Welcome to the four hundred and ninety-sixth in a series of examinations of comic book legends and whether they are true or false. Click here for an archive of the previous four hundred and ninety-five. This week, what role did George R.R. Martin play in the creation of Sandman at DC Comics? What Marvel artist was also an actor in a Tony Award-winning musical? And did Jim McCann really come up with the idea of bringing Mockingbird back in Secret Invasion?

Let's begin!

NOTE: The column is on three pages, a page for each legend. There's a little "next" button on the top of the page and the bottom of the page to take you to the next page (and you can navigate between each page by just clicking on the little 1, 2 and 3 on the top and the bottom, as well).

COMIC LEGEND: Neil Gaiman originally pitched his idea for Sandman as a story in the Wildcards anthology.

STATUS: True

A few weeks back, I talked about George R.R. Martin's career during the 1980s. After the commercial failure of his 1983 novel, The Armageddon Rag, Martin had to take a bit of a break from novel-writing. Instead, he got involved in the world of television writing (The Twilight Zone, Max Headroom and Beauty and the Beast) before he returned to novels with his ultra-popular Song of Fire and Ice series of novels.

Anyhow, during that lull period, while he wasn't writing his OWN novels, he was still involved in literature, as he was the editor of the Wild Cards book anthologies.

These anthologies have been reprinted a number of times over the years and it is amusing to see how more and more prominently his name gets displayed on the covers of the books when they are reprinted...



Anyhow, the concept of Wild Cards is that they all superhero stories set in the same shared universe. The books were popular enough to even merit a comic book series based on the books in 1990...



They debuted in 1987. When they launched, Martin obviously wasn't sure if they would do a sequel (they did a bunch of them). Well, in 1987 at WorldCon, right around the time the books launched, Martin was approached by a young writer who wanted to be involved if there was a second volume of the series. Due to his lack of writing credits, Martin turned the young man down.

The young man's idea was for a being who could live in people's dreams.

I think you're seeing where this is going, right?

Yep, the young man was Neil Giaman and he took the rejected idea to DC Comics the following year and we got Sandman.



I think it all worked out for the best, no?

Thanks to MTV News, George R.R. Martin and Neil Gaiman for the information! And thanks to Neil Gaiman (via Will Harris and Tasha Robinson) for the correction on which con it was at (I wrote San Diego Comic Con at first, which is how Martin remembered it)!

Check out my latest TV Legends Revealed at Spinoff Online: Does Walter O'Brien, the inspiration for CBS's new hit series, Scorpion, really have the fourth-highest IQ ever recorded?

COMIC LEGEND: Larry Hama was a cast member in Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning Pacific Overtures.

STATUS: True

In the early 1970s, after working with Wally Wood for a time, Larry Hama began working at Neal Adams' Continuity Studios (he would rent a desk at the studio for about $50 a month). He did art for various projects, including some artwork for Marvel Comics (here he is from late 1975's Ka-Zar #14)...







While working at Continuity, though, he was approached by a casting agent, Joanna Merlin. She happened to work right across the street from Continuity so he met with her. She was casting for a new Broadway show by Stephen Sondheim, Pacific Overtures, about how the United States essentially forced Japan to trade with U.S. under threat of war in the 1850s. The show was to star entirely Asian actors and I guess that was not particularly easy to cast back in 1975.

So they brought Hama in for an audition and after he did some Bob Dylan for them (Hama is in a band still), they cast him.

His main role was actually as a U.S. Naval officer (with a red beard and everything!) but he played a few different roles.





You can see the whole show on YouTube...

The show had the misfortune of coming out the same 1976 Broadway season as A Chorus Line AND Chicago, but it still won two of the ten Tony Awards it was nominated for (Costume Design and Scenic Design).

While touring with the show, Hama appeared in an episode of M.A.S.H. (he's the passenger)...



He got tired of acting after spending pretty much all of 1976 as an actor and came back to comics and went to work at DC Comics as an editor in 1977. After the DC Implosion, he eventually ended up as an editor at Marvel...



Around this time, he also did a little more acting, as a gang member in the hit film. The Warriors (he's in the back center)...



and as an extra on Saturday Night Live.

That was pretty much it for Hama's career as an actor.

On the next page, did Jim McCann come up with the idea of bringing Mockingbird back in Secret Invasion?

COMIC LEGEND: Jim McCann came up with the idea for bringing Mockingbird back to life during Secret Invasion.

STATUS: False

We finish up with our series of Mockingbird legends!

Jim McCann is very connected to Mockingbird.

She returned from the seeming dead in Secret Invasion, along with some other people who were replaced by Skrulls...



McCann then wrote her and Hawkeye in a mini-series...



and then a really fun but sadly short-lived ongoing series (the mini-series was fun, too)...



And McCann played a huge role in having Mockingbird return in Secret Invasion. However, contrary to popular belief, he was NOT the person who came up with the idea of using Secret Invasion to bring her back. He was just the one who latched on to the idea and made sure it came true.

He explained the whole thing to Matt Brady at Newsarama a few years back:

Matt Brady: Jim, you've been mentioned a couple of times by Brian Bendis as being the point person on making sure Mockingbird came back as a result of Secret Invasion. How were you in a position to exert that kind of influence, and...why for Mockingbird?

Jim McCann: Well, we were at a creative retreat finalizing the end of Secret Invasion and who would be coming out of that ship at the end. We knew who had been replaced and who would have been replaced by that point, but we wanted a surprise. We wanted to "get back" someone, either from the dead or who had become...less than recognizable. As we made the list, we decided that we shouldn't use the Skrulls to retcon any characters who have had some dubious plots thrown their way over the past few years. So we focused on who we could bring back. And I was actually not the first person to mention Mockingbird's name as someone to get back-- I didn't think she would be on the table at all. Mike Pasciullo actually said her name. As soon as I saw her name actually written on the list, that's when I fought like hell to make sure SHE was the one we got back!

I fought for Mockingbird. It was when I said that she & Clint were the Mr. & Mrs. Smith of the Marvel Universe, Brian and the room agreed that it would be cool to bring her back. That was the easy part. (by the way, Clint & Bobbi came first, so I am going to say that Mr. & Mrs. Smith are the film-world's Hawkeye & Mockingbird! Also, Clint & Bobbi have more than a dash of Nick & Nora Charles of the Thin Man in them as well...)

Good stuff.

Thanks to Matt and Jim for the information and thanks to Jim for bringing Mockingbird back!