumed was dialogue-ready art for one of the many books I was writing. Turned out the penciled pages inside weren’t meant for me but for an inker named Dan Green, who I’d never met. Left to my own devices, I would have just packed the art up and sent them on to Dan, but my wife noticed that his address was nearby, about twenty minutes away, and insisted we deliver the pages in person. “Who knows?” she said. “We might make some new friends.”
A few days later we found ourselves at the Green house, spending an afternoon with Dan and his extremely pregnant wife, Sandi (one of the sweetest humans it’s ever been my pleasure to know—and a chef of almost supernatural ability) and, true to my wife’s prediction, we did indeed forge new, and lasting, friendships. (My son Cody and Dan’s daughter Galen grew up together, went to school together, and remain dear friends to this day.)
As we got to know each other, it became clear that Dan was an intense and interesting man, deep thinking, extremely creative (he was so much more than just an inker, as the breathtaking painted art in this volume attests). Like many of us, he wrestled with some formidable inner demons, but that wrestling was balanced by a strong sense of humor—and a truly good heart.
Given our intersecting creative lives, it was inevitable that Dan and I would work on a project together and, united in our common love of all things mystical, decided to create a Doctor Strange story: one we hoped would be memorable, unique. And we collaborated in an equally unique and memorable way.
Keep in mind it’s been decades, and memories are fragile things, so take everything that follows with the proverbial grain of salt. That said, Dan saved my outlines and scripts and many of his layouts and notes and, using that material as a kind of archaeological guide, I’ve tried to reconstruct the way we created Into Shamballa.
***
Since Dan and I saw each other regularly, we worked very closely every step of the way, bouncing things back and forth, building the story together, brick by brick. After we talked the story through and came up with a framework that excited us, we pitched it to Jim Shooter, who was editor-in-chief of Marvel at the time, and he had some very valuable insights that helped bring our story into deeper focus. I then wrote up a five-page story outline for our editor, Carl Potts, that we also shared with Roger Stern, who was writing the Strange monthly at the time. We wanted to make sure we weren’t stepping on Roger’s toes and that our story didn’t overlap with anything he was doing.
From there Dan and I worked out more details of the story, discussed layouts, tone, etc. Then, based on our conversations, I wrote up another outline, breaking the story down, which Dan used as a jumping off point, laying out the entire graphic novel and, I’m sure, adding new details along the way.
I wrote my script from Dan’s layouts, but I was free to change things, make shifts, as I went along. When, a few years ago, Dan unearthed a trove of Shamballa material he’d saved, he found some of the layouts—and I use the term loosely!—that I’d quickly doodle if, in the writing, my script deviated from what Dan had already done. This gave him a sense of what I was seeing in my head as new elements of the story unfolded. I also added some art notes to the script itself, offering visual suggestions—something I’d forgotten until Dan showed me the old pages.
Dan had feedback about the script that I then incorporated into another draft and, with that in front of him, worked out the final layouts. We went over those together, making sure we were both happy, after which Dan went on to the finished pages—which, all these years later, still stand as some of the most beautiful art to ever grace a comic book or graphic novel. (By this time, Dan had a studio space close to my house, shared with another dear friend, my Moonshadow collaborator Jon J Muth. I’d pop over and find Dan at one table painting Doc, Jon at another painting Moon. How fortunate was I?)
This kind of back and forth is not the way the average comic book is done. The fact that we were able to do so much work face to face, and that we had the extended deadline that graphic novels afford, allowed us to really collaborate in a way writers and artists in comics working on monthly books just can’t. (Even the title was a collaboration: If memory serves, I came up with “Shamballa”—after the Tibetan spiritual kingdom that was central to our tale—and Dan suggested adding “Into”!) It was a magical creative partnership, as befits such a magical character, and, all these years later, Into Shamballa remains a project I’m incredibly proud of—and a true testament to Dan’s brilliance as both an artist and storyteller.
***
Over the course of decades, Dan and I sometimes lost track of each other—I went through some seismic changes during those years, including a divorce, new marriage, and the birth of a second child—but we always managed to reconnect. Long friendships are often like that: the tide moves out, but it eventually sweeps back in again.
Sandi Zinaman passed away in 2015—a terrible loss—and it seemed to me that a part of Dan died with her. After Sandi’s passing, Dan and I got together regularly—in retrospect, not regularly enough—talking about life and comics over lunch, and it was clear that Dan was still struggling with those aforementioned inner demons. But he was still creative, still passionate, still Dan. We sometimes discussed Into Shamballa and our frustration that, although the story had been reprinted in other countries, sometimes in gorgeous oversized artist’s editions, it had been out of print in the U.S. for many years.
Dan Green passed away in August of 2023: a great loss for comics, a greater loss for those who knew him personally. I’m sorry he didn’t live to see our Doctor Strange epic reprinted in this Masterworks edition, but profoundly grateful that it’s back out in the world, offering a new generation of comics fans the chance to discover our story—and Dan’s extraordinary work.
Safe travels, Dan. Say hello to the Lords of Shamballa for me.
***
The critically acclaimed graphic novel from J.M. DeMatteis (Moonshadow, Girl in the Bay) and Glenn Barr (Hellboy Junior, Seekers into the Mystery), Brooklyn Dreams returns to print with Dark Horse Comics. Readers can complete their collection with the highly sought-after, hilarious, and mysterious semi-memoir by DeMatteis with a powerful new cover from Barr. This edition includes an all-new introduction from DeMatteis, along with a breathtaking sketchbook section, DeMatteis’s early notes about the series, and other enlightening extras.
Vincent Carl Santini wants to tell you a story about his senior year in high school, but memory is a tricky thing. A single story becomes a hilarious, heartfelt, and occasionally harrowing journey through all of Santini’s childhood. Growing up in 1960’s and 70’s Brooklyn, J.M. DeMatteis and Glenn Barr’s Brooklyn Dreams is a nostalgic visit to a very specific time and place, with a universal search for hope and meaning.
Be ready when Brooklyn Dreams returns to print in a 392-page, 6.625” x 10.1875” hardcover edition, in book stores on September 2, 2025 and comic shops September 3, 2025, for $34.99. Pre-order now from TFAW, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, your local bookstore, or visit Comic Shop Locator for more details and stores near you.
WWT was exactly what the title implied: tales of horror and the supernatural, generally running five to eight pages, set on the battlefields of history. I contributed a number of stories to Weird War, including my first book-length assignment—a 22 page multiversal saga called “The War On The Edge of Reality!” I don’t know if that was the first time WWT featured a full-length story, it might have been, but what I remember most was that Paul gave me a raise—from $13.00 a page to $15.00 a page—and I felt like a wealthy man.
I was gaining momentum in the business. Now I had to keep that momentum going—and that meant pitching, and selling, more stories. I have a clear memory of sitting at the typewriter (remember those?), trying to come up with new ideas for Paul, and pondering that oddball title: Weird War Tales.
Weird. War.
Weird.
War.
What, I suddenly wondered, would be weirder than classic monsters fighting World War Two? I’d grown up on Universal monster movies, playing endlessly on our local New York stations, and the idea of government-created versions of Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man taking on Hitler’s hordes delighted me. It was such an obvious fit for WWT I was surprised no one else had come up with the idea. But, since no one had, I prepared to pitch it to Paul.
Except I never got to.
Right around that time, the infamous DC Implosion happened. For a variety of complex reasons, DC’s sales were crippled and the line was staggering, on the verge of collapse. To quote Wikipedia: “On June 22, 1978, DC Comics announced staff layoffs and the cancellation of approximately 40% of its line.” The wagons were circling, only necessary staff and freelancers were being kept on.
One thing I clearly wasn’t: necessary.
I remember going up to DC to see Paul but not being ushered in to his office. Instead he came out to the waiting area, explained the situation, and told me there would be no work—none whatsoever—for the foreseeable future.
I staggered to the D train and headed home to Brooklyn in shock, my comic book career shot down before it ever took flight. And that story about classic monsters fighting in World War II? Gone forever.
Except it wasn’t.
In the spring of 1979, I received a call from DC editor, and all around great guy, Jack Harris: He was launching a new anthology comic, science-fiction this time, called Time Warp. Would I be interested in pitching? Time Warp reopened the DC door for me—the company hadn’t gone under after all—and I was back in the fold, selling stories to Jack, working with Paul again, and soon sitting across the desk from DC’s newest editor, one of comics’ all-time great writers, and one of the nicest humans you could ever meet, Len Wein. I’ve said before that working with Paul, Jack, and Len was my comic book college: I learned so much from those three men, Len most of all. How lucky was I that this legend, the man who co-created Swamp Thing and Wolverine, soon became both my mentor and friend? That he saw something in me I couldn’t see in myself? That he took a personal interest in my career—teaching, nurturing, guiding me along the creative path?
Len had taken over editing both House of Mystery and Weird War and wanted to shake the books up a little by adding ongoing features. Better yet: He wanted me to write them. For HoM Len gave me a title—“I…Vampire”—and I cooked up the tragic tale of Andrew Bennett and Mary, Queen of Blood (that’s another story for another time). For Weird War I dusted off that “monsters in World War II” idea that had so intrigued me back in June of ’78. Len loved it and the “Creature Commandos” feature was born. (I’m not sure who came up with that name—the memory is lost to time—but I suspect Len and I did it together, tossing ideas back and forth till we landed on a title that fit.) Pat Broderick was drafted to illustrate the first issue—he did a stellar job designing the characters and bringing them to visual life—and we were off.
Okay, so “Creature Commandos” wasn’t exactly high art—when you think about it, the whole thing’s kind of silly—but, with Len hovering over my shoulder, I poured heart and soul into the series and did my best, using my still-limited skill set, to give the stories some meat, some gravitas, and to make our cast of tortured monsters, led by the truly monstrous and all-too human Lt. Matthew Shrieve, memorable.
I only wrote the first half dozen “Commandos” stories—an opportunity at Marvel, too good to pass up, took me away from DC for a good six years (that, too, is another story for another time)—and, although I did revisit Andrew Bennett years later during my runs on Doctor Fate and Justice League Dark, I never wrote Shrieve and Company again. They were a footnote in in my career and an even smaller footnote in the history of comic books.
Which is why I was so surprised, last year, when I heard that an animated Creature Commandos series was going to be the entry point for James Gunn’s rebooted DC film and television universe. The series launched on Max this week. James is building on our core concept—none of the original characters appear—but it’s gratifying to know that an offbeat idea I cooked up at the very beginning of my career has come back to life, in such a significant way, so many years later.
Maybe it wasn’t so silly after all.