Fantagraphics Collects Lost Marvels: Savage Tales of the 1980s, Including a Prelude to ‘The ‘Nam’

In 1985, Larry Hama launched a new volume of Savage Tales for Marvel, focusing on men’s adventure stories – primarily war and crime adventures. Though the series ran for only eight issues, it gained acclaim and served as a launching pad for the iconic Marvel Vietnam War series, The ‘Nam. Fantagraphics is now collecting the entire series in Lost Marvels No. 3: Savage Tales of the 1980s, marking the first time these stories have been reprinted in forty years.^[1]

The Origins of Savage Tales

The initial inspiration for Savage Tales stemmed from the mainstream comic book companies’ envy of Warren Publishing’s black and white horror magazines, Eerie and Creepy, in the 1960s. Edited and largely written by Archie Goodwin, these magazines bypassed the Comics Code Authority due to their black and white format, allowing for more mature content.^[1]

Stan Lee sought to create similar adult-oriented magazines for Marvel. After a brief attempt with 1968’s Spectacular Spider-Man (which lasted two issues), he successfully launched Savage Tales in 1971, featuring a new Conan the Barbarian story by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith.^[1] The magazine initially ran for a single issue but was revived a few years later during Lee’s tenure as Marvel publisher for another ten issues.^[1]

Hama’s 1985 revival of Savage Tales shifted the focus specifically to men’s adventure stories. The series featured a diverse range of creators, including artists such as John Severin, John Buscema, Sam Glanzman, Val Mayerik, Ron Wagner, Gray Morrow, Wayne Vansant, Herb Trimpe, Michael Golden, Joe Jusko, Mary Wilshire, Arthur Suydam, Will Jungkuntz, Vincent Waller, and Ken Steacy, and writers like Chuck Dixon, Bill Wray, Don Kraar, Robert Kanigher, Denny O’Neil, Doug Murray, and Archie Goodwin.^[1]

Exclusive Excerpt: “Jake Lime in STICK IT TO ME!”

Lost Marvels No. 3 includes “Jake Lime in STICK IT TO ME!”, a hard-boiled private detective story by Denny O’Neil and Malcolm Davis. The story centers on Jake Lime, a bouncer at an art gallery in SoHo, who finds himself investigating a murder and the theft of a priceless artifact after intervening in a disturbance.^[1]

Lime takes on the case out of a sense of duty to avenge the gallery owner’s death. The narrative offers a glimpse of New York City in 1985, drawing on O’Neil’s own experiences living in the city. The character of Jake Lime shares similarities with Vic Sage.^[1] Lime avenges the murder but inadvertently destroys the stolen artifact.^[1]

Lost Marvels No. 3: Savage Tales of the 1980s is currently available.^[1]

^[1] https://www.tcj.com/lost-marvels-volume-3-savage-tales-old-fashioned-machismo-in-the-ec-tradition/