Today, we look at a team-up between Spider-Man and...a talking dog?
In every installment of I Love Ya But You’re Strange I spotlight strange but ultimately endearing comic stories. Feel free to e-mail me at brianc@cbr.com if you have a suggestion for a future installment!
This time around, we're looking at an offbeat team-up between Spider-Man and Top Dog in a Star Comic issue where not everything is as it seems. Now, some of those terms I just used might be unfamiliar to you (well, if Spider-Man is one of the terms that you don't know, I'm afraid I won't be able to help you much there), I'll quickly fill you in.
WHAT WAS STAR COMICS?
The 1980s was a tough time for kid-oriented comic books. The newsstand market was taking a big hit while the direct market was exploding in popularity. The newsstand had always been a major place for kid's comics, because the newsstand market was built around impulse buys and obviously, when you're buying something on impulse, you're most likely going to pick up the most popular characters around, so the Disney comic books were extremely popular since everyone knew their characters. Over time, Harvey Comics also developed a number of its own hit characters, as well, with Richie Rich, in particular, being a really big character in the 1970s.
By the early 1980s, though, the market shifts made it harder for kids comic books to sell. Marvel, meanwhile, really wanted to try to break into the children's BOOK market and saw a kids comic book line as a perfect avenue to acquire some top notch children's book licenses. You know, "Sign with us and we'll produce children's books and ALSO make comic books starring your characters." It did not really work out for Marvel (my pal Alex Grand interviewed Jim Shooter about it recently and Shooter noted that it was harder than Marvel expected to actually get into the children's book market.
In any event, as part of this push and also as answer to the lack of kids comics options in the early 1980s (the theory being that kids comics get kids started on comics and will then slowly "rise the ladder" to the buy other, older-geared comic books like Marvel's superhero line of books), Marvel launched Star Comics in 1984, with Tom DeFalco in charge of the line.
WHO OR WHAT WAS TOP DOG?
Among the main creators involved in Star Comics was Warren Kremer, Harvey Comics' most famous artist. Basically the Dan DeCarlo of Harvey Comics, Kremer created a number of titles for Star, including Top Dog, with writer Lennie Herman.
The concept of the series was that a talking dog that had worked as a secret government agent (disguised with a trenchcoat so that no one would know that he was, you know, a dog) before he decided to get out of the business. He would rather live the life of a stray dog than deal with that stuff anymore, which means that he also couldn't go public with his secret, either, as he would become famous and he felt that being famous would mean that he would be experimented on.
Luckily, he befriends a young boy named Joey Jordan who agrees to keep Tod Dog's secret and he moves in with Joey as his pet dog, with only the two of them knowing the truth about Top Dog.
HOW TOP DOG TEAMED UP WITH "SPIDER-MAN"
Top Dog #10 (by George Caragonne, Kremer, Romita and Jon D'Agostino) had a brilliant cover by Kremer and John Romita Sr. showing Spider-Man and Top Dog both being embarrassed at teaming up with each other...
One of Joey's friends, Danny Carter, has a father, Mark, who had recently opened up a comic book shop. The problem is that he is also a divorced single dad and his new business is taking up so much of his time that he doesn't get to devote much time to his son. He buys him all the coolest video games and has all the nicest technology of the era (so, you know, a big ol' desktop computer), but no father/son bonding time. Meanwhile, Top Dog is disappointed in Joey' interest in comics...
Top Dog especially doesn't see why anyone would care about seeing an actor dress up as Spider-Man for a big event the next day.
However, Top Dog uses his spying skills to find out that Mr. Carter has an old criminal associate who plans on blowing up the comic book shop for the insurance money!
He's then prepared to kill Mr. Carter in the process. The kids try to get the actor who plays Spider-Man to help, and he's, like, "No to the ope," but ultimately, his sense of responsibility is too great (funny that) and Jim Osborn, Spider-Man impersonator, decides to actually become Spider-Man for once...
In the end, he "webswings" by grabbing a hold of a banner and swinging across the street and knocking the gun out of the bad guy's hands. Top Dog then uses his secret agent skills to diffuse the bomb before it blows the store up.
The publicity from this naturally draws a whole lot of attention, including a visit from J. Jonah Jameson and...PETER PARKER!!
That's a funny way to end the story, as it initially seemed like we were heading for one of those Robot Hulk in Eternals endings, but instead, Top Dog WAS tied to the Marvel Universe. I wonder if Top Dog is a mutant! Top Dog's comic book (and Star Comics itself) did not last much longer, but Top Dog luckily became a regular backup in the most successful Star comic, Healthcliff, which continued for a year past Star Comics going under.
If anyone has a suggestion for a future I Love Ya But You're Strange, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!