Marvel Nearly Released an AC/DC Comic Book Series?

In the latest Comic Book Legends Revealed, learn whether Marvel nearly did a comic book series in the 1990s starring the legendary Australian rock band, AC/DC!

Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the eight hundred and third installment where we examine three comic book legends and determine whether they are true or false. As usual, there will be three posts, one for each of the three legends.

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COMIC LEGEND:

Marvel nearly did an AC/DC comic book series in the 1990s.

STATUS:

True

AC/DC was founded in Australia in 1973 by Malcolm and Angus Young, two brothers who had moved to Australia from Scotland in the 1960s. Their sister came up with the band name (which has led to a number of legends about the origin of the band name over the years, which I've covered in a Music Legends Revealed). Angus Young was (and is) the lead guitarist and he famously wore a schoolboy uniform as a gimmick (which led to some confusion when it came to his age when the band was formed, which I covered in another Music Legends Revealed). Young's schoolboy look was featured prominently on the band's first album in 1975. Young still rocks that schoolboy outfit to this day.

AC/DC has had a very famous connection to Marvel in recent years, as Marvel Studios have very prominently connected the group to the character of Tony Stark, Iron Man. Their song, "Back in Black," is being played by Stark at the start of Iron Man when his military convoy is attacked and he is captured by the Ten Rings terrorist group.

Later, pretty much the entire soundtrack for Iron Man 2 was made up with AC/DC songs. The opening of the film kicked off with "Shoot to Thrill"...

And when Iron Man shows up in The Avengers, he blares "Shoot to Thrill" over loudspeakers to denote his arrival.

Most recently, when Peter Parker is putting together a new suit on a Stark jet with Happy Hogan in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Happy is amused by how much Peter reminds him of Tony and Happy tells Peter that while Peter is working his on his suit, he'll take care of the music and then Happy puts on "Back in Black" (who Peter hilariously confuses as a Led Zeppelin song).

However, the Marvel connection to AC/DC goes back a lot farther than Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Marvel almost released an AC/DC comic book in the 1990s!

MARVEL AND BALLBREAKER

In 1995, AC/DC released their first studio album in five years, Ballbreaker. It was the only album of theirs to be produced by Rick Rubin. It was a hit, going double platinum in the United States but what was particularly interesting about it, for the purposes of a comic book column, is that the design for the album was comic book themed.

The album initially had a cover drawn by David McMacken...

But I guess, for whatever reason, they decided to replace the main image with a 1982 Robert Ellis photograph of Angus Young, the famed lead guitar player of the band (why they used a 1982 photograph for a 1995 album is a fine question. I guess to sort of hide the fact that the group had been around for quite a while by this point?)...

AC/DC, though, then cut a deal with Marvel where the comic book company would get artists to draw pieces to go with the songs inside. Reggie Jones' piece for the title track was later used for T-shirts, as well...

Two of the songs were drawn by Thomas Tenney, hot off his stint on Force Works for Marvel...

Tenney initially was going to do MORE with AC/DC, specifically a comic book series starring the band! In an interview with Horror Tour Guide, he revealed (when asked about the highlights of his career in comics):

Working on stuff with ACDC. Not only did I do work on the interior for an album, but also a cover for the band. Then there was the ACDC comic book that was set to be released by Marvel. I was the artist on that book, but a bump in the road between the companies led to the book being on indefinite hold.

MARVEL TAKES AC/DC ON A HIGHWAY...FROM HELL?

I asked rock and roll historian, Susan Masino, who has written a few books about AC/DC, about the history of the comic book and she was very nicely filled me in:

I used to publish my own music paper called Rock Central and every year I always included a story about how I met the band. Then I would send those articles to their publicity contact and in the early '90's, I was contacted by Marvel Comics.

Before AC/DC released Bonfire, it was hard to find pictures of Bon. Things have changed so much over the years, but Marvel was having trouble finding pictures of Bon for a comic book.

When the gentleman from Marvel called me, he told me that the storyline was Bon in Hell playing cards with Nixon and the Devil. He wins the game and they allow the band to come down to play one more show together. I promptly told him that Bon was NOT in Hell, and I don't care if he was running the place! Right after that, Marvel was clobbered by video games and downsized, dropping the Marvel Comic book on AC/DC. I can't say I was disappointed.

So there ya go. That's too bad, as boy, an AC/DC comic book drawn by Thomas Teneny would have looked excellent!

Thanks so much to Tom and Susan for the information!